Watercooler Stories

'No colors' sign causes confusion

LAKE WYLIE, S.C., Aug. 21 (UPI) -- The owner of a South Carolina bar said no racism was intended by an anti-gang sign reading "Please notice, no colors allowed. Thank you."

"Bo" Legg, co-owner of the Knot Hole bar in Lake Wylie, said "colors" refers to colors or patches worn by gangs, especially motorcycle gangs, which are often cited as the cause of fights, WCNC-TV, Charlotte, N.C., reported.

However, Legg said he has had to explain the meaning of the sign, which was put up last month, to several people and groups, including the NAACP, who mistakenly interpreted it as a racially motivated message.

"We welcome people from all walks. That sign has nothing to do with skin color," Legg said.

"I hope everybody is here to get along," Legg said. "If you're not here to get along and have a good time, I don't want you here."

Convicted pol throws going-away bash

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Former Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Fumo found something to celebrate as he prepares to serve a federal prison term -- his engagement.

Fumo, 66, celebrated with his fiancee, Carolyn Zinni, 51, and about 350 friends, relatives and local political heavies who gathered Wednesday evening at an Italian restaurant in South Philadelphia. Fumo told guests he and Zinni are "turning a page."

The couple said they decided to become engaged during the July 4 weekend -- after Fumo's conviction on corruption charges and less than two weeks before he was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison.

Fumo is scheduled to report to prison Aug. 31. The sentence is well below federal guidelines, but Fumo had little patience with critics who said it is too short.

"I'd like those people to come with me for half the time and get their assessment," he said.

Fumo's lawyers this week asked U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter to delay his surrender date, allowing him to appeal his conviction before he serves his sentence. The judge turned down the request Thursday, KYW-AM, Philadelphia, reported.

Boy, 8, becomes youngest wing-walker

LONDON, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- An 8-year-old London boy has become the youngest person in the world to walk on the wings of an airplane in mid-flight.

Tiger Brewer broke the record -- set eight years ago by a then-11-year-old -- by wing-walking on his grandfather's biplane Thursday, 1,000 feet above Rendcomb Airfield in Gloucestershire, England, The Times of London reported.

"On take-off I was scared. From one to 10, it was probably a nine, but when I was in the air, it was probably a five," he said. "It felt amazing, like I was on top of the world. It was cold and windy but it can't be beat. You don't have a parachute, just a pair of goggles."

The boy's father, Colin, said the family was not too concerned for Tiger's safety.

"I wasn't scared for him physically, just emotionally," the father said. "He was nervous and although he acts like a big man, he is only 8. But he just kept repeating his mantra, 'Go away fear,' and he did it. He wanted to do this for years but wasn't tall enough."

Bruised apples prevent waste bin pickup

CONNAH'S QUAY, Wales, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A man in the Welsh county of Flintshire says county workers refused to pick up his garden waste bin since it contained some bruised apples.

John Mason of the town Connah's Quay said he was surprised to find his trash bin had not been emptied because Flintshire Council workers claimed the bin was facing "contamination" because of the apples, The Daily Mail said Thursday.

"I scratched my head and wondered what on earth the contamination could be at first. Then they clarified it and said it was the apples," Mason, 64, said of the incident, for which no date was reported.

Flintshire officials said the apples, which fell from apple trees owned by Mason, constituted kitchen waste not garden waste.

"Spoiled fruit or vegetable peelings may have been inside a kitchen and come into contact with uncooked meats," Andy Macbeth, the council's environmental services manager, told the Mail.