Ted Turner's son says his Western art collection reflects the media mogul's passion for 'big'
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A collection of paintings depicting the American West from Ted Turner's Montana ranch are due to be auctioned by Christie’s in New York. Turner died in May. The proceeds of the Jan. 20 sale will go to the Turner Foundation to further its conservation work. Ted Turner didn’t do small — whether it was racing sailboats, building CNN into a global news organization or buying up ranches across the U.S. West. And so it was with Turner's paintings that capture the grandeur of a Western landscape still largely untouched by European settlers.
A Detroit group is using dog tags to aid homeless women veterans
DETROIT (AP) — Alexis Derriso, founder of the Motown Women Veterans Association, highlights the sacrifices women have made in the military. Her nonprofit is selling military-style dog tags to raise funds for a Detroit-area homeless shelter for female veterans and their children. The tags read, “Millions of women have served this country. I am one.” Derriso aims to sell one million tags, with about 2,000 sold so far. Women currently make up about 17% of active duty military personnel. Despite achieving high-ranking roles, women veterans often feel overlooked compared to their male counterparts. The dog tags aim to bring women veterans “out of isolation.”
The historic SS United States is sunk after a long goodbye off Florida's coast
GULF OF MEXICO (AP) — An ocean liner that once was the fastest on the seas went to its final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world’s largest artificial reef. Officials on Florida’s Panhandle coast scuttled the SS United States on Wednesday about 25 miles southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola. The $13.5 million project is designed to attract more divers and fishing enthusiasts while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish. The project will keep what had been a technological marvel from becoming scrap metal. The 990-foot ship set a speed record on its first voyage in 1952.
Baboons made themselves at home in this town and a battle between their defenders and haters ensued
SIMON'S TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The divisions run deep in a coastal suburb in South Africa where two troops of baboons have moved in. Some residents of Simon's Town on the outskirts of Cape Town seek peaceful coexistence and welcome the baboons. Others want them out because they're not good neighbors. The animals climb buildings, smash windows, break into homes to steal food and fight with dogs. Simon's Town and other Cape Town suburbs bordering the lower slopes of Table Mountain have had baboon problems and fierce debates over their presence for years. A plan to relocate the Simon's Town baboons to electrified enclosures and sterilize the males has now deepened the divide.
Poultry in motion: The ubiquitous Buffalo wing, as assessed by a local who loves 'em
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — You know the old saying: You can take the wing out of Buffalo, but you can’t take the Buffalo out of the wing. Ok, fine, that’s not a saying. But it’s true that Buffalo chicken wings are so ubiquitous that people forget where they came from — unless you’re from Buffalo. Yes, you can find them everywhere: your local pub, chains like Wing Stop or Buffalo Wild Wings, the frozen food aisle of the supermarket. Then there are the offshoots: Buffalo-flavored potato chips, peanuts and pretzels. There’s Buffalo ranch salad dressing, Buffalo mac-and-cheese, Buffalo casseroles. But if you want the real deal, you have to go to its birthplace.
Jimmy Carter's family farm to be preserved and opened to the public
The family farm where President Jimmy Carter tended peanuts, corn and sugarcane as a boy and returned throughout his life will be preserved and opened to the public. Preservation group The Conservation Fund says that it has acquired the farm as part of a 2,458-acre purchase just outside Plains, Georgia, the 39th president’s hometown. The fund says Carter spent his youth exploring the woods around the farm and returned many times as an adult to walk with his wife Rosalynn and hunt. The fund said on Monday that the farm should be open to the public for hunting, fishing and recreation as soon as next year. It will eventually transfer to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Strangers trade punches and chase thrills at Colombia’s pop-up fights
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Santiago Abril has been organizing pop-up boxing matches in parks around Bogota, Colombia, without official permits. He sets up a portable ring made of rubber and plastic, where young men and women gather on weekends to face off. Participants pay a fee to compete, with cash prizes for winners. The matches are short, with two rounds lasting 90 seconds each. Abril says the gloves are heavy to reduce the impact of punches. Despite police intervention and the lack of permits, interest in these street fights is growing. Abril promotes the events on social media and has a YouTube channel with many subscribers.
In Senegal, Black surfers want to reclaim the waves despite lack of resources
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The origins of surfing can be traced back to the native populations of Peru, Polynesia and Hawaii, and European travelers documented children surfing along the coast of what is now Ghana as early as the 17th century. But today’s surfing, especially professional surfing, is a predominantly white sport. In West Africa, it is a sport for the fortunate few who can afford expensive equipment and training. The dream of surfer Ibra Samb of Senegal is to change that, he says. Together with other local surfers he holds free weekly classes for kids from his native Ngor village, hoping that one day one of them qualifies for the professional circuit.
5 flowering houseplants, and how to keep them blooming for a living bouquet
Houseplants with flowers are a way to add a splash of color to your home over the colder months. Five popular varieties of flowering houseplant are cyclamen, African violets, bromeliads, peace lilies and kalanchoe. Cyclamen bloom in white, pink, red or purple. To encourage and prolong blooming, place the plants in indirect light near an east- or north-facing window in a cool room. They like humidity, so put them on a tray to which you’ve added pebbles and water, or run a humidifier nearby. African violets also require high humidity. Their leaves will become spotted and blotchy if they get wet, so avoid splashes by bottom-watering.
