Odds & Ends

Lemonade fine

LONDON (AP) » A British man and his young daughter have gained international attention for being fined for selling lemonade.

Andre Spicer said his 5-year-old daughter was left in tears after local council officers fined her $195 for selling lemonade without a license near their home in London.

The girl was selling home-made lemonade to fans attending the Lovebox dance festival when she was fined.

The four officers approached the girl and began speaking in technical legal terms, telling her that her lemonade stand infringed on local business rights.

Halfway through the interaction with the officers, Spicer said his daughter burst into tears and said “I’ve done a bad thing, daddy. I’ve done something wrong.”

“I think initially she was a bit shocked and sad,” Spicer said. “And then I suggested we try it again with a permit. And she said: ‘Oh, it’s a bit scary.’”

He hopes that his daughter will overcome the “heart-wrenching” experience and continue to pursue entrepreneurial ideas.

Spicer wrote an article about the incident for the Daily Telegraph that garnered hundreds of comments and shares online.

Local officials said the fine will be cancelled immediately. They have apologized to the family.

In a statement Friday, the council said it was “very sorry” about what happened and that its enforcement officers are expected to “show common sense, and to use their powers sensibly. This clearly did not happen.”

‘Beached’ whale

couldn’t reduce his body fat to less than 10 percent.

Walter Fisher tells the New York Post he began overeating while on a losing streak and gained 40 to 50 pounds in a month. The 6-foot-1 Fisher weighed 245 pounds and was more than $100,000 in debt in December. The Post reports that’s when a group of gambler acquaintances bet $1 million Fisher couldn’t drop his body fat to under 10 percent in six months.

The 36-year- old got financial backing from friends. He weighed 175 pounds with 8.8 percent body fat on June 22.

The feat netted him $600,000, and he tells ABC News he’ll make another bet if he gains the weight back. PARIS (AP) » A sperm whale appears to have beached on an embankment in the shadow of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Or maybe not. A Belgian artists’ collecPHILADELPHIA (AP) » Philative installed a very realdelphia police say a 65-yearlooking, life- size whale old woman stole a taxi and sculpture Friday alongside picked up a fare. the Seine River, eliciting They say Betty Thomas 30 minutes later and found surprise and concern from caught the cab aroundmida 23-year-old woman and tourists and Parisians alike. night Thursday and asked her infant daughter in the

Bart Van Peel, a member to be taken to the Sugarbackseat. of the collective, said the inHouse Casino. On the way, The mother told officers stallation is about raising she asked the driver to she had hailed the cab earenvironmental awareness make a stop at a gas station. lier, not realizing it was stoand awakening “the child len.Itwasatthestation in everyone who still is puzwhere police say the woman homas has been zled about what is real and got into a dispute with the charged with various what is not.” driver about a fare before types of theft. Her public

Kim Landman from jumping into the driver’s defender lawyer was not New York was among those seat and driving off. immediately available for taken aback, especially afPolice stopped the taxi comment. ter Van Peel spun a tale describing how the whale got stuck under a city bridge.

Parisian Charles Jean was immediately skeptical, asking whether the whale had climbed onto the quay with a ladder.

Body fat bet

LAS VEGAS (AP) » A professional gambler dropped some pounds and gained some wealth after betters wagered $1 million he

Cab theft