Watercooler Stories

Ex-teacher searches for grownup students

BELLEVUE, Wash., July 9 (UPI) -- A former Washington state teacher said she is searching for students from her 1970 class because she wants to mail them letters she promised to return in 1980.

Kathy Rosen, 62, who now lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., asked her 5th and 6th graders at Sunset Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash., to write letters to themselves about how they imagined the future, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Wednesday.

Rosen said she "felt awful" when she came across the letters a number of years ago and realized she'd forgotten to keep her promise of returning them to her students in 1980.

"In January, around New Year's resolution time, I said, 'I can't live with this anymore. I've got to try to do something'," she told the newspaper.

Rosen said contacting the school district and searching the Internet have helped little with her search.

She said she hopes media attention regarding her plight will help her find the 25 grownup students.

City: 'Lost dog' sign fine threat mistaken

PITTSBURGH, July 9 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Department of Public Works said threatening a woman with fines if she didn't take down "lost dog" signs she posted around the city was a mistake.

Nicole Currivan said a department employee phoned her with a warning that she had two days to take down the estimated 1,000 fliers posted on utility poles and other structures before an investigator went out to photograph the signs and show them to a judge, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Wednesday.

"He said there's a $300 fine for every infraction of this code," meaning Currivan would have had to pay thousands of dollars in fines, she said.

However, Public Works Director Guy Costa said the warning was a mistake, as the city only bars "business and political advertising" on city property.

"It doesn't say anything about pets," Costa said. "That's why we have to let the pet lost-and-found signs stay up."

Currivan said the search for her missing dog, a black and tan Shiba Inu named Mochi, has been hindered by the fine threat, which led her and friends to take hundreds of fliers down. She said the fliers garnered the most responses from residents who reported spotting the dog at different locations in the city.

Prison for man who killed over smelly feet

HOUSTON, July 9 (UPI) -- A Houston man who prosecutors said stabbed his roommate to death during an argument about foot odor has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

William Antonio Serrano, 23, who pleaded no contest in May to murder charges related to the October death of his roommate Noel Quintanilla-Vaquero, 21, told District Judge Mike Anderson that he killed Quintanilla-Vaquero in self defense, the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.

However, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Joe Vinas said there was no evidence to support Serrano's claim. Vinas said Serrano will be eligible for parole after serving at least half of his sentence.

A third roommate, a woman, had told investigators that she heard Vinas arguing with Quintanilla-Vaquero about the odor of the second man's feet. She said she saw Vinas stab Quintanilla-Vaquero.

Quintanilla-Vaquero was stabbed 16 times, prosecutors said.

Serrano's court-appointed attorney said his client is appealing the sentence.

$55,000 found in jail bathroom

CLAYTON, Mo., July 9 (UPI) -- Missouri's St. Louis County Jail said $55,000 in $50 and $100 bills was found by a jail employee in a prisoner booking restroom, a secure area.

The jail said the money, of unknown origin, was found stuffed behind a tissue dispenser in the secure area of the St. Louis County Justice Center, the St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.

Police said they interviewed a number of prisoners at the jail, including those who were booked shortly before the money was discovered July 2, but none admitted to having any knowledge of the cash.

"We really don't know where it came from, so I guess you could consider any possibility," said Clayton Police Chief Thomas Byrne.

Officers said they are investigating whether the cash may have been linked to any recent robberies or thefts.

The Clayton city attorney said he is researching what should be done with the money if police are unable to find out where it came from.