Odds and Ends

CLOVIS, N.M. - A 911 call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the school.

All over a giant burrito.

Someone called authorities Thursday after seeing a boy carrying something long and wrapped up into Marshall Junior High School.

The drama ended two hours later when the suspicious item was identified as a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa and jalapenos. It was wrapped inside tin foil and a white T-shirt.

"I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," school Principal Diana Russell said.

Russell said the mystery was solved after she brought everyone in the school together in the auditorium to explain what was going on. Afterward, eighth-grader Michael Morrissey approached her.

"He said, 'I think I'm the person they saw,'" Russell said.

The burrito was part of Morrissey's extra-credit assignment to create commercial advertising for a product. "We had to make up a product and it could have been anything. I made up a restaurant that specialized in oddly large burritos," Morrissey said.

After students heard the description of what police were looking for, he and his friends began to make the connection. He then took the burrito to the office.

"I have a new nickname now. It's Burrito Boy," Morrissey said.

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HONG KONG (AP) - Think of it as rock climbing - except on a mountain of Chinese buns.

Hong Kong is relaunching the annual bun snatching tradition on suburban Cheung Chau island after a 26-year break. Officials called off the ritual of climbing up a tower of buns after one tower collapsed in 1978, injuring 100 people.

The official 46-foot bun climbing tower, 10-feet in diameter, is now buttressed by a concrete foundation designed by government architects and supported by a steel frame.

Bun snatching competitors are trained by the Hong Kong Mountaineering Union. Padding is installed at the bottom of the bun tower.

The result: modern rock climbing meets Hong Kong tradition.

On Sunday, bun snatchers wearing gloves with ropes attached to their bodies scrambled up the scaffolding - free of buns for now - in a preliminary competition. The 12 who reached the top of the tower fastest qualified for the final.

In the final on May 16 - which coincides with Cheung Chau's "bun festival," featuring a parade of traditional floats - competitors must grab as many buns as possible from a designated area of the tower within a given time.

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TIMNATH, Colo. (AP) - This small town south of Fort Collins has banned smoking in bars, restaurants, and indoor work places - as soon as they get them.

The only bar and restaurant in town, the landmark Colorado Feed & Grain Roadhouse, shut down earlier this year after losing its liquor license.

"We talked about doing an education program, but then we realized there really isn't anyone to tell," Mayor Donna Benson said. "But this is more about a vision for the town and setting a course for what we want to become."

The ordinance was approved Tuesday for this town of 223 citizens. "Now is the time to pass this ordinance before Timnath sees a rush of new businesses," Benson said.

Fort Collins passed an ordinance banning smoking in most public places in 2002. After that law passed, the Feed & Grain got noticeably smokier, Benson said. That was one of the reasons Timnath residents started looking at a smoking ban.

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WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) - Wayne Glaude didn't have any money, but police say that didn't stop him from trying to solicit sex from an undercover officer. Rather than cash, police said, he offered steak.

Glaude, 22, who works at a meat company, tried to strike a deal with the undercover officer Thursday, according to Detective Capt. Luke Gallant.

"He didn't have any money, and had a couple of nice T-bones sitting at home," Gallant said.

Glaude, of Woonsocket, was arrested and pleaded innocent Friday in Providence District Court to a count of soliciting from a motor vehicle. He was released on personal recognizance.

Gallant said Woonsocket police had never had a case like it.

"I can honestly say it's the first time," he said.