Man sued for drunkenly losing $1.35M painting, claims he misplaced masterpiece after too many drinks
New York, NY - A Manhattan man is being sued for losing a $1.35 million painting.
He blames the booze - saying the Jean Baptiste Camille Corot masterpiece, "Portrait of a Girl," vanished following a bender at The Mark hotel.
The artwork's co-owner, Kristyn Trudgeon, isn't buying James Haggerty's tale.
"I think he's a complete fumbling idiot," a visibly annoyed Trudgeon said outside her West Side apartment. "He's just a complete a--hole."
Trudgeon and Tom Doyle, who co-own the painting, had hired Haggerty, an old pal, to assist with a possible sale of "Portrait of a Girl" to London gallery owner Offer Waterman.
A July 28 afternoon appointment in Doyle's Empire State Building office fell apart when the Brit wanted a closer look at the painting.
The men agreed to meet later at midtown bistro Rue 57 with Doyle,who then ordered Haggerty to take the painting to The Mark, which is on the upper East Side, for further inspection by Waterman.
What happened next remains a boozy blur.
The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says hotel security footage at 10:54 p.m. shows Haggerty sitting at a table with the painting. Six minutes later, he left the painting at the hotel's front desk and entered its bar with Waterman, who yesterday told the Daily News he was annoyed that Haggerty showed up without an appointment.
"That struck me as wrong," he said in a phone interview from London.
At 11:30 p.m., the two men left the bar, retrieved the painting and had a conversation in the hotel lobby, court papers say.
"Something just didn't feel right and I didn't want to be involved," Waterman said. "So I said no, and I said goodbye."
Haggerty went back to the hotel bar at 11:34 p.m. and once more deposited the painting at the front desk. He resurfaced 90 minutes later, the suit says, when he stumbled out with the painting and a doorman asked if he needed a taxi. "No," Haggerty allegedly slurred. "I have a car."
At 2:30 a.m., he finally returned home to his Trump Place apartment, minus the painting. Later that morning, the suit says, he informed Doyle that he couldn't recall its whereabouts because of his boozy blowout.
"We're skeptical as to the explanation," said Max DiFabio, a lawyer for Trudgeon.
The painting was part of a collection that made the rounds of museums in Paris, Beijing, San Francisco, Tokyo and Buffalo. Doyle, an executive with Imperial Jets, did not return calls, and Haggerty, who also works at the company, was missing in action at his homes in Manhattan and Long Island.
"Until we are able to account for that one hour and 40 minutes, we suspect anything," DiFabio said.
Insurance company: Flowers started Arkansas house fire
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A fire that did $20,000 in damages to a northeast Arkansas home wasn't caused by an electrical problem or burning food or arson, an insurance investigator concluded. Instead, the dead plants did it, according to a report summary provided to the homeowner, Brian Duncan. "The fire was caused by self-heating through decomposition of organic materials contained within a plastic flowerpot," the Aug. 25 letter from State Farm Insurance Co. said.
Or, in layman's terms, spontaneous combustion.
Duncan, whose home is a few miles south of Paragould, said the flowerpot had contained dead, decomposing flowers and potting soil that his wife had planted in the summer of 2009. Paragould is about 150 miles northeast of Little Rock.
"She had intended on repotting (the flowers)," Duncan said. But they sat on the porch, unwatered, and eventually died.
He said it was clear where the July 25 fire had begun, because the burning flowerpot and plants charred a hole in the porch and they fell to the ground several feet below.
Still, Duncan said he was surprised at the conclusion contained in the letter. Duncan provided The Associated Press with a copy.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the blaze and Duncan's father-in-law was able to put it out with a garden hose even before firefighters from a nearby volunteer fire department arrived.
But it still caused some damage.
Duncan, 51, CEO of Craighead Electric Cooperative, said the blaze charred decking around the hole where the flowerpot had been, and caught the home's vinyl siding on fire. He said the heat broke a sidelight window next to the front door, and his air-conditioning system sucked in smoke from the fire.
"The house was full of smoke," he said.
The smoke damage inside the 15-year-old home, Duncan said, meant his family had to repaint the entire interior of the 2,200-square-foot home and replace the carpeting, in addition to replacing the vinyl siding on the front of the house and the wooden decking of the porch.
Duncan said that, since the fire, he had begun spreading the word about the potential fire hazards of dead plants.
A fire marshal in nearby Jonesboro, Jason Wills, said such an occurrence was rare.
"Spontaneous combustion is something where you have to have a lot of variables come together and it has to be just right," Wills told Jonesboro television station KAIT. "It's something that does happen, but this is the first one in our area that I'm aware of."
Russians urged to smoke, drink more
MOSCOW (AFP) – Smoke and drink more, Russia's finance minister Alexei Kudrin urged citizens on Wednesday, explaining that higher consumption would help lift tax revenues for spending on social services.
"If you smoke a pack of cigarettes, that means you are giving more to help solve social problems such as boosting demographics, developing other social services and upholding birth rates," Kudrin said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
"People should understand: Those who drink, those who smoke are doing more to help the state," he said, offering unconventional advice as the Russian government announced plans to raise excise duty on alcohol and cigarettes.
Alcohol and cigarette consumption are already extremely high in Russia, where 65 percent of men smoke and the average Russian consumes 18 litres of alcoholic beverages per year, mainly vodka, according to official statistics.
Russian duties on cigarettes are among the lowest in Europe, with most brands priced at around 40 rubles (one euro, 1.30 dollars) per pack and unfiltered cigarettes selling for much less.
The finance ministry in June announced plans to more than double excise duty on cigarettes over the next three years from 250 roubles per 1,000 filtered cigarettes to 590 roubles in 2013.
The move is likely to be unpopular in the nicotine-addicted nation where a cigarette shortage in the late 1980s and early 1990s incited protests and led then-president Mikhail Gorbachev to appeal for emergency outside shipments.
The state recently imposed a new minimum legal price for vodka, implemented a zero tolerance ban on drink-driving and banned night-time sales of alcohol to curb abuse blamed for the deaths of thousands of Russians every year.
Alcohol abuse kills around 500,000 Russians annually and greatly impacts male life expectancy, which is lower than in such developing countries as Bangladesh and Honduras, according to official figures.
Woman attacks ATM for 20 minutes; causes $8,000 in damage but gets no cash
STUART, Florida — Surveillance video showed a woman attacking an ATM machine with a claw hammer at Publix in the 1500 block of North Federal Highway, police said.
The incident happened about 3:30 a.m. on July 26, police said. In the video, the woman spends about 20 minutes trying to break into the machine, causing $8,000 in damages but failing to extract any cash, police said.
The woman wore a black tank top, blue and white stone washed jeans, white flip-flops and a black belt during the crime, police said. She also had shoulder-length dark hair and a tattoo on the small of her back.
Retired pilot said he made a mistake
ATLANTA - The passenger behind Monday’s bomb scare at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport thinks police did the right thing in arresting him even though he was not toting a bomb.
Don Oberlander, 57, was carrying signal flares packed in a metal tube, said his financial adviser, whom he called from jail.
"I know exactly why they kept me there for eight hours" in an interrogation, Oberlander told his adviser, Allison McCurry of Lilburn, who related her conservation with him to the AJC Tuesday.
"He's not a terrorist," she said. "He's a stand-up guy."
Oberlander, of Cumming, called McCurry from the Clayton County Jail, where he was being held on a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct.
He is a retired Eastern Air Lines pilot and was flying on an airline to Houston to pick up a small aircraft that was being serviced, McCurry said. He wanted to have the flares in case anything went wrong during his return flight, she said.
"He said, ‘I made a mistake. I don't know what I was thinking,'" McCurry said. "I think he thought he didn't have time to buy those signal flares when he got there."
Atlanta police confirmed Tuesday afternoon what McCurry said about the flares in Oberlander's luggage. But airport spokesman John Kennedy, speaking for police, said the emergency flares were contained in a galvanized steel pipe. McCurry had said the pipe was made of aluminum.
The pipe was found in Oberlander's luggage by U.S. Transportation Security Administration screeners around 6 a.m. Monday after he arrived at the North Terminal curbside check-in, Atlanta police said. The package was removed from the scene by an Atlanta bomb squad.
It's a violation of federal regulations to bring flares onto an airliner, TSA spokesman Jon Allen said. He said the TSA lacks arrest authority and turns over passengers with weapons to local law enforcement officials who decide whether charges are warranted.
