Baldies Dine for Free in Lodi, Calif.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Forget what you've heard. There is such a thing as a free lunch — if you're bald, that is.
Lodi, Calif., restaurant owner Gary Arnold, who is hairless himself, has a special deal on Wednesdays, according to The Associated Press. He charges customers at Gary's Uptown Restaurant and Bar (search) according to the amount of hair on their heads.
Those with less than half their hair will get up to 50 percent snipped off the cost of their food, and the totally bald will get 100 percent off and eat for nothing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It doesn't matter if the baldness is natural or has been achieved by shaving. And even repeat baldies continue to chow for free.
Not only that, but they get to chose from a special menu, which includes filet of snapper, flat iron steak and chicken fettuccine.
Arnold calls it a "win-win" situation. News of the place has reached beyond Lodi to Modesto, Sacramento and Stockton. The hairless of the region congregate in his dining room, which can look like an advertisement for Hair Club for Men on any given Wednesday, he told the Lodi News. This has doubled business on what used to be his slowest day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And the men can feel at ease in a supportive environment that nurtures their lack of cover.
"Years ago, being bald was looked down upon," Arnold said. "Now I think it's trendy."
Stockton resident Rich Handel, finishing off a discounted Caesar salad (search) — the 50 percent reduction mirroring his half-gone locks — agreed, saying this was the first time he benefited from being bald.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Lawn Vandal Leaves Muddy Trail
Here's some advice: If you plan to vandalize someone's lawn, be sure to clean the mud off your truck tires before making your getaway.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gary Goodwill Jr., 28, didn't do that after he tore up a neighbor's grass with his Toyota pickup, The Evening Sun in Hanover, Pa., reported.
The McKnightstown, Pa., man left a mile-long trail of mud from Brent Guise's yard right to the offending vehicle.
On Tuesday, Goodwill was found guilty of criminal mischief, which he was charged with in May 2003, according to the Sun. Adams County Judge Michael A. George sentenced him to fines and restitution totaling $750.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Goodwill acted as his own counsel during the hearing. Though he didn't testify, the appearance of his truck served that purpose, said Pennsylvania State Trooper Kevin Thomas.
"It would be the same effect as if you had a whole bucket full of grass clippings and mud and water and splashed it on the vehicle," Thomas testified.
Goodwill denied he'd caused the $500 in damage to the lawn. He told the trooper that the grass and mud on his truck came from a field behind his house, according to the Sun. Thomas didn't buy it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Goodwill had to pay Guise the $500 for the yard damage and an additional $250 fine, the judge decided.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — If people say you've got two left feet, there's a thief somewhere with a deal for you.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Tuesday morning, Nike salesman Ray Staiger said he left his hotel and found the lock to his pickup truck bed had been broken. Staiger told police someone took 312 shoes he used as sales samples, which he valued at $10,789.
Thing is, they were all left shoes. A salesman in Missouri has the right mates.
Staiger had to cancel sales presentations he had scheduled for Kansas City and Omaha, Neb., and return to Wichita for replacement shoes, paying a $500 deductible.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Penny Saved Isn't Always a Penny Earned
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man is trying to get rid of his pennies — all 1 million of them. Ron England bet his brother 30 years ago that he could save a million pennies in exchange for a dinner in Paris. And he did, eventually stacking up 20,000 rolls that fill 13 boxes in his garage.
Now that he's moving, England wants to cash in the $10,000 in coppers, which weigh 3.6 tons, but is having a tough time finding someone who will take them without a price.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I've been working seriously for the past two weeks to get rid of these pennies," said England, 60, a Paramount Studios, Hollywood, projectionist who will soon retire with his wife to a home in Oregon. "It's kind of frustrating. Nobody will take them without charging me."
The Coinstar machine at his supermarket isn't exactly made to accept a million pennies.
A Santa Monica artist who welds couches out of pennies declined to call him back.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Coin collectors said to call a bank.
But his bank, Washington Mutual, is charging extra fees and won't take all the rolls at once. The best he's found is a branch that will take 200 rolls, or $100 per week. That's 20 months of deposits.
Tim McGarry, spokesman for Washington Mutual in Los Angeles, said that until recently, the bank charged 10 cents a roll for more than eight rolls. Now, each bank manager determines how many pennies it can accept and charges accordingly. Business rates differ.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is a very rare case," McGarry said. "Some of the practicalities are daunting - 3.6 tons is more than most vaults can handle."
Even the federal government isn't interested.
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency doesn't want them, nor does the U.S. Engraving and Printing Bureau.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We don't buy back currency," said Mike White, a spokesman for the U.S. Mint. "We like to have it in circulation."
England refuses to pay extra.
"I'm stubborn," he said. "If I have to haul all these pennies to Oregon, I will, 'cause I'm not gonna pay."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The bet was made in March 1974, England said. He and his brother, Russ wagered that if Ron could collect and roll a million pennies, Russ would buy him a dinner of fried sweetbreads in Paris.
So England began to roll. Friends and relatives fed him pennies. At one point he was buying about $250 a week in pennies.
About five years later, he was done. But he never got his Parisian meal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I don't remember making the wager," said Russ England, 55. "Am I still good for it? I'm not going to answer that question."
Now Ron England says he hopes to buy a John Deere tractor with his money.
"I did enjoy proving my brother wrong," England said. "If he'd pay off, I'd quit bitching. I should have saved dimes. I'd have a lot more money, and it would weigh a lot less."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Man Creates Loch Ness Monster — in Michigan
SALINE, Mich. (AP) — You don't have to travel all the way to Scotland to see a monster in a lake.
A mechanical creature with a long neck dubbed "Millie" will surface in Mill Pond during the annual Saline Celtic Festival as a nod to Scotland's Loch Ness monster (search).
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Millie is the creation of mechanical designer Jim Peters, who is a volunteer for the festival that takes place Saturday. Peters, 54, came up with the idea last year.
"I was down there at the festival. It was full of bagpipe music and Scottish sights and activities. Viewing the long body of water, one can't help think of the Loch Ness area in Scotland and its famous legend.
"I asked myself: 'Where's the monster?'"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Peters' wood-and-steel reptile is 24 feet long when in a low position and 6 feet tall in its upright position. Millie is composed of a neck and head piece, a mid-hump and a tail that can be moved with a rope connected to pulleys.
Reported sightings of a big beast dubbed "Nessie" in the gray waters of Loch Ness have led many people to believe it holds a huge creature, although a series of searches has found no evidence of one.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Marla Lehner and Catherine Donaldson-Evans.
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