December 7, 2007
In Florida, Santa is a manateeSaying "he felt like the judge in Miracle on 34th Street," Florida Wildlife Commissioner Ken Wright indefinitely postponed a decision to take the lovable manatee off the state's endangered species list, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Since 1991, the manatee population has more than doubled, and boaters and builders complain that continued protection of the corpulent water mammal impedes development. But when the commission moved to de-list the Florida icon, Gov. Charlie Crist (R) and some 28,000 others around the globe protested. Caving to the pressure, Wright said scientific evidence doesn't matter, "if at the end public policy wants to recognize that Santa exists."
Long Beach, N.Y.'s city manager was teased all week about the 7-foot Christmas tree planted next to a 20-foot high Menorah in front of City Hall. "What's up with the giant Menorah and the Charlie Brown Christmas tree?" one resident reportedly asked. Finally, City Manager Edwin Eaton had the puny tree whisked away at dawn and replaced with a taller specimen. In a memo he called the overnight appearance of the 20-foot blue spruce "a miracle of the holiday season," Newsday reports.
The Grinch need look no farther for gift ideas than this year's catalog published by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Everyone knows about the lead-paint coated Thomas the Tank Engine, but Illinois' "2007 Safe Shopping Guide" also warns parents to avoid a pink doll stroller that can sever a child's finger tip, an "Evil Eye" light set that contains kerosene, and a remote control airplane that could explode near a child's head, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Good news for the Grinch from Spokane, Washington: The December public school's list of important events included Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Human Rights Day, the Islamic holy day Eid al-Adha and the first day of winter, but not Christmas, according to The Associated Press .
Georgia's Do Not Call List is so effective at keeping telemarketers at bay that people keep paying for the service even though the state made it free more than four years ago. After receiving $5 checks from some 7,000 citizens, WSBTV in Atlanta reports the Georgia Public Service Commission is returning the checks and asking people to please stop sending money!
Harrisburg insiders get it, but Internet viewers were a little puzzled when they saw the names of five of Gov. Ed Rendell's (D) staffers listed repeatedly as nominees for some 130 political appointments. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , the staffers aren't really being considered for the jobs, they're just acting as "fillers" to hold the spot while the governor finds real candidates.
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