Cops Threaten Doughnut Industry

Amendments to the Administrative Code approved Monday provide that the Latvian police will be actually be authorized to impose fines by attaching a ticket to an illegally parked car. The new strategy is thought to improve the current situation where drivers do not approach their car if a policeman is there, waiting instead until he goes away. Under the current situation, Riga Municipality had 9,600 officers bivouacked around the city, collecting a total of $4.25 per day in parking fines.
According to Axels Bertrams, president of the local Doughnut Retailers' Trade Association, these officers consume 400 kilos of doughnuts and 790 liters of coffee daily. "Parking tickets will kill Latvia's doughnut industry." says Bertrams. Instead, Bertrams - who claims to own seven cars parked permanently throughout town center - the doughnut, coffee and automobile retailers' associations will band together and fight this measure. Their campaign will feature the catchy slogan, "Buy another car. Park it where you like. Eat doughnuts."