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Colorado subdivision bans Christmas wreath with peace sign, says it could be 'divisive'

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DENVER (AP) - A homeowners association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said.

"Somebody could put up signs that say drop bombs on Iraq. If you let one go up you have to let them all go up," he said in a telephone interview Sunday.

Lisa Jensen said she wasn't thinking of the war when she hung the wreath. She said, "Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing."

Jensen, a past association president, calculates the fines will cost her about $1,000, and doubts they will be able to make her pay. But she said she's not going to take it down until after Christmas.

"Now that it has come to this I feel I can't get bullied," she said. "What if they don't like my Santa Claus."

The association in this 200-home subdivision 270 miles southwest of Denver has sent a letter to her saying that residents were offended by the sign and the board "will not allow signs, flags etc. that can be considered divisive."

The subdivision's rules say no signs, billboards or advertising are permitted without the consent of the architectural control committee.

Kearns ordered the committee to require Jensen to remove the wreath, but members refused after concluding that it was merely a seasonal symbol that didn't say anything. Kearns fired all five committee members.

Odds and Ends

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) - Most Thanksgiving turkeys are carried in through the front door. But one broke through Sandy Cobbs' dining room window.

On Thursday, Cobbs was in her kitchen preparing sweet potatoes and vegetables when she heard a thunderous crash. Her husband, Bill, tried to hustle the bird back outside, but it bounced off some more windows and retreated to a big pot of orchids. Police finally herded the bloody bird out the deck doors.

"It's terrible. My house is a disaster!" Sandy Cobbs said Friday, glass still littering the bloody carpet in her dining room. "I just couldn't believe it was Thanksgiving and there was a live turkey in my house."

Worse yet, it was the second time it happened. Police Sgt. Mike Roepke confirmed that on Christmas Day in 2004, a turkey came through the same window.

The couple live near the Hyland Lake Park Reserve in this Minneapolis suburb, and they said they see wild turkeys nearly every day.

"At first I thought my buffet fell over. It was so loud and kept crashing," Cobbs said. "I went in there and said, 'Not again. Not again.' He was huge - 2 or 3 feet tall."

Cobbs said her insurance company doesn't think it's funny either. The last turkey attack caused nearly $10,000 in damage, including broken windows and ruined carpeting and drapes.

"I don't know if I can turn in another claim," she said.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Would you like horseradish sauce or barbecue sauce on your Gov. Martin O'Malley?

Visitors to Chick & Ruth's Delly will soon be able to munch on a sandwich named for the governor-elect.

Details have yet to be worked out, but the sandwich will definitely include roast beef, said Rick Abbruzzese, a spokesman for the incoming governor.

"We're all pretty excited about this," Abbruzzese told The (Annapolis) Capital. "We're going to try to sit down with Ted next week to iron out the details of the sandwich."

Ted Levitt, owner of the Main St. landmark, said he wouldn't dare turn down any combination O'Malley might dream up.

"We're not going to tell him he can't have anything. He is the governor," Levitt said.

More than 50 local, state and Navy leaders have items on the menu named for them at Chick & Ruth's, a crowded restaurant in the heart of downtown with distinctive orange booths, including one labeled as the governor's office.

State Sen. John Astle said that when he was in the House of Delegates, he was assigned a hot dog wrapped in baloney with sauerkraut.

"What a sandwich for a politician - a hot dog wrapped in baloney," Astle said.

When Astle switched chambers, he inherited a much better choice: roast beef and gravy with french fries.

"You put a slice of fresh raw onion in the middle - ooh, that's eating," Astle said.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The Salvation Army kicked a former television reporter out as a volunteer at a Thanksgiving dinner after he allegedly turned it into an opportunity to promote himself.

Howie Handsel said he was there to lend a helping hand. But Salvation Army officials asked sheriff's deputies to escort Handsel out after he hammed it up for TV crews and turned his own camera on himself.

Handsel told officials he was filming packages for the Internet to show people born in the 1980s and '90s how easy it is to volunteer, the Orlando Sentinel reported Friday.

"It's about Howie bringing people together," he said.

Handsel said he got the idea after a group of friends and family helped him rebuild his life when his mother and sister died within months of each another four years ago.

But organizers said he seemed more interested in promoting himself.

Handsel said he planned to stay seven hours and serve food for at least 20 minutes. In four hours, he had served just two Coca-Colas.

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