oddly enough

oddly enough

Stolen ’57 Chevy returned to owner after 30 years

LAKEPORT, Calif.

Three decades after it was stolen, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air has been returned to a Northern California man — in better shape than when he originally owned it.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports Ian “Skip” Wilson was shocked to get a call from the California Highway Patrol informing him that his long-lost Chevy was taken off an Australia-bound cargo ship.

The 65-year-old says the car has had a lot of work done on it since it disappeared from his Lake County home in 1984. It was returned with a monogrammed interior, 17-inch racing wheels, rack-and-pinion steering and a 350-horsepower V-8 engine.

The retired mechanic says the two-door was in sorry shape when he bought it for $375 in 1975 with plans for fixing it up.

Cleaning woman in Italy throws out artworks

ROME

A cleaning woman in southern Italy has unwittingly thrown away contemporary artworks that were supposed to be part of an exhibition.

Lorenzo Roca, head of the cleaning company, said the woman “was just doing her job” when she thought two artworks were part of trash left behind by those setting up for the show that opened Wednesday in Bari.

Show organizers said one of the works she gave to a city sanitation crew before dawn included pieces of cookies, which were scattered on the floor, as part of an artistic arrangement.

Roca said the cleaning company would use its insurance coverage to pay for the trashed art works, whose value was estimated at 10,000 euros ($13,700).

Man sues Oregon restaurant over mashed potatoes

PORTLAND, Ore.

A man who says he broke two teeth when he bit into some mashed potatoes is suing the Outback Steakhouse restaurant in Portland, Ore.

Roger Branstetter says there were bits of broken porcelain in the food in February 2012 when he cracked two molars, and he says a manager admitted that bits of a broken plate had fallen into the potatoes.

Branstetter is suing the restaurant for $48,000 in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

A managing partner of the Evergreen Restaurant Group that owns the franchise, Jason Bender, told The Oregonian he couldn’t speak in detail about the case, but hadn’t heard of any other customers with a similar complaint. He says safety is very important to the restaurant.

Associated Press