Watercooler Stories

County sorry for Laurel birthplace gaffe

BISHOP AUCKLAND, England, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Officials in an English county said they don't have the money to reprint 50,000 brochures that falsely claim comedian Stan Laurel was born in the area.

County Durham tourism office printed the brochures claiming the comedian, half of the Hollywood duo "Laurel and Hardy" with Oliver Hardy, was born in Bishop Auckland. Bosses said they only later found out that Laurel was born in Ulverston, Cumbria, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The officials apologized for the error but said they do not have the funds to correct the mistake.

"It seems that urban myth has perpetuated an error in the Bishop Auckland town visitor map," said Craig Wilson, marketing manager of Visit County Durham. "Stan Laurel was baptized at St Peter's Church and schooled at King James Grammar in Bishop Auckland. His parents also ran the local theater, but he was of course born in Ulverston."

Iron Curtain game called insensitive

KARLSRUHE, Germany, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A German art student who designed a video game depicting Cold War-era East German border guards gunning down refugees denies his work is "cynical."

The game, "1378 KM," created by Karlsruhe University student Jens Stober, 23, and named for the 1,378 kilometer -- 856-mile -- Iron Curtain, allows users to play as East German border guards shooting refugees attempting to escape the regime, The Daily Telegraph (Britain) reported.

The game also allows players to portray refugees fleeing from the guards.

"There are enough contemporary witnesses still around who suffered from the consequences of this cruel division of Germany," said Axel Klaus Meier, head of a group dedicated to the memory of those who escaped or attempted to escape from the communist regime. "They don't need a computer game to remind them of these times all over again."

However, Stober, who received top marks for his game, said it was aimed at educating about history.

"People can play escapers too," Stober said. "This is not a cynical game. Rather I wanted to give young people an idea of what our recent German history was all about."

Fla. town drops sagging pants ban plan

COCOA, Fla., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- A Florida town has abandoned plans to bar young people from wearing low-slung pants that expose their underwear.

Members of the Cocoa City Council decided Tuesday against taking a vote on a proposed ordinance after City Attorney Anthony Garganese advised them defending it would probably mean fighting a lawsuit, Florida Today reported. He also warned them Cocoa might lose.

"It would be an expensive ordinance to defend, with an outcome you wouldn't find acceptable," Garganese said.

Pants worn with the waistband well below the waistline have been an on-and-off fad in the United States for years. Several generations of teenage boys have ignored calls from their elders to pull their pants up.

No one spoke in favor of the fashion at Tuesday night's meeting. Mayor Michael Blake and others urged parents to start enforcing a dress code.

James McCarthy, who owns a business in Cocoa Beach, said teens need to remember they might someday be asking for a job from those they meet on the street. But he conceded he told his 11-year-old son a teen they encountered in sagging pants was exercising his free speech rights.

School district reconsiders iPod ban

NATICK, Mass., Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Officials in a Massachusetts town decided to cancel a vote on banning iPods and other devices in schools after students protested the proposal.

The Natick School Committee canceled its vote on banning iPods, cellphones and other electronics during this week's meeting when dozens of students attended and urged members to let them continue to use their iPods in school, The Boston Globe reported.

High school senior Craig Dickey said music "helps me concentrate" by acting as "white noise. It blocks everything else out.''