Watercooler Stories

Man takes father's remains from cemetery

VERSHIRE, Vt., Aug. 4 (UPI) -- A man who said he missed his late father allegedly brought home the man's remains from a Vershire, Vt., cemetery, police said.

Dominik A. Bailey Jr., 43, was charged with felony removal of human remains, WPTZ, Pittsburgh, reported.

Police in Thetford, who patrol the tiny hamlet of Vershire, said Bailey's mother called them Friday saying she believed her son planned to remove her husband's cremated remains and take them and the headstone home with him. She said she was going to the cemetery and later called police back and told them all she found was a hole in the ground.

Court papers said Bailey phoned an aunt in Connecticut and admitted taking the remains home.

Police interviewed a man Saturday who lives near the cemetery and said a man he didn't know asked if he could borrow a wheelbarrow. The man said he saw the stranger take the wheelbarrow to the cemetery.

Bailey could face a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and a fine of not more than $10,000.

Boy 'terrified' by community officer

CHURCHDOWN, England, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The parents of a 9-year-old German boy said a police community support officer in England "terrified" their son by giving him a warning for climbing a tree.

Bryan Read, 45, said his son, Kade-Liam, was playing with his cousins at a park in Churchdown, England, when they were approached by the officer, The Daily Mail reported.

"They were just playing on the park and climbing the tree when the community police came and gave them a blue slip for anti-social behavior," Read said.

He said Kade-Liam, who doesn't speak English, was "terrified" by the encounter with the officer and his family fears the boy will be too afraid to visit his cousins again in the near future.

A Gloucestershire Police spokeswoman said the officer only warned the children that others had complained about their behavior.

"It was explained that no criminal offense had taken place and that they were not in trouble but, in accordance to national policy, they had to be given a Stop and Account form to show where and why they were spoken to," the spokeswoman said.

Cabbie lets customers pick prices

ESSEX, Vt., Aug. 4 (UPI) -- A Vermont man who started his own taxi company, with himself as the sole driver, said he is making a profit by letting his customers pick their own prices.

Eric Hagen, 46, of Essex, said the idea for Recession Ride Taxi came to him while he was watching financial news in June, the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported.

"I hadn't thought about it before," he said. "I was watching CNBC -- the financial station -- and it suddenly hit me: Everybody's always hearing, 'This is what your mortgage is going to be; this is what your car payment's going to be.' People want to get away from that."

Hagen, who also works full-time for the American Red Cross in Burlington, said he obtained a cab driver's license and insurance, but the first couple weeks garnered more questions about the sign in his window -- "Pay What You Want!" -- than fares.

"People were coming up to me in parking lots and asking, 'Is this for real?' I'd tell them, 'This is for real.' And I'd give them a card," he said.

"After two weeks, business really started picking up," Hagen said.

"Nobody has shortchanged me yet," he said. "Nobody's stiffed me. I've decided to empower the customer; they like the fact they can decide."

Gold leaf-covered candy bar: $1,618

LONDON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- British candy maker Cadbury is celebrating the return of its Wispa Gold chocolate bar with a $1,618 gold leaf-covered special edition chocolate.

Ross Farquhar, brand manager for Wispa, said the expensive confection was created to celebrate the return of the Wispa Gold chocolate bar, which returns to the shelves in September for the much more economical price of about $1, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"We believe this is the most expensive bar of chocolate to go on sale ever," Farquhar said of the special edition Wispa Gold, which is being watched by a full security team at Selfridges in London.

Farquhar said the gold-leaf candy bar will be displayed for one week in the Selfridges jewelry department.

The original Wispa Gold hit the shelves in 1995 and was discontinued in 2003.