oddly enough

oddly enough

Deputy sues over hamburger with spit

PORTLAND, Ore.

A deputy sheriff n Washington state is suing Burger King and a franchise operator over a Whopper he says a worker spit on.

Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Edward Bylsma says in the lawsuit that he stopped for a meal at a Vancouver, Wash., Burger King early one morning in March 2009 and got an “uneasy feeling” about two of its workers.

When he checked his hamburger, the suit says, he found a big gob of spit. DNA testing matched the saliva to one of the workers, who eventually pleaded guilty to assault.

The federal court suit filed Tuesday in Portland seeks at least $75,000 and names Burger King Corp. and franchise operator Kaizen Restaurants in Beaverton.

Burger King and Kaizen said in a statement Wednesday they have “zero tolerance” for the workers’ actions and that both employees have been fired.

Osprey’s fumble causes power outage in Maine

BRUNSWICK, Maine

A Maine utility official says an osprey dropped a branch destined for its nest onto a power line, cutting power to about 6,000 customers.

Central Maine Power spokesman Gail Rice says it took workers about 90 minutes to restore power Wednesday in the Brunswick area.

The slippery-taloned osprey was one of a pair that has caused problems for years.

Utility workers have been doing battle with the birds of prey near a shipyard in Bath. After the birds migrate south, workers clear their nest from the transmission pole, but the ospreys keep coming back.

Rice says the utility sometimes tries to keep birds away from sensitive equipment by building nesting platforms nearby.

Sanitation workers accused of taking beer

COLUMBIA, Mo.

Two sanitation workers in Columbia, Mo., are in hot water after reportedly using a city truck to fetch beer that was going to be destroyed at the city landfill.

N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co. took 1,500 cases of expired beer to the landfill April 1. It was delivered in two shipments. The first was destroyed immediately, but the second wasn’t, leaving 700 cases of Budweiser and Michelob Ultra awaiting a similar fate.

City officials say two Solid Waste workers decided not to let the beer go down the drain and loaded about 50 cases into a city pickup. A week later, city officials found video from the landfill showing them in the act.

The Columbia Tribune reports that one worker resigned and the other could face disciplinary action.

Police are trying to decide whether any laws were broken.

Associated Press