Cannon turns pumpkins into projectiles

ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. -- When Jim Bristoe told his wife he wanted to build a cannon that would shoot a pumpkin a mile, she told him he wasn't all there.

But he built one anyway, with a 30-foot-long barrel. It is powered by a 700-gallon air tank and is appropriately named "Ain't All There." It looks much like a mobile anti-aircraft gun.

"You don't need to cover your ears, but you're going to know I shot it," the 42-year-old electrician and mechanic said during a demonstration on Wednesday.

When Bristoe fires the cannon, a 10-pound pumpkin is hit with 11,300 pounds of force. The pumpkin projectile leaves the muzzle at about 900 miles per hour, he said.

During the test, the cannon fired a pumpkin through the rear of a Pontiac.

Bristoe plans to take the 2-ton pumpkin cannon to the first annual Pumpkin Propulsion Contest at Verizon Wireless Music Center near Noblesville on Saturday.

The contest is sponsored by Indianapolis radio station WRZX-FM. It's the brainchild of morning show host Gonzo Greg and his colleagues.

"It's more of an exhibition than a competition, and we don't know what to expect in terms of entries," said Greg. He added that it sounds like Bristoe will probably win.

Candidates family gives support to his opponent

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. -- State Rep. Dennis Cleary won't be able to count on the support of his family this Election Day.

The Republican, who represents Wolcott and Southington, is seeking a sixth term in the General Assembly. But relatives have taken out a newspaper ad and planted signs on their lawns in support of his opponent, Democrat John "Corky" Mazurek.

The ad, printed in the Wolcott Community News, reads, "We are tired of Dennis ... Are you?"

Jude Cleary said family members believe his brother is a "corrupt" and "self-serving" politician.

Jude Cleary said the family campaigned heavily for Dennis in 1992, when he ran for his first term. The falling-out has to do with Dennis Cleary's handling of his father's estate, an issue that has been taken to Waterbury Probate Court, Jude Cleary said.

Cleary's younger sister, Christine Sergi, told the Record-Journal of Meriden that neither she nor her mother would vote for him.

"I am voting for Corky," she said.

Dennis Cleary dismissed his family's comments in a written statement.

"There have been sibling rivalries since Cain and Abel, and anyone with integrity and maturity would keep it within the family," said Cleary, the ranking member of the legislature's Public Health Committee.

Jude Cleary said that despite his ad urging people not to vote for his brother, he doesn't know much about Mazurek.

"I think just about anybody would have to have more integrity than my brother Dennis," Cleary said.