Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Texans on lookout for litterbugs AUSTIN, Texas, July 20 (UPI) -- Transportation officials in Texas say they are sending out more than 1,000 complimentary litter bags every month to folks fingered as litterbugs. Advertisement The bags are sent out with a letter to people whose license numbers are reported to the Department of Transportation's litter hotline. The San Antonio Express-News reported Sunday the majority of the offenders appear to take the letters in stride, although a few recipients take the time fire back with letters of their own denying the charges and sometimes taking umbrage at being ratted out by their fellow Texans. "Maybe you should be checking the people who are making these reports as well," said one miffed motorist. "Get their personal information and see if they like it." A department spokesman assured the newspaper that the reports are all kept confidential. Advertisement Pricey artifacts found in artist's trash NEW YORK, July 20 (UPI) -- The head of a rubbish removal company says he found Mexican artifacts worth $16,500 in a barrel he took from an artist's New York home. Rubbish Removal Co. President Nick Dimola said he came into possession of the barrel when hired to clean out the apartment where abstract artist Clinton Hill lived until his death in 2003, the New York Daily News reported. The cardboard barrel had been deemed trash in the clean-up of the artist's Manhattan home, allowing Dimola to take it and store it in a warehouse. Dimola said when he finally opened the barrel five years later, he found it was filled with Mexican pottery dating back to sometime between 300 B.C. and A.D. 500. "There's always something in the garbage worth money," Dimola said of his find. Attorney John Koegel, who handled the estates of Hill and his partner Allen Tran, told the Daily News he was less than thrilled about Dimola's discovery. "I'm not happy for him," Koegel said. "I'm sorry that (barrel) slipped through the cracks." Cupcake is world's largest at 150 pounds BLOOMINGTON, Minn., July 20 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records says a 150-pound cupcake put on display at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., is the largest of its type in the world. Advertisement Cakes.com, the largest cake decoration supplier in the world, said in a release the cupcake it unveiled at the Minneapolis-area mall Saturday weighed 150.7 pounds and stood 12 inches tall, not including its candle. The cupcake -- which included 15 pounds of fudge filling and 60 pounds of yellow icing -- yielded 1,500 servings for event attendees. Guinness World Records adjudicator Danny Girton Jr. applauded the first record attempt by Cakes.com. "I am pleased to welcome this fun and creative achievement into the Guinness World Records family," Girton said. "Only 3 percent of all record attempts are successful. Considering that this is cakes.com's first record attempt this achievement is even more remarkable." "This is a thrill and an honor for Cakes.com," Jamie Miller of Cakes.com said of the record. Eatery owner: Bad karma for Buddha thief BOCA RATON, Fla., July 20 (UPI) -- The owner of a restaurant in Boca Raton, Fla., says whoever stole his Buddha bust is in for some bad karma. Saba restaurant owner Zack Gardner, a native of Vietnam, said his establishment's 150-pound, 4-foot-tall Buddha head has not been seen since last weekend and its whereabouts remains a mystery, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. "I've never heard of someone stealing a Buddha," said Gardner, who is a Buddhist. "In my culture stealing a Buddha will bring bad luck. I hope they know that." Advertisement Boca Raton police spokeswoman Sandra Boonenberg said youths likely stole the concrete statue last Sunday as part of a practical joke. Gardner told the Sun-Sentinel said he had not given up hope those who took the statue will restore their karmic balance by returning it. "It brought an air of serenity," he said.
