Remember when you were a kid, and a bunch of pals with a magnifying glass? You took it into the sunlight and started a fire with some dry grass. Well, that’s the same thing that happened at a posh, high-rise Las Vegas hotel.

A senior guest claims he was burned while sunning himself, because the huge glass facade of one of the hotel’s buildings acted as a magnifier, and increased the intensity to red hot. Reminds old admirers of the Johnny Cash lyrics: “And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire.”

The company, located in Kirkland, Washington, is developing electric planes to get travelers out of cars and into the air for regional travel. They’re expected to be able to fly up to 400 miles on each electric charge.

Along with partners Boeing and JetBlue, Zunum predicts that hybrid passenger aircraft will be operating within the next decade. Because the engines don’t use expensive gasoline, Zunum expects ticket prices will be much lower than on today’s huge, high-cost, gas-guzzly airliners.

ALA reports six to the top 10 in the USA are in California. We have to assume their expert beancounters took little bottles to each of the cities, captured some air and then came home to test it the lab.

And their results are as clear as the (cough, cough) air over such pristine, but unmentioned, cities as New York, Philly, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Boston and  Cleveland. So, next time you take your senior lungs to one of the above unnamed cities, breathe deeply the pure, unsmoggy air.

The ALA list for this year, with the awful atmospheres are, in rank (smell) order: Bakersfield CA, Visalia CA, Fresno CA, Modesto CA, Fairbanks AK, San Francisco CA, Salt Lake City UT, Logan UT, Los Angeles CA and Reno NV.

Just opened in downtown Philly near Independence Hall is a permanent exhibition dedicated to the nation’s fight for freedom.

Among the displays, including historic documents and artifacts, are special sections. They’re entitled A New Nation, A Revolutionary War, Road to Independence and The Darkest Hour. For admission fees, scheduled programs and more info, go to www.amrevmuseum.org