Odds and Ends | Princes William and Prince Harry to bike in charity event

People

Biker princes

Prince William and Prince Harry plan to ride in an off-road motorcycle rally in Africa to support charity. Clarence House, their official home in London, announced Wednesday that the two sons of Prince Charles will go to South Africa this month to join the Enduro Africa 08 event. The princes said the funds raised through their participation would be divided among UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Sentebale, a charity established by Prince Harry.

Worth a try

But were they lying?

Two challengers for an Indiana congressional seat agreed to be hooked up to lie detectors during a debate, but an official with the incumbent's party dismisses the idea as "bizarre." Ninth District Republican Party Chairman Larry Shickles on Wednesday proposed the political polygraphs for Democratic Rep. Baron Hill, GOP challenger Mike Sodrel and Libertarian candidate Eric Schansberg. The three are scheduled to debate Oct. 21. Sodrel's campaign said he would agree to the proposal, and Schansberg said he also would agree to wear a lie detector. Hill declined to comment. But 9th District Democratic Chairman Mike Jones said having a lie-detector debate "just seems pretty bizarre. ... I don't see them fitting in a political debate."

What are the odds?

Well-known beau is double winner

Kory McFarren, 37, a Kansas man whose girlfriend was physically stuck to the toilet in their home, won $20,000 in the state lottery for the second time this year. McFarren cashed in his winning $2 Bonus Crossword ticket in Great Bend Monday. McFarren called deputies in February to report that his girlfriend, Pam Babcock, had refused to come out of the bathroom for two years. Authorities found her stuck to the toilet. Medical personnel estimated Babcock had been on the toilet for at least a month.

Passages

Charles Runyon, 86, who as Chucko the Birthday Clown was a popular Los Angeles children's TV show host in the 1950s and '60s, died Saturday of respiratory failure in an assisted-living facility in Grants Pass, Ore.

Today in History

1446: The Korean alphabet, created under the aegis of King Sejong, was first published.

1776: A group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.

1930: Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, N.Y., to Glendale, Calif.

1967: Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed for attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia.

Today's Birthdays

Singer Jackson Browne, 60. TV personality Sharon Osbourne, 56. Actor Tony Shalhoub, 55. Actor Scott Bakula, 54. Actor John O'Hurley, 54. Golfer Annika Sorenstam, 38. Actor Brandon Routh, 29. Actor Tyler James Williams, 16.

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