Postcards
I sayed, “See ayes ah.”
In November, the Shreveport, La., Police Department had to stop using the high-tech voice recognition system that routed non-emergency calls to the department because it often misunderstood callers’ Southern drawls. According to The Associated Press (AP), the system asked people to name the person or department they wanted to reach, but they often wound up at the wrong place. “I can count on one hand when I have been transferred to where I’ve wanted to go, and I know the system,” Capt. John Dunn told the AP. The department switched to a touch-tone system instead.
Lottery loser
South Euclid, Ohio, missed out on its share of resident Rebecca Jemison’s $162 million Mega Millions lottery winnings in January because of an omission from its city charter. According to the AP, the city received a letter from the state in 1996 advising that it amend its charter to identify lottery winnings as taxable income, but the city failed to act on the recommendation. As a result, when Jemison hit the jackpot, the city lost out on $1.4 million in taxes that could have been used to save jobs, fix roads and erase deficits.