Thursday, March 24, 2011

Taxing Toilet Paper

Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle suggests a federal tax on toilet paper would be an appropriate way to fund sewer improvements.
The city will probably not be able to handle the entire $1.7 billion cost of upgrading its sewer system. By federal mandate, the work must be completed by 2024.
He said he picked up the idea from a 2009 bill introduced by an Oregon congressman that failed to become law.
"I heard about it and said, 'Well, this is simple. Let's put it on the table,'" Suttle said. "It doesn't mean I endorse it."
The mayor brought up the problem of sewer upgrades during a meeting Tuesday in Washington of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He did not talk about the possibility of a 10-cents-a-roll toilet paper tax.
In Omaha, a 10-cent tax would increase the cost by about 10 percent.
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$9,000,000

It turns out a Chicago man claimed a $9 million Illinois lottery jackpot with only a few days to spare.
The winning ticket was sold on the southeast side of Chicago on March 24, 2010, and would have been worthless if not claimed within a year.
Illinois Lottery spokesperson Tracy Owens tells that the man who bought the ticket found it last week in a tax folder and claimed it just in time.
Owens says Irving Przyborski bought a number of tickets and the winner somehow fell into the tax file. He didn't find it until he decided to do his tax returns this year.
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Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know You Needed

Man calls 911 to stop a train
There was no such thing as a free ride for a western Colorado man who hopped a freight train to catch a ride to work.
Glenwood Springs police say the cost for 40-year-old James Salazar was three days in jail after his arrest on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. He pleaded guilty.
The Fruita man was arrested after he called 911 from atop an eastbound train Saturday night. Police say Salazar wanted off the train because it was cold and the train hadn't stopped at his destination.
Police believe Salazar got on board in Grand Junction. The train stopped near Glenwood Springs, about 80 miles to the east.
Police Chief Terry Wilson says he can't remember anyone else ever calling to stop a train.
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Only thing taken was a condom machine
A condom machine has been stolen from a closed Bellingham, Washington sports bar, where fixtures are being auctioned off.
Police spokesman Mark Young also says an ATM machine was damaged in the break-in early Tuesday at the old Quarterback Pub. It's been closed for more than a year.
An auction company employee discovered the burglary. It's unknown if any condoms were left in the machine when it was stolen.
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Woman gets over a half of a million in trash-injury case
A former Southern California woman who claims she suffered neck injuries from a tossed trash bag full of tissue paper has bagged a $535,000 settlement.
Anne Burdette's has settled a lawsuit accusing a janitorial company of negligence.
Burdette claimed that in 2007, an office cleaner tossed a 3- to 5-pound bag of tissue paper down a stairwell at the UPS center in Anaheim where she worked. Burdette claims it struck her in the head and aggravated an existing neck injury.
Her attorney, Alex Galindo, says Burdette couldn't return to work and has since moved to Hawaii.
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Man protest town decision with toilets
A Kittery Maine plumber has put more than a dozen toilets on his lawn to protest a town decision that he feels led to more parking on the street where he lives.
David Linscott says the 17 toilets of various designs and colors outside his home are meant to show his disdain for the closing of an elementary school, which led to more parking near a now-expanded middle school.
He's been displaying the toilets on his lawn since the fall.
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Woman steals cruiser, Woman crashes cruiser
Authorities in Riviera Beach Florida says a woman who was handcuffed by police and placed on the back seat of a patrol car managed to drive off in the cruiser, crashing it blocks away.
Police in Riviera Beach said Monday that officers responded to a weekend call of a possible sexual assault, but the woman who complained appeared to be suffering from a mental illness. Authorities say police were still investigating Sunday afternoon when the handcuffed woman squeezed through the window to the front seat and drove off, crashing into a pickup truck soon after.
Both the woman and pickup driver were taken to a hospital, but the extent of any injuries was not clear. It's unclear what charges the woman might face. The Associated Press doesn't identify possible victims of sexual assault.
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What comes around goes around
A Boise, Idaho man suspected of stealing a wallet from the desk of a prospective employer has been arrested after calling police to report that his wallet was missing.
Boise police realized the man who reported the missing wallet matched the description of the suspected wallet thief and arrested 25-year-old Daniel Damico on suspicion of burglary and grand theft.
Police say they believe Damico disposed of the stolen wallet, but used a credit card to buy tobacco at two stores. It was when he was leaving the second store Tuesday that he thought he may have dropped his own wallet.
Police recovered the credit card and the stolen wallet. Officers suspect someone else found Damico's wallet. It has not been recovered.
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