Watercooler Stories

Search is on for big lotto winner

LOWELL, July 4 (UPI) -- The hunt was on Sunday for a multimillionaire in Mass. who bagged the biggest lottery jackpot in state history and the second biggest in North America.

The unidentified winner, who beat staggering 135 million-to-1 odds, has a year to come forward, the Boston Herald reported.

"This is the luckiest Powers Liquors in the world," store owner Jay Patel said. Patel, who accepted a $50,000 ceremonial check at state Lottery headquarters in Braintree for selling the ticket, said he started telling customers last week that he expected to provide the winner.

"I'm excited," he said. "I can't believe it. Only in America."

Patel said he has no idea who the winner is, but "hopefully a regular customer and people who need the money."

Drive launched to save cross in L.A. seal

LOS ANGELES, July 4 (UPI) -- A petition drive was launched this weekend aimed at keeping the cross in the official seal of Los Angeles County.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said 250,000 signatures would be needed to put a measure on the November ballot that would overturn the Board of Supervisors earlier decision to remove the cross under threat of a lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union had demanded the cross be taken out because it represented an improper state endorsement of a religion.

Antonovich told a news conference Saturday that restoring the relatively obscure cross to the seal where it had been since the 1950s might draw a lawsuit from the ACLU; however he believed removing it without a fight amounted to caving into a form of religious censorship.

British amendment may limit child smacking

LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- Parents in Britain could be restricted to giving their children mild smacks under plans to prevent excessive punishment, the BBC reported Sunday.

Smacking would only be allowed as far as it did not cause actual bodily harm.

The government will allow a free vote on the Liberal Democrat-proposed amendment to the Children Bill in the House of Lords. It reportedly favors this amendment over a rival one from a cross-party group of peers that would effectively ban smacking.

Any parent smacking a child and causing harm, such as bruising, scratching or reddening of the skin, could be prosecuted under the amendment. They would no longer have the protection of "reasonable chastisement," which was introduced in 1860.

Caning in the home would also be forbidden, as well as psychological distress to a child.

Peers will vote on the amendment during the bill's report stage on Monday afternoon.

Iraq ready to announce insurgent amnesty

BAGHDAD, July 4 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's says the government is ready to announce a partial amnesty for low-level insurgents.

George Sada told CNN Sunday none of the "hard-core" militants, including those accused of murder, would be eligible for amnesty. He said only those who were "misled" by the leaders of the insurgency would qualify for the second chance.

The announcement is scheduled for Monday morning in Baghdad, Sada said.

CNN said it was unclear if the amnesty would include Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite Muslim cleric who says the interim government in Iraq is no different than the U.S. occupation. His Mehdi Army militia has battled coalition troops in Najaf and Karbala.

However, in a taped interview broadcast Sunday on ABC-News' "This Week" Allawi said al-Sadr had told the interim government through an intermediary he was looking for amnesty and was willing to dismantle the army.

Study: TV chefs have questionable hygiene

GUELPH, Ontario, July 4 (UPI) -- Researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, have discovered many TV chefs have questionable hygiene.

The London Telegraph reported Sunday the researchers watched 60 hours of food programs from Britain, the United States and Canada and found for every example of correct food handling, there were 13 food hygiene errors, or about seven per 30-minute show.

TV chefs failing to wash hands was observed in 75 percent of the programs viewed, while 72 percent failed to separate raw and fresh foods.

Other hygiene mistakes observed that could lead to gastroenteritis included: wiping chopping boards with raw meat wrappers, tasting food with a spoon then using it to add ingredients, and hanging dough to dry on germ-laden kitchen taps.

"You cannot turn a home into a sterile environment. My childhood was spent eating food that had my mother's hair in it, and my children do the same," said British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, whose programs are shown on cable's Style. "I have a hardy immune system. Perhaps that is thanks to the germs."