Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe 'Santa' loses ticket appeal NEW YORK, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A New York Santa has lost his challenge against a ticket he was issued for double-parking while delivering toys to children. Advertisement Chip Cafiero, 60, said his Chevy Suburban received the $115 ticket while it was parked near his horse-drawn carriage during his toy delivery in the Bay Ridge neighborhood, the New York Daily News reported. "I'm surprised the city found Santa guilty," Cafiero said. "The agent saw me handing out toys to kids and walked over and slapped me with a fine anyways. Has this city lost its heart?" Cafiero previously challenged the ticket in a written appeal to the Department of Finance. "My car was merely trailing the procession to provide a safety measure for the carriage and the children," he wrote. Cafiero said the ticket does not mean the end of his days in the red and white suit. Advertisement "The city can take my money," Cafiero said, "but they can't take my Christmas spirit." Trial delayed on Kennedy sniper's 'perch' DALLAS, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Texas judge Monday delayed a trial intended to establish who owns the window Lee Harvey Oswald perched on when he killed President John F. Kennedy. Two men claim legal ownership of the infamous "sniper's perch" from the Texas School Book Depository building in Dallas, where Kennedy was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963. The trial was supposed to begin Monday but one of the men, Aubrey Mayhew -- who had been acting as his own lawyer -- showed up with an attorney who asked for more time to prepare for the case, The Dallas Morning News reported. Mayhew, 81, of Nashville, bought the book depository in 1970 from Col. D. Harold Byrd, with plans to turn it into a museum. However, Mayhew defaulted on his loan and the colonel repossessed the property, the newspaper said. Caruth Byrd, 67, of Van, Texas, says he inherited the building from his father, the colonel, and has sued Mayhew to settle the matter of the window's ownership. Mayhew claims he had the window stripped from the building in 1971, but Caruth Byrd wants the judge to declare him the true owner of the window and order Mayhew to return the window "if such window exists" -- either that or enter a judgment against Mayhew for the item's monetary value. Advertisement State District Judge Gena Slaughter granted the request for a delay, but didn't seem happy about it. "You've got three weeks," she told Mayhew's new lawyer, Paul Fourt, but going on to say, "That's it. I've had it." 30 workers suspended for Irish joke LEICESTER, England, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- British telecommunications operator BT Group has drawn criticism after 30 employees were suspended for forwarding a joke that mocked Irish people. The company said workers at a Leicester, England, call center were suspended after "a complaint was made about a joke which could be offensive to some people," the Daily Mail reported. Some call center employees said the company's investigation of the incident was a waste of money and a charade to allow the company to fire employees due to the recession without consequences. "Either BT have no sense of humor whatsoever or the bosses are deliberately trying to get shot of people without having to pay any redundancy money," one worker said. "The joke was sent around the office as a bit of fun. Everyone is worried about their jobs but we all try and cheer each other up." The joke involved the jumping deaths of three Irishmen: The first leaps with a bird called a budgie, calling the act "budgie-jumping," while the second kills a parrot in an attempt at "parrot-shooting" and the third jumps with a chicken in his hands -- "hen-gliding." Advertisement Among the defenders of the suspended employees was the Leicester Irish Society, which said Irish people "are famous for their sense of humor but it appears BT have lost theirs." "Suspending staff over a little joke is stupid and it would be funny if it wasn't so serious for the people whose jobs are on the line," the group said. 13-year-old hijacks, smashes Beijing bus BEIJING, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A 13-year-old boy stole a city bus in Beijing, smashed it into a dozen vehicles and knocked down two utility poles before the escapade ended, police say. "It was like watching a blockbuster movie when I saw the bus crashing into cars like a bulldozer," a man identified only by the surname Liu told Xinhua as he described the Sunday morning excitement. The state-run news agency reported the bus driver had gotten out to use a toilet when the slender, 5-foot-5 youth got into the driver's seat, apparently started the bus without a key and drove off. The teen zigzagged through traffic, hitting a car and a minibus before putting the bus in reverse and hitting 10 more vehicles and the two power poles. One car was pushed through the front door of a clinic. Advertisement Liu was having breakfast at his shoe-repair stand nearby when he saw the bus coming at him like a "dancing dragon." "I threw my canteen and ran for my life," he said. No one was injured but the boy reportedly was trembling and quiet when he was finally grabbed by three people who kicked in the bus door.
