Etc...

Out kind of late, aren't we?

Imagine the surprise of a police officer following a car that was weaving slowly along a street in rural Sand Lake, Mich., at 1:30 a.m. recently, with its lights off and no one visible at the wheel. Then, just as it appeared to reach its destination, it went suddenly into reverse and hit the officer's cruiser. Gotta be more to the story than this, right? Well, yes, and it doesn't involve consumption of adult beverages. It turns out that the car leading the "chase" was returning from a trip to a video store a quarter-mile away that was closed for the night. And there was a driver, after all: a boy of 4 whose legs were way too short to reach the pedals. But he had

learned to drive from his mother, who sometimes let him sit in her lap and steer when she went on errands. Since mom hadn't realized he was awake, let alone out of their apartment - and since no damage was done - no charges will be filed, police said.

When it comes to welcoming immigrants to America's shores, New York City historically has been port of entry No. 1. But the surrounding state is an inviting place in its own right. Case in point: the many communities bearing the names of foreign places. Not only does the Empire State have towns such as Belfast, Canton, Copenhagen, Dunkirk, Geneva, Hamburg, Jericho, Kingston, Potsdam, Rome, and Warsaw, but a search of a US atlas reveals that it also leads the nation in sharing names with other countries. Those communities, in alphabetical order:

Angola
Belgium
Cuba
Denmark
Egypt
Greece
Holland
Jamaica
Jordan
Mexico
Panama
Peru