Presley hair rocks house
The King may be dead, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to run your fingers through his hair. A clump of hair evidently shaved off entertainer Elvis Presley when he went into the service back in 1958 is creating a buzz as it goes on the auction block this Sunday at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. The hair is part of a collection of more than 200 Presley items that belonged to Gary Pepper, former president of a Presley fan club and a close friend of Presley. Pepper died in 1980 and left his collection to his nurse, who is putting the items up for auction, the auction house said. Although there has not been a DNA test of the hair, “somewhat of a hair authenticator” John Reznikoff compared the sample to his own sample of Presley’s hair and concluded the sample is authentic. “I’m very careful with the hair I authenticate,” Reznikoff said. Reznikoff also has samples of hair that once sat atop some of the most famous heads in history, from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe. The auction house estimates the hair is worth between US$8,000 to US$12,000, but a few years back some of Presley’s hair sold for US$115,000.
■UNITED STATES
Beating may be hate crime
New York City police say a 49-year-old gay man leaving a corner deli near his home was beaten by two men in an apparent hate crime. Jack Price remains in a medically induced coma. He is in serious but stable condition. Police say the two suspects taunted Price and yelled anti-gay slurs while he was in the store early on Friday. They attacked him outside, not far from his home in the middle-class Queens neighborhood of College Point. Daniel Aleman, 26, was arrested on Sunday and a second suspect is being sought.
■UNITED STATES
Airport named for Carter
An airport about 32km from former US president Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, has been named after the 39th president despite some people opposing the change. Souther Field Airport in Americus was renamed Jimmy Carter Regional Airport on Sunday. The Americus City Council and Sumter County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously for the change last month, and the Americus and Sumter County Airport Authority approved it. Opponents say they have no issue with Carter himself, but just want to preserve local history, including where Charles Lindbergh flew solo for the first time.
■GUATEMALA
Demonstrator killed
A demonstrator was killed and two wounded on Monday when Maya Indians blocked roads entering the capital in protest on the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ 1492 discovery of the Americas. Roadblocks went up at dawn as protesters demanded a halt in operations at a controversial open-pit gold mine at Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan and the construction of a hydroelectric dam at San Juan Sacatepequez, arguing the “megaprojects” cause excessive environmental damage. Imer Boror, 19, was shot several times after arguing with a driver at a roadblock, National Police spokesman Donald Gonzalez said. Columbus Day is celebrated locally as the Day of Hispanic Heritage, but protesters were instead marching on what they said is the Day of Dignity and Resistance of the Indian People, protest leader Juana Mulul said. “Our movement is purely in defense of Mother Earth and our territory,” Mulul said.
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