Oberlander could not be reached for comment. McCurry found a criminal lawyer to represent him in a first appearance hearing before a Clayton County magistrate Tuesday afternoon. Oberlander's bond was set at $3,500, but he remained in jail Tuesday evening.
Golfer's swing snags rock, sparks fire in Southern California
IRVINE, California – Forget "Fore!" "Fire!" was the cry of the day for a golfer whose off-target swing sparked a 12-acre blaze in Southern California. The golfer at the Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine landed a shot in the rough Saturday.
On his next swing, his club snagged a rock, causing a spark that lit the rough ablaze and eventually attracted 150 firefighters to the scene.
Fire officials say the fire burned through the rough, into vegetation next to the course and over two dry, brushy hillsides.
No charges were filed against the golfer, whose name was withheld.
Man accused of shooting at truck about to tow his car
A 65-year-old store security guard shot at a tow truck as his car was about to be repossessed, officials say.
Ike D. Holmes was working at an Aldi food store in the 5600 block of West Fillmore Street on Aug. 27 when a tow truck arrived at about 7 a.m. to repossess his car, police said.
Holmes argued with the two men in the tow truck, then took out a gun and shot one of the truck's tires, police said.
Holmes, of the 2100 block of West 119 Street, was charged with felony aggravated discharge of a weapon, misdemeanor criminal damage to property, failing to register a fire arm and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
Walbrook High School reunion in Cherry Hill turns deadly
A 28-year-old man who was recently released from prison was charged Saturday night in what police described as a bloody melee that left one dead and seven others wounded at a high school reunion in Cherry Hill earlier the same day.
James L. Dixon of 900 Kevin Road was charged with fatally stabbing Carrington McNutt and injuring at least seven others at a Walbrook High School reunion for classes 1995 through 2005 at the Patapsco Arena on Annapolis Road, said Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman.
"One individual basically went on a stabbing rampage," he said.
Dixon is charged with first-degree murder, as well as several counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
Saturday afternoon, friends and relatives streamed in and out of McNutt's rowhouse in the 2800 block of W. Lafayette Ave. The house was his childhood home, where he lived with his mother and sister.
"Everybody from this neighborhood knew each other," said Carrington's sister, Chandra McNutt. She said lots of people from all over town were attending the reunion, although she did not attend.
"I'm still in shock," she said from inside the door. She said her brother left behind a young daughter.
Police say it is unclear at this point what caused the dispute.
McNutt was stabbed in the neck and upper torso, Moses said. He was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center and pronounced dead at 1:40 a.m., about an hour after the fight. The other victims were taken to various area hospitals and are expected to survive, Moses said.
Wesley Souders, a manager at the arena who was working during the event, said the contract was for about 600 people to attend the dance, which was supposed to end at 2 a.m.
"They were playing their music. They were dancing. They seemed to be having a good time," he said.
About 25 security guards were manning the event, Souders said, and police are routinely notified ahead of time when the space is rented out. Police had stopped in and reported that "everything is fine," Souders said, but the fight broke out shortly after.
"We couldn't see exactly where it started," he said.
The parking lot behind the Patapsco Arena was packed with people attending a flea market Saturday afternoon while workers wearing white plastic jumpsuits cleaned inside the event hall. Some blood drops remained near the back entrance and down a concrete wheelchair ramp.
Moses said a knife — the apparent weapon — and a handgun, which was not used in the fight, were recovered from the scene.
Security on site detained witnesses who pointed to the suspect, police said.
McNutt and Dixon were involved in incidents of violence throughout their lives, court records show.
In June 2005, McNutt was shot on his own block. He was charged with attempted murder in the shooting a 28-year-old on the same block a few months later. The charge was not pursued, court records show.
Two years ago, McNutt was one of three people shot during an altercation outside the China Room nightclub on Calvert Street downtown and he had a number of drug convictions in Baltimore courts.
Dixon also had a prior criminal history.
In May 2003 he pled guilty to a drug distribution charge, receiving a 10-year sentence with nine years and six months suspended and three years of probation. A little more than a year later, he was found guilty of violating his probation and sentenced to six years. He was also found guilty in October 2005 on a burglary charge from 2004 and was sentenced to 15 years with all but five years suspended and three years of probation.
Facebook post gets Detroit-area juror in hot water
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – A judge removed a juror from a trial in suburban Detroit after the young woman wrote on Facebook that the defendant was guilty. The problem? The trial wasn't over. Hadley Jons, of Warren just north of Detroit, could be found in contempt when she returns to the Macomb County circuit court Thursday.
Jons, 20, was a juror in a case of resisting arrest. On Aug. 11, a day off from the trial and before the prosecution finished its case, she wrote on Facebook that it was "gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're guilty."
The post was discovered by defense lawyer Saleema Sheikh's son.
Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski confronted Jons the next day and replaced her with an alternate.
"You don't know how disturbing this is," Druzinski said, according to The Macomb Daily.
A message seeking comment was left for Jons on Monday.
"I would like to see her get some jail time, nothing major, a few hours or overnight," Sheikh said. "This is the jury system. People need to know how important it is."
Sheikh's son, Jaxon Goodman, discovered the comment while checking jurors' names on the Internet. He works in his mother's law office.
"I'm really proud of him," Sheikh said.
Without Jons, the jury convicted Sheikh's client of a felony but couldn't agree on a separate misdemeanor charge.
Ghost Hunter Hit, Killed By Train In Iredell County
IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. -- A man was hit by a train and killed while looking for a legendary ghost train that is said to haunt the Bostian Bridge, near Buffalo Shoals Road in Iredell County.
A man was hit by a train and killed while ghost hunting on the Bostian Bridge, near Buffalo Shoals Road in Iredell County.
A group of about 12 amateur ghost hunters were on the train trestle at about 2:45 a.m. Friday, according to the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office. They were there in hopes of seeing a ghost train that crashed on the Bostian Bridge on Aug. 27, 1891. Legend has it that the ghost train returns to haunt the tracks on the anniversary of the crash, which killed 30 people and injured many others.
A Norfolk Southern train rounded the bend and several people were caught on the trestle, deputies said. Most of them managed to get out of the train’s way, but 29-year-old Christopher Kaiser was hit and killed, deputies said.
A woman was airlifted to a hospital. Her name and condition were not immediately available.
The train’s operators made every attempt to stop and to warn the people, deputies said.
Pasco man accused of trashing ATM that ate his card
ZEPHYRHILLS — The ATM ate his debit card. So on the evening of July 10, authorities said, Louis Dotti went about getting it back himself.
The 43-year-old got some scissors from his pickup and used them on the machine at First National Bank of Pasco at 37215 State Road 54 in Zephyrhills, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
When that failed, he pounded on the machine with his fists, causing $2,182 damage to the ATM, a report states.
Dotti, of 5241 Portland Drive in Zephyrhills, was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminal mischief. This is fifth arrest in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. His previous arrests were on charges of DUI and driving with a suspended license. He was released from the Pasco County jail Wednesday night on $2,000 bail.
Dotti did not want to comment about the incident Thursday. A bank official would not comment about what happened or why Dotti's card was stuck in the machine in the first place.
Politician raffles breast implants
CARACAS (Reuters) – A Venezuelan politician is offering breast implants as a prize in a raffle to raise funds for his parliamentary election campaign.
"Some people raffle TVs and we decided to offer this. It's an interesting prize and there's a lot of interest," Gustavo Rojas, an opposition candidate for a National Assembly position, told Reuters while campaigning in Caracas.
Cosmetic surgery, especially breast enlargement, is widespread in image-conscious Venezuela, whose beauty queens have won numerous international pageant titles.
Even a recession has not diminished Venezuelans' appetite for cosmetic surgery, with many people taking out loans for operations.
Rojas, of the opposition First Justice party, said he was not too worried about potential feminist criticism or the medical details of his offer.
"The raffle is a financing mechanism, nothing else. It's the doctor who will do the operation, not me," he said.
"When someone raffles a TV, some people think it's a good TV but others don't like it. It's the same. I'm not showing disrespect to anyone."
Venezuelans vote on September 26 for a new parliament.
Minnesota mayor's blood-alcohol level: Three times legal limit
Mankato Minnesota Mayor John Brady was driving with an open bottle of vodka and tested at three times more than the legal driving limit for alcohol, according to charges filed against him.
