Odds and Ends

VALPARAISO, Ind. - Drop a dime - get 50 bucks.

Porter County officials are offering a bounty for tips about drunken drivers over Memorial Day weekend.

"I hope it encourages people to call the police when they see unsafe driving," said Michael Grennes, chairman of the Porter County Drunk Driving Task Force.

The tip-line was operating last Memorial Day weekend, too. County officials say four people reported drunken drivers and claimed their rewards.

Besides offering the rewards, the task force is paying for police departments throughout Porter County to have extra officers out whose sole responsibility is to look for drunken drivers.

---

DELEON SPRINGS, Fla. - The high school seniors thought they were pulling a memorable graduation prank when they sneaked into the school one morning and covered the toilet seats with plastic wrap and greased up the door handles.

They even left a note for the principal that read, "We love you, Mr. Pearson."

But Mr. Pearson wasn't amused - he canceled the graduation ceremony and ordered the school's senior class to stay home the last six days of school.

"They have to learn self-control," said Lighthouse Christian Academy Principal Luke Pearson.

Early last Thursday, seven of the school's eight seniors sneaked into the school and pulled off their prank. They even replaced the desk in Pearson's office with a child-sized version.

Some parents and students said the punishment was too harsh.

"We thought it was funny," said senior Dottie Jo Thomas. "I still think it's funny."

---

CHICAGO - Bean there, not done yet.

Plans to complete Millennium Park's Cloud Gate sculpture - popularly known as the Bean - by Memorial Day have stalled because buffing the seams of the stainless steel sculpture is taking longer than expected.

The city plans to partially unveil the sculpture on Friday and the tent covering the rest of it will be removed gradually as sections are polished, officials said.

The 110-ton stainless steel sculpture has been hidden from the public's view since January so workers can polish and grind the seams in its 168 plates to a mirror-like finish.

The delay "will allow us to bring the finish on the sculpture to the 'absolute perfection' that it needs," said the work's sculptor Anish Kapoor.

The sculpture's north end - or about 20 percent of its length - will be exposed to the public on Friday.

During the work, visitors will be able to watch through clear plastic windows as crews polish the Bean. Some workers will be suspended from harnesses and others will lie on their backs polishing the sculpture's lower portions.

---

BOULDER, Colo. - A police officer weeded out a pile of marijuana growing alongside some tulips on the Pearl Street Mall.

Officer Mike Pease said he said he uprooted the pot so nobody gets to it.

"It will be placed into property and evidence and labeled for destruction," Pease said. "We don't know who the owner is, so no charges will be brought against anybody," said Pease.

"This is so funny. This is hilarious. This is so Boulder," said Erika Kriksciun, a graduating senior at Boulder Fairview High School.