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Sunday, July 06, 2008
Swiss court rules on noisy chicken
A Swiss court has ordered that a chicken be locked up in a soundproof box every night so its neighbours can get a good night's sleep.
The court at Ticino in southern Switzerland even stipulated that the box, in which the chicken must be kept from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am, should be at least eight centimetres (three inches) thick and insulated with glass wool.
The decision ends a five-year battle between the authorities in the village of Sant'Antonio and the chicken's owner.
The authorities, alerted by complaints from neighbours, earlier ordered that the bird be put in a henhouse at night. The measure, however, was found to be pointless.
The court at Ticino in southern Switzerland even stipulated that the box, in which the chicken must be kept from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am, should be at least eight centimetres (three inches) thick and insulated with glass wool.
The decision ends a five-year battle between the authorities in the village of Sant'Antonio and the chicken's owner.
The authorities, alerted by complaints from neighbours, earlier ordered that the bird be put in a henhouse at night. The measure, however, was found to be pointless.
German town celebrates next chord in a 639-year concert
A note from a piece by a US composer is to be played this weekend in a German town in what has been called the world's slowest and longest concert.
The church organ in Halberstadt will play the next - sixth - chord of John Cage's As Slow As Possible work.
The performance began in 2000 and is scheduled to last a total of 639 years.
The idea of taking so long to get through the composer's piece is to find a musical way of countering the hustle and bustle of modern life.
Its maiden performance lasted a rather normal 29 minutes. A subsequent version took 71 minutes. But at the medieval church in Halberstadt, they are really testing the patience of the audience.
This weekend, weights holding down the organ pedals will be shifted and the sixth chord change will occur, to much celebration in the town centre.
You can hear the latest note here.
The church organ in Halberstadt will play the next - sixth - chord of John Cage's As Slow As Possible work.
The performance began in 2000 and is scheduled to last a total of 639 years.
The idea of taking so long to get through the composer's piece is to find a musical way of countering the hustle and bustle of modern life.
Its maiden performance lasted a rather normal 29 minutes. A subsequent version took 71 minutes. But at the medieval church in Halberstadt, they are really testing the patience of the audience.
This weekend, weights holding down the organ pedals will be shifted and the sixth chord change will occur, to much celebration in the town centre.
You can hear the latest note here.
91-year-old woman gets stuck under car for 2 days
A 91-year-old woman who had crawled under her car to look for her keys ended up stuck beneath an axle for two days until her mail carrier noticed letters piling up, police said.
Betty Borowski, of the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale, was found Tuesday and remained in a hospital in critical intensive care on Friday, her niece Nancy DiMarco said. The hospital would not give an update on her condition.
Borowski, who lives alone, became stuck on June 29 while looking for her keys; her head apparently got pinned by the axle, Greendale Police Chief Rob Dams said. "She was pretty well wedged in there," Dams said. "It looks like she crawled under headfirst."
Borowski's mail carrier noticed on Tuesday that the previous day's mail was still in her mailbox, police said. He rang the doorbell and then asked a neighbor whether he had seen Borowski lately. He hadn't, so they called police.
Firefighters lifted the car with a jack and removed Borowski, who was dehydrated and confused.
It turned out her keys were in the car door.
Betty Borowski, of the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale, was found Tuesday and remained in a hospital in critical intensive care on Friday, her niece Nancy DiMarco said. The hospital would not give an update on her condition.
Borowski, who lives alone, became stuck on June 29 while looking for her keys; her head apparently got pinned by the axle, Greendale Police Chief Rob Dams said. "She was pretty well wedged in there," Dams said. "It looks like she crawled under headfirst."
Borowski's mail carrier noticed on Tuesday that the previous day's mail was still in her mailbox, police said. He rang the doorbell and then asked a neighbor whether he had seen Borowski lately. He hadn't, so they called police.
Firefighters lifted the car with a jack and removed Borowski, who was dehydrated and confused.
It turned out her keys were in the car door.
