Student creates the ideal car, and more

Student creates the ideal car

A high school student in Grant City, Mo., has come up with a dirt-cheap means of transport. Don Gibson, 18, bought a battered 1994 Geo Metro subcompact, yanked its engine, and put in an electric forklift engine he bought on eBay for $200. The car can go 62 mph and travel more than 30 miles between charges. Charging its 12 batteries costs Gibson around 25 cents, which means he can drive 200 miles for the price of a gallon of gas. “If you live in a small community and you just need to drive around town, this is the most ideal vehicle you could drive,” he said.

Widower repaints his town

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A bereaved man has brought some color back into his life by setting out to repaint his entire town. Jim Cotter lost his wife last year and, seeking a distraction from his grief, decided to fix up his small town of Glouster, Ohio. He started by painting a simple fire hydrant, but went on to give homes and local businesses a fresh coat—all for free. Now, the town’s population is joining his quest, volunteering time and materials to spruce up all the former coal community’s buildings. “It’s just amazing what a little bit of paint will do,” said Cotter.

Lost parakeet talks its way home

A lost bird was returned to its owner last week after it gave its home address to police in Sagamihara, Japan. Piko, a 2-year-old parakeet, was handed in to local police last weekend, and stayed silent for two days before squawking out the city, district, block, and street number of its owner’s address. It turned out that Piko’s owner, a 64-year-old woman, had lost parakeets before and made sure to teach her new bird how to tell people where it came from. Piko had also been taught her phone number, said the owner, but had not given that up to police.