Monday 10/11/10

Human Interest News — Posted on October 11, 2010

Home sweet foam
Looking for a sweet 4,000-square-foot house constructed out of polyurethane foam? One Minnesota realtor has a deal for you. The locally famous Minnetrista, Minn., foam house known as “Ensculptic” has hit the real-estate listings with an asking price of $237,000. Built in 1969, the house’s façade has been likened to fungus. Without any right angles to aid calculations, real estate agents had to depend on some advanced geometry to calculate the square footage. And just in case no buyer wants to occupy the mushroom house, realtors listed the demolition cost to clear the foam building from the 8.4-acre property.

View a news report on this home:

Pushing the limit
If Gino DiSimone’s idea is any indication, Nevada’s budget woes are desperate. The minor independent candidate for governor of the Silver State has proposed legalizing certain forms of speeding as a way to close the state’s budget deficit. DiSimone’s “Free Limit Plan” would allow drivers to purchase 24-hour passes to increase their personal speed limit to 90 mph on certain highways in the sparsely populated state. Under the plan, drivers whose cars had passed a state inspection and carried a special transponder could purchase a $25 one-day pass to drive 90. DiSimone estimates the program could generate about $1 billion each year. The Nevada Highway Patrol says the revenue would come at the cost of increased traffic accidents and fatalities.

Swiffer defense
The Swiffer Wet Jet: Perfect for mopping up a floor without drips or buckets. Perfect too for fighting off an armed assailant who wanders into your home. A 71-year-old Spartanburg, S.C., man says he chased off a burglar with his Swiffer on Sept. 15. Phillip Graham was cleaning up in the home when a masked assailant came in the back door and ordered the man to the ground. That’s when Graham got annoyed. “I thought to myself, ‘You ain’t coming in this house, son. I’m going to see to it that you don’t get in this house,'” Graham told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. Seeking to defend his home and his wife Irma (who was showering), Graham brandished his Swiffer as a prod and began attacking the suspect. The perpetrator quickly backed out and ran away. He is still at large.