Statesman - A beaming girl's picture is encased in the snow globe, which is about the size of a grapefruit and rests atop an expensive-looking wooden base proclaiming, "Congratulations, graduate!" Alas, the graduate never received this gift. It rests amid a sea of San Antonio snow globes — and a few globes from Denver, Chicago and Disney World — on the shelves of the Texas State Surplus Store at 6506 Bolm Road, off U.S. 183. Because it's filled with liquid, you can't carry a snow globe onto an airplane. But some travelers haven't gotten the message, or maybe it slips their minds during their harried packing for summer vacation. Thus, rows and rows of snow globes sit at the surplus store, which gets its inventory not only from state surplus but also from items that were left behind or confiscated — "We say willfully surrendered," said cashier Roberta Siller — at airport security checkpoints in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, Waco, El Paso and other small airports. In the five years this store has been open, its plane-related inventory has soared because of heightened security, according to director James Barrington. The airport stuff takes up most of one small room at the store. In 2010, the state's general fund was enriched $300,000 by the storefront's sales. Read full story here:
News New Mexico
So That's What Happens to Them
From KOAT-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A pungent biofuels business that’s stinking up an Albuquerque neighborhood shouldn’t be operating there, according to the Bernalillo County zoning director. Last week, an employee told Target 7 they recycle vegetable oil at the business, but neighbors said the stench is unbearable. “It’s awful. It’s like being next to a dump,” neighbor Sue Sheets said. “(It’s) smelling like rancid grease.” Target 7 has learned that CoreBiofuels should not be operating near the corner of Edith and Montano. “They’re in violation of the zoning ordinance. They don’t have approval to be there at this time,” Bernalillo County Zoning Director Sandy Fish said. Fish said the business has to either stop work or apply for a proper zoning license. At this point, neither has happened. An employee with CoreBiofuels said he was not aware of any violations. Fish said the county would have to take the company to court in order to get them to stop business operations. “We don’t have the authority to shut them down. Only a judge can do that,” Fish said. Fish said the business would only be shut down if there’s a serious health risk to residents. Read more:
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