Brady, 61, was charged with fourth-degree driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and having an open container of alcohol. He was arrested Saturday by Golden Valley police on Interstate 394. Police said Brady's speech was so slurred that an arresting officer thought he was speaking a foreign language.
"We consider these kinds of charges very serious and very concerning," Golden Valley City Attorney Francis Rondoni said.
Brady, who has been mayor for four years and is running for reelection this fall, is scheduled for a first court appearance on Oct. 13. Each charge has a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, $1,000 fine or both.
According to a complaint filed Tuesday, police received a call about a hit-and-run suspect in Golden Valley at about 1 p.m. Saturday. After locating Brady's car, an officer observed him crossing over and drifting between lanes. The officer said Brady didn't stop his vehicle when police emergency lights were on and then struck a vehicle while exiting I-394 to Hopkins Crossroad.
Before almost hitting another vehicle, Brady stopped, the complaint said. When he exited the vehicle, he used his door to brace himself. He told the officer that he had been drinking. Police asked him to perform field sobriety tests and he "was unable to complete them successfully,'' the complaint said.
When the officer asked Brady where he was from, the officer couldn't understand Brady "as his speech was so impaired and mumbled that it appeared he was speaking a foreign language," the complaint said.
Officers also found a small opened bottle of Smirnoff vodka in the driver's door of the car, the complaint said.
Boulder, Colorado man suspected of stealing car after it sped past his house
A 43-year-old Boulder man is accused of threatening a group of young men who sped past his house and yelled obscenities, throwing a bottle through their car's rear window and then taking their vehicle and driving it to his home.
Roberto Vasquez Hernandez was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery and criminal mischief after police were called to his house about 9:15 p.m. Sunday.
Hernandez told officers that he and his girlfriend were outside of their home at 4500 19th St. doing yard work when he saw a red car speeding down Avocado Road at about 50 mph. He told police he was concerned about the children who play in the street, including his 3-year-old niece who lives next door.
When the vehicle passed his house a second time, according to police, he heard obscenities and said it sounded like the occupants shot his truck with a BB gun.
Hernandez told officers that he sprayed water on the car as it drove off and yelled something like, "If you want to shoot at something, shoot at me," according to an arrest report. Hernandez also told police that he thought the carload could be gang members.
The vehicle drove past Hernandez's house a third time, according to police, and someone in the car lobbed a bottle at him. Hernandez caught it, and he threw it through the rear window of the car, police reported.
The window shattered, and Hernandez ran after the car, saying, "I have something for you," according to police.
When he made the threat, the vehicle occupants thought Hernandez had a gun, one of them later told officers. The occupants abandoned the car and left the keys in the ignition, Hernandez told police.
Hernandez said he knew the group would be around all night and "would kill someone with how they were driving," so he got in the car and drove it up the street, police said.
When officers asked him why he didn't call police instead of taking matters into his own hands, Hernandez said he once called police after something was stolen from his home and it took an hour for an officer to arrive.
Hernandez was charged Wednesday, posted a $10,000 bond and was released from jail.
He couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
2 arrested in Oregon at 'Shop With a Cop' day
PORTLAND, Ore. – Two men arrested in Oregon for shoplifting during a "Shop With a Cop" event for school children initially thought it was a bad time for stealing — with more than 60 uniformed officers on scene.
But Portland Sgt. Pete Simpson says the two gave it some more thought and decided police would be distracted so it would be a good time to steal.
They were wrong.
Store security officers at the Fred Meyer store weren't caught off guard Wednesday. Simpson says security watched the two young men packing their own backpacks with blenders, shoes, clothes and tools while officers helped children pick out supplies for the school year.
A Maplewood, Minnesota man found out the hard way that when it comes to getting rid of vermin, a gun probably is not the best choice -- particularly when the critter is in your house.
By the time he was done shooting, a bat was wounded and an adjoining vacant townhouse had three bullet holes in its freshly painted walls, a dent in a metal closet door and a dent in the stove, according to charges filed Friday in Ramsey County District Court.
As a result, Cedric R. Newton, 52, has been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, a felony. He will make his first court appearance Sept. 20.
The charges said Newton used a .38-caliber revolver to get rid of the bat last month.
A Maplewood police officer was sent to the 2300 block of Loudin Lane on July 25 to speak with the property manager, who showed the officer the damage, the complaint said.
When police talked to Newton, he said that about midnight on July 24, a bat had come into his home and "attacked" his wife, the complaint said. Newton said he got his gun and fired several times at the bat, eventually wounding it.
"Newton told police that he had the presence of mind to have his wife go upstairs while he shot at the bat, but apparently gave no consideration to the surrounding townhomes," the complaint said.
Man stabbed in St. Petersburg after rebuffing woman's sexual advances, police say
ST. PETERSBURG, Fl. – A woman who made sexual advances on an acquaintance outside a liquor store stabbed the man with scissors after he rebuffed her, police said.
Denise Vanistella Williams, 50, was in the parking lot of the Dam New York Liquor Store, 1443 16th St. S, at about 2 a.m. Tuesday. An acquaintance who frequents the store was there, too.
Williams made sexual advances toward the acquaintance. He rebuffed her. She then stabbed the man with a small blue-handled scissors, giving him a six inch cut to his left arm, police said.
She was arrested later on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Caught in the act: Family photo shows bag thief in background
MADISON, WI - As can happen in vacation photographs, a photo of a family of four at the State Capitol over the weekend just happened to include an uninvited fifth subject in the background.
Good thing, too, as the photo shows the intruder stealing the family’s bag, an image that led to a quick arrest.
The photograph shows the family — John and Katharine Myers and their children, Charlie and Matilda, of Bloomfield, N.J. — posing about 30 feet in front of the State Street entrance to the Capitol. It was taken at about 2:45 p.m. Saturday after the Myers family attended a wedding in the building for friends Renato Umalia and Sarah Burgundy.
John Myers set the camera’s timer and placed the camera on the balustrade, everybody mugged for the shot, and “we were going to (leave) for the reception when I realized I had forgotten my bag,” Myers told the State Journal.
It was gone, so Myers ran into the building to see if anyone had turned in the bag, but no one had. As he came out, he noted other wedding photographers taking photos and “I thought that maybe I caught the person in my shot, and when I checked, there he was.”
The photo clearly shows in the background, behind the Myers family, a man dressed in hard-soled dark brown shoes, white socks, cut-off dark blue denim shorts and dark T-shirt and ball cap, going through the bag on the ground at the building entrance.
Returning to the Capitol, Myers expected to get the brush-off.
“I fully expected the Capitol Police to tell me this happens all the time and there was nothing they could do, but as soon as they saw the picture they sent two officers out running and gave out a description,” Myers said.
It turns out the man in the photograph resembled a man who frequented the Capitol grounds.
“They were amazing,” Myers said. “They located the guy. He was still carrying the bag.”
When he was stopped by police, near the Capitol at West Washington Avenue, not only did the man have the bag with him, but it contained Myers’ wallet, cash, credit cards and other items.
The man, who was arrested and identified as Glenn R. Lambright, 59, no permanent address, told police he found the bag abandoned, and he also told them where he had trashed the rest of the bag’s contents.
Myers’ Flickr web page includes a photo of daughter Matilda and the smiling police officers who made the arrest, Chris Weiss and Jason Drogsvold.
Lambright pleaded not guilty in Dane County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon to a charge of misdemeanor theft.
The technology blog Gizmodo first carried the story and photograph Monday of “the Myers Family” trip to Madison.
It was probably a good thing Myers’ new Canon G7 camera was working Saturday. The State Journal discovered that the Capitol’s security camera at that entrance was not.
BERLIN – Police say a man living in Germany was shot in the back of his head, but that it took him five years to realize it. Police said Tuesday that the 35-year-old man was hit by a .22-caliber bullet in the western town of Herne as he was out in the street partying and drunk on New Year's Eve five years ago.
They say the man recalled receiving a blow to the head, but told them he didn't seek medical assistance at the time.
The bullet did not penetrate the skull, and police say the Polish man only went to see a doctor recently when he felt a lump on the back of his head. An X-ray showed an object under his skin, and doctors operated and found the projectile.
Police say it may have been a stray bullet fired by a reveler in celebration.
