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New Zealand says a number is not a name
By JIM WEBSTER
Published June 22, 2007
Baby names have to get through a strict approval process in New Zealand. Well, not strict so much, just that parents have to file the name with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, which can tell you to try again. Pat and Sheena Wheaton found this out recently when they went to name their son 4real. Names can't start with a number, officials said, possibly making up the rules as they went along. "The name has not at this stage been rejected, " Registrar-General Brian Clarke said. "We are currently in discussions with the parents ... to clarify the situation." WATER WORKS
A fire in the pool would make it legal Firefighters in Kansas City didn't see a fire in the empty swimming pool, but there they were shooting water from a hydrant into it. And when police saw them doing it, there was a problem. The crew of three will remain on duty during the investigation. Officials say there is a very specific word to describe filling a private swimming pool with water from a fire hydrant: theft. ART IMITATES DEATH
Statue statement has London on edge Artist Antony Gormley thought it would be really artistic if he made nude statues of himself and installed them on rooftops throughout central London. So he made the statues and put 31 of them up throughout the city in early May. One problem: People throughout the city keep calling police to report a would-be suicide jumper. The call volume has died down, and police only get two or three calls a day now. So far, none of the statues has jumped. Missing body is gallows humor The Cook County morgue in Chicago had a little problem. One of its bodies was missing. The problem was solved, however, when one of the larger bodies was moved, revealing the body of a small woman, Rosalie Schultz, behind it. "Apparently she was overlooked, " said Rosemary Fogell, Schultz's cousin who was taking the mishap in stride. "Rosalie would have laughed at all this." PAYMENT DUE
Some things should not be on a tab Joseph T. Parrott of West Burlington, Iowa, is accused of stealing about $200 worth of services from the Lumberyard II in Cedar Rapids. It should be noted that the Lumberyard is not necessarily the woodworking mecca that the name might imply, but it is a strip club. And according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the services Parrott, 20, is accused of not paying for were lap dances. It was not immediately clear why Parrott got lap dances two through eight when he did not pay for lap dances one through seven. Compiled by staff writer Jim Webster from Times wire services and other sources.
[Last modified June 22, 2007, 04:53:59]
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