ODDLY ENOUGH | Report: Iran president’s car sold for $2.5 million

ODDLY ENOUGH

Report: Iran president’s car sold for $2.5 million

TEHRAN, Iran

A semiofficial Iranian news agency says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 34-year-old car has been sold for nearly $2.5 million at an auction to raise money for a low-income housing project.

ISNA’s report Tuesday doesn’t identify the buyer but quotes the individual’s lawyer, Mamoud Isari, as saying the buyer plans to build a museum and exhibit the car.

The 1977 white Peugeot sedan was put up for auction in January in a move by the president to appear to fulfill a campaign promise to put a roof over the head of every Iranian.

Ahmadinejad made a point of being seen in the sedan when he was Tehran mayor. He has used the car rarely since becoming president in 2005.

The car probably would sell for $2,000 on the local market.

Pittsburgh company sues to defend ‘Bio Cremation’

PITTSBURGH

A Pittsburgh company that markets funeral supplies and services says in a federal lawsuit that its so-called “Bio Cremation” service is being targeted by unfair claims by competitors.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says Matthews International Corp. filed the lawsuit Monday against two related firms that claim the process already is patented, BioSafe Engineering and Digestor LLC of Brownsburg, Ind.

Philip Mervis heads the Indiana firms and says the water-based process known as alkaline hydrolysis dehydrates corpses, doing in a few hours what it takes nature decades to accomplish.

Attorneys for Matthews claim the patent isn’t valid because the same process already was patented as a means of disposing of other forms of waste.

Mass. town approves plan to shame property owners

WEBSTER, Mass.

The health board in a Massachusetts town has approved a plan to shame owners of rundown buildings into fixing and securing their properties.

The plan approved Monday by the Webster board allows the town to place 4-foot-by- 8-foot signs on the sides of dilapidated buildings with the owner’s name, address and telephone number.

Selectman Mark Dowgiewicz says it costs up to $9,000 per year for police responses and other expenses to deal with squatters, vandals and other problems.

Building Inspector Theodore Tetreault tells The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester that building owners have ignored requests from the town to secure vacant properties.

Webster is a town of about 16,000 nearly 60 miles southwest of Boston.

Associated Press