Quick Takes

Tourist tows

A Queens assemblyman has the answer to freeing up parking spots in New York City: Tow all the cars with out-of-state license plates. Assemblyman Michael Miller announced his proposal in January, saying, “We have become inundated with out-of-state vehicles taking up parking spaces on public streets to the detriment of local residents.” According to Miller’s plan, the city would ticket or tow cars parked on city streets between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Miller said the ordinance could include exceptions for visitors who apply for a parking sticker and Gotham residents who register their vehicles in other states. A spokesman for AAA called the proposal “shortsighted and unfair.”

Whopper of an error

Janelle Jones of Rochester, N.H., didn’t get what she asked for when she went through the drive-thru at a Burger King on Jan. 23. She ordered a junior spicy chicken sandwich; she received a bag full of cash. Jones discovered the mistake while driving away from the restaurant, when she found the to-go bag contained the store’s bank deposit worth $2,631 in cash. After consulting with her husband by phone, Jones decided to return the money to the Burger King.

Facebook folly

A Mineral Wells, Texas, man wanted by authorities on multiple arrest warrants took to Facebook to taunt police. In a Jan. 20 post, 22-year-old Eddie Smith wrote, “So, I have 16 warrants out right now. Lol they know where I’m at tho so, it must not be TOO bad.” But a citizen reading Smith’s Facebook page didn’t find the situation funny and reported the scofflaw to police. After a bit of digging, Detective Nick Wells of the Mineral Wells Police Department confirmed the record and found an address. Officers arrested Smith on 14 warrants, and a municipal judge ordered him to spend 51 days in the county jail for a rap sheet that included traffic citations to petty theft. “Don’t poke fun at us,” Wells said. “We’ll take care of it.”

Faux beau

A new smartphone application allows women to pretend they have a boyfriend. Created by St. Louis designer Matthew Homann, the app called Invisible Boyfriend allows women to trade text messages and voicemails with a fictional boyfriend. According to Homann, single women who use the app just want to use the text messages and voicemails to convince their friends and family that they are in a relationship. “We’re not trying to build something that could fool you,” he told Time. “Our intention has always been to build something that helps you tell a better story about a relationship you’re not in.”

Nutty for short?

A French court has ruled the parents of a recently born baby must pick a more suitable name for their offspring. After the baby’s birth in September, the parents chose to name the child Nutella—a reference to the popular hazelnut spread. But in November, a judge in the French city of Valenciennes intervened. Citing the child’s interest, the judge renamed the infant Ella after the parents failed to appear at the hearing. “A name like that,” the judge said in his order, “can only lead to teasing or disparaging thoughts.”

Nine lives

Normally it would not have been unusual for a Tampa, Fla., cat named Bart to show up in a neighbor’s yard. But it was unusual in January when he arrived there five days after being buried. A car had hit the cat earlier in the month, and the owner of the apparently dead cat buried him. “He had dug himself out of the grave and slowly made his way back home, albeit weak, dehydrated and in need of medical attention,” the Humane Society said in a blog post. Bart, who is recovering from surgery on his jaw and face, had to have one of his eyes removed but was expected to be healthy enough to return home soon.

Engine room

An entrepreneurial Tesla owner is hoping to make some spare cash by renting out his futuristic electric car as a hotel room on the popular website Airbnb.com. The Tesla Model S owner, identified only as Steve from Phoenix on his Airbnb profile, offers users the chance to sleep in his luxury electric car for $85 a night. According to the listing on the lodging website, Steve will even pick customers up from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport and offer them use of his bathroom and kitchen. According to the listing, the Tesla comes equipped with an airbed in the back. The owner does request that any lodgers check out by 8 a.m. so he can commute to work.

Board to death

Larry Markwood didn’t exactly refuse his reappointment to a Fayette County, Pa., industrial authority board, but he won’t be serving either. The reason: He died in August 2012. County commissioners told the Associated Press that they interviewed new candidates for the board and received letters from members seeking reappointment, but they mistakenly reappointed Markwood with neither an interview nor a letter. One reason for the confusion: The board had not met since 2010.

Ceiling stealing

It took no time at all for Houston police to solve a dollar store burglary on Jan. 25. As an officer walked into a Family Dollar store responding to a 911 call, the unidentified burglary suspect fell through the ceiling and landed at the officer’s feet. The officer then ordered him to remain on the floor before arresting him. According to authorities, the suspect had used a nearby tree to gain access to the store’s roof. From there, police say the suspect tried to break a hole in the ceiling in order to steal cigarettes from the dollar store.