GA. Tech leader chosen to steer Smithsonian
WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian Institution said Saturday that it has picked Georgia Tech president G. Wayne Clough as its new leader.
Clough will become the 12th secretary of the world’s largest museum and research complex July 1, assuming control of an institution that has been in turmoil in the past year.
The institution has been criticized recently for its executive compensation and questionable business practices. With the selection of Clough, it returns to its academic roots; the first 10 secretaries to lead the institution had academic backgrounds.
Pilot confirmed dead in F-16 crash
PARKER, Ariz. — The pilot of an F-16C fighter jet that crashed in a rugged area of western Arizona died when his plane went down, Air Force officials confirmed Saturday.
The student pilot was practicing air-to-air combat with another F-16 from Luke Air Force Base about noon Friday when his plane crashed, base spokeswoman Mary Jo May said.
Spacewalkers become arm wrestlers
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — With Dextre the robot’s power problem solved, astronauts ventured outside the international space station Saturday to put together the bulk of the gigantic walking and working machine.
Spacewalkers Richard Linnehan and Michael Foreman had to use brute force and a pry bar to get one of the robot’s arms off the transport bed.
“We’re really having to get medieval on Mr. Dextre,” Foreman said.
Finally, the bolts gave way. But the astronauts had fallen an hour behind in their work.
A third spacewalk is scheduled for Monday night.
He had a ham, wasn’t afraid to use it
GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A meat thief is no match for an angry restaurant owner swinging a ham.
Joe Scola says he heard a noise in his Scola’s Place restaurant Wednesday in Gloucester, Mass., and saw a man trying to get away with his arms full of meat taken from the restaurant freezer.
Scola says that when he caught up with the man, the man raised a 5-pound log of frozen Italian meat over his head as if to use it as a weapon. The restaurant owner had a frozen ham in his hand and slammed it into the man’s face, making a gash. The stunned thief dropped his loot and ran. He hasn’t been caught.
Money trouble multiplies for widow of Kenneth Lay
HOUSTON — The neighbors of the widow of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay have sued her, accusing her of not paying her share of fees for her exclusive high-rise condo.
Linda Lay is already fighting the federal government over nearly $13 million from Kenneth Lay’s estate. The lawsuit by neighbors seeks more than $100,000 in unpaid fees from Linda Lay or foreclosure of her condo, which tax records value at about $4.75 million.
