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The skinny

By TIMES WIRES
Published April 24, 2007

To the cleaners

But officer, they still have all my pants

It's an age-old dilemma: How do you get your pants cleaned when you need to wear your pants? According to WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C., Kenneth Lee Wollen went to Pope's Cleaners drive-through to pick up his clothes, and apparently they had almost all of them, because he wasn't wearing any pants. They charge extra for that. They charged one count of indecent exposure, in fact, and Wollen posted $1,000 bail.

Fight fire by the foot

Flip-flops are no match for flames

The New Jersey Star Ledger reports that a Frankford Township man - unidentified, of course, except that he was in his 20s - started a small brush fire in his back yard. Not on purpose or anything. In fact, he was quite distraught. So he decided to try to stomp it out. But he was wearing only his trendy flip-flops. Quickly, he discovered why firefighters always wear those big heavy boots when they go to fight a fire. The flimsy footwear was no match for the blaze, and three fire departments - everyone in proper bootage - helped bring it under control when it got to be about 100 feet by 100 feet. The man was treated for burns and released.

Competitors

Flying fingers grab U.S. texting title

Thirteen-year-old Morgan Pozgar of Claysburg, Pa., was crowned National Texting champion after she typed "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins in 15 seconds. She got $25,000 by beating nearly 200 other competitors to become East Coast champion. Then she beat West Coast champion Eli Tirosh, 21, of Los Angeles. She said her training regimen includes sending about 8,000 texts per month to family and friends. OMG, indeed.

Ray! How did you win that title?

Ray Scott won the New Hampshire regional to earn a spot in the national Rock, Paper, Scissors championship. To help all aspiring Rock, Paper, Scissors contestants, Scott gave insight on his strategy: "I don't have a strategy. I can't be thinking 'What's he gonna throw?' I just throw something." The championship is in Las Vegas next month. And - no lie - it will be on ESPN. Set your TiVo.

A traffic mess

Cheese spill clogs a Chicago artery

The Chicago Skyway, a major roadway between the city and Indiana, was blocked for hours Sunday when a truck hauling mozzarella broke, spilling cheese all over the place. And it was warm outside. And some of the cheese came out of its packaging, meaning much of the cheese had to be picked up by hand. The road was closed for about nine hours while workers cleaned up the goop. There is no estimate on how this will affect the pizza business.

Compiled from Times wires and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster.

[Last modified April 24, 2007, 00:51:51]