Sex video identifies suspects in break-in
ELMA, Wash. – It wasn't tough to identify the suspects in a break-in at a rural home at Washington state. The bare facts were right there.
The Grays Harbor County sheriff's office says a neighbor who came to collect the mail while the owner was away surprised a man and woman having sex on the floor Monday.
Chief Deputy Dave Pimentel says the naked couple fled, leaving behind the camera, which had been stolen elsewhere.
Pimentel said Tuesday that deputies who checked the video recognized the couple from previous contacts.
The 39-year-old woman was arrested for investigation of burglary. An arrest warrant was issued for the 31-year-old man.
Dog who ate beehive wins unusual pet insurance award
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Labrador that ate a beehive containing pesticides and thousands of dead bees won an award on Monday that recognized the most unusual pet health insurance claim in the United States.
Ellie, who fully recovered from her encounter with the beehive in southern California, beat a border collie that ran through a window to get at a mailman, and a terrier that bit a chainsaw.
She won a bronze trophy in the shape of a ham, and basket of toys and doggie treats.
The winner was announced on Monday by the Veterinary Pet Insurance Co (VPI) and selected from a dozen pets nationwide.
"Ellie may be a young dog, but she's already managed to eat everything from wooden toy train tracks to laptop computer keys," said the VPI. "So the beehive in the backyard was just another culinary adventure for this insatiable pooch.
All three hungry dogs have recovered after receiving care from a vet.
Woman Verbally Assaulted In Piggly Wiggly Express Lane
SAUKVILLE, Wis. -- A Port Washington woman went to the express line, but she had a lot more than 10 items. What resulted was a verbal assault and a hefty citation.
In all, the woman had 37 items in her cart when she went to the checkout. There was no one waiting or in line at the 10 items or less counter, or express line so she asked the clerk if she could take her and she said yes. A bit later another customer came up and strenuously objected.
"I was bending over getting eight little can goods and I heard, 'Can't you blank, blank, read?' I was like, 'Are you kidding me?'" the woman said.
The man went on to call her fat and ugly. The woman said she called 911. A police officer happened to be in the area.
"He went and called her names and caused in all of my years of law enforcement, a disturbance," Saukville police Officer Barry Effinger said.
The man was issued a citation for disorderly conduct with a $429 fine. This was the man's second such incident investigated by the same officer in two years.
"It was done first with a verbal warning, and then you have to escalate it because you're just not getting it that you're just not respecting people," Effinger said.
"I'm glad he got that ticket. I'm glad. He deserved that ticket," the woman said.
WISN 12 News tried to contact the man who got the ticket at his home and over the phone but couldn't reach him.
The store did not want to comment.
So far, the fine has not been paid. The violator has until Sept. 22.
Doh! Upstate NY bank robber forgets to put on mask
EDEN, N.Y. – Note to would-be bank robbers: when robbing a bank, be sure to put on your mask. Police said a robbery suspect had a dust mask around his neck but didn't pull it over his face when he walked into an HSBC branch Wednesday afternoon in the town of Eden, 15 miles south of Buffalo.
The bank's surveillance video shows the man walking into the bank and handing a teller a note that police said demanded money. The video also shows a dust mask that remains hanging around the man's neck.
While handing the note to the teller, the man answers his cell phone, then grabs the note and runs out of the bank.
Police speculate that the call came from the suspect's get-away driver, alerting him that he forgot to put on his mask.
The suspect remains at large.
Driver fined $100 in Virginia for having goat in trunk
BEDFORD, Va. – A driver has been convicted of animal cruelty and fined $100 after Virginia authorities found a goat stuffed in the trunk of her car.
Bedford County sheriff's deputies discovered the goat bound and in the trunk during a drunken driving checkpoint in June.
Fiona Ann Enderby of Washington, D.C., told police she bought the goat from a farmer to give to four passengers in her car, who are from Kenya but reside in Lynchburg in central Virginia. The goat was panting heavily and animal control officers say the temperature in the trunk was 94 degrees.
An Irish Scientist Figures Out A Way To Make Cars Run On Whiskey
Well . . . not whiskey itself. That's for drinkin'. He's created a new bio-fuel where the key ingredients are the byproducts left over during whiskey production.
His name is Martin Tangney, and he's been working on the project for two years. Since scotch and whisky distillation is one of the biggest industries in Ireland, figuring out a way to use their waste is a major priority.
Tangney says his new fuel is a green, environmentally sustainable option . . . and it could be blended with a little regular gas or diesel so cars wouldn't even need to be modified to use it.
There's no word on when it could be on the market, or if it could come over here. Tangney and his team have filed for a patent and are now starting a company to work on developing the fuel commercially.
Cash falls from man's posterior during strip search
BAY COUNTY - A man being booked into jail gained another charge when detention officers found dollar bills falling out of his posterior.
Nicholas Ryan Harris, 19, of 503 Wood Trail, was undergoing a strip search after being booked into Bay County Jail on charges of driving under the influence, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia when “several dollar bills … fell from Nicholas’ buttocks area,” according to an incident report. There were $45 total recovered.
According to the report, Harris had been asked prior to the search if there was anything hidden on his body and he said no.
Officers added introducing contraband into a county facility to his charges.
Something Sewn Shut
Police in southern Shenzhen City confirmed a patient's claim that her anus had been sewn by a midwife suspected of taking revenge during the patient's labor because she failed to receive a good tip.
A medical report by the police showed the anus had been sewn with black threads and needle near her bleeding hemorrhoid, reported Nanfang Daily yesterday.
The midwife surnamed Zhang had denied it.
The report conflicted with a previous statement that said the patient's anus was not sealed up and there was no evidence supporting the sewing claim, by the Shenzhen Health Bureau and Shenzhen Population and Family Planning Commission on July 30.
Zhang claimed she applied the ligature treatment to cure the woman's bleeding pile out of generosity, though it violated professional practice.
However, the police's report said the woman's bleeding position was not the one that Zhang claimed she ligated.
The director of Fenghuang Hospital in Luohu District, where Zhang worked, said she couldn't comment because she didn't see the report. But she said further investigation was still needed.
Zhang was also unavailable for comment.
According to the patient's husband, surnamed Chen, the midwife had hinted that he give her extra money before the child's birth on July 23. But Chen gave her only 100 yuan (USD 15), which she thought too meager and sparked her revenge.
'You're a (expletive) for Tasing an injured person'
BAKER – Two men, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old, were arrested after they confronted a deputy who Tased a man as he was being treated for injuries.
About 3 a.m. Aug. 14, the deputy was assisting EMS at a traffic crash on the 6000 block of Old River Road that involved a 4-wheeler, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. The patient became combative with EMS.
“I had to deploy my Taser to gain compliance,” the report said. The 19-year-old aggressively moved toward the deputy and yelled, “You’re a (expletive) for Tasing an injured person.”
He continued yelling obscenities and called all the emergency responders “stupid,” according to the report. Minutes later, the 21-year-old arrived. The men threatened the deputy, telling him to take off his uniform so they could beat him up.
The men advanced toward the deputy in an aggressive manner, and he told them to go to the other side of the road, the report said. Both refused to comply. After another deputy arrived, the men were arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault on an officer and resisting an officer without violence.
They are due in court Sept. 7.
A Drunk Driver Is Busted For Driving 11 Miles . . . Without A Tire
Today's Idiot Criminal of the Day is 61-year-old Duane Bush of Bethany, New York. Duane didn't just make the SELFISH and DANGEROUS decision to drive drunk . . . he was SO drunk he didn't realize that his van was FALLING APART while he was driving.
On Monday night, Duane was driving with a blood-alcohol level of .28 . . . which is three-and-a-half times the legal limit
As he drove down a rural road, one of the back tires on his van FELL OFF. And somehow, he didn't realize it . . . and kept driving . . . for ELEVEN miles. Another driver saw him and called the police.
They arrested him for aggravated DWI, which is a felony . . . and when they realized his license expired a full THIRTY-THREE years ago, on October 7th, 1977, he was also charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
Two Women Offer To Trade Their Landlord Sex For Rent . . . Then Try To Blackmail Him After It Goes Down
The economy is still SO bad that, every day, it's turning regular people into AMATEUR PROSTITUTES. Like 23-year-old Jessica Testin, and her roommate, 26-year-old Rachel Beloff, in Fairfax, Virginia.
