Watercooler Stories

Pickens signature disappears from concrete

HOLDENVILLE, Okla., July 14 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma man who owns a house bearing the signature of T. Boone Pickens on its driveway said a crew working for the oil tycoon removed the concrete slab.

David McCart, who owns and maintains the unoccupied house in Holdenville, said he stopped by June 22 to mow the lawn and discovered a chunk of concrete bearing Pickens' signature had been cut out of the driveway and removed, The Oklahoman reported Tuesday.

"I was in shock and started talking to my neighbors. I couldn't imagine who would actually come and cut my driveway out or when it had happened," David McCart said.

Pickens spokesman Jay Rosser confirmed that employees of the billionaire were responsible for removing the slab.

"The small section of cement was removed recently when Boone was in town to inspect enhancements to a family plot at the Holdenville cemetery," Rosser said.

McCart said he is seeking criminal charges and perhaps a lawsuit to attempt to get the autographed concrete back.

"Right now I'm pursuing criminal charges against T. Boone Pickens," McCart said Monday. "It will be for theft and vandalism."

Rosser said Pickens is willing to compromise.

"We are clearly open to any thoughts the McCarts might have regarding how to best commemorate his association there for their purposes," he said.

Pickens signed his name in the concrete as a youngster in 1946, when McCart's house belonged to Pickens' grandmother.

Bull captured in Ill. back yard

JOLIET, Ill., July 14 (UPI) -- Animal Control officials who captured a 700-pound bull found wandering in an Illinois backyard say the bovine has been taken in by an official.

Will County Animal Control Director Leroy Schild said the bull he captured Sunday with the help of others in a Joliet backyard has been taken to his Mokena property where it will remain until its owner is found, the Joliet Herald News reported Tuesday.

"I'm probably going to call him El Toro," Schild said of the bull.

He said the bull has "adjusted" to his new home at Schild's ranch.

"He's just out in the pasture, grazing grass," he said.

Schild said no one was injured by the bull and the animal did not damage any property.

"He's in a very nice place," Schild said.

"I'm glad it worked out as well as it did," he said. "I'm happy that the animal is safe and well, and nobody got hurt."

Protests keep mailbox in place

OTISFIELD, Maine, July 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Postal Service said it has canceled plans to remove a small Maine town's sole outgoing mailbox due to protests from locals.

The Postal Service said the Otisfield mailbox is listed as underused because only about six pieces of mail are dropped into it each day in the town of 1,560, WMTW-TV, Auburn, Maine, reported Tuesday.

"This is essentially the post office for the town of Otisfield," Town Clerk Sharon Matthews said.

She said many residents are wary of putting outgoing mail into their home boxes due to widespread vandalism and the 5-mile trip to the Oxford Post Office is inconvenient for many locals.

Marianne Izzo Morin, an administrative assistant for the town, was among the first to come on the scene while postal employees were attempting to remove it.

"The guy was ready to back up and take it, and I said, 'No, you're not doing that.' He said, 'I'm a federal employee and I have the authority to take it,'" Morin said.

Matthews said she would not allow the mailbox to be removed.

Vegas 'Welcome' sign marked with graffiti

LAS VEGAS, July 14 (UPI) -- Las Vegas's famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign has been marked on its main face and one of its structural legs with red graffiti, officials said.

Russell Davis of the Clark County Department of Public Works said authorities discovered Monday that someone had used a red Sharpie marker to deface the sign, the Las Vegas Sun reported Tuesday.

The sign, which was erected in 1959 and was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in May, is owned by Young Electric Sign Co. and leased by Clark County.

Davis said company representatives planned to visit the sign Tuesday to determine whether they can remove the graffiti without the help of county contractors.

A spokeswoman for the sign company said officials recently repaired vandalism damage to the sign.

"We just repaired that sign a couple weeks ago," the spokeswoman said. "A couple weeks ago, somebody threw a rock through it."