Maternal Double Take: Twins Give Birth on Same Day

Twin sisters Dawn and Shaune Shannon, 25, are used to doing things together. They married twin brothers Ronnie and Donnie Shaw, 33, in a double ceremony seven years ago, honeymooned together in New Orleans and now live on the same street in Arlington, Tex. But on Tuesday they created a new category in the record books: They gave birth within four hours of each other. “Twins marrying twins and then having babies on the same day? I’m sure there’s not even a statistic for that,” said Dr. Gary Wright, who delivered both babies. The sisters knew they had the same due date, but did not initially know that they were in the hospital together. It was the third child for Shaune and Donnie, and the second for Dawn and Ronnie. Wright had offered each family a discount if they had twins.

--An expectant mother who went to an Illinois State Lottery office in Cahokia to check on whether she had any winners among some old tickets discovered she had been a millionaire for three weeks and didn’t even know it. Evylene Showers, 34, of St. Louis, Mo., who is seven months pregnant, was astounded to learn that she was the single grand prize winner in the lottery’s June 3 LOTTO 7 drawing, and will receive her $2-million prize in annual payments of $100,000 for the next 20 years. Showers, who is separated from her husband, has a 10-year-old daughter. She said she planned to pay off the mortgage on her mother’s home and her own bills, and to give her church 10% of her winnings. “Then I’m going shopping,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to go shopping when I didn’t care about money.”

--In addition to arms control, the Persian Gulf and other pesky foreign policy issues, Secretary of State George P. Shultz has another pressing problem closer to home. It seems that skinny-dippers are crossing his property in Cummington, Mass., where he has a weekend home, to reach a popular swimming hole. The most used trail to state-owned Caulker’s Pond on the Westfield River cuts through Shultz’s land. Town officials say the winding trail makes it difficult for rescue teams to respond quickly to emergencies at the popular “swimsuit optional” area, where as many as 200 people converge on hot weekends. “If Shultz were to post his land (for no trespassing) and stand by it,” that would help in controlling unlimited access to the area, Board of Health Chairman Kenneth Howes said. A spokeswoman in Shultz’s Washington office said Shultz had no comment.