The Odd Truth, Aug. 11, 2003

Civil War Games; Mass Prison Break; Lego Convention; Wild Chihuahuas

(CBS/AP)  The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

Civil War Games

GETTYSBURG, Pennsylvania - It's a far cry from Civil War hardtack and camp coffee. An estimated 11,000 volunteers re-enacted the Battle of Gettysburg over the weekend on Pennsylvania farmland. While the amateur soldiers may have looked like their counterparts of 140 years ago, they didn't eat like them. One well-fed Confederate officer washed down his cheeseburger with a plastic cup of lemonade. A Union private kept in touch thanks to his cell phone. And Abe Lincoln posed with Girl Scouts for some snapshots. An estimated 60,000 spectators watched the replay of one of the critical battles of the Civil War. Some in the crowd even did the wave.

Chickens Stripped Of Rights

BARTOW, Fla. - Stray chickens here are now fair game.

City commissioners approved an ordinance last week to strip the fowls of protection under the city's status as a bird sanctuary, allowing the wandering birds to be captured and exiled from the city.

The city will hire someone to capture stray chickens, and they will be held for three days to give time for people to claim ownership. If they are not claimed, they will be handed over to someone outside the city.

The city's code enforcement board had been receiving rising complaints about chickens escaping from captive flocks.

The birds have been known to dig up yards, fight in the streets and sometimes scratch cars. The roosters are even more annoying, constantly crowing before dawn.

The city's 1922 bird sanctuary ordinance makes it illegal to kill, capture or even “annoy” any feathered friends.

Lego Lovers Rejoice!

ARLINGTON, Virginia - It's the country's biggest convention for Lego lovers and it's not for kids.

About 255 grown-ups are gathered at the Arlington, Virginia, campus of George Mason University over the weekend for “Brickfest.” On display are Lego creations ranging from cathedrals to robots.

The Lego enthusiasts say the plastic bricks give them a chance to unleash their creativity. But it comes at a cost - some people say it can run as much as $10,000 a year. And attendees also say it can be hard to find a mate who understands the hobby.

Legos were invented by a Danish woodworker in 1932. The plastic version came out in 1949, and today, Lego says there are 52 of the bricks for every person in the world.

Thailand Auctions Lucky License Numbers

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's first ever auction of uncommon and lucky car license plates drew about 1,000 bidders Monday with the country's communications minister making the highest bid of 4 million baht ($95,200).

Communications Minister Suriya Jungrungraungkit said his newly acquired license plate 9999 was “a good investment.”

“Who knows, I may sell this 9999 number to another person for 4.5 million baht ($107,000) one day. This is better than investing in the stock market,” Suriya told the bidders at the auction, broadcast live on national television from a five-star hotel.

The number nine is considered lucky and auspicious by Thais because of its association with the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose royal title is King Rama IX.

The Land Transport Department, which is overseen by Suriya's ministry, organized the auction to address complaints that corrupt officials are secretly selling lucky numbers or allocating them to well connected people.

Unlike the vanity plates in the United States, which are mostly a mark of individualism, lucky number plates in Thailand are associated with the rich and the famous, and a source of envy for many.

The Land Transport Department set aside 301 numbers for the auction with 42 most sought-after numbers disposed of Monday. The remaining, less eye-catching numbers, will be auctioned on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The money will be use to set up a fund for victims of roads accidents, he said.

84 Inmates Escape Prison In Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Eighty-four inmates of a maximum security prison in northeastern Brazil escaped through a tunnel Saturday, authorities said.

The inmates fled through the tunnel from the Silvio Porto prison in Joao Pessoa, the capital of Paraiba state, 1,200 miles from Rio de Janeiro, an officer at the state's Public Security Office said.

Police several hours later had recaptured one of the fugitives at a nearby beach.

Policemen at two posts close to the end of the 50-yard-long tunnel outside the prison's walls, allegedly did not witness the escape that occurred before dawn.

Another 41 inmates in the same prison wing did not to join the escape, the Security Office said.

Prison rebellions and escapes are frequent in Brazil's notoriously overcrowded prisons.

Italy Cracks Down On Tired Tourists

ROME - Tourists weary from trudging amid the masterpieces of Florence and Venice are now banned from sitting wherever they like in central squares, after officials deemed that visitors were offering too little respect and too much garbage at glorious historical sites.

Police prevented tourists from sitting in front of Florence's Duomo cathedral Saturday, while a similar ban was enforced in Venice's St. Mark's Square beginning Friday. Both cities threaten $56 fines for those who won't follow police requests to move on.

Millions of tourists flood through Italy's art-filled cities every year. But anger has been mounting of late over how some mistreat the nation's heritage, and in particular churches.

Last month, Monsignor Timothy Verdon of Florence's Duomo denounced the way his cathedral was being treated, and he complained of street vendors and trash marring the area around the church.

“The millions of Italians and foreigners who come every year to admire the architecture and art and - many of them also to pray - must run through a kind of obstacle course,” he said.

Florence is trying to remedy the problems with its “Stop to Urban Decline” program, of which the sitting-ban is a part. Venice officials invoked more wide-ranging restrictions for St. Mark's Square, banning lying and sitting on the pavement, bathing in the canals and walking around bare-chested or in swimsuits.

“With this operation, we are asking tourists to cooperate in maintaining decorum in the most busy and fragile area of the city,” Venice police commander Francesco Vergine said in a statement.

Wild Chihuahuas Spared Execution

LANCASTER, Calif. - A judge spared 170 Chihuahuas from death and turned them over to an animal rescue group that wants to find homes for them.

“I'm crying. I don't know what to say,” Kimi Peck, founder of Burbank-based Chihuahua Rescue, said after Friday's verdict.

Authorities had said most of the dogs seized from an Acton breeder last year were too vicious to be adopted as pets. Peck said her group would place the dogs in foster homes and with 20 other rescue groups.

More than 200 dogs were seized in November from a home northeast of Los Angeles, where animal control officers said they were kept in overcrowded and filthy conditions. Some had to be destroyed because they were ill and some were killed by other Chihuahuas. Authorities said the animals had not been socialized and attacked each other at a Los Angeles County shelter where they have been held.

Emma Harter, 72, has pleaded innocent to two counts of felony animal cruelty and several misdemeanor charges that together carry a sentence of three years and eight months in state prison.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Lisa Chung compared the plight of the dogs to that of abused children as she announced the animals would not be destroyed.

Chihuahua Rescue spent weeks negotiating to save the animals. County animal control officials had agreed to turn the dogs over to the group before a July 17 hearing, but the transfer was postponed after Harter refused to give them up.