Watercooler Stories

Tennessee could ban saggy pants

NASHVILLE, March 27 (UPI) -- A bill that would ban low-riding trousers that expose the wearer's boxers or briefs in the state of Tennessee has won approval from a legislative subcommittee.

House Bill 2099, known as the "Saggy Pants Bill," would impose fines of up to $1,000 on violators, The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported. The money would be dedicated to the purchase of school supplies, including books and sports equipment.

Rep. Karen Camper, a Democrat from Memphis, accused her colleagues, including Rep. Joe Towns, a Memphis Democrat who sponsored the bill, of "trying to legislate fashion." She said teens would get misdemeanor records needlessly.

"My question to you Mr. Towns is: What is the demographics you are targeting with this legislation?" she asked.

Towns responded angrily that white and Hispanic teens as well as blacks have been known to expose their underwear.

"It has nothing to do with fashion," he said. "It has to do with decency and hygiene."

The bill, approved by subcommittee Wednesday, now goes to the House Judiciary Committee.

Guns seized at airport merely props

ERLANGER, Ky., March 27 (UPI) -- The 177 handguns seized at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport were all theatrical props, authorities say.

Authorities said the handguns seized by federal agents at the airport were only capable of firing blanks, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Thursday.

Tim Willard of the U.S. Department of Customs and Border Protection said the handguns were shipped inside 13 large cardboard boxes labeled "toys."

The shipment bound for a southern Kentucky business from Istanbul, Turkey, also included 12 large boxes containing 60 pump-action 12-gauge shotguns. Officials said those firearms, also seized by customs agents, were capable of firing live rounds.

The shipment seized Monday came to the attention of customs officials as a result of their reported $14,000 value, U.S. Customs officer Jim Cooper said.

"Twenty-some boxes of toys valued at $14,000, that is unlikely," Cooper told the Enquirer.

Cooper said the company behind the theatrical firearms shipment had not obtained a mandatory waiver for the delivery.

Mass. seeking taxes from elderly smoker

BOSTON, March 27 (UPI) -- The Massachusetts Department of Revenue says an 80-year-old longtime smoker owes the state nearly $92 for unpaid taxes on her cigarettes.

Fran Dalton said despite a threat from the state agency to apply interest and penalties to her tax debt, she has no plans to pay the $91.58 revenue officials claim she owes as a result of mail-order cigarette purchases, The Boston Globe said.

"I don't have much money but it's really not about the money. It's about the principle," she said. "I had no idea I was being taxed. And ... the tax amount is outrageous."

Dalton purchased cigarettes from a company run by an American-Indian tribe that isn't required to collect taxes on its product sales, the newspaper said. But revenue officials maintain they should nonetheless get their cut of Dalton's purchases.

With Dalton's April 6 deadline to pay the taxes looming, the retiree appears dead-set on keeping not only her money but her cigarettes.

"It is my one and only pleasure," she told the Globe of her cigarettes. "I don't have much time left in this world."

KFC set to fill up potholes and stomachs

LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 27 (UPI) -- Kentucky Fried Chicken says it will move beyond filling up patrons' stomachs, by providing pothole repair for residents of Louisville, Ky.

The fast-food chain has offered to fill up potholes throughout Louisville in return for the right to stamp the newly repaired road hazards with the stencil slogan, "Re-freshed by KFC," Advertising Age reported.

"This program is a perfect example of that rare and optimal occurrence when a company can creatively market itself and help local governments and everyday Americans across the country," said Javier Benito, KFC executive vice president of marketing and food innovation.

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson appeared ready to support the KFC proposal given the budgetary constraints facing many U.S. cities.

"It's great to have a concerned corporation like KFC create innovative private/public partnerships like this pothole refresh program," the mayor said in a statement.