Watercooler Stories

Hair salon changes from Ossama to Obama

CHICAGO, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The owner of a Chicago hair salon said the place has seen a dramatic spike in business since he changed its name from Ossama's to Obama's.

Mike Elsheikh said his Ossama's Hair Design in downtown Chicago marked a sharp decrease in business after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks due to the similarity to the name of al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

However, he said the business woes have turned around ever since he changed the name to Obama's Hair Design in honor of President-elect Barack Obama.

"A lot of customers stopped coming after Sept. 11," Elsheikh said. "Old customers have come by and said, 'We like it much better.'"

Elsheikh said the name change "is absolutely making a huge difference."

"It makes a lot of sense to me to name it Obama's rather than Ossama's," Elsheikh said. "Plus Obama's gonna get Osama."

Police: Man hid pot on 12-year-old

DAYTON, Ohio, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Police in Ohio said a man who led officers on a brief car chase allegedly tried to hide marijuana by giving it to a 12-year-old passenger to hold.

The police report of the incident said officers saw Lakeith Collins, 29, driving his girlfriend's Oldsmobile 46 mph in a 25 mph zone at about 10 p.m. Saturday in Dayton, the Dayton Daily News reported.

The report said Collins refused to stop when officers attempted to pull him over and led police on a brief chase ending at an apartment complex, where police said he tried to flee on foot.

Collins was apprehended and a 12-year-old passenger in the Oldsmobile gave police a bag of marijuana that he claimed had been given to him by Collins to hold. Police discovered several more bags of marijuana in the car.

Collins told officers the boy "wanted to hold it" because the boy "liked to smoke weed," the report said. However, the boy was released without charge and Collins was arrested on suspicion of failure to comply with officers' orders and misdemeanor charges of endangering a child, contributing to the unruliness of a minor and obstructing official business.

Cadbury warns milk chocolate has milk

LONDON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A British chocolate maker said a new warning label will inform consumers of milk content in milk chocolate, even though "milk" is in the candy's name.

Cadbury said the famous Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar -- which lists milk first on the ingredients list and explains that the bars contain "the equivalent of three quarters of a pint of fresh liquid milk in every half pound of milk chocolate" -- will soon bear an additional message reading "CONTAINS: MILK," Sky News reported.

A spokesman for Cadbury said the warning is aimed at complying with laws that govern the presence of allergens in food.

However, Moira Austin, helpline manager for the Anaphylaxis Campaign food allergy support group, said Cadbury is merely "stating the blindingly obvious."

"The law requires manufacturers to list allergens if they are an ingredient. It does not require these additional warnings," she said.

Landlord ordered to evict non-nuns

CAVERSHAM, England, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A British landlord said he has been ordered to evict his 15 tenants because the building, a former convent, is not zoned for non-religious residential use.

Peter Lewin, 49, said officials told him he could face a fine or jail time because the residents of his Caversham, England, building are not nuns and he has no license under planning laws to change the use of the building, The Mirror reported Monday.

"They are all decent professional people but I cannot make them into nuns," Lewin said of his tenants. "Why should the council have a say in what the tenants do for a living?"

The council refused Lewin's request to change the use of the facility.

"The only permitted use is as a convent," the council said.