Free speech case over pastry shop painting goes to trial
Concord, Feb 13: A First Amendment dispute over a bright painting that shows sunbeams shining down on a mountain range made of sprinkle-covered chocolate and strawberry doughnuts, a blueberry muffin, a cinnamon roll and other pastries is scheduled for trial Thursday.
A federal judge in New Hampshire will consider whether a town is infringing on the free speech rights of the bakery owner who’s displaying the mural over his business.
“I think the whole town is following this story,” said Sean Young, the owner of Leavitt’s Country Bakery in Conway, a community of more than 10,000 people near the White Mountains that draws skiers, nature lovers and shoppers. Some residents want regulations enforced as they worry about overdevelopment in the tourist town. The mural atop the bakery, which was founded over 45 years ago, is a creation of local high school art students. When it went up in June 2022, the painting attracted a lot of compliments and visitors, including one from a town zoning officer.
The zoning board decided that the painting was not so much art as advertising. The board determined it was a sign, and so it could not remain as is because of its size. At about 90 square feet (8.6 square meters), it’s four times bigger than the local sign code allows.
If the painting didn’t show what’s sold inside – baked goods – it wouldn’t be considered a sign and could stay, board members said.
Lawyers for the town say that it has shown that “restricting the size of signs serves the significant government interest of preserving the town’s aesthetics, promoting safety, and ensuring equal enforcement,” according to a court document. (AP)
Saudi educator wins $1 million Global Teacher Prize
Dubai, Feb 13: A Saudi educator known for his charity work and instructing prisoners won the USD 1 million Global Teacher Prize on Thursday.
Mansour al-Mansour received the award at the end of the World Governments Summit in Dubai, an annual event that draws leaders from across the globe.
Al-Mansour is also an author and is known for work in his community, including a program that helped ensure people had access to air conditioning maintenance during Saudi Arabia’s scorching summer months.
The prize is awarded by the Varkey Foundation, whose founder, Sunny Varkey, established the for-profit GEMS Education company that runs dozens of schools in Egypt, Qatar and the UAE.
Al-Mansour is the ninth teacher to win the award from the foundation, which first began handing out the prize in 2015. Past winners have included a Kenyan teacher from a remote village who gave away most of his earnings to the poor, a Palestinian primary school teacher who teaches her students about non-violence and a Canadian educator who taught a remote Arctic village of Inuit students. (AP)
Elephants trumpet, squeak after complex move across Australian city
Melbourne, Feb 13: Elephants trumpeted, touched trunks and flapped their oversized ears upon reuniting with their herd after a complex, five-day move from an urban Australian zoo to a much larger enclosure.
The nine Asian elephants were transported 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Melbourne Zoo in the heart of the city to an enclosure 10 times bigger at the Werribee Open Range Zoo, Zoos Victoria said on Thursday. Police escorts and synchronised traffic lights aided their journey in three convoys of trucks.
The animals’ reactions demonstrated they were happy with their move, the elephants’ manager Erin Gardiner said.
“The behaviours that we saw that indicated to us that they felt really comfortable and also excited to see each other were lots of ear flapping, trunk touching, lots of vocalizations,” Gardiner said. “So, roaring, trumpeting, tweaks and squeaks. And so all those interactions helped us understand that they are happy to see each other and feeling comfortable. By the afternoon, those calves were playing together and interacting and I just couldn’t believe how well they travelled,” Gardiner added. Planning the move began almost two years ago by training the elephants to enter and exit the transport crates, veterinarian Bonnie McMeekin said. “Without that training and comfort, I think it would have been really hard to do it safely.” (AP)
Egg prices hit record high
Omaha, Feb 13: Egg prices hit a record high as the US contends with an ongoing bird flu outbreak, but consumers didn’t need government figures released Wednesday to tell them eggs are terribly expensive and hard to find at times.
The latest monthly consumer price index showed that the average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in US cities reached USD 4.95 in January, eclipsing the previous record of USD 4.82 set two years earlier and more than double the low of USD 2.04 that was recorded in August 2023. The spike in egg prices was the biggest since the nation’s last bird flu outbreak in 2015 and accounted for roughly two-thirds of the total increase in food costs last month, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics. (AP)