Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Colo. court won't accept coins as payment FORT COLLINS, Colo., April 5 (UPI) -- A Colorado court has refused to let a college student pay a speeding ticket with coins, even though there is a coin-counting machine on premises. Advertisement Fort Collins municipal court workers said it would take too much time to count the coins Ted Nischan brought in to pay his $160 speeding ticket, The Coloradoan reported Wednesday. "It's not prudent use of taxpayer funds to have one of the clerks sit there counting quarters, nickels and pennies," municipal court supervisor Fran Seaworth said. Nischan said he didn't understand why the court wouldn't accept legal tender for his ticket, which he said he couldn't afford to pay with funds from his bank account after paying rent. "This is what I've got," Nischan said Tuesday at a court hearing. "Please take it. It's real money." Advertisement He said the coins had been counted by his bank, though he couldn't afford the fee the bank would charge for transferring the money into bills. Meanwhile, 20 feet away from court workers is a coin-counting machine used by parking offices. "If municipal court wanted to borrow our coin-counting machine, I'd be willing to discuss that with them," said Randy Hensley, Fort Collins' parking services manager. Seaworth said she was unaware of the counting machine, but added that even though the two departments are part of the same government, "we're totally separate." Store sells wine to 7-year-old girl EXETER, England, April 5 (UPI) -- British supermarket chain Tesco apologized after a mother complained her 7-year-old daughter was allowed to buy a bottle of wine. Maggie Waugh, 43, said she waited outside of the Tesco Express store in Exeter, England, while her daughter, Dani, went inside the store to buy her some "surprise" early Mother's Day gifts and she was shocked when the girl emerged with a box of chocolates and a bottle of sparkling wine, The Sun reported Wednesday. "The duty manager said it was a mistake and shouldn't have been authorized," Waugh said. "I can't think what the worker was doing. She obviously didn't look at what Dani was buying and just let it go through." Advertisement Waugh said she refused an offer of a voucher from the store, saying she just wants to make sure the incident is not repeated. Tesco said the employee who sold the wine to the girl was not fired but is no longer with the company. "This was a genuine mistake for which we apologize. We have reminded staff of their responsibilities when selling alcohol," the store said in a statement. Pawn shop worker accidentally shot in butt MARGATE, Fla., April 5 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a pawn shop worker was accidentally shot in the buttocks by another employee who was putting a gun into a display case. The Margate Police Department said a worker at David Bari's Pawn Shop on State Road 7 left his semiautomatic Glock .40 caliber handgun on a counter when he stepped out around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and another employee mistook it for a store item and attempted to place it into a display case, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday. The gun went off while it was being handled and the bullet struck a third employee in the buttocks and entered through the front pelvic area, police said. The employee was taken to North Broward Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to fully recover. Advertisement Police said the incident is being investigated but the preliminary investigation indicates the shooting was accidental. Councilman pays $28,800 for Twitter posts PHILADELPHIA, April 5 (UPI) -- A Philadelphia city councilman who pays a company $28,800 per year to use Twitter and Facebook for him said 53 is too old to understand the technology. Councilman Jim Kenney, who has 10 staff members making a total $654,034 per year and pays $30,000 per year to a public relations consultant, said he has to spend an additional $28,800 in taxpayer funds to Center City-based company ChatterBlast to implement his "social media strategy" on Facebook and Twitter, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Wednesday. "I, at 53 years old, do not have that facility," he said. "So I need consultant advice to communicate with a group of folks who are not necessarily in my age group." Martin O'Rourke, Kenney's public relations contractor, said using Twitter is not one of his skills. "I have no clue how to tweet; I still don't understand the mechanics of it. It's a thing of the future," he said.
