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TRAINING SURGEONS LIKE DOGS, ICKY MONEY WIN 2019 IG NOBELS

BOSTON (AP) — Researchers who found surgeons can be trained the same way as animals, scientists who examined the bacterial grossness of bank notes and a team that touts the health benefits of pizza were among the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes.

The annual spoof prizes for weird and sometimes head-scratching scientific achievements were handed out Thursday at a ceremony at Harvard University.

Awards were handed out by real Nobel laureates and winners received $10 trillion virtually useless Zimbabwean dollars.

The event was produced by the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research and co-sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association and the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students.

WWII VETERAN CELEBRATES 110TH BIRTHDAY IN NEW ORLEANS

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man considered to be the nation’s oldest living World War II veteran was serenaded and showered with kisses during a celebration of his 110th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

Lawrence Brooks was born Sept. 12, 1909, and served in the predominantly African American 91st Engineer Battalion stationed in New Guinea and then the Philippines. He was a servant to three white officers and his daily routine included cleaning their sheets and uniforms and shining their shoes.

Brooks attained the rank of Private 1st Class during the war.

Museum President and CEO Stephen Watson said Brooks is the nation’s oldest living WWII veteran. Watson was among the speakers at Brooks’ birthday celebration Thursday, which included a serenade of “Happy Birthday” by the museum’s singing trio, the Victory Belles.

2 CHARGED SAY THEY WERE HIRED TO BREAK INTO IOWA COURTHOUSE

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — Court officials in central Iowa say they’re behind the hiring of two men who were arrested after breaking into the Dallas County Courthouse.

The Des Moines Register reports 29-year-old Justin Wynn of Naples, Florida, and 43-year-old Gary Demercurio of Seattle were found in the courthouse early Wednesday after an alarm was tripped. Both face burglary charges and are being held on $50,000 bond apiece.

The men told deputies they worked for the cybersecurity firm Coalfire and had been hired to test the courthouse alarm system. The state court administration acknowledged hiring the firm but only to test the security of electronic access to court records, not for “forced entry into a building.”

No attorney is listed for the men in online court records. Messages left Thursday with Coalfire and Sheriff Chad Leonard were not immediately returned.

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE OFFERS SCHOLARSHIP TO BULLIED FAN

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Florida fourth-grader who was bullied over his homemade University of Tennessee shirt has been offered a four-year scholarship to the school.

School officials said Thursday the boy’s scholarship would cover tuition and fees beginning in the fall of 2028 if he chooses to attend the University of Tennessee and meets admission requirements.

The boy’s teacher shared his story on Facebook and said the child’s excitement for his school’s college colours day turned to devastation after he was bullied at lunch last week. The teacher’s post went viral as the school sent a care package featuring notes and Tennessee gear the boy shared with his class.

The school’s VolShop website has designed its own Tennessee shirt featuring the boy’s design. School officials say more than 50,000 shirts have been presold, with proceeds benefiting the charity STOMP Out Bullying.

GOOGLE EARTH LEADS TO REMAINS OF MISSING FLORIDA MAN IN LAKE

WELLINGTON, Fla. (AP) — It took 22 years, but a missing man’s remains were finally found thanks to someone who zoomed in on his former Florida neighbourhood with Google satellite images and noticed a car submerged in a lake.

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Teri Barbera says the skeletal remains were of William Moldt, who went missing in 1997.

Barbera says a previous resident of Wellington, Florida, was checking his former neighbourhood on Google Earth when he saw what looked like a car in the lake. The former resident contacted a current homeowner, who used a drone to confirm it was a white car. Deputies then found the remains.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System says Moldt went to a nightclub in November 1997 but didn’t appear intoxicated when he left alone.

BANK WORKER TRAPPED AT WORK BY HURRICANE DORIAN SANDBAGS

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — A 911 transcript has revealed the plight of a South Carolina bank worker who found himself all alone at the office with Hurricane Dorian approaching.

The Island Packet reports Charlie Labassi called 911 on Sept. 4 after everyone else had left to prepare for the storm.

A Wells Fargo spokeswoman says the Hilton Head branch was closed at the time in compliance with Beaufort County’s evacuation order.

Labassi, a treasury management consultant, told dispatchers that he couldn’t get out because two dozen sandbags were blocking the door.

Hilton Head Fire Rescue workers arrived to free the man, enabling him to get home to Shipyard Plantation just ahead of the storm that night.

MAN SORRY FOR BEER STUNT PRECEDING TEACHER’S SUSPENSION

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A man who opened a beer and drank it during a class at the University of Alabama is apologizing after a teacher was suspended following the incident.

Alabama officials say they’ve received an email from Trevor Nappier taking blame for what happened and asking the school to reconsider its suspension of marketing instructor Joel Strayer.

The university suspended Strayer after video of the incident was shared on social media. Nappier’s message says the stunt was an attempt to boost a career producing viral videos.

The video shows a man drinking a beer in class while surprised students watch and clap. Someone is heard saying: “I am impressed.”

Nappier’s email calls Strayer a “great teacher.”

Strayer hasn’t commented publicly.

The Associated Press