Jessica and Rachel recently called their landlord, whose name hasn't been released. They said couldn't afford their rent, and offered him a deal: He waives this month's rent . . . they perform SEXUAL FAVORS for him.
Even though he was married, the guy agreed, and went to their apartment to get-it-on.
The girls told him to go into a bedroom and strip, which he did. Then one of them came in and did a striptease for him . . . and after she got naked, she jumped on the bed and straddled him. Sounds pretty sweet so far, right?
Well, that's when things turned bad: During the straddling, the other girl tried to steal the landlord's clothes and cell phone. But somehow he managed to get them back, and left. And that's when he found out the girls were going to BLACKMAIL him.
They told him they'd taped everything, and unless he paid them $500 a week AND gave them free rent, they'd give a DVD to his wife. And he did the smart thing, even though he knew it might get him exposed: He went to the cops.
They got the women on tape making another offer to the landlord: $11,000 in cash and they'd give him all the recordings and leave him alone forever.
On Tuesday, the cops raided the girls' apartment. They were both arrested and charged with a felony threat to extort money, which has a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. But, hey, that's 10 years of free rent.
Stanley Janes is accused of firing a gun in his home.
Washington County sheriff's deputies arrested a 52-year-old man Friday after he fired a gun in his Southwest Liberty Bell Drive home.
Police say they were called to the home of Stanley Janes after a neighbor complained of loud bird noises coming from Janes' residence. Janes, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, was uncooperative, police said.
Deputies had returned to their patrol cars when they heard a gunshot from inside Janes' home. Janes was found sitting on a chair on the back porch when a gun by his feet.
Police said Janes previously had shot up the interior of his home. Police said they don't know why Janes discharged a weapon in his house.
He was arrested and is accused of unlawful use of a weapon, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct.
Mom arrested for posting Facebook picture of baby with bong
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. — The picture of a Florida baby with a bong has now led to the mom's arrest.
Rachel Stieringer, 19, is facing one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The Keystone Heights mother posted a picture on her Facebook page of her baby with a bong. She said it was just a joke.
DCF gave the infant a drug test and it came back negative. Prosecutors said they could not charge her with child abuse, because her son wasn’t exposed to any drugs.
The grandparents are now caring for the child.
Police: Man makes shrimp pizza, trashes restaurant
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Police in a North Carolina city arrested a man for breaking into a restaurant, but not before the suspect filled his belly. Multiple media outlets reported that 22-year-old Bradley Michael was charged him with breaking and entering, vandalism and larceny.
Greensboro police said the suspect broke through the front door of a Red Lobster restaurant around 7 a.m. Monday. The restaurant manager said Michael destroyed an estimated $30,000 worth of computers, benches and liquor bottles.
The manager said Michael also made himself a shrimp pizza and ate some cake. Officers found Michael inside the restaurant.
Michael was in the Guilford County Jail Tuesday afternoon on a $50,000 bond. It wasn't clear whether Michael had an attorney.
A Catholic priest from Wisconsin has been told that he is in violation of a trademark owned by electronics giant Best Buy, and could face legal action if he does not comply with a cease-and-desist order issued by the retailer's legal department.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Father Luke Strand (center) has been driving a black Volkswagon Beetle with 'God Sqaud' stickers on the doors since he was a seminarian. Unfortunately, he may not be driving it in it's current state for very much longer. Fr. Strand has received a letter from Best Buy's lawyers claiming it violates the trademarked logo of their well known 'Geek Sqaud' tech support team.
A friend of Fr. Strand said the vehicle was just a little fun, intended to incite discussion in the community.
"There was never any kind of formal God Squad group or organization. Father Luke and some friends simply decided to design a car that would act as a cool and fun way to bring our faith into the public. It's just a conversation starter," Janasik told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"It's obviously not a Best Buy vehicle. When people see the car in public they usually laugh, and then it leads into lots of greatconversations with strangers about faith and God."
A senior Best Buy PR representative confirmed that they had made contact with Strand regarding a trademark infringement and elaborated that sending the cease-and-desist order was a hard decision to come to.
"This was a really difficult thing for us to do because we appreciate what Father Strand is trying to accomplish with his mission. But at the end of the day, it's bad precedent to let some groups violate our trademark while pursuing others," Paula Baldwin, senior manager for public relations at Best Buy told the Journal.
Best Buy is said working with Strand to come up with a new logo.
Salon owner blames power provider for customer's bald head
BRUCE, Miss. (WTVA) -- A trip to the hair salon leaves one customer partially bald. Now owner of the shop and the power provider are in a debate over who is to blame.
When a woman goes into a salon, the last thing she probably expects is to come out partially bald .
"I was getting color put in and the lights went out and there was no way to get it out of my hair in time," the woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, said.
Tessa Mingo, the owner of People's Choice Hair Salon said her customer's hair is the end result of her salon's power being cut off by mistake without warning.
"I know I just paid my bill on the 19th so there was no reason for my power to get cut off," Mingo said.
Mingo showed WTVA News the papers to prove she paid, but she said the money she gave the power association was applied to her residential account rather than her business account. That led to her power being disconnected, and she said it leaves her credibility in question.
Mingo said, "If she goes home to try to explain it to her friends and relatives and family, will they come back?"
WTVA went to the Pontotoc Electric Power Association to get the other side of the story.
WTVA News reporter Kalisha Whitman said, "We received a complaint from a customer saying that her power was cut off at her beauty salon by mistake. Do you have a statement regarding that?"
Bob Wells, the district manager of the Bruce location of the Pontotoc Electric Power Association said, "Only that the fact that we can't discuss customer accounts because a privacy act is involved that would be as far as I can go. I'm sorry."
For the customer the issue is not about who is at fault, but rather the price she had to pay.
"I feel terrible about this situation because I came in and I wasn't expecting to leave out like this," the woman, who did not want to reveal her identity, said.
The power has been restored, but the debate over who is to blame has yet to be resolved. However, the customer said the price she had to pay drastically changed her life.
Pontotoc Electric Power Association does not service the water, however the owner of the salon said she needed the hot and cold water properly remove the chemicals from her customers head. The owner said the hot water did not work as a result of the power being disconnected.
Streaker in Market Square did it 'on a dare'
PORTSMOUTH, NH — A Milton Mills man was convicted of indecent exposure Monday for being naked in a Congress Street restaurant and streaking through an area of Market Square.
“I'm a free-spirited individual and sometimes it gets me in trouble,” said Sheehan Lygren, 22, of 11 Carleton Road, after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of indecent assault and resisting arrest.
Lygren's pleas were his admission to being naked on July 12 when he went into the downtown restaurant, then led officer Brian Houde on a foot chase on Court and Chestnut streets and through the Vaughn Mall.
During Monday's District Court hearing, prosecutor Rena DiLando said Houde was on foot patrol when he heard “a commotion” then saw a while man with braids running naked. Houde twice ordered Lygren to stop and injured his leg during the pursuit, said DiLando.
Police said Lygren was found hiding in a trash bin near a downtown hotel.
For his conviction on the indecent exposure charge, Lygren was fined $1,000 with half suspended pending a year of good behavior. He was also ordered to have no contact with the downtown restaurant and to write the restaurant owner a letter of apology within 30 days.
For the resisting arrest conviction, Lygren was given a 30-day jail sentence which is suspended for a year providing he remains of good behavior and writes a letter of apology to Officer Houde.
After the court hearing, Lygren told the Herald his streaking was in protest of working conditions at the restaurant where he was previously employed until the day of his naked run. He said he did it “on a dare” and has since received a letter of support from a stranger who read about his arrest.
SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. (WTNH) - A Wethersfield woman is facing charges after police say she handed a bank teller an envelope containing cocaine.
It happened at Rockville Bank in South Windsor Thursday afternoon.
Kendl Murphy, 43, pulled up to the drive-up teller and handed over a deposit envelope that contained a small bag with white powder. Bank staff asked Murphy to wait for her transaction to be completed and called police.
A field test of the substance revealed that it was cocaine.
Murphy has been charged with possession and possession within 1,500 feet of a school or day care. She was later released on a $1,000 bond.
Convicted sex offender defecates on self after accused of indecent exposure
A convicted sex offender faces new charges after two people reported seeing him touch his exposed private parts while sitting in a truck adjacent to Tony’s Ice Cream.
Robert Stephen Smith, 41, of 474 Cedar Creek Court, Iron Station, denies the allegation.
