Etc...

Don't tell my employer, OK?

From Berlin comes word of the arrest last week of - well, we'll call him Karl. His crime: being involved in a minor traffic accident in which he was driving without a license. Normally, this wouldn't raise eyebrows. After all, police in the German capital deal with far more serious offenses every day. Still, Karl's case is noteworthy because for years he has been earning his living as ... a driving instructor. He flunked his first road test in 1961 and never went back because "I was too afraid to try again." He has since schooled more than 1,000 people in the fine points of operating a motor vehicle. No word on whether they'll have to be retaught.

Speaking of wrongdoing, the Mexican government last week released its list of "most wanted" criminals and encouraged the public to help track them down. Almost immediately, the names of Alvaro Dario de Leon and Alfredo Cervantes Ramirez were crossed off. Due to a tip by an alert citizen? No, because someone remembered they're already in prison.

In which cities do people enjoy the greatest affinity with the printed word? Jack Miller, chancellor of the University of Wisonsin-Whitewater, attempts to answer that question with his second annual list of America's Most Literate Cities. To reach his conclusions, Miller weighs census data, newspaper circulation rates, magazine publishing activity, educational attainment levels, library resources, and the prevalence of booksellers. The cities of 200,000 or more people with the greatest proppensity for reading, based on these and other factors:

1. Minneapolis
2. Seattle
3. Pittsburgh
4. Madison, Wis.
5. Cincinnati
6. Washington
7. Denver
8. Boston
9. Portland, Ore.
10. San Francisco