BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) – Wake up! We’re closing!
The lights are out at MinneNapolis, a store at the Mall of America that sold naps for 70 cents a minute.
The nap center, which charged $14 for 20 minutes in a private, themed room, brought in fewer than 1,600 customers during its six-month run. That was far short of owner Steev RamsDell’s projections.
He blamed the failure on the high number of tourists who shop at the mall.
“We had people who said they loved our service and they’d be back next time they were at the mall – next year,” he said.
“We couldn’t develop the repeat business.”
Can I charge it? That’s up to you
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) – A Wal-Mart clerk noticed something familiar when a customer went through the checkout line – a credit card from her own wallet, which had been stolen two days earlier, police said.
Ashley Dawn Dover repeatedly tried to pass a credit card through an electronic scanner at the store Tuesday to pay for $120 worth of merchandise, Police Chief James Allen said Wednesday.
Allen said the clerk then offered to try the card and noticed it was her own.
“The clerk looks up at her and says ‘This is my stuff and I want it back,”‘ Allen said. “The suspect reaches in her purse, hands everything over and then runs out the door.”
Cool heads prevail in this democracy
INGLESIDE, Texas (AP) – City Council candidates in this cash-strapped city used a quirky but inexpensive state provision to settle an election tie: a coin toss.
Texas election code allows for a “casting of lots” in the case of a tie. It doesn’t specify a method.
Debra K. L. Sanders and Luis T. Lamas each received 247 votes in Saturday’s election. Rather than have a runoff election that could cost the city $4,000, the two decided to let a dollar coin settle the score Tuesday.
Lamas, the 43-year-old owner of Floyd’s Ranch House restaurant, credited his victory to customers’ advice to go heads.
Sanders, a 48-year-old employee at the Navy Fleet and Family Support Center who has served on the council before, took her loss gracefully and said she would likely run again.
Six people were vying for three spots on Ingleside’s ballot. William Vaden led with 350 votes, followed by incumbent Stewart Wilson with 340. Sanders and Lamas tied for the final spot.
“We didn’t want the taxpayers to go through the expense of having another election,” she said. “We wanted it settled quickly so the city could get on with business.”
Scott Haywood, a spokesman with the secretary of state’s office, said elections have been decided with rolls of the dice and coins tossed or pulled out of a hat. He did not have statistics on how many had been decided that way.
AP-ES-05-18-06 0634EDT
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