CLEVELAND (Reuters) – After more than 20 years of renting chairs from other barbers, Gregory Burnett finally opened his own shop, but the down economy has been hard on the haircut business.

“It is one of the first things that people cut back on,” said Burnett, owner of Old School Barber Shop in Canton, Ohio.

So two months ago Burnett put a sign in front of his place to let clients choose how much to pay. “Times are hard,” it read. “Pay what you can for a cut.”

The idea was to draw in new patrons and help the clients who have been with him for decades, and it seems to be working. “People come in and want to take advantage of the deal,” Burnett said.

For the last two years Burnett has charged $12 for a man’s haircut, but recently has given one for as little as $5. “I tell people the haircut is free. The charge is for sitting in the chair,” he said.

Burnett said he hoped that a good haircut might mean a new job for one of his clients, and he liked the idea of helping people out. “I understand their troubles because I have their troubles,” he said.

Business picked up immediately after Burnett began his new “make-me-an-offer” promotion. “I’m surprised by all the attention this is getting,” he said. “You never know. Maybe this is the way I will come out of this rut.”

Burnett promises lively conversation and said he loves what he does. He hopes the uptick in business means he can keep his shop.

“I had my first job shining shoes when I was 12 years old. I guess I’ve always been an entrepreneur. I’m always trying to hustle,” he said.

N.Y. driver wearing ‘I’m a drunk’ shirt collides with cops 

CORAM, New York (AP) – A New York man wearing a T-shirt declaring “I’m a drunk” is facing DWI (driving while intoxicated) charges after a collision with a police car.

Suffolk County police arrested 23-year-old Kevin Daly of Coram. They say he crashed into an officer’s vehicle at about 1:45 a.m. Thursday. The officer was treated for minor injuries.

Daly, who is unemployed, was wearing the T-shirt in a mug shot provided by police. It reads: “I’m not an alcoholic / I’m a drunk / Alcoholics go to meetings.”

He was ordered held on $10,000 bail at his arraignment and was issued several traffic summonses. He was represented by an attorney from Legal Aid, which has a policy of not commenting on pending cases. Daly is due back in court on Wednesday.

Swiss court upholds fine against indecent hiker crossing chilly alps 

ZURICH (Reuters) – Hikers crossing the Alps in the nude may get more than just a chill after Switzerland’s top court ruled they may be fined, validating a conservative region’s bid to quash the practice.

Late last week, a court rejected the appeal of a man slapped with a 100 Swiss franc (69 pound) fine. The man had walked naked past a family with small children at a picnic area and a Christian rehabilitation center for drug addicts one Sunday afternoon in the eastern canton (state) of Appenzell Ausserrhoden.

“The fundamental right to personal freedom is only marginally, if at all, infringed upon by a ban on hiking naked in a public area,” the court said in a statement.

The mountainous cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden, which only gave women the right to vote two decades ago, are popular among nude hiking enthusiasts.

Naked hiking is not illegal in Switzerland but it is possible for individual Swiss cantons to apply indecency laws.