Fallen arches

An administrative court in Italy has barred fast food giant McDonald’s from darkening the doorstep of one of Rome’s well-known archaeological ruins. McDonald’s had sought to open a location next to the Baths of Caracalla, a public bathing complex constructed in the third century. The franchise began construction on the restaurant in 2019 before it was clear whether the government could reject the Golden Arches in the historic heart of Rome. An objection by Rome’s mayor halted the project and sent the battle into the courts. On Dec. 28, the court upheld a previous ruling that authorities could block construction near heritage sites if the project dampens the surrounding landscape. In a statement, McDonald’s renewed its vow to open 200 new restaurants in Italy by 2025.

Passing the time

She’s 83, and by her own admission she’s bored. Dallas octogenarian Barbara Ingram decided to fill her empty calendar by enrolling at Harvard University. “I didn’t have anything to do,” she explained to KDFW-TV. Ingram applied in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic and completed her first course, economics, in 2020. “At the end, it had math in it, which was hard for me to get back into algebra again,” she said. Ingram, who graduated from the University of Miami decades ago, says she’s not pursuing a degree. To cheer her on for her spring 2022 class on medical neuroscience, her friends and neighbors erected a billboard in December featuring Ingram in her Harvard sweatshirt.

Man on the street

Investigators in Italy searching for a mob boss got an unusual assist from Google Maps. Police in Italy spotted a wanted Italian mobster on a Google Street View image of a street in Galapagar, Spain, leading to the man’s arrest on Dec. 17. Gioacchino Gammino escaped from an Italian prison in 2002 and remained at large until police in Italy received a tip that someone looking like Gammino appeared in an image on Street View, Google’s project to photograph driving routes across the world. The tip led to an investigation that ultimately led to Gammino’s recapture, which was finally reported in January.

Not in the forecast

Some residents of Hamilton, Ontario, awoke Dec. 29 to find it had rained soybeans overnight. “It struck me as unusual, of course,” homeowner Adrienne Van Halem told the CBC. “It’s just gross and messy and surprising to have beans raining down.” Local food processor Bunge took responsibility, saying something went wrong at its nearby oilseed processing plant. According to the company, a large quantity of soybean hulls accidentally “discharged” and ended up covering the neighborhood. The company sent apology notes and a coupon for a car wash to affected locals.

Courting trouble

A state lawmaker in Tennessee has apologized after causing a spectacle at a high-school basketball game. During a Jan. 4 game between Lakeway Christian Academy and Providence Academy in Johnson City, Tenn., Republican state Rep. Jeremy Faison (Cosby) exited the stands and entered the court to argue the call with a referee. After being booted from the game, Faison attempted—unsuccessfully—to pull down the referee’s pants. On his Twitter account later that night, Faison posted a heartfelt apology, asking for forgiveness and saying his passions had gotten the better of him. “I acted the fool tonight,” he said. “I was bad wrong.”

Leaning tower of ’Frisco

Engineers in San Francisco are rushing to fix a sinking residential tower at the heart of the city. At a city hearing on Jan. 6, structural engineer Ronald Hamburger revealed the Millennium Tower, a 58-story residential building that opened in 2009, was now leaning more than two feet after sinking unevenly into the San Francisco soil. Developers notified the public of the building’s issue in 2016. Despite the building’s tilt, a penthouse apartment sold for $13 million in 2016. After a provisional plan to correct the tilt failed last year, builders announced a plan in January to install 18 steel piles to arrest the sink and tilt of the building.

Worn, washed, and ready

A supply shortage has forced the Norwegian military to mandate that conscripts return their underwear and other unmentionables after their term of service ends. According to the Norwegian Defense Logistics Organization, garment shortages meant the nation’s military had run short of underwear, bras, and socks to hand out to the roughly 8,000 conscripts who are enrolled in service every year. A spokesman for the organization said the recycled underwear, bras, and socks would be thoroughly cleaned and mended prior to being redeployed to new troops.