Archive for April, 2012

There’s emeralds in them thar hills!

These emeralds donated to a Raleigh museum would look similar to those found by amateurs in Hiddenite, N.C. (AP Photo/The News & Observer)

Or at least there was, until intrepid, amateur gem seekers stumbled across a treasure trove of fancy rocks in North Carolina worth tens of thousands of dollars.

ABC News reports Libby and Kevin Barrieault were the first to strike non-literal gold in a closed mine in Hiddenite, N.C. They paid mine owner Jamie Hill $25 apiece to explore his North American Emerald Mine last Friday, but are sure to get their money back after selling a 50-carat gem Kevin found under a rock.

They’ll be selling it on eBay. Starting bid: $8,000.

The next day, Hill let Terry Lofgren and her fiance John Kehoe explore his property and they too found jewels, including a 30-carat emerald and 240 more carats of loose emeralds. The Lofgren’s haul is expected to be worth $40,000.

Hill, who’s not let anyone in the family mine in 40 …

Continue reading N.C. spelunkers find 50-carat emerald »

I rarely predict the future correctly, as the Sony Rolly on my bedside bureau will attest, but in my opinion school buses will soon be riddled with more ads than Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR ride.

If a statue of Robert E. Lee at a public school is OK, why not an advertisement for a commercial product? (AP Photo of Lee High School in Montgomery, Ala.)

Cash-strapped public schools in the Dallas area are already plastering posters on buses and buildings. If it works there, it will be here before you can correctly recall the subtleties of long division.

So far, ads for banks, dentists and real estate have popped up.

Plenty of folks are alarmed, according to the Dallas Morning News.

School officials say they need new sources of funding due to state budget cuts.

“Under the current finances, I don’t think you can shy away from anything,” said Allen Independent School District spokesman Tim Carroll. “There’s a place for it when it can be done tastefully, especially in the …

Continue reading Cash-strapped schools turn to advertising »

McDonald’s workers in Baltimore are serving Unhappy Meals today after a co-worker, who claims to have won a third of the world record $656 Mega Millions lottery jackpot, says she won’t be sharing.

Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery, speaks to reporters outside a Baltimore 7-11 store where Wilson purchased tickets. (AP Photo)

The New York Post reports that Mirlande Wilson, 37, says she has a winning ticket, but that she bought it with her own money, not that of her co-workers, who had pooled their resources in an attempt to win the big Friday prize.

“We had a group plan, but I went and played by myself. [The ‘winning’ ticket] wasn’t on the group plan,” Wilson told the Post.

Winning tickets were sold in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas.

According to the article, Wilson ran the McDonald’s office pool that fateful day, getting $5 from 15 co-workers. She purchased the pool tickets and left them at the restaurant in a safe place, according to the article.

Just …

Continue reading Mega Millions winner won’t share with McD’s co-workers »