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The skinny

By TIMES WIRES
Published March 21, 2007

TOUGH NEGOTIATOR

PETE GETS UPSET WHEN CAR DEALER WON'T TRUST HIM

In hopes of cutting the price on a new car, Pete Bo Sizelove brought a samurai sword to the car dealer. Sizelove, 30, thought he was offering the folks at Roseville Lincoln Mercury in California a spectacular deal. He wanted a $20,000 Chrysler. He offered a trade-in that he said was worth $7,000 ("It was a beat-up Honda with the bumpers hanging off," the dealer said), and an IOU for the other $13,000. The dealer said no thanks, and Sizelove came back with tools. He tried to break into the car with a crowbar. When he couldn't get in, he got on top and started beating it with the sword and a sledgehammer. He is now negotiating with police on charges of vandalism and attempted vehicle theft.

TOPS IN RANK

Utah girl has the smelliest shoes

Katharine Tuck, 13, above, won the 32nd annual Rotten Sneaker Contest in Montpelier, Vt., on Tuesday. The Utah girl's footwear was a year-and-a-half-old pair of Nikes that she used for the normal purposes: soccer, basketball, hiking. But Katherine had a secret weapon to help beat the other six finalists. She waded into the Great Salt Lake in the shoes, where they became infiltrated with brine shrimp. So while everyone else's shoes just smelled rotten, her shoes were actually rotting. And they made the judges wince. "I'm so proud of the little stinker," said her mother, Paula Tuck.

ROW, ROW ... D'OH!

Have a coxswain, need a navigator

Earlier this month, the Swiss Army inadvertently marched into Liechtenstein, then just marched right back out with no international incident. Now comes word that the national rowing team of Belarus was out practicing on a lake in Transdniestria - which is a real country, we looked it up - when they rowed into Ukraine, armed with nothing but some really long, awkward oars. But the Ukrainian coast guard intercepted and detained them. They now face charges in Ukraine. The Belarus team was training in Transdniestria because the lakes in Belarus are still frozen, making rowing way more difficult.

ELECTION REFORM

Bribery problem is that there is none

Voters in the southeastern China village of Dingmei were outraged at the news about bribery in the recent elections, according to Reuters. Mainly, they were upset that there wasn't any of it going on. It seems the villagers were accustomed to getting as much as $130 from candidates seeking their vote. "All we got was a bowl of rice and bottle of beer after all was said and done," said a man identified as Chen. "It's peanuts. You can earn lots of money if you're elected village boss, so what's so bad about dishing some of it out?"

[Last modified March 21, 2007, 02:08:51]