Weird News: The Hole Truth

The Hole Truth

Residents of Godstone High Street in Surrey, England, may be out of their homes for months after a huge sinkhole opened up on Feb. 17, the BBC reported. Two sections of the road caved in, causing people in 30 homes to be evacuated. “We’ll be looking to completely rebuild the road,” said Surrey County Council’s Matt Furniss. “It’s currently stable, it isn’t growing anymore.” Local business owners are concerned about how the closure will affect them. Shane Fry of DD Services said it would be “a trialling few months for us.”

Sunken Treasure

The SS United States, which has been docked and deteriorating at a Philadelphia port since 1976, started its 18-day passage to Alabama on Feb. 19, NBC10-TV reported. The ocean liner, in service from 1952 to 1969, holds the record for fastest eastbound and westbound trans-Atlantic crossings, but on this final journey, it will be towed at 5 knots (or about 6 miles per hour). In Alabama, it will be stripped of its innards -- furniture, engine room equipment, cables and flooring -- and then will be moved to Okaloosa County, Florida, where it will be sunk offshore and turned into a scuba-diving destination. Capt. Joseph Farrell, a ship-sinking and reef expert, said the sinking will be “a final chapter for the last all-American-made, American-flagged ocean liner.”

On the Wrong Track

For the second time in a month, a teenager in the Bronx has been charged with trying to take a subway train for a joyride on Feb. 18, Pix11-TV reported. Police said the 15-year-old tried to operate the No. 2 train from the Prospect Avenue station. He was arrested in late January with a group of kids who drove the R train in Brooklyn. He was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing.