The Brattleboro Reformer from Brattleboro, Vermont • 2

VERMONT NEW ENGLAND 2 Brattleboro Reformer Tuesday, February 18, 1997 Briefs Soft drink companys bear mascot is missing the bear is left on a charitys front lawn," Crowley told the Telegram It Gazette of Worcester. Orson last vanished in June 1991 his fourth disappearance in 2 years. Polar responded with a message: Please Come Home We Miss You. A call to the company pointed searchers to a wooded area. There sat Orson, wrapped in a tarpaulin Once it was clear Orson wasnt harmed, the company donated $1,500 to a charity.

After an apologetic abductor wrote to the company. Polar posted a sign along the rooftop bear thanking "Matt" for keeping the bear safe. The bear has been kidnapped by Auburn High School students, had his legs sawed off and buried near Worcester Airport, and been dumped on a dead-end street in nearby Shrewsbury. Meanwhile, a miniature bear is currently standing in for Orson at Polar headquarters And company workers are trying to restore one of Orson's predecessors with a special vinyl compound. But the first time it blows 50 miles per hour this summer, it might end up in Shrewsbury, Crowley said.

Polar officials are making plans for a new bear with a steam gen erator that will enable it to blow mist from its nostrils WORCESTER, Mass (AP) -Where could a giant, white, plastic polar bear be hiding? Orson disappeared last month from his perch atop the Polar Beverages building alongside Route 290. Neither plastic hide nor hair has been seen since Jan. 13. He's probably in someones basement deteriorating Its really kind of selfish," said Christopher Crowley, treasurer and vice pres ident of manufacturing for the soft drink company. The huge inflatable bear with the green shirt has been something of a mascot for this city.

He's been kidnapped before, but he's always turned up. Crowley, however, is beginning to lose hope Police said Monday they had no leads Several weeks before the bear was stolen, Polar security detected some suspicious activity on hidden cameras. Crowley said the video showed some people "scoping the area out Orson disappeared the weekend the New England Patriots won the AFC Championship game. Polar officials were hopeful their mascot would reappear during the Super Bowl No such luck In the past, Polar has caved in to ransom demands to get the beloved inflatable beast back. Were always willing to pay ransom, make a token donation, if AP BEAR GONE A replacement bear cub stands atop the Polar Beverages roof in Worcester, filling in for the companys mascot bear, Orson, who has been missing for a month.

Body piercing shop sparks debate in Mass, town Miller said he doesnt object to the proposed regulations. He agrees with 90 percent of them. But. he said, the city is going too far. The ordinance, scheduled for debate at a City Council meeting Tuesday night, would be the first of its kind in the state if it passes Tattooing is illegal in Massa QUINCY, Mass (AP) Want a navel ring? Nipple ring? Nose ring? Mik Miller is your man and Body Xtremes the place.

But if some local officials have their way. Millers shop and others like it wont be piercing everyone. City officials are debating a 13-page ordinance that would, among other conditions, require in-person parental consent for minors and anatomy and physiology training for staff. Tattooing is illegal in Massachusetts, but there are no regulations on body Foe changes target for Yankee closing AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) An anti-nuclear activist who last month announced he was leading a referendum to close Maine Yankee by the year 2000 said Monday hes now aiming for 2008, when the plant license will expire. Bill Linnell of Cape Elizabeth said the change was to avoid contra versy about the cost of closing Maine Yankee early and to increase the odds of the referendum passing.

The people of Maine can greet the new millennium with plans for a cheaper, safer, nuclear free energy policy," Linnell said "Decommis stoning and premature closing costs will no longer be issues in the referendum vote." Maine Yankee has been closed since Dec 6. when workers found some improperly crossed cables, a potential safety problem The plant is expected to stay down until at least into the summer. Although the plants license expires in 2008. its owners could apply to the federal government for a renewal Four die in snowmobile accidents By The Associated Prra The long Presidents Day holiday weekend was a bloody one for snowmobilers in Maine, with four people dying in accidents in less than 48 hours Eugene LeFrancois. 43.

of Lakeville, Mass was killed Monday morning when he apparently lost control of his snowmobile on the Kokadjo trail, about 20 miles north of Greenville, said Lt. Bill Allen of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife LeFrancois 22-year-old son was riding a snowmobile behind him and was not injured. Alcohol consumption, which has figured in several previous accidents, was not believed to be a factor in LeFrancois death. I think he was just too fast for conditions," Allen said. Maine's snowmobile death toll stands at seven so far this season.

By mid-February last year, seven of the seasons 12 snowmobile deaths had occurred. In Harmony. Michael Bush. 47, died Sunday afternoon when he hit a cable that was stretched across a road Bush, of Harmony, was pronounced dead at the scene. In a second accident Sunday, Robert Bernier, in his late 40s.

failed to negotiate a turn and crashed near Millinocket Sunday afternoon He was from the Millinocket area. Drinking was suspected in a crash in Gray late Saturday night that killed Christopher Pettit, 51, of New York, and in a crash in Montville that caused serious injuries. Claremont teen dies in accident CLAREMONT, N.H. (AP) A Claremont teen-ager died of injuries suffered in a head-on crash on the Ascutney Bridge, which connects Claremont and Ascutney, Vt. Scott Legasse, 18, died Sunday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon The other driver, 37-year-old Michael Vallencourt, 37, of White River Junction, was in fair condition at Dartmouth-Hitchcock on Monday Firefighters had to free Legasse from his car after the 4 p.m accident, which closed Route 103 for more than two hours N.H.

attorney general to resign CONCORD, N.H. (AP) Attorney General Jeffrey Howard has decided to leave office at the end of the month. Howard, who announced in October he would resign after the first of the year, told the New Hampshire Sunday News his last day would be Feb. 27. Earlier, Howard said he never considered staying beyond his first term, which ends in March.

