Watercooler Stories

Widow pleads guilty to having hubby's gun

BURDSHAUGH, Scotland, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A 64-year-old Scottish widow pleaded guilty to a firearms charge after she reported the theft of a vintage pistol belonging to her late husband.

Kathleen Woodward, 64, of Burdshaugh, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh to illegal possession of a prohibited weapon and prohibited ammunition after she reported the theft last year of a Harrington and Richardson seven-shot revolver and bullets that belonged to her husband, who died in 1999, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

"I didn't 'keep it' so much as I didn't get rid of it. It sounds silly but that's how I think about it now," Woodward told the court.

The Firearms Act calls for a minimum five year sentence, but the judge deferred sentencing for the preparation of a background report, and she will look into the possibility of a community service sentence.

Cow heart left on porch

PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Police in Oregon are investigating after a box containing a cow heart was left at the front door of a home.

Portland police said the heart was left in a box Wednesday on the front porch of a home in the 2300 block of Northwest Flanders Street and the Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office identified the organ as a cow heart, KGW-TV, Portland, reported Thursday. James Lynch, a resident at the home, said there was a note left in the mailbox that said something similar to "my heart is yours forever."

"I can't even explain it or even know why someone would do it," Lynch said. "Kind of bizarre."

School speed sign lists six time periods

WHITE LAKE, Mich., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Motorists in a Michigan town are complaining about a school speed limit sign that requires drivers to read six different time periods for the speed change.

Greg Smith said the sign, which was installed near his home in White Lake Jan. 12, lists six different times that motorists need to slow down from 45 mph to 25 mph on a mile-long stretch of Bogie Lake Road near three schools, The Oakland Press, Pontiac, reported Thursday.

"You practically have to come to a stop to read it," Smith said. "I'm thinking of printing out the speeds and attaching it to my dashboard."

White Lake Police Chief Ed Harris said he will be meeting with the White Lake supervisor and officials from the Huron Valley School District and the Road Commission of Oakland County to discuss the sign.

"We are aware of it and trying to resolve it," he said.

Boss' dog uses building as a toilet

STURUPS, Sweden, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Workers at a Swedish company complain their manager allegedly allows his dog to urinate and defecate inside the building.

The staff-appointed environmental health representative at Scandinavian Avionics AB in Sturups told company officials the manager keeps his dog in the building and allows the animal to shed on the furniture and use the floors as a toilet, The Local reported Thursday.

"The boss has his dog in the building, where it both urinates and defecates on the carpet," the representative wrote in a request for action.

The representative said he tried speaking with the manager, but he refused to budge on the canine issue.

The request for action said the representative will complain to Sweden's Work Environment Authority if the matter is not given due attention by officials.