Grapevine: Yogurt one step closer to being NY state snack
State Senate passes bill after lengthy debate
Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine...
Sheepish in Seattle
A massive, $80 million piece of equipment is stuck underneath downtown Seattle and taxpayers are likely on the hook to get it moving again.
This is Bertha -- the world's largest tunneling machine.
It was in the process of clearing the way for a massive highway project when it got stuck.
How that happened is unclear.
Also unclear who's writing the check to get Bertha moving again.
The state has denied requests from the contractor for more money.
A judge will have the final say.
Snack Attack
Yogurt is one step closer to cementing its place as the official snack of New York.
The State Senate passed the bill this week but not before a lengthy debate.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Michael Ranzenhofer calls yogurt an important economic driver for the Empire State.
But some of his colleagues had misgivings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STATE SEN. LIZ KRUEGER, D - NY: Are we concerned we are offending other foods that are produced and popular in here in the state of New York?
STATE SEN. GUSTAVO RIVERA, D - NY: Did you perhaps consider cashews as the official state snack?
STATE SEN. MICHAEL RANZENHOFER, R – NY: I don't -- no, I would never do that.
RIVERA: Did the sponsor consider perhaps, pretzels as the potential state -- official state snack?
RAZENHOFER: Never.
RIVERA: What if [inaudible] if this pretzel was dipped in yogurt?
RAZENHOFER: Yogurt would be the state snack. The pretzel would not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Other options discussed included raisins and cheesecake.
That's right -- elected officials stayed late, well into the evening, debating snack foods, albeit lightheartedly.
The bill passed 52 to 8.
It now heads to the state assembly.
Sucked In?
While CNN has taken some jabs lately for its tireless, extensive, coverage of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane -- it does continue.
We told you a few weeks ago, about an expert live on CNN ruling out the possibility of a black hole having swallowed up the plane.
So what about aliens, you may ask. And CNN did.
CNN posted this poll on its website, asking about the likelihood of different scenarios.
Terrorism, hijackers, the pilots, or "space aliens, time travelers, or beings from another dimension."
Nine percent of those surveyed thought that last scenario was somewhat or very likely.
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