“I was going to ask a girl out on a date, I’m not a bad-looking guy,” Smith told a magistrate judge. “I was not playing with myself. I promise you that.”
Witnesses – including the son of a Gastonia Police sergeant – report that Smith had his pants down and was touching himself inappropriately in public at 9:48 a.m. Friday.
“He had his pants down and he was, you know,” said the worker at a nearby business who made the initial 911 call. “He was looking at the people coming out of Tony’s Ice Cream.
“My first thought was what if a child walked by or a teenager. I don’t know if he’s ready to pick up a child or follow someone home.”
Gastonia Police Sgt. Jeff Clark’s son works nearby and the officer said he called his son to ask him to check out the report while officers were en route. His son reported seeing the same thing as the 911 caller.
Smith spent 8¾ years in prison on a February 2000 conviction in Mecklenburg County on two counts of second-degree sex offense, according to court records. He was released from custody Dec. 29, 2007, and then had to register as a sex offender.
Smith left the parking area when a police officer pulled in behind him, according to Sgt. Clark. The officer stopped him about a block away at another business on Avon Street near Second Avenue.
The officer reported that Smith had his pants down to his knees at the time of the traffic stop. As officers handcuffed a naked Smith they said he defecated on himself in an area outside his truck.
Smith was released from custody after posting a $5,000 bond. He faces charges of indecent exposure and resisting a police officer, related to him allegedly pulling away as officers tried to handcuff him.
Smith said he spent 10 minutes in the parking lot near Tony’s Ice Cream on Franklin Boulevard near the intersection with Avon Street. He said his pants were unbuttoned because he suffers Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder.
He said he was trying to talk to a woman he had made “eye contact” with while driving down the road after visiting the Habitat store earlier that morning. The woman never talked with him, he said.
Smith denied the charge throughout a hearing before the magistrate judge, at one point calling his arresting officers “liars.”
He has a first court date on Sept. 28.
Blind man sues Wienerschnitzel over run-in with tree
All Nathan Reynolds wanted was a hot dog. Instead, as the blind man walked toward a Wienerschnitzel restaurant last year, he got a face full of tree — and severe neck injuries.
Now, the 36-year-old Utah County man has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the owners of the Wienerschnitzel at the corner of North Temple and 800 West in Salt Lake City.
The complaint contends that on June 9, 2009, Reynolds — who had been on his way to the Utah School for the Deaf and the Blind — got off a bus near the Wienerschnitzel to get a meal. As the 6-foot-5 man navigated toward the entrance with his cane swinging in front of him, he hit the tree, which the suit contends had encroached on the sidewalk.
“The tree struck him squarely in the face and knocked him to the ground,” states the suit, filed Tuesday. “The tree was allowed to grow in such a way that it was impossible for Mr. Reynolds to detect its presence by use of his cane.”
The suit argues that because the tree was “rooted in the ground far to one side of the sidewalk and [had grown] diagonally across the sidewalk,” it had become a “clear hazard.”
Reynolds seeks unspecified reimbursement for past and future medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering stemming from alleged negligence in the maintenance of the tree.
Along with Grundmann Enterprises of South Jordan, the owner of the eatery, Reynolds’ 3rd District Court suit names Salt Lake City Corp. and five John Does as defendants. Reynolds seeks a jury trial; 3rd District Judge Sandra Peuler has been assigned the case.
Daniel J. Grundmann of Grundmann Enterprises declined to comment Wednesday, noting he had not yet been served with the suit.
Tom Amberger, vice president of marketing for Irvine, Calif.-based Galaradi Group Inc., which runs Wienerschnitzel, also declined to discuss the case. “We are unaware of this lawsuit and will look into it,” he said.
Ed Rutan, city attorney for Salt Lake City, would not comment, either, citing the pending nature of the litigation.
Burleigh County Detention Center inmate accused of eating eye glasses
A Burleigh County Detention Center inmate ended up making a spectacle of himself when he didn’t get to speak to a chaplain.
William Demery, 42, could face a charge of criminal mischief for allegedly snatching another Burleigh County inmate’s glasses and eating them less than five hours after being booked into the detention center.
Burleigh County Sheriff’s Major Les Witkowski said Demery was upset on Aug. 1 because a chaplain had not been to the detention center to speak to him when he thought the chaplain would be there. Demery is accused of grabbing another inmate’s glasses and eating both lenses and a piece of the metal frame.
Demery was taken to the Medcenter One emergency room, where a doctor determined he would be OK to return to jail, Witkowski said.
He said the jail staff completed a jail report on the matter after it happened but did not complete an incident report with the sheriff’s department about it until finding out the glasses were worth $250. The incident report was completed on Tuesday.
According to jail records, Demery was booked into jail at 8:04 a.m. on Aug. 1. He is being held in lieu of $2,500 cash bond on an aggravated assault charge.
Witkowski said the report will be sent to the Burleigh County State’s Attorney’s office for potential charges. Assistant State’s Attorney Lloyd Suhr said he had not gotten the report as of Wednesday afternoon.
“I’ll be looking for it — no pun intended,” he said.
Walt Disney faces $200,000 lawsuit in alleged Donald Duck groping case
Walt Disney World is facing a federal lawsuit seeking more than $200,000 in damages after a Pennsylvania woman claimed a person in a Donald Duck costume groped her breast two years ago, court records show.
April Magolon said her family was visiting Epcot in May 2008 when she approached Donald Duck for an autograph, according to the lawsuit.
She said that instead of an autograph from the person in the iconic fuzzy white costume with a blue and yellow sailor shirt and hat, the person performed a "physically menacing act," the lawsuit says.
"Donald Duck proceeded to grab [Magolon's] breast and molest her and then made gestures making a joke indicating he had done something wrong," the lawsuit states. "[Disney] has engaged in a practice of placing corporate profits over public safety while attempting to cover up continuing, long-standing similar prior incidents."
Attempts to reach Magolon on Thursday were unsuccessful. Her attorney did not respond to e-mails or a phone call.
Disney spokesman Bryan Malenius said Thursday that "we've now seen plaintiff's complaint and will respond appropriately in court."
The spokesman said he could not say who was in the Donald Duck costume or provide any additional information.
Magolon is suing Disney for negligence, battery, negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional and reckless infliction of emotional distress.
She is seeking more than $50,000 in damages for each count.
She has suffered "severe physical injury, emotional anguish and distress," according to the complaint. She also says the incident has caused acute anxiety, headaches, nightmares and flashbacks, among other emotional and physical ailments.
Her attorney originally had filed the civil lawsuit in Pennsylvania's Court of Common Pleas in December 2009, but court documents show the case was transferred to Philadelphia's federal court after a request from the entertainment company to move it there.
Malenius could not answer why Disney officials asked to transfer the case to federal court.
In addition to the allegations, the lawsuit also states the Orange County Sheriff's Office has received 24 complaints alleging similar acts by costumed characters since 2004.
A Sheriff's Office spokesman said he could not confirm those complaints but said sex-crimes investigators are working on providing an official count.
Sheriff's Office officials said Thursday that Magolon never filed a complaint against Disney about the incident.
The theme park faced a media blitz in 2004 when a person dressed as Tigger was accused of groping a 13-year-old girl and her mother at Magic Kingdom's Mickey's Toontown Fair.
Deputies arrested Michael C. Chartrand on charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child and battery; however, a jury cleared the man of any wrongdoing.
P.U.! Washington utility adds rotten egg smell to bills
BELLEVUE, Wash. – Paying bills usually stinks, but gas bills from a utility in Washington state will include something truly odorous this month: the stench of rotten eggs.
As part of a safety campaign, Puget Sound Energy is including a scratch-and-sniff pamphlet with its billing statements to remind customers of what leaking gas smells like.
Natural gas is odorless, but providers add a chemical to the gas that has a distinctive, sulfur-like aroma similar to rotten eggs so leaks can be detected.
Bellevue, Wash.-based PSE serves nearly 750,000 natural gas customers in 11 counties.
BALTIMORE – A Baltimore man has been sentenced to a year and a half in jail for faking seizures to get out of paying restaurant bills. City prosecutors said 43-year-old Andrew Palmer pleaded guilty last week to one count of theft scheme, and a judge agreed to impose an 18-month sentence — the maximum Palmer could have received.
