■ United States
Bear drops by
The last thing Lorraine Grossman expected to see as she gazed out the kitchen window of her daughter's home in Maplewood, New Jersey, was a 95kg bear. The scream Grossman let out was loud enough to startle the wandering bear, who turned tail and scurried some 12m up a tree. More than 50 neighbors gathered to watch and the bear soon grew tired. The bear remained wedged in a web of branches until it was shot with a tranquilizer dart on Sunday. The bear hung on for 10 minutes before dropping neatly into a taut net set up below. The bear was released at a state wildlife-management area.
■ United States
Eggs baste highway
Drivers on their way to breakfast in northern Virginia found it all over the road after nearly 165,000 eggs spilled out of an overturned tractor-trailer and onto the Capital Beltway. "It looked like a large omelet," said Michael Karbonski, of the Virginia Department of Transportation. The tractor-trailer crashed into a guard rail early on Sunday, spilling its runny load and forcing officials to close an exit ramp and an interstate lane for several hours. The truck driver fled the scene before police arrived. State police spokesman Sergeant Terry Licklider said the driver would likely face charges for fleeing and possibly other offenses.
■ United States
Arabic public school to open
The New York City school system will open its first public school dedicated to teaching the Arabic language and culture in September, with half of its classes eventually taught in Arabic, officials said on Monday. The school, the Khalil Gibran International Academy, will serve grades 6 to 12 and will be in Brooklyn, although a specific location has not been determined. Debbie Almontaser, a 15-year veteran of the school system who is the driving force behind the school will be its principal. She said that ideally, the school would serve an equal mix of students with backgrounds in Arabic language and culture and those without such backgrounds.
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