burn!

* An Alaskan assemblyman authored legislation to punish "public flatulence, crepitation, gaseous emission, and miasmic effluence," with a $100 penalty.  

* Firefighters in Thurston, Washington slept through a fire in their own station. A passing police officer noticed the blaze and called in the alarm.  

* In 1986, firefighters used wire cutters and pliers to free a San Jose, California woman from a tight pair of designer jeans.  

* In the 1988 Massachusetts Democratic primary, Herbert Connolly dashed from a late campaign appearance to the polling place to cast his ballot. He got there fifteen minutes. The final tally: 14,716 to 14,715.  

* The Internal Revenue Service fined George Wittmeier $159.78 for not paying all of his taxes. He was a penny short on his return.