LUFKIN, Texas (AP) -Franklin Weeks figures he lost his college class ring sometime in the 1980s while helping his church put in new playground equipment.

Luke and Sam Lytle can vouch for the 95-year-old Lufkin man’s theory. They found the missing ring – Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College, Class of 1937 – on Monday while testing their new metal detector at the Ryan Chapel Church playground in Diboll. An Internet search using the initials engraved inside the ring traced it to Weeks. He gave them $20.

Go ahead, pucker up, says mayor

MEXICO CITY (AP) – When you come to Guanajuato, pucker up. Mayor Eduardo Romero is declaring the colonial city in central Mexico “the kissing capital” of the world to disprove, once and for all, claims that he has banned smooching in public.

The flap arose over an anti-obscenity law that many people believed would fine anyone caught kissing in public. .

Buried box yields Texas treasures

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) – A contractor helping clear debris from Hurricane Ike is looking for the owner of an ammunition box he found buried in sand that contained keepsakes, including an 1863 Confederate $50 bill, war medals and diamond earrings.

The green steel Army ammunition canister found by Michael Pate also held family photographs, a driver’s license and a Social Security card, dog tags, military medals, silver certificates, silver bracelets, watches, an Art Donovan football card and a glass Model A Ford radiator cap.

The can’s rubber seal perfectly preserved the treasures inside. Among the other items were dog tags, military medals, silver certificates, silver bracelets, watches, an Art Donovan football card and a glass Model A Ford radiator cap.

Pate is following up on a name listed on the driver’s license.

“I thought it would be an encouraging story for the community,” Pate said. “We’ve seen so much destruction.”

Hurricane Ike walloped the upper Gulf Coast on Sept. 13, devastating Galveston and nearby counties.

AP-ES-01-21-09 1103EST