News In Brief

OH, WOW, DOES IT HOP YET?

Robin Wilson has given the term kangaroo court a whole new meaning. The operator of a shelter for "alternative" animals was due to testify in a harassment case before a county judge in Easton, Pa. But because one of her charges, a baby 'roo, needs a bottle of warm milk every hour and can't be left alone, she tried sneaking it into the building in her backpack. The plan fell apart at the security checkpoint inside the front door, but the critter was permitted to stay. Predictably, it soon became the center of attention as lawyers, sheriff's deputies, and county employees gathered around.

BUT YOU HAVE OUR SYMPATHY

As tactfully as possible, the port authority in Erie, Pa., is saying "sorry" to couples who paid to have their names engraved on bricks for the city's 1995 waterfront bicentennial project and now want them dug up or erased. The bricks are lasting longer than their relationships did. The requests are understandable, an official says, but can't be honored.

Yellowstone and Denali top list of endangered parks

Landfills, urban sprawl, snow-mobile use, and lead mining are among the reasons facilities such as Yellowstone and the Great Smoky Mountains have landed on this year's 10 Most Endangered Parks List, according to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). It also reported that Stones River (Tenn.) National Battleground is threatened by a highway interchange that could bisect its battlefield. And each year, visitors steal 12 tons of the fossilized tree remains from Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The NPCA's most-endangered parks:

Yellowstone, Wyo.

Denali National Park, Alaska

Great Smoky Mountains, Tenn./N.C.

Joshua Tree National Park, Calif.

Stones River National Battlefield

Petrified Forest

Ozarks Scenic Riverways, Mo.

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, 29 states

Everglades and Big Cypress, Fla.

Haleakala National Park, Hawaii

- US Newswire

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society