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Letter to the editor

The skinny

By Times Wires
Published December 21, 2007

More quarters

U.S. Territories to get minted after U.S. states

The U.S. Mint has had so much success with its state quarters program, Congress has decided that there is no reason for it to end just because it ran out of states. So in 2009, there will be a quarter honoring Washington, D.C. Then there will be quarters honoring American Samoa it says American right in the name, the U.S. Virgin Islands (same idea), Guam, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, which most people will not have heard of until they get its quarter. Legislators passed the state quarter program in 1998, and now say that the snub of Washington, D.C., was an oversight.

Meter fees used to pay for new meters

The profit margin is pretty low, but stealing Atlanta parking meters seems to be the perfect crime. The city says it had to replace about 39 percent of its meters this year due to theft, but that the city is not reporting the stolen meters, and therefore the police are not investigating. Thieves have sawed off more than 500 meters, and the city is replacing them to the tune of $500 each. They say that the new ones are more secure and that the program pays for itself.

Courting in court

In lieu of gift, groom needs bail money

The dearly beloved of Antonio Harris and Aretha Thomas gathered Monday to watch a Cincinnati judge increase Harris' bail to $200,000. Well, technically they gathered to see those two crazy kids get married, but it seems Harris, 34, couldn't make it out of jail in time for an evening wedding. So at the hearing where the judge boosted bail, the couple also got married in a somewhat impromptu ceremony. "I know it's kind of unusual," said Thomas, 32. "But that's everyday life." Well, at least it is for people getting married to guys who face drug trafficking and weapons charges. The couple got to kiss after exchanging I do's, but the honeymoon may have to wait up to 38 years if Harris is convicted.

Kristoff Kringle

Santa Kyrgyzstan's mountain man

The former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan has a mountain peak honoring Vladimir Lenin, who wasn't jolly at all, and another honoring Boris Yeltsin, who often sported rosy cheeks. Now the predominantly Muslim nation plans to deem another peak as Mount Santa Claus. They admit it's a marketing scam. "We want to develop tourism, and Santa Claus is an ideal brand to help us do this," said tourism official Nurhon Tadzhibayeva. The country also intends to host annual games in which Santas from all over the world will test their chimney-climbing, sled-racing and tree-decorating skills. Coincidentally - or not - researchers indicated earlier this month that Kyrgyzstan was a logical place for the North Pole to be located. Or as logical a place as anywhere.

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

[Last modified December 21, 2007, 00:44:07]