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80 is a fine age at which  

to jump from an airplane 

PITTSFIELD, Maine — To celebrate her 80th birthday, Irma DeTour wanted to do something fun. Why not jump out of a plane? After all, her husband had done it only a year earlier. 

DeTour, of Bangor, said her first parachute jump on Sunday was easier than she thought it would be. Most of her nine children, 28 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren were on the ground to watch her take the 10,000-foot leap. 

As she jumped out of the plane, instructor Dan Dyer wrapped his arms around DeTour so he could control the chute’s speed and rate of descent. They went into a 42-second free fall at about 120 mph before the chute popped open at 3,800 feet and slowed to about 20 mph. 

“I didn’t hear a peep out of her until the chute opened,” said Dyer. “Then she shouted, ‘I can’t believe I did that.’ ” 

DeTour and Dyer executed a perfect standing landing in front of her cheering family. 

How about stealing a car for a highway trip at age 8? 

AKRON, Ohio — An 8-year-old foster child clad only in pajamas stole a pickup truck and went on a 20-mile drive to visit his family, police said. 

The boy, whose name was withheld, was finally stopped Sunday by a motorist who could barely see the youngster over the dashboard. She flashed her headlights and pursued him at up to 80 mph to get him to stop. 

“At first, I thought it was a drunk driver, and as I got closer, I said, ’Either it’s a midget or I’m crazy and that’s a little boy,”’ said Debbie Turner. 

Turner said she got the boy to slow down by positioning her car in front of the pickup. 

The boy told his aunt that he missed his family and wanted to leave his foster home in Twinsburg. 

Why not climb  

Mount Rainier at 77? 

ASHFORD, Wash.— A 77-year-old has become the oldest woman to climb Mount Rainier. And she made the trip in only 19 hours — round-trip. 

“I just never thought I could do it,” Bronka Sundstrom said. “I’m an old lady.” 

Accompanied by two guides, Sundstrom set out from Paradise, elevation 5,420 feet, shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday. She reached 10,080-foot Camp Muir in three hours, 15 minutes. 

She took a short break, then four hours, 40 minutes later, she was at the peak’s 14,411-foot summit. 

Most climbers take six to eight hours to reach the summit from Muir. 

“What she did was incredible, and that’s what I wrote in the summit register,” said one of her guides.  

Sundstrom said she might well climb Rainier again next year. 

“It was just fun to see something that I never saw before,” she said.