UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Woman wants outdoor cigarette mid-flight

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- An Australian court has chastised a French woman for trying to open an aircraft door mid-flight so she could step out for a cigarette.

Sadrine Sellies, 34, was placed on a good behavior bond Monday after pleading guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court to endangering the safety of an aircraft.

Her defense lawyer told the court Sellies was terrified of flying, had taken sleeping tablets and had consumed a lot of alcohol before takeoff. She had no memory of what happened on the flight and also had a history of sleepwalking, her lawyer said.

Sellies and her husband were en route to Australia on Saturday on a Cathay Pacific flight for a 3-week vacation, the Melbourne Herald-Sun reported.

She was placed on a one-year $1,000 good behavior bond, warned by the judge to behave while flying and then released.

$15 million road project? Just charge it

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A Florida city is leading the way in the latest trend of big purchases -- they're buying a $15 million turnpike with a credit card.

Port St. Lucie officials say there are many benefits to using credit cards, especially with such a large purchase as turnpike, the Palm Beach Post reports.

The city, like others in the state, state agencies themselves and universities have long opted for plastic when making purchases as a way to safeguard against fraud.

Those buys were for things like staplers and computers, though.

The turnpike project, which will also include a bridge, hiking the price up to $24 million, will get the city $125,000 in cash-back rewards.

They also can take advantage of the six-week period until the credit card bill is due, can dispute fraudulent purchases with the credit card company and benefit from consumer protections.

Deputy Budget Director Cheryl Shanaberger said making the purchase on credit is easier because they pay one vendor instead of thousands of different purchase orders for materials.

The payment is split into a number of installments but the city thinks it still is better this way.

So much better that next year officials plan to charge a $27 million road project.

British study: Racy billboards dangerous

LONDON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Billboards featuring near-naked women can create dangerous situations for male drivers in Britain, a survey published Monday said.

Nearly 25 percent of men polled in the Privilege Insurance survey said they had veered out of their lanes while driving as they gazed at the racy images, Sky News reported.

Just 10 percent of women said they were distracted by images of near-naked men.

The study said a five-second distraction at 60 mph equated to driving at least the length of a football field without fully concentrating.

Mark Young, an expert in transport ergonomics from Brunel University, said the survey's results were disturbing.

"This risk is probably underestimated and we need to do more research on the possibility of excluding non-essential information when the driver is already busy dealing with the road," he said.

1938 Hitler portrait at Indiana museum

AUBURN, Ind., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The display of a large oil portrait of Adolf Hitler in Indiana's World War II Victory Museum has met with approval by the local Jewish community.

The painting, believed to be the only portrait made of Hitler while he was alive, was unveiled Sunday as part of the "Rising Tyrants" exhibit at the museum in Auburn. It was painted in 1938 by Heinrich Knirr, who was the premiere artist in Germany during that time, senior curator Joe Brunson said.

The portrait was captured by an U.S. Army captain in Munich during the war, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported.

Jeff Gubitz, executive director of the Fort Wayne Jewish Federation, said the display was not offensive.

"I think the importance of this particular exhibit is that it doesn't honor or glorify Adolf Hitler or any of the others that will be displayed, but serves as a reminder to us that these are not comic strip characters that are tucked away in a book somewhere."