Strange but True

FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Some who work in the Hunterdon County Courthouse in Flemington say the ghost of Bruno Hauptmann is flipping on the courthouse’s lights each night.

The peculiar happenings have been going on since renovations started months ago to make the courthouse look like it did in 1935, when Hauptmann was convicted there of kidnapping and killing the toddler son of Charles Lindbergh.

"It’s Hauptmann’s ghost,” county Administrator Cindy Yard said. told the Sunday Star-Ledger.

But county architect Frank Bell says the courthouse’s new electricity system is the likely culprit.

The renovation included sensors that shut off the lights when no one is in those areas of the building.

"These are infrared sensors and it’s a very sensitive system,” that reacts when air currents shift from a heating or cooling system starting up, Bell said.

Naked resort

TUCSON, Ariz. — Levi’s and Stetson’s are definitely out at the former La Tierra Linda Guest Ranch Resort, a dude ranch where Hollywood’s elite vacationed during the 1930s.

Well, the hats are still OK. But the 30-acre ranch, renamed the Mira Vista Resort, is catering to a different clientele: It opens Monday as a clothing optional resort, where nudists can enjoy lounging by the pool, playing tennis, doing yoga or Pilates.

"It’s hard to go back to wearing a bathing suit once you’ve tried it nude,” said Dave Landman, one of six new owners.

The Mira is targeting a $400 million a year industry that has doubled in three years, according to the American Association for Nude Recreation. Landman said the Southwest is ripe for expansion, and Tucson is a good fit because its has a large population in their 40s to late 60s, the age of most who like the lifestyle.

Prior to the Mira Vista, the site was home to the Coyote Moon Resort and Spa for two years. It offered gay and lesbian travelers holistic health education and wellness programs but closed in December.

Goose of life

FERNAN LAKE, Idaho — A northern Idaho man diagnosed with terminal cancer says a usually cantankerous goose that befriended him has helped extend his life.

Bill Lytle was a founding member of the Lake City Striders walking club before he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall. Doctors said he had only months to live

Lytle continued his walks, cutting them down to two miles at a nearby lake, where he met the feral domestic goose who has inspired him to keep going even when he wasn’t feeling well.

Mr. Waddles, who weighs about 30 pounds with a red beak and red feet, approaches Lytle when he calls and rubs its head against his arms. But it snaps at anyone else who gets too close, including his wife Myrna, their daughter, and Bill’s hospice aide.

"Sometimes he walks around me, sometimes he walks beside me,” Lytle, 73, said of their near-daily meetings. "I rub his neck, and the top of his head and down to his back. Every time I came down, he just kept coming out.”

Myrna offered an explanation.

"I wonder, why would that one goose attach himself to Bill?” she said. "I think he knows he’s sick. I think animals can sense that.”

Keep the hyphen

MILWAUKEE — The votes are in: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students want to keep their beloved hyphen.

A new coalition wanted to dump the hyphenated name, saying it makes the school seem second to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is often referred to as the University of Wisconsin by national sports media.

But 1,286 students who voted in last week’s referendum said they want to keep the name as University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, according to results released Sunday night.

Wisconsin State University came in second with 804 votes, according to the student government’s Independent Election Commission. Milwaukee State University trailed with 82 votes, followed by Milwaukee University with 28.

Ten people wrote in for Jedi Academy, a reference to the Star Wars movies.

Any name change requires approval by the school’s administration and the U-W System Board of Regents.<