Watercooler Stories

Termites, rotting take down power poles

NEW YORK, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- New York City firefighters said 60 homes lost power when termites and rotting caused five utility poles to collapse.

Electricity provider Con Ed said the poles were taken out by a truck Tuesday, but firefighters said they had no evidence to support the truck claim and the poles showed signs of termites and dry rot, the New York Post reported.

Residents said the poles had been showing signs of rotting for months and they had repeatedly complained to Com Ed.

No injuries were reported but one car was smashed by a pole. Power was restored to the neighborhood Tuesday night.

Hometown of 'Ali G' considers name change

STAINES, England, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Residents of a British town primarily known as the hometown of comedian Sasha Baron Cohen's character "Ali G" are suggesting a change to the town's name.

The proposal, which has the backing of some local officials and business leaders, would change the name of Staines, England, to Staines-upon-Thames as a means of severing the town's connection with Cohen's rapper persona, the Daily Mail reported.

"I do not wish Staines to be associated with Ali G in any way. He didn't do the town any favors," said Mayor Euan O'Hara of Spelthorne Council, which has jurisdiction over the area.

However, Anne Damerell of the Staines Town Society dismissed the name change as "pretentious nonsense."

"We're just a normal place with a normal name, we do not need -- gentrifying. If Ali G gets to hear about this he'll have a real laugh at us doing something so silly," she said.

Pre-K boy expelled after growing out hair

TRENTON, N.J., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- A New Jersey mother who has been letting her 4-year-old son's hair grow out since birth to benefit cancer patients says he was expelled due to his long locks.

Renee Szablewski of Brick Township said her son Jack was expelled from pre-kindergarten at St. Dominic School for violating the hair section of the dress code, which she said was altered to ban long hair for boys after she had already paid half of Jack's $2,500 tuition, the full $75 registration fee, a $10 student activities charge and made $520 in donations, the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press reported.

Szablewski said school officials told her the boy's hair, which was being grown as a donation to the National Children's Leukemia Foundation in New York in memory of his grandfather and a child friend of the family, would not be a problem so long as she had it cut before he entered kindergarten.

Rayanne Bennett, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Trenton, said the family was given 13 months to cut the boy's hair due to the circumstances of the charity effort. She said the mother refused to discuss the issue when Jack's second year of pre-kindergarten began Oct. 1.

Neighbors complain about school's sign

TOWSON, Md., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Neighbors of a Maryland elementary school are complaining a new electric sign, with time and temperature, outside the school is "inappropriate" for the area.

The sign, erected outside the new West Towson Elementary School, blinks the time and temperature in red throughout the day, The Baltimore Sun reported.

"I just think the sign is inappropriate. It is out of character with the rest of the neighborhood," neighbor Ralph Ferrell said. "It is a sign that should be over on York Road in a commercial area."

West Towson Principal Susan Hershfeld said she believes complaints about the sign will subside once staff are trained on its use and are able to stop the red messages from blinking and alter the intensity of the emitted light.

"I think people will be much more satisfied when they see the sign isn't changing," she said.