Police stop 12-year-old boy from driving across Australia
SYDNEY — Outback police have arrested a 12-year-old boy who was almost a third of his way toward driving solo across Australia.
The unlicensed boy had driven more than 800 miles from his home in Kendall on the east coast when he was stopped by traffic police Saturday on the Barrier Highway near the remote mining town of Broken Hill.
He was pulled over because a bumper bar was dragging on the road, a police statement said Sunday.
Police said he was driving to the west coast city of Perth, more than 2,500 miles from Kendall.
Police have released no details on why the boy wanted to drive to Perth, whether he would be charged or whether he had refueled during his journey.
Coin flip decides new president of southern Illinois village
MARION, Ill. — A coin flip has decided who will lead a tiny southern Illinois town after an election this month ended in a tie.
Tammy O’Daniell-Howell is the new village president of Colp, home to about 250 residents, after the coin toss Thursday.
Williamson County Clerk Amanda Barnes says opponent Bryan Riekena let O’Daniell-Howell choose heads or tails. She picked heads, and that’s how it landed.
Barnes says both candidates inspected the 2016 North Dakota quarter before the event and that she “let it just fall to the ground.”
The candidates each received 11 votes in the April 4 election. Illinois law calls for coin flips to settle ties.
Barnes says the quarter was “the shiniest one” she could find in the office.
Colp is about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Associated Press
