The Paper Trail

Wreck and Roll

July 11, 2007 RSS Feed Print

Straight out of Indiana Jones, a 1,500-pound wrecking ball came loose and rumbled through Allegheny College and parts of Meadville, Pa., the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. After the cable on a construction crane snapped, the ball began "pinballing back and forth across the street, hitting nine parked cars and damaging curbs with each impact."

No one was killed, but the crane operator was injured after he tried to "stop the wrecking ball by throwing bricks in front of it," and an Allegheny junior complained of neck and back pain after the rear of his car became the destructo-ball's final destination. Luckily, the student had eight balls of another variety—the soccer kind—in his car's back seat. Police suspect they cushioned the blow, saving him from further injuries. —Alison Go

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The Paper Trail

Nobody knows a college better than its student newspaper. And nobody knows campus newspapers better than this blog. We sift through thousands of student newspaper headlines every day to bring you the latest, most important, or just plain weirdest news from campuses across the country. Heard bigger news or a crazier story? Send tips to papertrail@usnews.com.