Minimal Million

Childen who were expecting a new £70,000 playground complete with swings and slides have been left "devastated" after the council gave them a pile of concrete blocks instead.The "minimalist" design at Diamond Hall Pocket Park includes a variety of rectangular grey concrete blocks, described by Sunderland Council as "play features".
Parents had been expecting a traditional playground after they had been sent a leaflet on the plans which showed images of a climbing frame and swings.
Instead they have been left with the task of telling their children how best to play on the new blocks.
The park, in Millfield, has been given a makeover with money from a £2.5million Play Pathfinder grant awarded to Wearside.
Saacha Thompson, 34, said she had a hard time explaining to her three-year-old daughter Imogen that the park was finished. “When they said they had £2.5million for all the parks in Sunderland I think we were expecting something really good. But it looks like they spent about £200 on it,” she said.
Adele Hopper, 24, said her three-year-old son was devastated when she told him the play park was finished. “He was really upset at first. I was surprised to find out the park was finished. It didn't look finished. I thought they would put stuff on top of the concrete blocks”, she said.
However, the council said the concept for the playground was agreed after consultation with the community. Julie Gray, Head of Community Services, said: “The design of the park was the result of extensive public consultation, with the local community and councillors asked to give their views at a number of events on the layout of the park and what kind of equipment they would like to see installed.
“This design also includes a CCTV camera being installed to help maintain a safe and secure playing environment.”

Robbed with generosity

Police in Columbus are looking for a man they say robbed a bank near downtown, then handed two $100 bills to passers-by as he ran away. FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas said the man robbed a Huntington Bank branch early on Monday afternoon after showing a teller a gun in his waistband. Trombitas said the man was running up the street when he encountered a mother and daughter window-shopping. The robber stopped and gave them each a $100 bill, assured them it was real, then kept running. Trombitas said the mother and daughter from the Cleveland area were in town for a visit to Ohio State.

"We won't know what he was thinking until we catch him ," an FBI agent tells the Columbus Dispatch. One theory is that the mother had just given a homeless man some money, and authorities say the fleeing robber may have seen it.

Transporting Public Romance

A Copenhagen bus company has put love seats on 103 of its vehicles for people looking forward to make a new friend... or even something more.

"Even love at first sight is possible on the bus," said a spokesman for the British owned Arriva company to explain the two seats on each bus that are covered in red cloth and a "love seat" sign. "You never know what will happen," spokesman Martin Wex told AFP . "We cannot guarantee that you will find the person of your dreams.We are just offering the possibility for people to smile a bit more and possibly, to win someone's heart."

The experiment, which according to driver testimony has lightened the mood on buses, is to last two weeks, Wex said. "Some drivers have noticed smiling girls sitting in these seats," hoping for interesting company, he said.

In addition to helping customer relations, the "love seat" experiment aims to convince car drivers to leave their vehicles at home and opt for a more social mode of transport.

The New level of Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts of America have expanded their awards from outdoor activities to include indoor pursuits, a move that has some purists shaking their heads.Boy Scouts have traditionally been rewarded for skills in tent pitching, knot tying and building campfires. But, in an attempt to keep up with changing times, scouts will now be able to show off a very different talent: playing video games. 

The new awards program gives the seven-to-11-year-old Cub Scouts members "belt loop and pins" for mastery of PlayStation, X-Box and Wii video games, but the children must also prove they understand the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings.

The ratings system recommends video games appropriate to a child's age "so we can arm the parents with good information, how to make the determination if its something they want," Boy Scouts spokesman Renee Fairrer said.

"Video games are in two-thirds of American homes. That's a pretty good number of people; they are in our schools, in most libraries," he said, explaining the reason behind the new awards program.

And the Boy Scouts are sure video games will not turn their younger members into couch potatoes.

"We have 53 programs and 28 of them are sports related like skateboard, rollers, hockey. It's a good balance," Mr Fairrer said.

Mexican light-weights

Mexico City's police department has introduced a new lower-calorie menu in cafeterias after finding out that almost three-quarters of officers are overweight. Hungry members of the 70,000-member force will now get 2,495 calories per day, 500 fewer than in previous servings. 

The new menu also features a healthy portion of vegetables. The three-meal-a-day menu announced on Sunday comes after a study found that at least 70 per cent of officers are overweight.

However, authorities face a big challenge in slimming down the force. Mexico City police are famous for soliciting small bribes from motorists, often with the phrase: "Give me something for a soft drink.".This habit may make the police unaffected