ODDLY ENOUGH | Nev. legislation raises stink over air fresheners

ODDLY ENOUGH

Nev. legislation raises stink over air fresheners

CARSON CITY, Nev.

Critics say a Nevada bill banning air fresheners and candles in public places would lead to stinky rooms and prohibit priests from using candles in Mass.

Las Vegas Democratic Assemblyman Paul Aizley on Monday presented the proposed legislation, which would set restrictions on pesticides, fragrances and candles to accommodate people with chemical sensitivities.

Proponents said air fresheners give them migraines or asthma attacks and prevent them from going to the movies or to restaurants.

Critics counter the bill would affect everything from candlelit restaurants and weddings — not to mention unmasked odors in public bathrooms that would drive away tourists.

City chooses not to name building after Harry Baals

FORT WAYNE, Ind.

A new government building in Fort Wayne, Ind., may officially be called Citizens Square, but to some not-so-square citizens it will always be the Harry Baals Government Center.

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry announced the new city and county government center’s name Monday.

The most popular choice for the building in an online poll was the “Harry Baals Government Center.” The second-place finisher was “Thunder Dome.”

The former mayor pronounced his name “balls,” although his descendants pronounce their name “bales.“

Fort Wayne officials previously said the city wouldn’t name the building after Baals because they were worried the name would be ridiculed.

City spokesman Frank Suarez offered a different reason. He says the mayor didn’t want to name the building after a person.

Durango, Colo., police now are allowed to have goatees

DURANGO, Colo.

Full beards are still banned, but police in the Colorado mountain town of Durango now are allowed to have goatees, though the department won’t say why the change was made.

The Durango Herald reports that several officers, including the chief, have been sporting the fuzzier look since the new policy took effect Dec. 17.

The Colorado State Patrol, Los Angeles Police Department and some other agencies bar its officers from having either beards or goatees.

The newspaper obtained the details of the new policy through an open-records request. Police chief David Felice didn’t respond to requests to comment.

Associated Press