Prosecutors said Palmer ate and drank at several restaurants between April and July, and when he couldn't pay, he would feign a seizure that required medical personnel to respond. The maximum penalty for each individual offense was 90 days in jail because the value of each meal was less than $100.
Court records show Palmer has a long criminal record that includes 40 convictions for theft and dozens more arrests.
Woman faked cancer for cash, Disney trip?
TORONTO (Reuters) – A woman in the Toronto area has admitted to faking cancer, running a bogus charity and collecting thousands of dollars from people who thought she was dying, a Toronto newspaper reported.
Ashley Anne Kirilow, 23, shaved her head and eyebrows, plucked her eyelashes, and starved herself to look like she was going through chemotherapy treatments, the report in the Toronto Star said.
She befriended different local groups and recruited volunteers to help her organize events and benefit concerts in her own honor, and even convinced a cancer awareness organization -- Skate4Cancer -- to fly her to Disney World to fulfill what she said was a dying wish. All told, she raised C$20,000 ($19,400), volunteers said.
Her charity 'Change' for Cure, was never registered with tax authorities. On its Facebook page, which has over 4,000 members, she said it was "started October 2009 one very late night while I was sick in bed after my 'Chemo Day.'" (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=142167031235)
The Star said Kirilow contacted the paper, saying she was sorry for what she had done.
"I was trying to be noticed. I was trying to get my family back together. I didn't want to feel like I'm nothing anymore. It went wrong, it spread like crazy, and then it seemed like the whole world knew," the paper quoted her as saying.
Pennsylvania man seeks to change name to Boomer the Dog
PITTSBURGH – A judge is considering whether a Pittsburgh-area man can legally change his name to Boomer the Dog after a short-lived television series.
The man who went to court Tuesday is 44-year-old Gary Guy Mathews, of Green Tree. He is a fan of the 1980s NBC series "Here's Boomer," which featured a dog who rescued people.
But he's also an enthusiast of Anthrocon. That's an annual convention of people dedicated to anthropomorphism, the practice of attributing human characteristics to animals.
Mathews says his friends already call him Boomer, as did his late parents, though that took some persuading.
Allegheny County Judge Robert Folino says he'll take a couple of days to decide. He says he could nix the request if it results in "unintended consequences" like being "seen as bizarre."
Buffalo police rescued a cat from a Cheektowaga man who apparently was planning to make a meal out of his pet because he thought it was ill-tempered, authorities said Monday.
When Ferry-Fillmore District officers pulled over a car driven by Gary L. Korkuc on Sunday night during a traffic stop, they said they heard a cat crying from inside the trunk and investigated.
What they found has left animal lovers at the SPCA Serving Erie County in shock.
The cat, according to police, was in a cage “marinating” in a mixture of crushed red peppers, chili pepper, salt and oil.
“It’s disgusting. It surprises me every day what people are capable of when it comes to violence, whether it is animals or people,” said Gina M. Browning, the SPCA’s director of public relations. “I’ve never heard of anything like this before.”
Korkuc, 51, was arrested on one count of cruelty to animals by Officers Jerry Guilian and John Poisson, shortly after he was stopped on the 1100 block of Broadway at about 7:45 p. m. for allegedly passing a stop sign.
Police took the 4-year-old cat to the SPCA on Ensminger Road in the Town of Tonawanda, where Korkuc had adopted it May 11. He told police the cat had been “mean” to him, authorities said.
In condemning the treatment of the cat, whose name is Navarro, Browning read from an SPCA memo put together in part from information provided by the officers and shelter staff:
“Do not under any circumstances adopt to this man ever again. He claims he did not want the cat because it was ‘possessive, greedy and wasteful.’ That the cat got pregnant after ‘spaying,’ even though it was a neutered male. This man is a danger to animals. . . . was soaking cat in marinade to ‘cook.’ ”
Workers at the SPCA gave Navarro two baths Sunday night to clean the spices off and were letting him calm down before bathing him again, Browning said late Monday, adding that the cat is adjusting well.
“We can learn lessons in resiliency. He is purring away and getting ready for his next checkup. He’s looking around like, ‘What am I doing here?’ He might be put [back] up for adoption,” Browning said.
Praising Guilian and Poisson, she added, “Thank God that police heard him. Thank God those cops took the initiative. By all appearances that cat may have wound up dead.”
Korkuc was also charged with passing a stop sign and failure to signal. After his arrest, he was later released on an appearance ticket.
Man accused of urinating in cups at House of Blues is released from jail
A man who is accused of urinating in two cups and putting them on a bar at House of Blues has been released from the Orange County jail.
Adolfo Mosmann, 24, who is from Brazil and in the U.S. on a student visa, was arrested about 1:15 a.m. Monday.
An off-duty Orange County Sheriff's Office deputy who was working security at the bar in the 1400 block of East Buena Vista Drive noted in an incident report that Mosmann was caught urinating in the cups and placing them on the bar, where other people were drinking, even though bathroom facilities were nearby.
He was thrown out of the club about 11:45 p.m. Sunday and told not to return, documents show.
An employee and another witness later saw Mosmann return to the club in Downtown Disney Westside. He was wearing a different shirt.
Mosmann, who has a Jacksonville address, was described in an Orange County sheriff's report as "intoxicated."
He then was arrested on a trespassing charge.
Rosters show that Mosmann has played soccer on college teams at Jackson Community College in Michigan and University of South Florida.
It is unclear whether his student visa is in danger because of his arrest.
"While I cannot comment on the specifics of this case, convictions for some criminal offenses can result in the revocation of student visas," said Dani Bennett, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "If a student visa is revoked, the individual may request reconsideration of the revocation."
He posted a $500 bond and was released at 7:41 p.m. Monday, according to the jail.
Man dies in final of sauna championships
HELSINKI (Reuters) – A Russian man died in the finals of the world sauna championships in Finland after spending some six minutes sweltering in temperatures of 110 degrees Celsius (230.00F), organizers said Sunday.
"After this incident we decided that this game is over and done," Saija Jappinen, cultural secretary at Heinola city told Reuters, announcing the end of the event.
The world sauna championships, where competitors try to outlast others in the heat and steam, have been held 12 times in Heinola, some 138 km (86 miles) northeast of Finland's capital Helsinki.
Dozens of competitors were whittled down to just two, but six minutes into the final judges noticed something was wrong with Russian champion Vladimir Lazyzhenskiy and dragged him and Finnish finalist Timo Kaukonen from the sauna.
Police are investigating the cause of Lazyzhenskiy's death.
Frankfurt, Germany, December 6 -- A rather bizarre study carried out by German researchers suggests that staring at women's breasts is good for men's health and increases their life expectancy.
According to Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist and author of the study, gawking at women’s breasts is a healthy practice, almost at par with an intense exercise regime, that prolongs the lifespan of a man by five years.
She added, "Just 10 minutes of staring at the charms of a well-endowed female, is roughly equivalent to a 30-minute aerobics work-out."
Researchers at three hospitals in Frankfurt, Germany did an in-depth analysis of 200 healthy males over a period of five years. Half the volunteers were instructed to ogle at the breasts of women daily, while the rest were told to refrain from doing so.
At the close of the study, the researchers noted that the men who stared at the breasts of females on a regular basis exhibited lower blood pressure, slower resting pulse rates and lesser episodes of coronary artery disease.
The researchers declared that sexual desire gives rise to better blood circulation that signifies an overall improved health.
Weatherby explained the concept stating, "Sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. There's no question: Gazing at breasts makes men healthy.
"Our study indicates that engaging in this activity a few minutes daily cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack in half. We believe that by doing so consistently, the average man can extend his life four to five years."
In addition, she also recommended that men over 40 should gaze at larger breasts daily for 10 minutes.
The German research is believed to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Upset flight attendant activates chute, goes home
A JetBlue flight attendant upset after an altercation with a passenger bolted from the plane by deploying and sliding down the inflatable emergency chute on Monday, police said.
The flight attendant, Steven Slater, was arrested at his home in the New York City borough of Queens after fleeing from John F. Kennedy International Airport, He will likely be charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, a spokesman for the Port Authority police said.
Slater, who had quarreled with a passenger fiddling with his luggage after landing but before the plane came to a complete stop, swore over the public address before opening a door, inflating the chute and sliding down, police said.
The New York Daily News reported that he took over the intercom and called the passenger a 12-letter epithet beginning with m and then told everyone, "I've been in the business 28 years. I've had it. That's it."
