NEWS QUIRKS

Curses, foiled again

Dorothy McGurk, 43, was receiving $850 a month in alimony by claiming she was disabled and couldn’t work. Then ex-husband Brian McGurk discovered a blog showing the New York City woman belly dancing, as well as other Internet postings in which she wrote about dancing vigorously for several hours every day. He took her to court. Dorothy McGurk insisted the dancing was physical therapy, but the judge reduced her payments to $400 a month. (Associated Press)

Metaphorically speaking

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., declared in a speech against federal support for Planned Parenthood that providing abortions represents 90 percent of the agency’s services. When confronted with the actual fact that Planned Parenthood’s abortion care represents 3 percent of its medical services, Kyl’s staff explained that the senator’s assertion was “not intended to be a factual statement.” (The Washington Post)

Hot to trot

An unidentified man caught fire while watching videos at a San Francisco porn shop and ran out the front door “engulfed in flames,” according to police Lt. Kevin McNaughton. Officers across the street from the Golden Gate Adult Superstore saw the man and summoned firefighters, who happened to be only a block away. They extinguished the flames, which caused severe burns over 90 percent of the victim’s body. Arson investigators couldn’t say why the man caught fire. (San Francisco’s KCBS-TV)

Power to the people

When the city planning department approved construction of a 50-foot-tall cell tower across the street from Stephen Stuart’s home in Palo Alto, Calif., Stuart called his colleagues at the nonprofit group that provides the city with a free Internet connection and asked them to pull the plug. The Internet Systems Consortium agreed to Stuart’s request and notified city officials that it was disconnecting City Hall and other municipal buildings. Stuart, who helped the city maintain its free Internet connection since 1994 through his contacts with different technology firms because he felt it was his civic duty, said city planners’ approval of AT&T’s cell tower violates numerous codes and could hurt property values. “This isn’t a threat,” he declared. “This is a consequence.” (San Jose’s The Mercury News)

Go green, pay green

A bill in Oregon’s House of Representatives would require owners of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to pay for the miles they drive to compensate the state for the gas taxes they don’t pay. The 1.43-cents fee amounts to the same as the gas tax paid for a vehicle that gets 21 miles per gallon. (Associated Press) Lawmakers in cash-strapped Washington state are considering charging owners of electric vehicles a flat $100-a-year fee, regardless of miles driven. (Associated Press)

Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.