Watercooler Stories

Wedding parties told to quiet down

NICE, France, May 26 (UPI) -- Couples getting married at town hall in Nice, in southern France, have been warned their ceremony will be postponed if they and their guests get too rowdy.

Officials have banned shouting, whistling, parading with streamers and flags and dancing, Le Monde reported. Folk music must be approved in advance.

As many as 30 weddings are held at the facility every Saturday during the summer. Officials say parties that get too festive can disturb others waiting to tie the knot and cause delays. thelocal.fr reports.

Starting June 1, couples will have to sign an agreement to follow the rules. If they break them, they will have to wait an additional 24 hours.

Jersey falcons put up a squawk

BAYONNE, N.J., May 26 (UPI) -- Port Authority workers said they got a rude welcome when they poked around a new falcon nest near the Bayonne Bridge linking Staten Island and New Jersey.

A biologist climbed to the top of a tower Friday to the tag a pair of falcon chicks in the nest, and received plenty of static from the parent birds.

"They were flying around, squawking at us," said Ron Marsico, a spokesman with the Port Authority, who monitored the operation.

The chicks were named Archie and Juliette and may have a pretty good life ahead of them once they grow into their flying feathers. The area around the bridge is flush with food in the form of starlings, pigeons and other birds, the New York Post said, as well as plenty of tall buildings where falcons can perch during their hunting sorties.

Man charged in drive-through gun incident

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 25 (UPI) -- Police in Florida said a man allegedly pointed a gun at three women so they would let him cut in at a McDonald's drive-through lane.

West Palm Beach Police said James Lee Cruz, 58, allegedly pulled his car up to another vehicle at the McDonald's on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard around 1:35 a.m. May 13 and pointed a gun at the women inside their car, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported Friday.

Police said the women allowed Cruz, who they said was shouting at them, to pass them in line and then followed him to his home while on the phone with 911 dispatchers.

Cruz was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated assault. He was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail, with bond set at $7,500.

iCloud sends pics of suspected phone thief

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla., May 25 (UPI) -- A woman whose iPhone was stolen on a Florida-based Disney cruise said the alleged thief accidentally sent her the photos he took with the pilfered device.

Katy McCaffrey, who said her phone was stolen during an April ride on the Disney Wonder cruise ship, said the suspected thief, a worker on the ship, apparently did not know how to turn off the iCloud function, which automatically sends pictures taken with the phone to McCaffrey's computer, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

McCaffrey said she identified the suspect by reading his name tag in one of the photos he took and he posted his pictures to Facebook in an album titled "Stolen iPhone Adventures."

Disney Cruises said the employee has been placed on "administrative leave."

"We take these matters very seriously. We have a zero tolerance policy for this type of behavior," a spokesman said. "We recovered the phone and we've been in touch with the guest."