UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

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NRA official banned from owning guns

NEW YORK, March 7 (UPI) -- The National Rifle Association's field representative for New York and its suburbs was banned by a judge from possessing any of his 39 firearms for one year.

Richard D'Alauro, 62, pleaded guilty Oct. 3 to a harassment charge stemming from a Sept. 1, 2010, domestic incident with his wife at their Long Island home, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

D'Alauro, who was also charged with misdemeanor charges of assault and endangering the welfare of a child over the incident, admitted to Suffolk County Court Judge Toni Bean he intended to "harass, annoy or alarm" his wife "by subjecting her to physical contact."

Bean issued a one-year order of protection against D'Alauro, which prohibits from owning or purchasing firearms for one year. Police said they had to make multiple visits to the NRA official's home to round up all of his 39 firearms.

The NRA declined to comment on the case.

John Ray, D'Alauro's attorney, said the protection order would not affect his client's employment with the rifle association.

"The NRA does not require its employees to own guns," he said.

Woman, 82, kicked off train for singing

MIAMI, March 7 (UPI) -- The family of an 82-year-old woman who was forcibly removed from a Florida train for singing said she suffered possible shoulder and hip fractures.

Donald Anderson said a passenger on the Miami-Dade Metrorail train captured cellphone video of his mother, Emma Anderson, 82, being removed from the train by a security guard who grabbed her bag and pulled her from her seat, WPLG-TV, Miami, reported Thursday.

"He snatched so hard until I fell. I fell backwards," Emma Anderson said.

Donald Anderson said X-rays found his mother may have suffered shoulder and hip fractures from the incident.

"When I look at them snatching my 82-year-old mother up off that Metrorail, it's disgusting to me," he said.

Emma Anderson said the guard told her she was being removed for singing her spiritual hymn.

"I was beating my little beads with the bottle and I was singing a song, and he came up to me and said, 'Ma'am, you're making too much noise,'" she said.

Miami-Dade Transit spokeswoman Karla Damian said Emma Anderson was violating the rules by singing loudly and refused requests to stop.

"Miami-Dade Transit has a responsibility to all its passengers to provide a safe and comfortable travel experience. ... We regret that Ms. Anderson had to eventually be escorted out, but regardless of age, all passengers need to abide by the rules associated with using transit," Damian said.

Donald Anderson said the family has hired a lawyer for potential legal action.

Alderman resigns over citizenship

HIGHWOOD, Ill., March 7 (UPI) -- A Highwood, Ill., alderman said he tendered his resignation after discovering a rule requiring those serving on the City Council to be U.S. citizens.

Harvey Knapp, who is from England, became Highwood's 1st Ward alderman in October when the council unanimously approved him to replace Alderman Quintin Sepulveda, who resigned, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

However, Knapp, who has been living in the United States for 23 years but is not a citizen, discovered while going through paperwork with Highwood Mayor Charlie Pecaro about a potential run for a full term in April that candidates are required to read a loyalty oath swearing they are U.S. citizens.

The men soon discovered Illinois Election Code states all municipal officials must be registered voters, which requires U.S. citizenship.

The council is expected to accept the resignation during its Thursday meeting.

Columbia students powering through Nutella

NEW YORK, March 7 (UPI) -- The executive director of dining services at New York's Columbia University said the school is spending $5,000 per week on Nutella.

Vicki Dunn told the Columbia Spectator, the school's official newspaper, students have been eating their way through the Nutella supply at a rate of $5,000 per week since it was introduced alongside the peanut butter, jam and cream cheese at school cafeterias last month, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

"The demand has been greater than originally expected," Dunn said. "We're going through product faster than anticipated."

One 26.5-ounce jar of Nutella sells for about $7, the Daily News said.

Students said they have spotted some of their cohorts making off with entire jars of the chocolate-hazelnut spread at mealtimes.

"People fill up entire plates and eat way more than they should," freshman Jaykar Neyeck said.