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Noteworthy

By TIMES WIRES
Published August 4, 2006

Make that a vote for presidential frugality

Boy, people in Peru used to hate it when former President Alejandro Toledo would gas up the presidential plane and tool off around the globe with big groups. So when the notably more frugal new president, Alan Garcia, heads to Colombia next week for the swearing in of Alvaro Uribe, he's going on the cheap. He didn't use Priceline or anything, but he is flying commercial. And he's not going to spend the night. And he's not taking his wife. Garcia is a big guy, though, and it wasn't clear whether he was flying coach or first class.

Ouch! That stings

A teenager was involved in a car accident in Ossian, Ind., and 10 people ended up in the hospital. But not for accident injuries. Yes, the driver, Jacqueline Cossairt, 16, broke her legs after slamming into a hollow tree. But the rest of the injuries - to a neighbor, a paramedic and seven firefighters - came from bee stings, as the tree was full of really cranky honey bees. "Those bees were mad," said Volunteer Fire Chief Kent Gilbert, who was stung at least 50 times. Said Bob Brophy, of the state police: "You can't really train for that. You look for downed power lines. You don't look for a million bees."

FALLING ART

Masterpieces, in a million pieces

The Pompidou Center museum in Paris arranged a show highlighting Los Angeles artists. Then they went and destroyed two of the pieces. A 1967 acrylic piece by Robert Kauffman, valued at $70,000, shattered when it fell off the wall. "I just assume everybody knows what they're doing," said Kauffman. "I guess they don't." The museum isn't really embracing responsibility. "It's not our guilt," said Catherine Grenier, a curator. "It's not a coincidence. Both were incredibly fragile." An official with a Los Angeles museum noted that the "fragile" Kauffman piece withstood several earthquakes. The other destroyed piece was a 1971 resin work by Peter Alexander.

THE UNUSUAL

Will there be a scratchoff version?

It could pay to vote in Arizona. The state is considering a random $1-million award to a voter as an incentive for people to take part in the whole democratic process thing. Vote in the primary and the general election, you get two chances to win. With 2.6-million voters in the state, chances could be better than they are to win the state's lottery.

What would Hippocrates do?

The New Hampshire Board of Medicine has come to the conclusion that doctors have the right to free speech, even if it shows them to be stupid. The board dismissed its disciplinary case against Dr. Terry Bennett, who was accused of telling an obese patient that she might only be attractive to black men and advising another to buy a pistol and shoot herself to end her suffering after brain surgery. And the case may not be over: Bennett has said he hopes to sue everyone involved.

[Last modified August 4, 2006, 01:51:15]