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The skinny

By Times Wires
Published October 18, 2007

It's a death trap

With taxes like that, baby they are bound to run

Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi sure do love New Jersey, but a recent study found that more than 231,000 people have moved out of the state since 2002, and a new poll found that half of those that are left would like to follow. The poll found that 49 percent of New Jersey adults want to leave, and the most mentioned reason is because the state has the nation's highest property taxes. Where do they want to move? Florida. Because property taxes are hardly a problem here.

That way from subway

N.Y. now comes with directions

Ever visit New York and get a little disoriented upon exiting the subway? A Big Apple business group is taking steps to fix that, placing 24-inch decals at the exits of four midtown stations that show compass points and the nearest street in each direction. The group spent $15,000 on the decals - probably paying extra to get them so they can't be pulled up and rotated - and said if they are well received, they may install more. The city also announced a plan to improve the subway system, and it will cost way more than $15,000: It has started a $7.6-million initiative to clean it.

Drunk or stupid?

Limit distractions while driving

Don't drive drunk. Don't speed. Don't drive while texting. And definitely don't drive drunk, over the speed limit, while texting ... perpendicular to a set of train tracks. Police in Eugene, Ore., say Robert Gillespie was doing all of those things about 2 a.m. Tuesday when he crashed into the side of a freight train. Gillespie was alert and talking when officers arrived, then arrested when they pulled him out. No one on the train was hurt. "There are all kinds of ways to get distracted these days," said police spokeswoman Kerry Delf. "We don't recommend any of them while you're driving."

If drunk, watch what you drink

Li Man-yiu was really thirsty when he walked into a Hong Kong hospital last month, even though it was clear he had been drinking plenty of something. While waiting for someone to look at his injured toe, the South China Morning Post reports he grabbed a couple of vials from the counter and knocked them back like shots. Then he realized the vials had blood samples in them. Good thing he wasn't in the urology department. Once he realized what he had done, Li rushed to the rest room and threw up. This week, he got two months in jail for theft.

He's new to this drinking thing

Signs would indicate that Martin Ruiz of Minden, Nev., may not be a patient man. In January, just after his 21st birthday, he was arrested after car accident in which police say he was driving 70 mph down a twisting mountain road with a blood-alcohol level of 0.104, well above the legal limit. He was released on recognizance, then arrested again when police caught him drinking a 12-pack ... on the courthouse lawn. Ruiz asked to be released on recognizance again. Judge Michael Gibbons said $100,000 was probably more like it.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 18, 2007, 01:14:40]