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Savings bonds returned to family

BUFFALO, N.Y., July 6 (UPI) -- A New York state man who found 15 $100 U.S. savings bonds in the basement of his new home was able to track down the owner's brother.

Nick Miranda, 29, said he found the envelope containing the 1984 savings bonds Monday at his rented home in Buffalo and it bore the words, "From Mom, to Michael," The Buffalo News reported Thursday.

"I didn't know what to do," Miranda said. "I didn't know if I should throw them out or try to give them back to the people they belonged to."

He said he decided to do a Google search for the names on the bonds, Lucille Rinaldo and Michael Ortalano, and about 50 phone calls later was able to track down Thomas Ortalano, son of Lucille and brother of Michael.

Thomas Ortalano, 57, said his mother died last year at the age of 80 and his brother died of a heart attack in 2005.

"He's a very, very honorable young man," Ortalano said of Miranda. "I won't ever forget him. Not because of the monetary value, just for the honesty of it, just for doing the right thing. Anyone else could have torn them up and thrown them out."

Police: Man 'wanted to go to jail'

BRADENTON, Fla., July 6 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said a man who told a deputy he "wanted to go to jail" caused $800 worth of damage to a patrol car.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office said the man approached a deputy outside the Bradenton office of the department and told her he "wanted to go to jail," the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Thursday.

The report said the man, later identified as Shakeem Fleming, 20, put his hands behind his back and told the deputy he did not have any ID.

A second deputy arrived and Fleming then climbed onto the hood of the patrol car and jumped up and down, causing about $800 worth of damage to the vehicle, officers said.

"Are you going to arrest me now?" the report quotes him as asking.

Fleming, who was found to be carrying his birth certificate and Social Security card, was placed under arrest.

Fleming told the deputies he wanted to go to jail because he "had something to do," but did not elaborate, the report said.

Tattoo's dropped 'R' worth $9,000

DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia, July 6 (UPI) -- A Canadian tattoo artist who dropped an 'R' on a client's body message has cost her employer a $9,000 legal levee for removal costs.

In December 2010, Marie Huckle, 23, went to the Newcombe's Ink tattoo parlor in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, to have a tribute to a recently deceased friend inked on the side of her abdomen.

She asked for a Gothic font to read "See You at the Crossroads," the National Post reported.

It wasn't until she got home that she realized her tattoo said "Cossroads."

The tattoo parlor first offered to do a cover-up tattoo, which Huckle declined. The parlor's owners then agreed to pay for eight laser tattoo removal sessions, which Huckle said wasn't close to removing the error.

It's "100 times more painful than getting the tattoo itself," she said.

She took legal action as it could take as many as 15 more laser treatments to remove the tattoo.

In awarding the damages, the adjudicator placed the blame on the tattoo artist.

"There is a high duty upon a tattoo artist to double check that everything is precisely as it ought to be before putting a needle to someone's skin and potentially making permanent something that the person would not want on their skin," the ruling said.

Zoo wants orangutan to quit smoking

SOLO, Indonesia, July 6 (UPI) -- An Indonesian zoo's orangutan may be moved to a small island with her mate to help her quit smoking, officials said.

The Center for Orangutan Protection and officials at Solo's Taru Jurug Zoo said getting Tori the orangutan to quit smoking has been difficult due to zoo visitors throwing cigarettes into her cage, the Jakarta Globe reported Thursday.

"We have proposed that the zoo place her on the island, in the middle of the lake, to keep her away from visitors," COP coordinator Daniek Hendarto said.

Zoo officials, who said they are considering the COP's island scheme for Tori and her mate, Didik, said they have tried to curb Tori's habit, which she learned from watching zoo visitors, but forcing her to quit has proven difficult as patrons continue to throw lit cigarettes into her cage.

"Animal keepers have warned the visitors several times, but they keep on giving cigarettes, as the animal keepers are not watching them all the time," Daniek said.

However, officials said Didik refuses to smoke and will stamp out lit cigarettes when he is able to reach them before Tori.