Vain model convicted of lying about her age
An aspiring model who shaved eight years off her age in a bid to make it big in America narrowly escaped jail. British Saskia Porter, then 35, was convinced she had to recapture her late 20s at least on paper if the Hollywood job offer she had received was to going to become a signed contract.
Excited by the prospect it might also lead to presenting a television show, she lost little time forging her birth certificate and changing 1971 into 1979. Porter then used it to get a replacement passport, telling the authorities her dog had dined on her old one, London’s Southwark Crown Court heard.
Peter Zinner, prosecuting, explained that seven months later she sent it to the American embassy staff with a visa application. "They checked her passport against their records which showed she had not only travelled to the US in the past but that on this occasion her date of birth had been eight years earlier."
Porter, now 36, of Tyrwhitt Road, Lewisham, south-east London, pleaded guilty to making an untrue statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport on March 19 last year, and possessing false identity documents.
Passing sentence the judge told her: "Although, of course, normally it is a woman’s privilege not to tell the exact truth about her age, that does not apply when you are completing details for an application for a passport. Quite clearly this case is a serious matter.
"But while this case would ordinarily attract an immediate sentence of imprisonment due to the security risks to both the United States and the United Kingdom, it was motivated by vanity rather than for a nefarious reason. So I can find exceptional circumstances that would allow me to suspend the nine month sentence I would otherwise have passed for 12 months."
Excited by the prospect it might also lead to presenting a television show, she lost little time forging her birth certificate and changing 1971 into 1979. Porter then used it to get a replacement passport, telling the authorities her dog had dined on her old one, London’s Southwark Crown Court heard.
Peter Zinner, prosecuting, explained that seven months later she sent it to the American embassy staff with a visa application. "They checked her passport against their records which showed she had not only travelled to the US in the past but that on this occasion her date of birth had been eight years earlier."
Porter, now 36, of Tyrwhitt Road, Lewisham, south-east London, pleaded guilty to making an untrue statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport on March 19 last year, and possessing false identity documents.
Passing sentence the judge told her: "Although, of course, normally it is a woman’s privilege not to tell the exact truth about her age, that does not apply when you are completing details for an application for a passport. Quite clearly this case is a serious matter.
"But while this case would ordinarily attract an immediate sentence of imprisonment due to the security risks to both the United States and the United Kingdom, it was motivated by vanity rather than for a nefarious reason. So I can find exceptional circumstances that would allow me to suspend the nine month sentence I would otherwise have passed for 12 months."
Cat survives 1,000 mile trip - giving birth on the way
A stowaway cat has been nominated for a "feline oscar" after surviving a 1,000 mile journey from Hungary to the UK during which she gave birth to two kittens.
Mia, a two-year-old tabby-tortoiseshell, was heavily pregnant when she jumped into the back of a lorry at the Suzuki factory in Ezstergom, looking for a safe place to give birth.
The lorry then made its way to Suzuki's Milton Keynes site in the UK and was not opened for seven days.
Photo from here.
Despite a lack of food or water, Mia managed to survive the trip and produced two kittens. It is believed she licked the condensation on the side of the lorry to stay alive.
After the lorry arrived in Milton Keynes, warehouse staff spotted Mia jumping out of the back and the two kittens were found among the pallets.
Mia has been nominated for the 'Most Incredible Story' category at the forthcoming Rescue Cat Awards 2008 ceremony.
Mia, a two-year-old tabby-tortoiseshell, was heavily pregnant when she jumped into the back of a lorry at the Suzuki factory in Ezstergom, looking for a safe place to give birth.
The lorry then made its way to Suzuki's Milton Keynes site in the UK and was not opened for seven days.
Photo from here.
Despite a lack of food or water, Mia managed to survive the trip and produced two kittens. It is believed she licked the condensation on the side of the lorry to stay alive.
After the lorry arrived in Milton Keynes, warehouse staff spotted Mia jumping out of the back and the two kittens were found among the pallets.
Mia has been nominated for the 'Most Incredible Story' category at the forthcoming Rescue Cat Awards 2008 ceremony.
