UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Brits buying top-end TP for holidays

LONDON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- British supermarkets say sales of premium toilet paper are spiking during the holiday season as people stock up on the soft stuff to impress guests.

Store chain Sainsbury's said quilted, patterned and extra-thick toilet rolls accounted for 24 percent of overall toilet paper sales during the second week of November and increased to 35 percent during the second week of December, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

Meanwhile, Asda said quilted toilet paper sales at its stores across Britain have increased by a factor of four in the past two weeks.

Officials at the stores said they have also seen increases in sales of goods including Earl Grey tea and filter coffee at the expense of their cheaper counterparts on the shelves.

"Embracing the inner 'snob' and 'keeping up with the Jones' syndrome is a trait often associated with the British," Asda spokeswoman Jennifer England said. "We've seen a distinct trend in shoppers trading up at this time of year."

Candidate's sprout record bid falls flat

LUTON, England, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A British TV presenter turned political candidate failed in her bid to break the world record for eating Brussels sprouts after finishing only five in a minute.

Esther Rantzen, former host of "That's Life" and a candidate for Parliament from the Luton South, England, constituency, finished only five sprouts in a minute, far less than the world record of 31, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

The event, at the Indoor Market in Luton, England, involved 13 other failed attempts at the record and raised about $650 for the children's ward at Luton and Dunstable Hospital.

"How someone ate 31 in a minute I will never know," Rantzen said. "I think you would need quite tough training for that."

Market supervisor Steve Cook said his brother-in-law, Royal Air Force serviceman Mark Burton, came the closest to the record by finishing 17 sprouts in one minute during the event.

Skunk relocation stinks to town residents

OCEAN CITY, N.J., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Skunks captured on a New Jersey island borough and relocated to a wildlife area have prompted complaints in a nearby community, that town's mayor says.

Upper Township Mayor Richard Palumbo said about two dozen skunks taken from Avalon, N.J., and moved to the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area appear to be responsible for a growing number of skunk complaints, The Press of Atlantic City, N.J., reported Sunday.

"We were receiving all these complaints over the amount of skunks on some of the properties that border the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area," Palumbo said.

The animal control officer for Avalon said the skunks moved to the wildlife area were among 74 captured in the borough this fall.

Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Darlene Yuhas said Avalon was not given permission to place skunks in the state preserve and an investigation would take place.

Palumbo told The Press while he recognizes Avalon's need to solve its nuisance wildlife issues, he doesn't want his town to pay the price.

"Obviously, they still want to address the problem they have there, but we're hoping it doesn't add to our problem," the mayor said.

Probation officer gets date veto power

APPLETON, Wis., Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin judge ordered a man who fled the state in a stolen car with his 16-year-old girlfriend to submit future dates to his probation officer for approval.

Jordan Christensen, 19, of Appleton, Wis., who was arrested May 26 for stealing a car, taking a gun from his foster parents' home and fleeing to Tennessee with his 16-year-old girlfriend, was convicted of theft of a firearm, auto theft and a count of bail-jumping for violating a court order to avoid contact with the girl after his arrest, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported Monday.

Outagamie County Judge John Des Jardins sentenced Christensen to a year in jail with six months credit followed by three years of probation. During the probation, Des Jardins ordered "no dating of the opposite sex without permission of your probation agent."