Odds and ends for July 10

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SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A man driving an armor-plated military-type vehicle and firing what appeared to be a machine gun mounted on top caused a ripple of panic in suburban Detroit on the Fourth of July.

Vehicle’s ‘machine
gun’ creates panic

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A man driving an armor-plated military-type vehicle and firing what appeared to be a machine gun mounted on top caused a ripple of panic in suburban Detroit on the Fourth of July.

It turned out the weapon was a modified World War II .50-caliber machine gun that had been converted to fire compressed gas. It produced bright flashes and loud gunfire sounds as the driver, a man in his 40s, drove around Shelby Township.

Residents’ 911 calls sent officers swarming late Thursday. Police arrested the driver and confiscated his vehicle.

City tries to keep butts out of parks

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — It’s not the kind of sign you usually see at a park: “Our deer don’t smoke in your backyard. Please don’t smoke in theirs.”

But Glendale hopes such jokes will keep smokers from trashing local parks and trails.

Eighteen humorous signs were put up in April throughout the Verdugo and San Rafael mountains, at the Glendale Sports Complex and Deukmejian Wilderness Park.

Other samples: “Do not throw cigarette butts on the ground. Our squirrels are getting cancer” and “Smokers will be fed to the bears.”

Smoking is banned on city trails and parks but the city doesn’t have enough workers to patrol every trail.