Drunk motorist caught at 5mph
A drunk motorist was driving so slowly that a police officer caught him on foot and pulled his keys out of the ignition.
Financial adviser Richard Wigley, 39, swerved from side to side as he crawled along the seafront in his Vauxhall Astra at 5mph.
Wigley, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, failed to give a breath test - just four days after he had been caught at two-and-a-half times the limit.
Magistrates banned him for three years for both offences after he admitted drink-driving.
Financial adviser Richard Wigley, 39, swerved from side to side as he crawled along the seafront in his Vauxhall Astra at 5mph.
Wigley, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, failed to give a breath test - just four days after he had been caught at two-and-a-half times the limit.
Magistrates banned him for three years for both offences after he admitted drink-driving.
Only Catholics can ride on the school bus
A council has been accused of religious discrimination after banning a schoolgirl from taking its bus to her Roman Catholic school because she has not been baptised. Jessica Millest, 15, will now have to take four separate buses to complete the 18 mile journey after her local authority banned non-Catholics from using the service.
She said: "Non-religious people are seen as non-entitled, so they are not allowed to use the bus as of next term. It seems a bit discriminatory to me that I'm not allowed on the bus because of my religion."
Photo from here.
Jessica, who is studying for her GCSEs, has paid £120 per term to use the subsidised service to travel to St Mary's RC school in Lugwardine, Herefordshire, from her home in Linton but was recently told that from September Herefordshire County Council was removing availability to the 40 per cent of non-Catholic pupils at the 700-pupil school.
A spokesman for Herefordshire Council said it could save £22,000 a year by withdrawing seats for non-Catholic students, around 50 of which are affected.
She said: "Non-religious people are seen as non-entitled, so they are not allowed to use the bus as of next term. It seems a bit discriminatory to me that I'm not allowed on the bus because of my religion."
Photo from here.
Jessica, who is studying for her GCSEs, has paid £120 per term to use the subsidised service to travel to St Mary's RC school in Lugwardine, Herefordshire, from her home in Linton but was recently told that from September Herefordshire County Council was removing availability to the 40 per cent of non-Catholic pupils at the 700-pupil school.
A spokesman for Herefordshire Council said it could save £22,000 a year by withdrawing seats for non-Catholic students, around 50 of which are affected.
Footballer hit man with handbag
A Championship footballer has been fined £1,350 after hitting a nightclub doorman with his girlfriend's handbag in Plymouth last November.
Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and a public order offence outside the Candy Store club. The court heard Greg Smith, 37, suffered a 3in (7.6cm) cut to his head.
He was ejected from the Candy Store with friends at about 0400 GMT on 11 November and an argument started on the pavement outside.
Prosecuting barrister David Gittins said CCTV footage showed Ebanks-Blake holding "something over his head" which he hit the doorman with.
He said: "It was his girlfriend's handbag. Having been ejected from the club there was a fracas. We do not know what was in the handbag. There was a two to three inch cut on the man's head."
At Plymouth Crown Court, Judge Francis Gilbert QC said he was a man of previous good character and gave him credit for pleading guilty. Ebanks-Blake was also ordered to pay compensation of £500 and prosecution costs of £650.
You can see a video of the incident here.
Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and a public order offence outside the Candy Store club. The court heard Greg Smith, 37, suffered a 3in (7.6cm) cut to his head.
He was ejected from the Candy Store with friends at about 0400 GMT on 11 November and an argument started on the pavement outside.
Prosecuting barrister David Gittins said CCTV footage showed Ebanks-Blake holding "something over his head" which he hit the doorman with.
He said: "It was his girlfriend's handbag. Having been ejected from the club there was a fracas. We do not know what was in the handbag. There was a two to three inch cut on the man's head."
At Plymouth Crown Court, Judge Francis Gilbert QC said he was a man of previous good character and gave him credit for pleading guilty. Ebanks-Blake was also ordered to pay compensation of £500 and prosecution costs of £650.
You can see a video of the incident here.
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