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Seagulls attack shoppers for food

SOUTH SHIELDS, England, July 8 (UPI) -- Pedestrians on a South Shields, England, street say aggressive seagulls have been stealing food from shoppers.

One shopper, a 27-year-old woman, said a seagull snatched a sandwich out of her hands on King Street, The Telegraph reported.

"All I was doing was trying to eat my sandwich and I get attacked by a giant seagull," she said. "It was quite scary -- I had no idea they were so ruthless. It was like that Alfred Hitchcock film, 'The Birds.'"

Catriona Campbell, 19, a sales assistant who works outside on King Street, said the seagulls are "horrible."

"I once saw one land on a man's head. It just reached over and grabbed his pasty out of his hand then flew off," she said. "It happens all the time. It's because people don't dispose of their leftover food properly and the seagulls take advantage of an easy meal."

Women are pen pals for 57 years

PHOENIX, July 8 (UPI) -- A Minnesota woman said she feels like her British pen pal is a sister because the two have grown so close, after writing one another for 57 years.

Marlene Yeomans, 70, of Wolverhampton, England, and Karen Sorensen, 70, a former Arizona resident who lives in Minnesota, have been communicating through letters since Jan. 16, 1951, The Arizona Republic reported.

Yeomans said she began sending letters to Sorensen as part of a school assignment.

"It was exciting. Letters came from across the ocean and at the age of 12 it was hard to comprehend how far everything was," Sorensen told the Republic.

Since the women began writing, Sorensen has twice traveled to England to visit Yeoman, the report said.

The pen pals said they met again recently in Arizona when Yeoman finally made her first trip to the United States.

"Writing over the years has brought us together. We feel like we're sisters," Sorensen said.

City apologizes for incorrect lawn letters

CANTON, Ohio, July 8 (UPI) -- Health officials in Canton, Ohio, have apologized to six property owners mistakenly cited for high grass and weeds.

The department said it apologized by letters and phone calls to the homeowners who were sent letters declaring their properties public health nuisances, the Canton Repository reported.

Rose Ward said she was shocked to receive a letter from the Health Department ordering her to cut down high grass and weeds in her yard. She said she has kept her lawn and garden meticulously maintained since moving into her house in 1972.

"Why wouldn't they check first to make sure you have accurate information before you do something, because my blood pressure went up," Ward said.

"Failure to comply with this order may result in the Canton City Board of Health furnishing the materials and labor necessary to abate this nuisance and placing the cost of such abatement as a lien upon your property," the letter received by Ward stated.

Mark Adams, the city's director of environmental health, said the citation process is being fine-tuned to prevent future mistakes.

Man sues over $9,500 Verizon bill

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 8 (UPI) -- A West Palm beach, Fla., man is suing Verizon Wireless in state court after his family incurred a $9,500 wireless Internet bill in just 11 days.

Steven Sprague, 48, said he was given a free wireless card for his laptop computer when he re-upped his two-year contract with Verizon and the suit claims he was told by a sales agent that the unlimited wireless card usage from his previous plan would carry over, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post reported.

However, the card was broken by Sprague's wife after only 11 days of use by the couple and their three children, ages 16, 12 and 8. Nonetheless, Sprague said, his bill for the month was nearly $9,500.

"I was ticked off at her for breaking the card, but she was doing me the biggest favor in the world," he said. "At least it stopped there."

Sprague said he took the bill to the Circuit City kiosk where he re-upped his contract and found the plan was not unlimited, but instead included a 49-cent surcharge for each megabyte over 5 gigabytes of monthly use.

"This case is either the classic bait-and-switch situation or, worst case, just a blatant attempt to get people in a contract where they don't know what they are getting into," said Sprague's lawyer, Philip Valente Jr.