Court Order: January 3, 2008

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jan 3, 2008 by Marie Price

Sacre bleu!

The days of the smoky Left Bank Parisian cafe are no more.

With the new year, France extended its no-smoking law to bars, restaurants, hotels, casinos and, yes, cafes.

Homes, hotel rooms and sealed smoking rooms at places that decide to provide them are excepted, according to The Associated Press.

Initially, the ban affected only "closed and covered" public places such as train stations, schools, airports, hospitals and the like.

About 25 percent of French people smoke.

The country's health ministry reports that one in two regular French smokers dies of smoking-related illness, with about 5,000 nonsmokers dying each year due to the effects of passive smoking.

Some 10,000 protestors took to Parisian streets last month, seeking a more flexible law.

The government's response?

Postponing enforcement to Jan. 2, giving New Year's revelers the chance for one last cigarette with their bubbly.

But how big is his bite?

Ah, the fabled nose of the bloodhound, the unparalleled skills of the foxhound and - the Chihuahua?

A too-cutely-named three-pounder named Tink helped Auburn, Calif., law enforcement nab a man suspected of stealing a minivan. Also part Pomeranian, Tink found the man under a motor home and chased him into the nearby woods.

Wendy Anderson, mother of Tink's owner, said her husband and son directed a law enforcement helicopter to where the fugitive was hiding.

Two other suspects, who are juveniles,

were released to their parents. The driver, also a juvenile, was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, felony evading, driving without a license and resisting arrest, according to the California Highway Patrol (remember Ponch and Jon of CHiPS?).

The man given up by the Chihuahua was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest.

Christmas Eve really stinks...

OK, so you may have spent a wee bit longer with your family than was tolerable over the holidays. Maybe you didn't get exactly what you wanted from great-aunt Gert, who apparently thinks you're still about 7 years old.

But none of that comes close to topping Robert Schoff's Christmas Eve.

The 77-year-old Des Moines, Iowa, man spent part of the day - the AP wouldn't lie - stuck upside down in the opening of his septic tank.

Schoff reached into the tank last Monday trying to locate a clog, lost his balance and fell, becoming wedged.

It was an hour before wife Toni passed a window in their home and saw his feet flailing in the air.

It required two sheriff's deputies to extricate him.

"It was the worst Christmas Eve I've ever had," said Schoff, probably one of those people who complain about everything.