Watercooler Stories

AUTHOR GETS RIGHT KIND OF PARKING 'TICKETS'

Most people know author Danielle Steel as the creator of half a hundred romance novels. The San Francisco police know her also as the one person in that city who has gotten the largest number of parking permits -- stickers that allow you to park in special spots in the highly congested city.

The Los Angeles Times, reporting on the information released up state, says that the City by the Bay not only has the highest number of registered vehicles per mile of any American city, it also has the fewest available parking spaces per square mile.

Steel, according to city records, has more than two dozen of the highly prized parking permits.

It's not that Steel needs the space, as many of her neighbors can attest. Her posh home has its own underground parking.

TENNESSEE CITIZENS MAY GET FLAT TAX

It was an idea put forth in several national election campaigns. Now it would appear that Tennessee may be on the verge of enacting a statewide flat tax. The Tennessean says that if the current proposal makes its way into state law, citizens of the Volunteer State would not have to pay sales tax on food, clothing and non-prescription drugs -- just a 4.5 percent tax on gross income.

The proposed state law is now at the committee level in the Tennessee state legislature.

House Speaker Jim Naifeh tells media that lawmakers are getting "real close" on getting the measure passed.

Several recent presidential candidates, including Steve Forbes, have used a flat tax as the centerpiece of their fiscal platform, saying that it's more fair for people to "pay as they go" ... and, there are no loopholes or tricky deductions involved.

EXPENSIVE SYSTEM AXED BY PENTAGON

A project that would build an $11 billion artillery system has been killed by the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in making the announcement of his decision, told a media briefing Wednesday that the system, called the Crusader, would be canceled.

Many in the Army called for development of the system, saying it was vital to expanded national defense. Over the past few years, though, some critics have called it a "holdover from the Cold War."

The Crusader, had it been put into service, would have weighed 40 tons and would have entered service in about six years as a self-contained, rapid-fire unit.

Its intended use was as a replacement for the Army's aging Paladin artillery system.

MEMPHIS KIDS MAY HAVE A UNIFORM LOOK SOON

Many older people in Memphis are joining mans who are saying: "If school uniforms were good enough for us, they are good enough for today's kids." But, to hear others talk -- particularly some students who were told they would have to wear them -- the coming of uniforms is nearly the end of the world.

According to the Commercial Appeal, the city's 117,000-plus students will soon have to abide by the school board-mandated dress code.

Some are calling this week's vote by the board a real surprise. The decision has yet to be made as to just what the new "uniform" will look like. Some school leaders tell the publication that the look will not be as "stodgy" as uniforms traditionally worn by many Catholic school students, but it will be "more casual."