Short News

Court Orders Man to Complete eBay Deal
Aug 3, 2007
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - An Australian court ordered a man to hand over a vintage plane worth about $215,000 after he tried to back out of an eBay auction, a newspaper reported Friday.
The New South Wales state Supreme Court ordered Vin Thomas to complete the deal after he changed his mind about selling the 1946 World War II Wirraway plane he had placed on the Internet auction site last year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Peter Smythe, a Australian warplane enthusiast, was the only person to bid on the item, matching the $128,640 reserve price just moments before the auction ended in August last year.
But Thomas had already agreed to sell the plane to someone else for $85,800 more than Smythe's offer, and backed out of the sale, the newspaper said.
Smythe took Thomas to court, hoping a judge would force him to follow through with the deal.
Judge Nigel Rein agreed, saying the eBay auction formed "a binding contract between the plaintiff and the defendant and ... should be specifically enforced."

32,000 Quarters Leak Onto Wis. Roads
Aug 3, 2007
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Imagine the ringing noise of 32,000 quarters hitting the pavement.
An armored car company reported losing $8,000 in quarters along highways in two Wisconsin counties last month. About half has been returned.
"I guess somebody found that and figured it was an early Christmas," Jefferson County Detective Sgt. Lawrence Lee said.
Eight-hundred dollars of loose quarters was found late last month in the Madison area and $3,200 in Jefferson County the next day.
Loomis Fargo officials told authorities that a truck headed for Madison carrying boxes of quarters broke down in the Pewaukee area, so they sent another one. The load was transferred, but someone forgot to secure the door.
The driver was issued a citation for failure to prevent a leaking load.
A Loomis official declined comment Thursday.