Watercooler Stories

San Francisco disputes federal pot claims

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- San Francisco officials dispute U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy's claims the city has more medical marijuana outlets than Starbucks coffee shops.

The office said in a posting on its official blog, pushingback.com, that San Francisco is home to 98 medical marijuana dispensaries and only 71 Starbucks, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

However, San Francisco's Department of Public Health said only 24 marijuana outlets are registered in the city.

"I don't know how they got that," Senior Health Inspector Larry Kessler said of the federal numbers.

Rafael Lemaitre, a federal drug office spokesman, said the agency found the marijuana-dispensing locations through Google searches.

"This is information that is readily available to any teenager," Lemaitre said, while contending the state's medical marijuana law is "essentially a fraud."

However, he was only able to provide the Chronicle a list of 74 of the claimed 98 pot outlets, of which the Chronicle said six don't list addresses in San Francisco and at least one was listed twice.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy changed its blog entry Monday night to say there are 71 marijuana stores and 66 Starbucks in San Francisco, but a Starbucks spokeswoman said the company has 71 cafes in the city.

City considers racy snowboard resolution

BURLINGTON, Vt., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- City councilors in Burlington, Vt., are considering a resolution condemning a company's controversial snowboard designs, which include images of Playboy models.

The council discussed the proposed resolution Monday night after several non-profit organizations - the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Vermont Business and Professional Women, the Girl Scout Council of Vermont and the White Ribbon Campaign of Vermont among them -- publicly asked Burlington snowboard company Burton to pull its Love and Primo collections from the market, WPTZ-TV in Plattsburgh, N.Y., reported Tuesday.

The lines also include snowboards bearing illustrations of self-mutilation.

The Burlington City Council voted 12-1 Monday to add an amendment to the proposed resolution that would ask Burton bosses to meet with the leaders of the non-profits that have been critical of the boards.

The company has brushed aside criticism of the Love and Primo lines, saying the issue at the heart of the matter is freedom of artistic expression.

City threatens lien over 1-cent bill

ATTLEBORO, Md., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A 74-year-old blind Massachusetts woman says the city of Attleboro has threatened to put a lien on her home if she doesn't pay an outstanding bill of 1 cent.

Eileen Wilbur said she received a letter Nov. 10 stating that if the outstanding balance of one penny from a water and sewer bill from between July 2007 and July 2008 is not paid by Dec. 10, the city would impose a lien of up to $48 on her next property tax bill, the Attleboro Sun Chronicle reported Tuesday.

"It's so upsetting," Wilbur said. "It sent my blood pressure up so high."

"They wasted taxpayer money on the letter," she said, pointing out the 42-cent stamp charge.

City Collector Debora Marcoccio said the letter was one of more than 2,000 sent automatically by computer to residents with overdue payments.

"It would be fiscally irresponsible for me to have staff weed through the bills and pull out any below a certain amount," Marcoccio said. "And what would that amount be?"

Wilbur's daughter, Rose Brederson, said despite her mother's anger about the situation, she will likely pay the 1 cent to avoid the penalty.

"The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous," she said.

Goodwill worker gets $500 for honesty

GLEN CARBON, Ill., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Goodwill announced a Glen Carbon, Ill., employee will receive $500 after she discovered $7,500 in cash stuffed in a shoebox and turned it in.

Teodora Petrova, who had just arrived in the United States from her native Bulgaria two months earlier, discovered the shoebox full of money while sifting through donated merchandise at the store during her first day on the job Nov. 7, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday.

Goodwill said 12 people called the store to say the money might be theirs after news reports of the find, but slips of paper found in the box matched the story of three Glen Carbon-area brothers who had donated items from their parents' home after the death of their mother three months ago. The brothers asked not to be identified, the Post-Dispatch said.

"One of the brothers was watching the story over the weekend and thought to himself: 'I just donated shoes on Thursday,'" said Phyllis Weiss, a spokesperson for Goodwill.

Lewis Chartock, president and chief executive of Goodwill, said Petrova will receive a $500 reward for her honesty in turning the money in to managers.

"We want everyone in our system to know how proud of her we are," he said.