ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

UK legislator pans prison policy involving guitars

LONDON

A guitar-loving British legislator has challenged a policy that he says makes it impossible for prisoners to play steel-stringed or electric guitars.

The Labour Party’s Kevin Brennan on Tuesday cited singers Johnny Cash and Billy Bragg as people who helped bring music into prisons for rehabilitative purposes.

He said government policy was making it more difficult for prisoners to develop their musical skills.

Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright said he wants prisoners to be able to play guitars solo or in groups but that “some restrictions” had to be imposed.

There are fears that steel strings could be used as weapons.

Wright said he would review regulations to make sure they are appropriate.

One of Cash’s most-famous songs, “Folsom Prison Blues,” depicts the plight of a convicted murderer stuck in prison.

Not quite armed: Maine man’s ‘gun’ turns out to be a tattoo

NORRIDGEWOCK, Maine

Police armed with assault rifles descended on a Maine man’s home after members of a tree-removal crew he’d told to clear off his property reported that he had a gun.

Turns out the “gun” the tree crew had seen on Michael Smith of Norridgewock was just a life-sized tattoo of a handgun on his stomach.

Smith, who works nights, was asleep when the tree crew, contracted by a utility to trim branches near power lines, woke him up about 10 a.m. Tuesday.

He went outside shirtless and yelled at the workers to leave. When he’s not wearing a shirt, the tattoo looks like a gun tucked into his waistband.

Smith told the Morning Sentinel the tattoo has never been a problem before. Police didn’t charge him.

Colorado county officials say toilets in tree are not art

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.

Code-enforcement officers in Colorado are agreeing with neighbors who say several toilets hanging from a tree in a community near Colorado Springs are not art.

El Paso County Code Enforcement Officer Gayle Jackson is disputing claims by an unidentified homeowner who says the toilets are works of art and will be used as bird feeders. The man says he will take the commodes down, but he still plans to keep them on his property. So far, no citations have been issued.

According to KRDO-TV, the county says the rubbish ordinance is designed to protect the public health, safety and welfare of citizens by eliminating and controlling rubbish in the county.

Associated Press