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A waiter at a San Antonio steakhouse pulled out a gun during a dispute with two diners and fired multiple shots before running from the restaurant, according to police. A patron took cellphone video of the altercation Wednesday afternoon at the Little Red Barn Steakhouse, located on the city’s historic Southeast Side. The argument apparently started after the unidentified server brought out the wrong order. Witnesses told police the two customers verbally berated the steakhouse employee then one of the customers put him in a headlock, according to the San Antonio Express-News. After the headlock, the server pulled out a...

Do you leave a tip in your hotel room for the maid? Marriott is launching a program with Maria Shriver to put envelopes in hotel rooms to encourage tipping. The campaign, called 'The Envelope Please,' begins this week. Envelopes will be placed in 160,000 rooms in the U.S. and Canada. Some 750 to 1,000 hotels will participate from Marriott brands like Courtyard, Residence Inn, J.W. Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance hotels. The name of the person who cleans the room will be written on the envelope along with a message: 'Our caring room attendants enjoyed making your stay warm and comfortable....

OK, here is my rant about tipping. Not the kind where folks in Frisco are standing little cars on end or the practice of pushing sleeping cows over but the kind that takes place in restaurants. I worked in food service and as a bartender for many years while in the Air Force. When I started out the business would pay me to serve the customers. If my service was good, the customers would reward me with a gratuity. Over time the businesses noticed their servers were making a lot of money in tips so they reduced their pay to...

The Pentagon says it is not allowed to pay these families a death gratuity, so long as the shutdown continues. The same goes for the family of a Marine who died in Afghanistan on Saturday and any others who die during the budget impasse.

A family says that a Houston seafood restaurant locked them inside and called the police after they refused to pay a gratuity.

San Francisco Restaurants Propose Standard 25 Per Cent Tip Restaurants in San Francisco have angered customers by proposing to make a 25 per cent tip standard with meals. According to a recent survey San Francisco diners are the worst tippers in America Photo: ALAMY By Nick Allen Most diners in the United States currently give a voluntary tip of between 15 and 20 per cent depending on the service and the quality of the food. But the new measure, which is reportedly supported by high class eateries, would be mandatory. According to a recent survey San Francisco diners are the...

The must-pass spending bill pending in the Senate includes a little-noticed provision that would pay the family of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd for the salary he would have commanded in the next fiscal year. The Senate handbook says that upon the death of a senator who had been serving in office, “in the next appropriations bill, an item will be inserted for a gratuity to be paid to the widow(er) or other next- of-kin, in the amount of one-year’s compensation.” As a result, the bill calls for “equal shares” of the late senator’s $193,400 salary to be split...

Hello all,I am writing a rare vanity and I hope it is in the correct forum. I need some information as I am not too swift on business law. I hope some freepers can help me. I went this evening to Billy Jeans, a resturant here in Gastonia, NC. It seems they charged my visa debit card more than the tab was. We were a party of four and my tab was for $54.93 but my online statement shows they charged me $65.92.The receipt that I signed said $54.93. On the line where it says "Tip" I wrote "On Table"...

(AP) A New York City man accused of leaving an inadequate tip at a restaurant was arrested, fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot. Humberto A. Taveras, 41, faces a misdemeanor charge of theft of services after he and his fellow diners argued with Soprano's Italian and American Grill managers over the legality of requiring an 18 percent tip for large parties. "They chased us down like a bunch of criminals," Taveras said. "It killed our weekend." Taveras and eight others had pizza at the restaurant in this resort village Sunday night. He told the Glens Falls Post-Star they weren't...

Sheriff: 'I am not for sale'Bowles regrets letting vendor pay for items but says it wasn't wrong12:35 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 15, 2003By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News Dallas County Sheriff Jim Bowles said Tuesday that he regrets allowing a vendor to buy his meals and pay his travel expenses, because it has created a perception that his integrity was for sale. The sheriff said his actions were not wrong because he never intended to steer the department's commissary contract to Jack Madera, the CEO of Mid-America Services Inc. He said Mr. Madera's company won the contract...

A few years ago, Congress passed a bill requiring them to obey all laws, rules and regulations, just like normal citizens. Therefore, we offer a few selected excerpts from Title 48, Volume 1, Parts 1 to 51 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Revised as of October 1, 1996, for your reading enjoyment. This is good stuff, folks. Because, if Congress (and the administration) is legally bound to obey each and every one of their petty little laws, rules and regulations, our question is this: Where do we go to file charges? Everyone in Congress is in violation of these...