UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Starbucks renames Seattle-area shops

SEATTLE, July 16 (UPI) -- Starbucks says a Seattle location that is dropping the corporate name in favor of a local-oriented moniker is the first of three stores to test new names.

The Seattle-based coffee chain giant said the Capitol Hill location, which is being remodeled in the chain's new eco-friendly style, will be renamed 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea when it reopens next week, The Seattle Times reported Thursday.

The chain said at least two more Seattle-area stores will be renamed for their neighborhoods after remodeling, but the names and locations have not been finalized.

Tim Pfeiffer, senior vice president of global design for Starbucks, said the name changes, which could be spread to other areas if they prove successful, are designed to give the shops "a community personality." He said the Starbucks logo will even be absent from bags of the company's coffee sold at the locations in favor of the names of the rebranded stores.

Suspect arrested at own wedding

FORT DUCHESNE, Utah, July 16 (UPI) -- A man described by Utah authorities as Salt Lake County's Public Enemy No. 1 was arrested when he came into a courthouse to get married.

Uintah County Sheriff's Lt. John Laursen said someone recognized Frank Paul Reyos, 27, when he arrived Tuesday at Ute Tribal Court in Fort Duchesne with the intent to marry a young woman, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday.

Reyos, who is wanted on a no-bail fugitive warrant for aggravated robbery by the Salt Lake County Metro Gang Unit, was arrested without incident and taken to a jail in Vernal, Utah.

The suspect, who police say is linked to violent street gangs in the Salt Lake City area, has previous arrests for aggravated assault, vehicle theft, robbery and multiple theft charges.

Police said he was recognized due to his many facial tattoos, including a spiderweb on his forehead.

Staged 'alien abduction' scares students

BURGESS HILL, England, July 16 (UPI) -- Parents of children at a British school said young students were traumatized when school staff staged an "alien" abduction of a teacher.

The parents said teachers at Southway Junior School in Burgess Hill, England, terrified students, some as young as 7, by faking a spaceship crash near classrooms and having costumed aliens kidnap a teacher, the Daily Mail reported Thursday.

School officials said the event was designed to encourage students to use their imaginations during "Everyone Writes Day."

Police, who were in on the plot, helped students produce eyewitness accounts of the abduction, which were shared at an assembly at the end of the day where the "abducted" teacher reappeared and revealed the hoax.

Officials said many students enjoyed the experience, but some parents said the event went too far.

"God only knows what the school was playing at," said a mother who asked not to be named. "To shock children into thinking that the aliens have landed and have abducted a teacher is just a little too much for 7-year-olds.

"My daughter was deeply upset by it all and came home looking shell-shocked," she said. "She wasn't sure what had happened and really wanted to know that everything was going to be all right."

Beer can fingerprints lead to arrest

VERO BEACH, Fla., July 16 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said an alleged convenience store robber was caught with the help of fingerprints he left on a beer can at the scene.

Vero Beach investigators said Jason Nesbitt entered the Kwik Stop store at 10:30 p.m. July 2, pulled a can of beer from a cooler and brought it to the front counter, WPTV, West Palm Beach, Fla., reported Thursday.

Police said Nesbitt allegedly brandished an item that looked like a firearm, took all of the money from the cash register and fled the scene on a bicycle. However, he left the can of beer behind.

An officer responding to a domestic violence report involving Nesbitt determined he matched the description of the robber and his fingerprints were found to match those recovered from the beer can.

He was charged with the store robbery Tuesday and taken to the Indian River County Jail on assault, battery and robbery charges.