Watercooler Stories

Brewery allowed to keep 'Legal Weed' label

WEED, Calif., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A Weed, Calif., brewer said he has won his battle against federal regulators to allow him to continue to put the words "Legal Weed" on his beer bottles.

Vaune Dillmann, 61, who was previously ordered by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to keep the words "Try Legal Weed" off the bottle caps of beers made by his Mt Shasta Brewing Co. said the agency has backed down from its position and approved the controversial cap, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

"They acted like Big Brother. They said I was guilty of a thought crime," Dillmann said. "But it's over. Weed fought the law and Weed won!"

He told the Times the agency's assistant director told him in a letter that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has been convinced that the phrase is a reference to the brand name of the microbrew and not a misleading statement designed to make consumers believe the product contains marijuana.

Dillman said that while the legal wrangling with the agency has taken a heavy emotional toll on him and his family, the publicity generated by the controversy has been good for business. He said orders for the brewery's beers have doubled during the six months since he was first targeted by federal regulators, the Times said.

Unconscious skydiver saved by spare chute

CHEPSTOW, England, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A Chepstow, England, skydiver who was knocked unconscious by the tail of the plane he jumped from said he survived after his reserve chute was triggered.

Jamie Robertson, 57, who said he'd completed 409 parachute jumps over the span of 23 years without any mishaps, said he was knocked unconscious after a gust of wind blew him against the tail of the plane he leaped from, The Sun reported Tuesday.

Robertson's fellow jumpers said the impact triggered Robertson's reserve chute to open, allowing him to descend, unconscious but safely, to paramedics waiting on the ground.

"I am not sure if I jumped slightly too high but the wind whacked me into the tail," Robertson, who woke up on his way to the hospital, told The Sun. "Luckily, I hit it so hard that my reserve chute opened, which is very unusual."

"I can't believe how lucky I am to have got down safely -- the doctors were amazed. It's a miracle that I survived," he said.

Robertson insisted the close call hasn't put him off of one of his favorite hobbies.

"I'm definitely going to carry on jumping," he said to the newspaper.

Schools loosen gum chewing rules

GREENSBURG, Pa., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The Hempfield Area School District in Pennsylvania is joining other U.S. districts in loosening rules forbidding gum chewing in school.

Officials with Hempfield Area, the largest district in Westmoreland County, said that while gum chewing is still technically against the rules in schools, it is no longer a punishable offense, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Tuesday.

"We're just loosening our requirements on gum chewing," said Superintendent Terry Foriska, whose district includes six elementary schools, three middle schools, a high school and an alternative education school. "We still tell kids it's a distraction, but it is a hard thing to enforce. Sometimes a teacher is not even aware a student has any gum in their mouth."

The Derry Area School District, which is located in the same county as Hempfield Area, has loosened regulations even further, with secondary school students allowed to chew gum provided they do not exercise the practice in carpeted areas of school buildings or gyms.

Derry administrators said the final decision on whether to allow gum chewing in the classroom is left up to individual teachers.

Pogo stickers gather for 'Pogo-palooza'

BUENA PARK, Calif., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Top pogo stick bouncers from the world over have gathered in Buena Park, Calif., for "Pogo-palooza," the world championship of the sport.

Participating pogo stickers, many of whom said they now prefer to be called "pogoists," said they are bringing the old-time pastime into the 21st century with air-powered pogo sticks and carefully conditioned leg muscles, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported Tuesday.

"A lot of people are very nostalgic about it. They can remember doing it as a kid," said one of the 20 contestants, Guinness Book world record pogoist Brian Spencer. "But this is definitely not the pogo stick your dad had as a kid."

"In a way, I see this like skateboarding was in 1976, mostly underground and just starting to explode," said Spencer, who holds the record for highest vertical pogo stick jump -- 6 feet. "You don't have to go to the beach or take a ski lift to do it. It's an urban sport."

Officials with Knott's Berry Farm, which hosted this year's event, said they hope the 5-year-old annual contest will remain at the venue for years to come.