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Digest

Noteworthy

By TIMES WIRES
Published September 1, 2006

JUST REWARDS

Payback's sweet for all those refills

His check for dinner came to $26. Now, figuring out the appropriate tip can be tricky business, but somehow, his mental calculator came up with $10,000. That's a 38,462 percent tip. "I couldn't move," said Cindy Kienow, a bartender at the Hutchinson, Kan., Applebee's. She said the regular customer, whom the company did not identify, generally tips well and is always low key about it. But this time, she says he pointed it out so she wouldn't think it was a joke. Kienow said she wanted to do something nice for her parents with the windfall. Then reality set in: "I feel like he wanted me to buy something for myself, and there's a Jeep that I've had my eye on." Maybe mom and dad can at least get a ride.

Hero gets official stamp of approval

When Jim Osborne, a mail carrier from Port St. Lucie, saw the destruction after Hurricane Katrina, he had to do something. So he organized a convoy of 10 airboats and headed north. Osborne rescued 20 people and his group saved more than 175 people in the aftermath of the storm. For his efforts, Osborne will be recognized as the National Hero of the Year by the National Association of Letter Carriers. The awards will be given out Thursday in Washington.

THE UNWISE

Dude, do NOT spill that cup of coffee

They're going to have to get a little more specific with those "No shirt, no shoes, no service," signs. A man in Bend, Ore., twice showed up at a coffee stand without pants. Then, when he came back later fully dressed, they called the cops. Garry Harding, 37, explained to the authorities that his ex-wife had once removed his pants before they went through a drive-through window in Montana, and he wanted to re-live the memory. Nostalgia aside, he was charged with public indecency.

Possession is 9/10ths of the law

Last week, a pot plant being propagated unwittingly in Arizona was confiscated in Arizona. Now comes word that a police substation in Duluth, Minn., needs to have its flower box weeded a little more often. A dozen marijuana plants, some as tall as six inches, were found in a planter near the station's front door. "The only thing I can say is somebody has a sense of humor," said Lt. John Beyer. Beyer said that most people use the back door, so they didn't see it growing there. Sounds like an excuse a good cop would never accept.

'QUOTE'

"Space is no longer going to be a destination that we visit briefly. We're going to learn to live off the land like the pioneers did."

Scott Horowitz of NASA, in announcing plans to build a new lunar lander.

UPDATE

Venezuela golf

Venezuela's government objected to an order from the mayor of Caracas calling for the "forced acquisition" of the city's three main golf courses to build public housing. The final decision will be in the courts.

[Last modified September 1, 2006, 01:34:04]