The following stories are kind of a big deal.
OBAMA TO MIDDIES: HANG TEN
It was all shakas and laughs for President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House Tuesday. Obama presented the Navy football team the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, which goes to the military football team with the best record against other military academies. The Midshipmen beat Air Force and Army this season to capture the trophy for the sixth consecutive season. (NBCWashington.com)
SIX FLAGS BLOWING IN THE WIND
Dan Snyder’s magna cum hurtin’ theme park chain, Six Flags, has hit the small time: After being bum-rushed out of the New York Stock Exchange, Six Flags and its $2.4 billion in debt showed up yesterday on the OTC Bulletin Board, a minor league trading venue for so-called penny stocks. Snyder got some nice sendoffs during his last days on NYSE. On Thursday, bond rater Standard and Poor’s lowered Six Flags corporate credit rating from CCC, or “junk,” to default status. (Washington City Paper)
ECONOMIC SURVIVALISTS TAKE ROOT
When the economy started to squeeze the Wojtowicz family, they gave up vacation cruises, restaurant meals, new clothes and high-tech toys to become 21st-century homesteaders.
Now Patrick Wojtowicz, 36, his wife Melissa, 37, and daughter Gabrielle, 15, raise pigs and chickens for food on 40 acres near Alma, Mich. They're planning a garden and installing a wood furnace. They disconnected the satellite TV and radio, ditched their dishwasher and a big truck and started buying clothes at resale shops. (USA Today)
AN UNDERSTANDABLE SPELLING ERROR
Officials have agreed to correct spelling errors in road signs pointing to a central Massachusetts lake with a 45-letter name. Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg in Webster has one of the world's longest place names. It's been spelled many different ways over the years. Some locals have given up and simply call it Lake Webster. (MSNBC)
