Odds and Ends – Friday September 8 – September 14, 2017

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Pennsylvania couple sees image of Jesus in baby’s sonogram

Chambersburg, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania couple says Jesus showed up in their daughter’s sonogram picture, easing their concerns after two other children were born with birth defects. Alicia Zeek and Zach Smith tell WPMT-TV (http://bit.ly/2wqRJxx) they’re not especially religious. But they’re convinced the image to the left of their daughter’s head is a bearded Christ. Smith calls the image of Jesus “distinct” and says, “There’s another face looking at my daughter.” Zeek’s first two children had problems at birth. A daughter was born with two thumbs on one hand. Her son was born with a cleft palate after a difficult delivery in which she and the baby almost died.

Philadelphia Eagles fan gets last laugh with obituary

Port Republic, N.J. (AP) – A New Jersey man took a parting shot at the Philadelphia Eagles in his obituary. Jeffrey Riegel, 56, died last Friday. Before his death, the Port Republic, New Jersey, man promised friends a funny message in his obituary. The longtime Eagles fan’s obituary asked for Riegel “to have 8 Philadelphia Eagles as pall bearers so the Eagles can let him down one last time.” Riegel was a passionate Eagles fan who owned season tickets for more than 30 years. Sadly, the Eagles never won a Super Bowl during his lifetime. It was not always an easy team to love, his wife, Donna Lee Riegel, said. She sometimes suggested he pay allegiance to a different team. According to her, “I just can’t” was his response. Riegel’s friend, Lou Jiacopello, tells the Press of Atlantic City he couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s humor. Eight friends wearing Eagles jerseys were to lay Riegel to rest on Thursday at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church’s cemetery in Port Republic. Riegel did get to see the Eagles win one last time before his death, Donna Lee Riegel said. He saw last Thursday’s 20-16 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills. “He got to see them go out on a win,” his wife said, suggesting that may have been what he needed to make peace with death. A spokesperson for the Eagles declined to comment about Riegel’s request.

Movie prop money being passed as real in Pennsylvania town

Aliquippa, Pa. (AP) – Movie prop money is being passed as though it’s real in one western Pennsylvania city. Aliquippa police have posted pictures of a fake $20 bill that was passed at a local business. Although the bill looks convincingly real otherwise, there is one dead giveaway: The words “Motion Picture Use Only” are printed clearly on the front and back of the bill in question. Police haven’t said if they know where the money came from or who passed it. It is not against the law to use real U.S. currency in movies and TV shows. But producers of such shows often use fake bills so they don’t have to concern themselves with theft or loss, especially when large sums of money appear on screen.

German politician’s hipster bashing greeted with mockery

Berlin (AP) – A German politician is being mocked for going after hipsters. Jens Spahn, a 37-year-old deputy finance minister and member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party, on Thursday accused “elitist hipsters” of trying to isolate themselves from other Germans by only speaking English with each other. Spahn’s condemnation in Die Zeit of bearded young men allegedly hanging out in Berlin’s chic downtown cafes and refusing to mingle with “normal Germans” was greeted with derision on Twitter and other social media. The Green Party tweeted a 1983 photo of their lawmakers, one of them sporting a long, fuzzy beard, sitting in parliament next to former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. The caption – in English – read, “Jens, we looked like hipsters long before you knew you’d hate them.”