Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Artist: Misunderstanding caused mural ban PLANT CITY, Fla., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A Florida artist said a city's ban on new downtown murals was triggered by a painting in which an armrest was mistaken for a male sex organ. Advertisement Blake Emory, who helped create a mural on the exterior wall of Hannas Antiques in downtown Plant City, said commissioners rushed to ban creation of any more murals in the historic downtown district because officials mistook an armrest protruding from between a man's legs in the picture for a sex organ, the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported. City commissioners approved the ban by a 4-1 vote Monday. "We went through the proper channels and did everything we were supposed to do," Emory said of the mural's creation. "The offending area in the mural was part of an armchair, nothing more. But when it was pointed out to me, I had it painted over immediately." Advertisement Hannas Antiques owner Edward Haynes said Tuesday he was irked by the controversy. "If the city was so interested in the moral character of the city, why don't they do something about the prostitutes soliciting on the city streets or the bums sleeping in vacant lots at night? I'm all for decency," he said. "I have a family too. But let's not get so upset and misplace our energy when it is needed elsewhere." Four charged with making crop circle ST. LOUIS, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Authorities in Missouri said four youths have been charged with using a small pickup truck to put a massive crop circle in a corn field. The owner of the corn field, Tim Cowell of Prairie du Rocher, said the crop circle, comprising a 3-acre circle with 4 acres of mazes branching out, amounts to about $10,000 worth of property damage and lost crops, the St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch reported. A neighbor of Cowell spotted the pickup truck leaving the scene and took down the license plate number, leading authorities to four youths. John Wuelling, 20, who pleaded innocent to one count of criminal damage to property, is due in court next month for a preliminary hearing. The remaining three suspects were charged as juveniles and their names were not released. Advertisement "I don't know what they were thinking," Monroe County Sheriff Daniel Kelley said of the suspects. "It's just one of those crazy things." Driver suspended for pink tie SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- An Illinois bus driver said he was given a one-day, unpaid suspension for wearing a pink tie in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. William "Bill" Jones, 46, said he wore his pink tie to work with the Springfield Mass Transit District on the first Friday in October as part of a campaign encouraging men to wear pink on October Fridays as a reminder to women to get annual mammograms, the Springfield State Journal-Register reported. Jones said he was ordered to change out of the pink tie and was later informed of the suspension as a consequence for breaking the district's strict dress code. However, officials ruled after the incident that drivers can wear pink on Fridays in October as part of the monthlong awareness push. Jones, who was forced to complete his punishment despite the district's decision, said he plans to file a formal grievance. Woman reports her pot stolen, arrested SAGINAW, Mich., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A woman in Michigan was arrested after calling 911 to report several marijuana plants were stolen from her home, authorities said. Advertisement Saginaw County sheriff's deputies said the 54-year-old woman, whose name was not released, called the emergency number early Sunday and said two men had broken into her home, threatened her with a baseball bat and fled with her marijuana plants, The Saginaw News reported. Detective Sgt. Randy F. Pfau said the woman did not possess a medical marijuana card and told deputies the plants were for personal use. The woman was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing and delivering marijuana. Pfau said prosecutors are waiting for the results from suspected marijuana confiscated from her home. Deputies said they were still searching for the two thieves, described as men in their mid-30s.