However, his three-year commitment ended last month because he took over in January 1993. He has said he might delay his resignation if legal cases or events demand his presence. Howard was appointed by former Gov. Judd Gregg and reappointed by Gov. Steve Merrill, both Republicans.

The present Democratic governor, Jeanne Shaheen, has not said whom she might choose to replace Howard- However, when an attorney general leaves before his terms ends, the position is filled temporarily by the deputy attorney general, currently Steven Houran of Laconia. Disabled man dies in fire LYNN, Mass. (AP) A 79-year-old disabled man died when smoke and flames engulfed his bedroom Monday, firefighters said. Ernest Marsh was found dead in his bed, fire officials said. Its tough to say which got to him first, the smoke, or the flames, said East Lynn District Chief William Curran.

The two-alarm fire started in the Stocker Avenue house sometime before 4 p.m., Curran said. Firefighters controlled the blaze within an hour. The fire was reported by a home health care worker, who was making a regular stop at the house when he saw flames coming from Marshs second-floor room. The health aide yelled to Marsh and tried to reach his room, but the smoke and flames were too heavy, Curran said. He couldnt get a response from the gentleman, and he was unable to make it up the stairs, Curran said.

To be honest, it was probably too late when the home health aide got there. The cause of the fire was being investigated, but it was probably accidental, Curran said. Smoke alarms in the house were not working. UVM gets health issues research grant BURLINGTON (AP) The Clinical Research Center at the University of Vermont has won $5.6 million in federal funding for studying health issues ranging from obesity to diabetes. The center, a partnership between UVMs College of Medicine and Burlingtons Fletcher Allen Health Care hospital, will use the money to pay for facilities, equipment and specially trained staff to conduct the research.

What the CRC essentially does is to allow people a connection between those of us who are on the front lines of medicine, who have their hands on patients every day, and those physicians and other researchers who are thinking about the larger impact of what was going on for those patients, said Gov. Howard Dean, a physician. Dr. John Frymoyer, dean of the College of Medicine, said studies have shown that grant money of the type announced Monday tends to generate other grant support, often eight times as much. TODAY'S chusetts, but there are no regula tions on body piercing.

The Quincy controversy began almost immediately after Miller opened his piercing shop last May. Miller, who sports 91 pierces -18 in one ear alone 17 tattoos and a Mohawk that changes color weekly, says the debate is New England Purjtiism at its worst. The city is acting as the moral thermometer for the public, and they dont have the right to do that, Miller said Monday. Officials, meanwhile, say they are only trying to ensure that body piercing is done safely and hy-gienically. Under the proposal, children under 18 would be required to have the consent of an accompanying parent for body piercing Jewelry stores that pierce ears would be exempt, said Bruce Ayers, the city councilor behind the proposals.

The ordinance would also set up requirements for sterilization, equipment and piercer training. "Were not trying to get into any moral issue," Ayers said. What were trying to do, without sounding corny, is the right thing." Body piercing is a gray legal area in Massachusetts and throughout the nation. Oklahoma and several cities around the country have piercing ordinances, Many states, including California. Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Ohio, have considered laws.

Miller, a former S. Customs agent, began body piercing two decades ago and ran a piercing and leather making shop in Boston before opening his Quincy estate lishment last spring Business has been good, he said, with mostly 20- to 30-somethings asking for jewelry in the two most popular body zones: belly buttons and tongues. Noses, nipples and lips are also popular. Miller said he wont pierce anyone under 18 withdut parental consent. He also said he wont pierce the sexual organs of minors even if their parents agree.

Still, Miller said the city, which is proposing banning genital piercing for all children, even those with parental consent, should not be making that decision. I dont feel the city has the right to tell you as a parent that thats not an option for you, he said. If a professional wont do it for them, Miller said children will try to pierce themselves with whatever they can find. One boy recently came into Millers shop with a meat thermometer planted in his nipple. Another had a potato peeler stuck in his tongue, he said.

Miller believes that the citys ordinance which would also require anatomy classes for professional piercers is a not-so-veiled attempt to shut him down. Ayers admits that Body Xtremes might not be the caliber" of business he wants to see in the citys North Quincy business district, which is close to several schools and churches. But he said he is not trying to drive Miller out of town. For his part. Miller said he finds body piercing attractive and erotic.

I think they enhance the beauty of the people who wear them, he said. "To me, its not just a business, its really a way of life." BIRTHDAYS Pee Wee King is 83. Jack Palance is 76. Helen Gurley Brown is 75. George Kennedy is 72.

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