1. Climbing Wunderkind Sets Record in Red
Red River Gorge, Ky.
At age 10, Brooke Raboutou recently became the youngest female and American to send a 5.14a when she scaled the steep grade of “God’s Own Stone” at Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. While no small feat, the Colorado-based climbing wunderkind has been raised on rock, as her mother Robyn Erbesfield-Raboutou was a four-time world-cup winner who now runs a kids’ climbing program in Boulder.
2. Bears on Broadcast
Scranton, Pa.
In northeastern Pennsylvania, a mama bear and three cubs wandered into the backyard of a Scranton news station where meteorologist Kurt Aaron was delivering a weather segment. When Aaron turned around, one of the bears was only 10 feet away from him, so he darted inside as a safety precaution. The live cameras continued to roll, showing bears rooting for trash instead of the latest weather maps.
3. What is art?
Martinsburg, W.Va.
West Virginia-based artist David Heatwole wasn’t pleased by the city of Martinsburg’s plans to raise a sculpture of the town founder, Revolutionary War Major General Adam Stephen. So in what he’s calling a symbolic request for more public art, Heatwole placed a toilet on the pedestal that was intended for the sculpture and attached a fake bill of sale that read “crappy work of art.” He was charged with littering.
4. Rabid Bear Attack
Albemarle County, Va.
A rabid black bear attacked two men who were moving stones using a utility vehicle. The 120-pound female bear first charged the vehicle and then came after the two workers. After climbing on to the roof of the vehicle, one of the men killed the bear with a shotgun. Officials said it was the first bear with rabies ever reported in Virginia and only the second on the East Coast—the other in Maryland.
5. Bo Knows Bikes
Henagar, Ala.
In addition to Major League Baseball Player, National Football League star, and Heisman Trophy winner, Bo Jackson can now add endurance cyclist to his resume. In April, the professional sports hero led a 300-mile bike ride across Northern Alabama to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the devastating tornadoes that ripped through the region in 2011, leaving an estimated 250 people dead. Pedaling a rig painted the colors of his Auburn alma mater and bearing the names of those killed by the storm, Jackson was joined on the ride by a cast of celebrity friends including fellow MLB star Ken Griffey, Jr., Lance Armstrong, and pro skier Picabo Street.
Skywalking
Moscow, Russia
Forget planking. A new, much more dangerous cyber craze is taking off thanks to the viral photos of a risk-taking Russian teen. Marat Dupri, 19, and his friends call themselves skywalkers—a label derived from climbing to the top of skyscrapers and television towers and snapping photos from ledges, sans harness.
No Tweet for You
Pro cycling team Omega Pharma Quickstep’s sporting director has banned his riders from using Twitter within an hour after finishing races. The policy is aiming to prevent hot-headed post-race remarks from being posted: “It will give team members time to think before tweeting thoughts brimming with finish-line emotion that are often regretted.”
Guv Too Quick for Black Bear
Vermont Governor Pete Shumlin had a close call with a group of black bears back in April. Shumlin first tried to yell at the bears scavenging from bird feeders on his property. Then when he went to take them down, one of the bears charged him, coming within three feet of the governor who made it back inside his house unharmed.
