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Noteworthy

By TIMES WIRES
Published October 4, 2006

They won't vote for that bozo

A real clown is running for mayor of Alameda, Calif., and even his sister won't vote for him. Kenneth Kahn, 41, a professional joker known as "Kenny the Clown," admits he's running a long-shot campaign for City Hall's top spot. Kahn has not previously run for an elected position and has never sat on a public board. "People ask me, 'Do we really want to elect a clown for mayor of the city?' " he said. "I say, 'That's an excellent question.' " Kahn's mother, Barbara, said her son doesn't have a chance, and Sylvia Kahn, a teacher, said her brother's candidacy is a "mockery of our system." Of course, some people would say the government has been run by clowns for years, so maybe one more wouldn't really matter.

Things get a bit shaky in Maine

So, it's not exactly the San Andreas Fault, but there have been some odd ground shakings going on in Maine lately. The state has recorded a recent string of small earthquakes, the latest being a Monday night quake that measured 3.9 on the Richter scale. The quake did mostly minor damage - some rocks were sent tumbling onto a road in Acadia National Park, a few water pipes burst and there were some power outages - but experts said it could be felt in Bangor and Augusta. People in the area also experienced a magnitude 3.5 quake on Sept. 22. And before that, a magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded in the northern part of the state on July 14. It's a little scary, but John Ebel, director of the Weston Observatory at Boston College, says it's not a big deal. "By contrast, the 1980s were much more active," he says.

UPDATE

Thai coup

Thailand's deposed prime minister resigned from his once all-powerful party in a letter faxed from London on Tuesday, after more than 200 colleagues quit the organization in the wake of a military coup. Ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra insisted his Thai Rak Thai party would survive the fallout, but other key members and analysts pronounced the exodus and Thaksin's resignation as the death knell for the party that had dominated Thai politics since 2001. The resignation was his first detailed statement since a military council ousted him from power on Sept. 19, accusing him of corruption.

London attack

An 18-year-old woman has been charged in connection with a failed set of attacks on London's transit system last year, British police said Tuesday. The woman, who has not been named, was charged with assisting an offender and failing to disclose information about the unsuccessful July 21, 2005, plot, London's Metropolitan Police said. She is to appear in court today.

[Last modified October 4, 2006, 01:02:31]