Watercooler Stories

Lottery winners must wait for $50 million

TORONTO, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A Canadian couple must wait months to collect their $50 million lottery jackpot while their past lottery retailing activities are reviewed, officials said.

JoAnn and Gaetan Champagne claimed their LottoMax prize at the headquarters of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission in Toronto this week and learned of the delay, The Globe and Mail reported.

The couple ran a convenience store until October in their hometown of Hawkesbury, near Ottawa, where they also sold lottery tickets.

In 2009, the gaming commission known as OLG instituted a "No Play at Work" policy in which ticket sellers are not allowed to purchase or even check their own tickets where they work.

Even though the couple sold their store, JoAnn continued working there part-time and was an employee when the ticket was purchased at another retail location, the newspaper said.

The big prize will be investigated both by the OLG and the Ontario Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the Toronto Star reported.

The couple were aware there would be follow-up investigations, the Globe said.

Closed store destroys unsold bridal gowns

EDINA, Minn., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Neighbors of a closed Minnesota bridal shop said they were shocked to find the store operator had destroyed its leftover inventory with spray paint.

Bessie Giannakakis, owner of Bessie's Boutique, located near Pricilla of Boston in Edina, said the closed shop spray-painted "thousands of dollars of gowns" and threw them in a dumpster, KARE-TV, Minneapolis/St. Paul, reported Wednesday.

Judy Mjoness, who works at a nearby salon, said the gowns should have been donated to "needy people."

"Priscilla of Boston has always donated quality bridal gowns to a variety of charitable causes. We do not, however, donate unsaleable dresses that are damaged, soiled or in otherwise poor condition," company President Patrick Walsh said.

The women who witnessed the gowns being disposed of said they appeared to be in good condition before they were spray-painted by workers.

Company plans Steve Jobs doll

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A Chinese toy company has released preview images of its latest creation, an action figure of late Apple founder Steve Jobs, who died in October.

The company, In Icons, said the 1-foot tall action figure of the former chief executive officer of Apple Inc. is expected to start shipping in February at a price of $99 each, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported Monday.

Apple, which the newspaper said also declined to comment, blocked sales of a different company's previous Steve Jobs action figure.

Mountain Dew mouse would have been 'jelly'

BELLEVILLE, Ill., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The manufacturer of Mountain Dew said an Illinois man could not have found a mouse in a can of the beverage because the rodent would have dissolved.

Pepsi Co. said in its response to a lawsuit filed by Ronald Ball in 2009 that the oil worker could not have gagged on a mouse in his can of Mountain Dew because the beverage would have dissolved the rodent into "a jelly-like substance" before it even reached the vending machine, ABC News reported Tuesday.

Samantha Unsell, an attorney for Ball, said Pepsi officials took the mouse and the evidence apparently has since been destroyed. She said Pepsi's latest legal motion to have the case dismissed is "a poor dissent."

"It doesn't say a lot about their product," Unsell said.

Lawyers for Pepsi declined to comment, ABC said.