Tangled up

Braiding hair without a license remains a crime in the Garden State. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy vetoed legislation that would have rolled back the licensing requirements for hair braiders, saying the measure went too far. Murphy suggested that instead of eliminating the 1,200 hours of training and $17,000 price tag presently required to obtain a cosmetic license, the state should require just 40 to 50 hours of training for braiders. Sponsors of the bipartisan bill argued that the state should not require African hair braiders to obtain barber training, and that the onerous time and money requirements served only to protect established hair stylists from competition.

In with the old

A jet fighter touted as a new and innovative Iranian design by the nation’s president appears to be a knock-off of a 1970s-era U.S. fighter. President Hassan Rouhani was seen on state television on Aug. 21 touting the nation’s new “Kowsar” fighter. But rather than a new design put together by Iranian developers, aviation experts say the plane looks eerily similar to the American F-5F jet first produced by Northrup in 1974. That same year, Iran purchased a squadron of the jets.

Doing a 180

How good is Sioux City North High School’s offense? It scored 81 points in a football game against Thomas Jefferson High School of Council Bluffs, Iowa. How bad is Sioux City North’s defense? It allowed Jefferson High to score 99 points. The 99-81 score makes the Aug. 31 game the highest-scoring in the history of Iowa high-school football. Jefferson reportedly had 749 yards rushing, while North’s quarterback threw for nine touchdowns.

Scratched out

A New Zealand town is exploring plans to rid itself of cats. A proposal by a regional council would not allow residents of Omaui on New Zealand’s south coast to replace pet cats that die. The plan would also register, neuter, and microchip all existing cats in the area. “We’re not cat haters,” Omaui Landcare Charitable Trust Chairman John Collins told the Otago Daily Times. “But we’d like to see responsible pet ownership and this really isn’t the place for cats.” An opponent of the proposal and local cat owner told the paper the measure made her feel she was living in a “police state.”

A rolling start

A Shanghai court convicted a pair of Chinese sportsmen of fraud after they reportedly tried to cheat in a popular pigeon racing contest. Their method of cheating: loading their homing pigeons onto a 200 mph high-speed train in order to shave time off the 405-mile race and collect the $160,000 grand prize. The court gave them three-year suspended sentences.

Inside and out

A Chick-fil-A franchise in Merrit Island, Fla., has a new neighbor: another Chick-fil-A store. The new stand-alone fast-food restaurant opened in the parking lot of Merritt Square Mall on Aug. 22. Inside, attached to the mall’s food court, the old Chick-fil-A carried on as usual just 587 feet away. The company said it plans to operate the two nearby stores for the foreseeable future. These sorts of placements are not unprecedented. In 2009, the Houston Chronicle reported on one local corner that had three Starbucks locations.

Old school manners

Impeccable manners didn’t keep a North Carolina fifth-grader out of trouble. Instead, they got him into trouble. A classroom teacher in Tarboro, N.C., admonished 10-year-old Tamarion Wilson for replying “yes ma’am” to one of her inquiries. The female teacher at North East Carolina Preparatory School had previously told her young students not to refer to her as “sir” or “ma’am.” But Tamarion’s training at home got the better of him, and he addressed her politely. As punishment, the teacher required the fifth-grader to write “ma’am” on a sheet of paper nearly 200 times. Tamarion’s parents met with the school principal and moved Tamarion to another class.

Krafty marketing

A small Florida town is turning to an alternative to mayo. Mayor Ann Murphy confirmed on Aug. 24 that the town of Mayo, Fla., population 1,237, had officially changed its name to “Miracle Whip.” At a name-changing event sponsored by the Kraft Foods brand, Murphy announced the city had received a $25,000 donation from the company to beautify the town. Residents in attendance received a T-shirt and a bottle of the sandwich spread, and the city repainted its water tower. Murphy said the name change is temporary.

Lemon bandit

Life didn’t hand Dionicio Fierros lemons. Police say he stole them—a lot of them. Sheriff’s deputies in Thermal, Calif., arrested Fierros on Aug. 24 after discovering the 69-year-old Los Angeles resident was allegedly hauling 800 pounds of freshly picked stolen lemons in his car. Officers said the arrest was part of a broader investigation of agricultural theft at Riverside County farms.