Monday 09/27/10

Human Interest News — Posted on September 27, 2010

Sneaking and entering
Getting out of jail wasn’t the problem for two inmates in Pineville, Mo. It was getting back in that proved difficult. Officials with the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department said two inmates successfully escaped jail for several hours before being caught sneaking back into the slammer. Undersheriff Bud Gow said the two men apparently set fire to a truck outside the jailhouse to create a diversion as they snuck back in. But guards spotted the pair prowling on a roof-top air conditioner unit attempting to get in through the hole they had escaped from. They now both face escape charges that could carry a 5-year term for each.

Pricing power
What may seem like the business of one fast food restaurant owner has an entire neighborhood up in arms in San Francisco. A McDonald’s owner in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of the California city eliminated the store’s “Dollar Menu”-a move that has local residents charging the McDonald’s owner with discrimination. Against the homeless. The controversy started when owner Natalie Gonzales changed prices at her store, bumping up prices on items previously offered at $1. That caused some homeless and their advocates to charge Gonzales with trying to keep homeless people out of her store. But Gonzales says that it was strictly a business decision, and that the McDouble-now $1.49-is still a great value.

New French fashion
A recent French police crackdown means that tourists will have to double-check their supplies before embarking on roadtrips through France. A report by London’s Telegraph newspaper claimed that hundreds of Britons driving in France had been ticketed this summer for not having proper driving supplies. French law requires motorists to carry high-visibility jackets to help protect drivers in the event of a breakdown. One catch: Drivers in France who stow the jacket in their car’s trunk are still subject to the $117 fine.