ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Judge: Collarless cabbie shouldn’t be sent to jail

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

A Florida judge says he won’t send a cabbie to jail for violating a city ordinance requiring a collared shirt.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that during a hearing for Keith Gordon, Volusia County Judge David Foxman suggested the city review its cab ordinance. Police gave Gordon a notice to appear in court for violating city regulations by wearing jean shorts and a shirt without a collar during Bike Week.

The infraction includes a fine up to $500 and 60 days in county jail.

During a May 23 hearing, Foxman questioned the policy of misdemeanor charges for a clothing violation, adding it’s like living “in a communist country or something.”

City Attorney Robert Jagger told the newspaper it’s a civil violation even though there’s a possibility of jail time.

Woman who scammed scammer charged with theft

WOLFEBORO, N.H.

Police say a New Hampshire woman who answered a scammer’s ad to pick up and ship an illegally purchased computer has been charged with stealing the laptop and shipping magazines instead.

Wolfeboro police in March were contacted by a business owner who said a hacker used their account to buy a computer.

WMUR-TV reports police said 51-year-old Jennifer Wozmak answered an online “job” to ship the computer overseas. But they said she didn’t send the laptop, just magazines. She sold the computer to someone else.

She’s been charged with theft. Wolfeboro Police Chief Dean Rondeau says she had no affiliation with the original scammer, other than the advertisement.

Burning bird falls from wire, torches dry field

BERLIN

Police say a burning bird falling from an overhead electric line set fire to a field in northern Germany that was parched by dry weather, torching some 17 acres of land.

Police in the Baltic Sea port city of Rostock said witnesses reported that the bird caused a short-circuit in a railway power line and fell to the ground in flames.

The neighboring field then caught fire, and more than 50 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blaze July 3.

Farmers in northeastern Germany have been complaining of the effects of a persistent lack of rain over the past two months.

Associated Press