When sheriff’s deputies identified Matthew Burghardt as the person who ran over 10 mailboxes with his pick-up truck in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, they said he told them “he didn’t know it was illegal to run over mailboxes” but demanded a citation. Instead of issuing a ticket, deputies booked him on three counts of property damage and eight counts of hit-and-run driving. (New Orleans’s The Times-Picayune)

CONSULT ALL STAKEHOLDERS

Before San Francisco city leaders voted whether to recommend naming a Navy ship after slain gay rights activist, city supervisor and former naval officer Harvey Milk, supervisor John Avalos said he consulted a Ouija board to help him make the right decision. He said he believes he made contact with Milk’s spirit and that Milk spelled out letters indicating, “Good riddance to ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’” The board of supervisors approved the non-binding resolution, 9-2. (San Francisco Chronicle)

EVOLVING VIEWS

Elizabeth Halseth, a former Nevada state senator who ran on a Christian family values platform, posed in a black bikini as a write-in candidate for Maxim magazine’s “Hot 100” contest. Running as a political unknown in 2010, the 27-year-old Halseth won as a Republican in a Democrat-majority district. A campaign mailer showed her opponent with his wife, who wore a revealing evening dress, and the caption, “Not Our Values.” After becoming the youngest woman ever elected to the Nevada senate, she and her husband divorced. She resigned in February, explaining she needed to “focus my efforts completely as a mother and job seeker.” (Reuters)

STALK THE FRIENDLY SKIES

Latvia’s AirBaltic airline is testing “SeatBuddy”, a new service that lets passengers choose their seats based on whether they feel like talking with their neighbours about business, chatting for pleasure, working, or resting during flights. Passengers can also specify whether they’d like seatmates to speak the same language, belong to the same generation, work in the same business or share other cultural traits. Noting the service will be free while its “future commercial potential” is explored, AirBaltic expects that seating like-minded people together will make trips more pleasant. “The main thing is how you feel,” airline official Janis Vanags said. “How do you want to feel on this flight? How do you want the people around you to feel on this flight?”

Last December, Air France-KLM introduced a similar service called “Meet & Seat”, which connects passengers through Facebook and Linkedin. People choose seatmates after browsing each other’s profiles. (New York’s Daily News)

SHOOT THE DEADLY SKIES

More Americans are showing up at airport security checkpoints with guns in their carry-on bags, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. The agency’s blog reported that five years ago about 500 handguns were found at checkpoints, whereas last year, “over 1,200 firearms were discovered at TSA checkpoints across the nation.” The report continues: “Many guns are found loaded, with rounds in the chamber. Most passengers simply state they forgot they had a gun in their bag.” The agency insists the increase isn’t because more people are carrying guns to airport checkpoints but because it’s better at catching people with weapons. (The New York Times)

VIVE LE DIFFÉRENCE

A man checked into a Denver hospital with a kidney stone and left as a woman. “We’re in the emergency room,” Steve Crecelius said. “The nurse is reading the ultrasound and says, ‘Huh, this says you’re a female.’ It validated everything I had always felt inside.” It turns out Crecelius was born with both male and female sex organs. “I remember wearing my mom’s clothes and makeup, very secretly, not telling anybody,” said Crecelius, who now goes by “Stevie”. Crecelius said she’s grateful for the support of her wife Debbie and their six children, and said Debbie even took her shopping for her first bra. (KDVR-TV and The Denver Post)

CONSISTENCY: THE HOBGOBLIN OF SOBER MINDS

Idaho liquor regulators banned Five Wives vodka at state-run liquor stores, declaring the brand offensive to Mormons, who make up more than a quarter of the state’s population. Ironically, the vodka is sold in Utah, a state dominated by Mormons. Five Wives maker Ogden’s Own Distillery also noted Idaho allows the sale of a Utah beer named Polygamy Porter. After Ogden’s Own protested, Idaho regulators agreed to make Five Wives vodka available through special warehouse orders. (Associated Press)

HABOOBS

As part of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” campaign to promote safe driving during haboobs, severe dust storms that occur in desert areas — especially around Phoenix and Yuma — during the summer, the agency invited residents to tweet haikus about dust-storm safety. (Associated Press)

KIND OF BORING, BUT THERE’S TWIST ENDING

R.J. Williams, 22, admitted robbing 11 New York City banks in five weeks after he was caught trying to rob one of them a second time. Police said Williams was writing a note to a teller on a deposit slip when employees recognized him from the previous robbery attempt five days before. He noticed them staring at him and fled, but two bank employees followed him to where they saw him duck into a doorway and change clothes. They described the new clothing to police, who stopped Williams and brought him to the bank, where the teller positively identified him from his distinctive sideburns. Police found a demand note in his pocket. Police added that Williams holds the world record for eating an entire light bulb: 33 seconds. (New York Post)

Compiled from mainstream news sources by Roland Sweet