Plates

Citing a huge number of drivers without insurance in Pennsylvania, a Democratic senator introduced legislation yesterday that would allow private companies to seize license plates from uninsured motorists' cars. Sen. Michael A. O'Pake (D., Berks-Montgomery) said at a news conference that the measure, which would empower private firms to take over duties now handled by the state police, would help ensure compliance with state insurance laws. O'Pake said he knew of no state that had implemented similar legislation.

Take a look at the license plates at the Total Wine & More store just yards south of the Pennsylvania line. Most of the vehicle tags are from the Keystone State. What gives? Each of those customers buying booze in Delaware and carrying it back north is breaking Pennsylvania law. So why are they taking the risk? A better question is: What risk? Only 11 people were cited in all of 2007 for illegally importing alcohol, even though the law has been on the books since the 1930s.

The great American urge to be the best at something absolutely meaningless came to this Susquehanna River town yesterday. The urge stalked down the main street. It infected the sanity of about 20,000 men, women and children who lined that main street. When the urge left town by late afternoon, it had destroyed 24,000 bananas, 24,000 cherries, 2,500 gallons of ice cream, 300 pounds of cracked nuts and 150 gallons each of chocolate, pineapple and strawberry topping. It was a world-class attempt to make the world's longest banana split.

Philadelphia would do well to spend its money on improving the city and helping the street people rather than to spend it on renaming streets and inserting plaques in sidewalks. When has a sign or a plaque cleaned up a block or fed a starving person? Cities are better remembered by their looks than by metal plates few people might look up at or read as they walk upon them. Nancy Conant Berresford Philadelphia.

These mix-and- match dinner plates will work no matter which holiday you celebrate, what your color scheme is, or who your guests may be. Bonus: The graphic patterns in icy metallics keep them in style until spring flowers bloom. - Ashley Primis Confetti and Tinsel plate at Crate & Barrel, $6.95-$7.95 each, King of Prussia and Cherry Hill malls, crateandbarrel.com

Question: How valuable is my wooden-handled Coleman No. 2 iron made of copper and white metal? At one end, there's a bulblike attachment with a small nozzle, which, I was told, held gasoline. - T.N.T., Edgewater Park, N.J. Answer: The nickel-plated bulb of your 1940s "spirit" iron held an alcohol-based fuel to keep the iron hot. Gasoline wasn't used. Made by the Coleman Co. of Philadelphia, this relatively common model is worth around $50 to $70 in good condition, said Linda Campbell Franklin, author of 300 Years of Housekeeping Collectibles ($25.

I respond to the photograph in The Scene: In Philadelphia and Its Suburbs on Oct. 21. The photograph showed a Philadelphia parking meter with an inaccurate rate plate. We are certainly willing to take this zap gracefully and make the necessary adjustments. However, I do want to point out that meters now contain more and better information than ever. Until recently all meter rate plates were standard and motorists had only the signs to rely on for information on hours of operation.

This clever flexible spoon flips from one tablespoon to one half, and from one teaspoon to one half, thus providing four measurements with one dual-action spoon. Also available in cup and spoon sets. - Maureen Fitzgerald Naturally nutty That's it, just nuts. Mostly. An ingredient list you can understand. These nut-brittle-type Roasted Nut Crunch Bars from Nature Valley contain 7 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber (no cholesterol, no trans fat, nothing artificial)

IN A CLUTCH, WOMAN DECIDES TO ROLL WITH THE HUNCHES It wasn't a snake in the grass. No, it was a snake in the dash that inspired a few squeals on wheels. Seems a woman was driving with her 4-year-old daughter in Stephenville, Texas, on Sept. 15 when a snake slithered out of her dashboard. "I felt something on my leg and thought it was a fly," said Dana Allgood. She said that when she reached down to swat it, she saw something that looked like a rope. But that something that looked like a rope turned out to be a snake.

Senate: Dismiss filibuster suit WASHINGTON - Lawyers for the Senate are asking a federal judge to dismiss a suit by a citizens lobbying group challenging the Senate's 60-vote threshold for overcoming filibusters. Common Cause attorney Emmet J. Bondurant says the founding fathers never intended to allow a minority to block consideration of a bill. But the Senate's lawyer in the case, Thomas Caballero, said the Constitution gives the Senate the authority to make its own rules. U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan gave no indication Monday when he would rule on the Senate's motion to dismiss the suit.