Health authorities in Thailand are clamping down on a Thai teen fashion fad – wearing fake orthodontic braces.
Officials said Thursday they plan to target those who sell and make the pseudo dental gear with steep fines and prison time.
Girls flashing multicolored metallic grins are regularly featured in teen magazines as braces have become more common in Thailand, transforming the dental gear into a fashion statement.
Rather than getting fitted for the real and expensive option, teens have been buying do-it-yourself kits in stores and selecting colored rubber bands to match their outfits or moods.
Rasamee Vistaveth, secretary-general of the Consumer Protection Board, said the agency was planning to sign an order Thursday punishing sellers of fake braces with six months in prison or a $1,300 fine. Importers and producers could face up to a year behind bars and a $2,600 fine.
Bird-watchers bring mice in hope of seeing rare owl
Bird enthusiasts flocking to catch a glimpse of the rare northern hawk owl are aggravating homeowners in Lyndonville, N.Y.
It seems some of the enthusiastic bird lovers are bringing mice and setting them free in surrounding fields, hoping to see the owl swoop down and hunt.
Some of the mice have been fortunate enough to escape, and homeowners are complaining that the rodents are fleeing right into their houses.
Yates Supervisor Russ Martino is asking bird lovers to stop bringing mice with them on their visits.
Great Pyrenees dog saves sheep from fire
A Great Pyrenees guard dog herded more than a dozen sheep to safety after a barn caught fire in Carnation.
Diane Pagel and her husband, Jeff Freeman, initially thought they had lost as many as 20 prized sheep when the blaze broke out last week.
Then they discovered all but six sheep had been herded to safety by Kodiak, their guard dog.
“Sheep will go to where it is safe, and for them that was the barn, but apparently Kodiak got them out,” Pagel said. “He was the last one out of the barn, because hair has been burned on his back legs and back.”
The barn was filled with smoke and flames when firefighters arrived, Eastside Fire and Rescue Chief Lee Soptich said. Fire crews had to go more than a mile for water, and struggled to cool a 500-gallon propane tank outside the barn and keep it from exploding.
‘Monster’ garage owner celebrates court win
Paul Piscopo’s garage covers 6,000 square feet and has room for 28 full-sized pickup trucks. But he’s got another use for it in mind now that a judge has taken his side in a protracted battle with disgruntled neighbors in Troy, Mich.
“I’m thinking it’s a party. I’m going to throw a garage party!” Piscopo said Tuesday after a judge reversed a decision by the Troy Board of Zoning Appeals demanding the garage be reduced in size or torn down.
Several of Piscopo’s neighbors contended the 150-foot-long, 60-foot-wide, 20-foot-tall corrugated sheet metal building, which they dubbed the “Monster Garage,” has hurt their property values and ruined the residential feel of their sedate neighborhood.
“We’ve got to live with it now,” one of the neighbors, Tom Krent, said after learning of Warren’s ruling. “It’s certainly not going to make for a friendly atmosphere.”
From Herald news services
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