Musical motivation

The classy music piped out of speakers at 7-Eleven convenience stores isn’t just for the customers. A number of Los Angeles 7-Elevens have started blaring classical music at night as a way to keep homeless people from loitering in front of their stores. A company official revealed to The Modesto Bee last year that they planned on testing music outside of stores to enhance customer experience. The Los Angeles Times reports a number of franchise owners in Los Angeles say the loop of classical music is designed to help curb the growing loitering problem that leaves customers feeling uneasy.

A Ruiz by any other name

What’s the best way to defeat a popular incumbent U.S. congressman? Running a candidate with the same name doesn’t seem like a bad idea. The last time Republicans challenged incumbent Rep. Raul Ruiz, the California Democrat took 59 percent of the vote against a Republican challenger who had previously been a soap opera star. Next year, Republican Raul Matthew Ruiz said he plans to challenge the sitting congressman. The Republican Ruiz, a 57-year-old carpenter from Perris, Calif., is nearly a political neophyte, having briefly run for a City Council district in his hometown.

Getting their A’s straight

Albanian soccer players looked confused prior to a European Championship qualifier match against France on Sept. 7 when French officials played the Andorran national anthem instead of their own. Albanian fans who had traveled to the Stade de France for the game gesticulated wildly, while the players’ confusion turned to anger. In response to the faux pas, Albanian players refused to take the field until their national anthem was played. A stadium announcer trying to help made things worse when he apologized to “Armenia’s fans” and begged home fans to respect the “Armenia national anthem.” France eventually won the match 4-1.

Toxic taters

More than 40,000 pounds of potatoes needed a police and ambulance escort to a landfill in Chester, Va., Sept. 5. Police in Richmond, Va., say someone had abandoned the trailer filled with potatoes in their city sometime in August. Waste disposal experts warned Virginia officials that the vegetables, after weeks of rotting in the trailer, were likely emitting a toxic gas and were not safe to handle. That meant the abandoned trailer had to be repaired before it could be hauled away. And when it was, Chester, Va., police accompanied the trailer as it was driven between 5 and 10 mph all the way to the landfill.

No open-door policy

Passengers on the Hayabusa No. 46 train on their way to Tokyo got more than a breath of fresh air on Aug. 21. That’s because the Hayabusa No. 46 is a bullet train that travels 174 miles per hour, and for a full minute on Aug. 21 it ran with one of its doors completely open. A company spokesman told the AFP news service that a janitor had mistakenly left the door unlocked. None of the 340 passengers on board was injured.

Barbecue battle

Australian vegan Cilla Carden wasn’t blowing smoke when she told her neighbors to cease common outdoor activities. Claiming that barbecue smoke from next door has ruined her quality of life, the Perth-area native has been fighting a two-year legal battle against her neighbors. “All I can smell is fish,” the vegan told Nine News. “I can’t enjoy my backyard. I can’t go out there.” Carden also complains about cigarette smoke from next door and the sound of children playing nearby. In February a lower court dismissed her request for an injunction against her neighbors’ barbecues. And in July, an appellate court directed Carden and her neighbors to work out their problems on their own. Her neighbors have organized an Oct. 19 cookout next door to Carden.

Pecks on the cheek?

A new warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged Americans to stop kissing chickens. In a notice posted Aug. 30, the CDC claimed 235 Americans had been infected with salmonella due to interactions with backyard chickens since mid-July. In all, the agency reported the current outbreak had infected more than 1,000 people. Responding to the outbreak, the CDC warned chicken owners to wash their hands after handling and not to “kiss backyard poultry or snuggle them.”

Beyond snail mail

Neither snow nor rain nor heat will stop letter carriers, but the unofficial United States Postal Service motto says nothing about snakes. According to The Caswell Messenger, the post office in Milton, N.C., has been closed due to a snake infestation. The USPS closed the post office in August, saying the small building needed maintenance. Residents of the small, 148-person town on the Virginia border were told they could get their mail in Semora, N.C., 5 miles away. In a statement, a spokesman for the USPS said they had been in touch with the property’s landlord and were hoping to resolve the problem soon.

An existential crisis

Clerks at the Texas Department of Public Safety had issued a challenge to 95-year-old Albert Bigler of Ennis, Texas, before they would renew his driver’s license: He had to prove he was born. Bigler said he couldn’t produce a birth certificate for the state because he’s never had one. His mother gave birth to him at home in 1924 in a rural area west of Fort Worth, rather than in a hospital. After being rejected by the DPS in July, the World War II veteran and a few friends traveled to the state capital to seek records, but officials there told them he doesn’t exist in the state database. Paperwork from a local Social Security office finally yielded Bigler a license on Sept. 11, and Bigler was able to drive legally to his job as a volunteer lawn mower at his local Lutheran church.