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Watercooler Stories

Published: May 14, 2008 at 3:22 AM
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Web program helps drivers fight tickets

NEW YORK, May 13 (UPI) -- A New York man said he is starting a free online program to help troubled drivers find flaws in parking citations that may nullify their fines.

Glen Bolofsky, creator of parkingticket.com, a business that challenges parking tickets, said he is developing free online software to help people find mistakes in parking tickets that could wipe them out completely, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

Drivers are simply required to answer personal questions regarding their car and citation for the program to indicate where potential errors or mistakes are, The Post said.

Users receive results from the program seconds after they are answered, the report said.


Man allegedly forced to sit on toilet sues JetBlue

NEW YORK, May 13 (UPI) -- A New York man said he is suing JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) for $2 million because a pilot made him spend three hours in a bathroom so a stewardess could have his seat.

Gokhan Mutlu filed the suit Monday seeking damages for "emotional and psychological trauma" he allegedly suffered when JetBlue employees asked him to sit in the lavatory of a plane, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

Mutlu was flying standby when a flight attendant said the plane was filled to capacity, but she would give up her seat and occupy the "jump seat" instead so he could board.

About 90 minutes into the Feb. 23, flight, the pilot asked Mutlu to move into the bathroom so the flight attendant could have her seat back, the suit says.

"I guess the flight was overbooked, and I didn't want to make a big deal in front of the other passengers, so I just had a seat," Mutlu told the Post.


Man charged for tossing M&Ms at cop

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 13 (UPI) -- An Iowa man was arrested for allegedly "sticking up for a friend" by hurling several M&M candies at a police officer, a police report said.

Sean McGuire, 20, a student at Drake University in Des Moines, was charged with assaulting a police officer after officer Theodore Lister Stroope accused him of tossing candies at him, the Des Moines (Iowa) Register reported Sunday.

Stroope was handling a drunk driving incident at a convenience store when McGuire began throwing M&Ms, the report said.

University security officers at the store saw several chocolate candies landing on the ground near Stroope before one bounced off his shoulder, the police report said.

McGuire told authorities he was "sticking up for a friend" and allegedly proceeded to relieve himself in the back seat of Strope's police vehicle on the way to Polk County Jail, the Register said.


Too tiny dress costs teen her prom

HOUSTON, May 13 (UPI) -- A yellow dress consisting of a short skirt and straps was too much for chaperones at the Madison High School prom in Houston and cost a teen her big night out.

Teachers told the 17-year-old senior that she could go home and change attire, but she began yelling and arguing and was escorted from the Marriott hotel Saturday night in handcuffs.

"The young lady came to the prom wearing an inappropriate dress after students were told what the guidelines were," Terry Abbott, a spokesman for the Houston Independent School District, told ABC News Tuesday.

Guidelines permit slits in dresses no more than three inches long above the knee, but allow only one inch of exposed midriff and ban "see-through fabrics … which reveal private body parts."

Students planning to attend the prom had to sign the guidelines statement and hand it in.

The girl was held in a police car outside the prom until she calmed down, and she was not arrested, ABC said.



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