2008 Woodie Awards
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Compiled by the Associated Press
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Dog crashes while learning to drive
BEIJING - A woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region, crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson, the official Xinhua News Agency said Aug. 28. No injuries were reported although both vehicles were slightly damaged, it said.
The woman, identified only by her surname, Li, said her dog "was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive," according to Xinhua.
"She thought she would let the dog 'have a try' while she operated the accelerator and brake," the report said. "They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car." Xinhua did not say what kind of dog or vehicles were involved, but Li paid for repairs.
Man throws phone 292 feet for a win
HELSINKI, Finland - Ever heard of the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship? It was held in Finland on Aug. 26-27. Old phones were supplied for contestants who were allowed to pick which kind of phone they wanted to throw.
The men's winner threw his phone 292 feet. The women's winner tossed her phone 167 feet, a world record according to the organizers. She said she has tossed a cell phone a time or two before.
Another contestant said three things were needed to compete: technical skills, power, and a sense of humor.
There were four competition categories: men, women, juniors and freestyle.
Strippers help Las Vegas area schools
LAS VEGAS - The Clark County School District kicked off the first day of school Aug. 30 with scant resources. But it got a major donation from the scantily clad.
The same day the nation's fifth largest school district began the year with some 400 teaching vacancies, the nonprofit corporation that supports it, the Public Education Foundation, accepted a $2,500 donation from a strip club, Scores Las Vegas.
Scores raised the funds at an Aug. 23 back-to-school event called "Detention" that featured strippers dressed as teachers, schoolgirls and librarians.
The performers peeled off clothes and offered lap dances to customers. Patrons also left more than $1,000 donations in a jar that the club said would go to the Clark County School District. Scores matched the donations roughly dollar for dollar, he said.
Bogus 'No Parking' sign empties street
NEW YORK - Several Brooklyn residents woke up to find their street empty - because someone had posted a No Parking sign and police had towed their rides.
The sign, which bans parking on a street in the DUMBO neighborhood from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, mysteriously appeared Aug. 29 or Aug. 30, residents said, and then police started ticketing and towing cars parked there.
But the Department of Transportation says there aren't any parking restrictions in the area and it doesn't know who posted the placard, which looks official.
Resident David Bourgeois said he had to pay $205 to retrieve his Mini Cooper, with a $60 ticket on the windshield, from a police pound Wednesday after it was hauled away.
Kids buy lunches with scans of fingers
ROME, Ga. - Rome City Schools is switching to a scanning system that lets students use their fingerprints to access their accounts. In the past, students had to punch in their pin numbers.
"The finger's better because all you've got to do is put your finger in, and you don't have to do the number and get mixed up," said Adrianna Harris, a second grader at Anna K. Davie Elementary School.
The new system speeds lunch lines, said city administrators. It's being phased in to Rome High School, Rome Middle School and all the city's elementary schools. The city hopes to have the system in use next month system-wide.
Some parents are uneasy with having their children's fingerprints scanned and wonder about how well the information is secured.