The JetBlue Embraer 190 had just arrived at JFK from Pittsburgh.
Weston man arrested for alleged assault at Boynton Beach Olive Garden
BOYNTON BEACH, FL. - In an apparent case of restaurant rage, a Weston man was arrested Saturday evening at an Olive Garden restaurant at 1001 N. Congress Ave. for allegedly punching another patron in the neck.
According to police, Paul Blankfeld, 36, began complaining about noise made by children at another table. He then confronted the father of the children, charging at him and punching him in the neck. Blankfeld told police that the noise of the children, including one with autism, disturbed his dinner.
He was taken to the Palm Beach County Jail and released later Saturday night.
CHICAGO – A Chicago man is accused of taking family bickering too far by allegedly posting a fake Craigslist ad that said his sister was giving away all her belongings.
Police say the ad triggered a rush of bargain hunters to the Joliet, Ill., home of Paul Grachan's sister, and that she received phone calls from people asking about her things.
A Will County judge last week issued a $3,000 warrant against Grachan on charges of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The ad was posted last August.
The 37-year-old Grachan says he had nothing to do with the ad. He says he has had a feud with his sister and that the two haven't spoken in about a year.
IHOP mascot Suzie Pancake assaulted at Bellingham restaurant
BELLINGHAM - IHOP's mascot Suzie Pancake was assaulted by a bystander at about 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3, outside of the restaurant at 3619 Byron St., according to Bellingham police.
A 19-year-old woman dressed in the pancake suit was outside the IHOP, waving at passers-by, when 22-year-old James Manas approached her and began yelling at her and hitting the suit with his hand, Bellingham Police spokesman Mark Young said.
A passer-by stopped Manas as he tried to hit her again; Manas then walked to a nearby bus stop, said Young.
The woman went inside the restuartant, where the manager called Bellingham Police, Young said.
Officers found Manas at New Peking restaurant, 1208 E. Maple St. Manas was cited for disorderly conduct, Young said.
Manas told police he had only been joking, and that he did not hit the pancake, Young said.
The woman was not injured, but was sent home from work early due to distress, Young said.
Police nab Pennsylvania woman alleged as clown bank robber
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Police in northeastern Pennsylvania have arrested a woman they say robbed a bank in a clown costume.
Bethlehem police said the woman was captured about five minutes after the bank robbery late Friday morning. Her name has not been released.
Police said the suspect told bank employees she had a bomb, and fled with an unknown amount of cash.
Arriving officers say they chased her to a nearby park and nabbed her changing out of the clown suit in her car.
A bomb squad robot checked out items found in the car, including the clown suit and a multicolored wig. No explosives were found.
A Police Officer In Utah Is Fired For Letting A Woman Flash Her Breasts To Get Out Of A DUI It takes a real A-HOLE of a cop to turn a drunk driver into a genuinely sympathetic victim. And that's exactly what 33-year-old Jeffery Westerman of the Provo, Utah, police department managed to do.
On July 23rd, Westerman arrived on the scene of an accident . . . a 29-year-old woman was driving drunk, and hit another car. When Westerman got there, he sent the other driver away and performed some field sobriety tests on the woman.
She failed them, and that's when Westerman decided to give her a choice: He'd either arrest her for a DUI . . . or he'd let her go, if she'd lift up her shirt and show him her breasts.
She took option B. And when she lifted up her shirt, Westerman got closer, fondled her and, according to reports, quote, "made crude sexual comments."
Once she put her shirt down, Westerman told her to lift it right back up . . . after all, letting someone out of a DUI was a big deal. She did, he fondled her again, and then he got in his car and drove away.
The woman decided that she couldn't let him get away with that . . . so she went to the police HERSELF to file a complaint.
Westerman was dumb enough to do the fondling while the CAMERA was on in his squad car . . . so when his bosses reviewed the footage, they saw the entire flashing and groping process.
He was fired from the force and has been arrested. He's looking at two felony charges: Forcible sexual abuse and obstruction of justice. The woman has not been charged with a DUI or for any other offense.
In Florida, Police Witness A Man Have An Accident . . . In His Pants . . . During A DUI Test
35-year-old Brian Matthew Collins of Spring Hill, Florida, was responsible for two accidents a few nights ago. And both of them were GIGANTIC MESSES . . . in two VERY different ways.
Early on Monday morning, Hernando County Sheriff's deputies reported to the scene of an accident. Brian had plowed through an intersection and hit another car. And the police suspected he was drunk.
And when they started giving him DUI field tests . . . like walking a straight line and balancing on one foot . . . Brian caused his second accident of the night. IN HIS PANTS.
That's right: While Brian performed the tests, he lost control of his sphinctal region . . . and STINK-IFIED the scene of the crime.
The police very gingerly took him to the station, where he blew a .186 and .195 on the breathalyzer . . . both more than double the legal limit. It also turned out he wasn't supposed to be driving, since his license had been stripped after a previous DUI.
He was charged with driving under the influence, driving with a canceled license and two counts of DUI with property damage. The driver he hit was taken to the hospital with next and back pain.
Involuntary intoxication??
A Helena man accused of shooting his wife and the couple’s nanny told a District Court judge Monday he was mentally incapacitated at the time of the assault because he unknowingly ingested an intoxicant.
While Jeremy Steven MacGregor did not go into specifics during a motions hearing, he did reference cookies laced with marijuana. It was noted in the courtroom that those cookies did not come from within the home.
“Is it going to be your defense that you were involuntarily intoxicated?” asked Judge Jeffrey Sherlock.
“Yes,” MacGregor responded.
MacGregor, 31, is now representing himself after dismissing his public defenders. He submitted evidence to the court saying he tested positive for marijuana when he was tested after the shooting. He also has filed a motion of defense stating he was “not having a particular state of mind.”
MacGregor has not elaborated on his defense in the motions he has filed in court. A jury trial for the two felony charges of attempted deliberate homicide filed against MacGregor is slated for Aug. 16. A jury may be drawn today if MacGregor can schedule a DNA expert to examine evidence before the trial.
MacGregor had previously told the court he intended to bring forth evidence of self-defense.
Since the April 15 shooting, MacGregor’s 25-year-old wife, Jennifer, and the couple’s nanny, 63-year-old Betsy Mart, have both been released from hospitalization. Court documents note both women suffered life-threatening injuries in the shooting, which occurred following a loud argument between the MacGregors.
Also during the hearing, prosecutors argued in support of allowing testimony from the MacGregors’ 6-year-old daughter, who was in the house at the time of the shooting, to be held outside of the courtroom. Making the girl come face-to-face with her father and having him question her about the incident would cause the girl trauma, according to Kathleen Shea, licensed clinical social worker.
Sherlock did not rule on the girl’s testimony on Monday afternoon.
MacGregor remains in Lewis and Clark County jail in lieu of $100,000.
Millville woman vows to kill cops, throw feces and have abortion following robbery arrest in Vineland
VINELAND — A Millville woman was charged with robbing a New Jersey Transit bus driver and kicking out a police cruiser’s window Sunday afternoon.
Natalie M. Tice, 21, of Millville’s Oakview Apartments, allegedly punched the 63-year-old bus driver in the head and took $48 from him.
The robbery occurred at the Vineland Transportation Center, located at 106 W. Landis Ave. It was reported at 4:26 p.m.
The bus driver told police he attempted to prevent Tice from boarding the bus, as she had earlier caused a disturbance while riding on his bus. Tice ignored his request and boarded the bus, then allegedly turned around and punched him, causing a cut to the left side of his head.
After Tice was placed under arrest for the robbery, she was put in the rear of a police cruiser as police continued their investigation.
Police pepper-sprayed Tice after she ignored an order to stop kicking the cruiser’s rear, passenger-side window. The pepper-spray reportedly had little impact in calming Tice, who kicked out the window a few moments later.
Police estimated the damage to the cruiser at $600.
Tice allegedly made several threats to kill the police officers involved in the investigation, both during her arrest and while being processed at police headquarters.
She also screamed that she was going to defecate in an interview room and hurl feces at the officers, and also indicated she was going to have an abortion so she could claim she had a miscarriage due to the way she was handled following her arrest, according to police. The police report did not indicate if Tice was pregnant.
Police recovered $50 from Tice, who was taken to South Jersey Healthcare-Regional Medical Center for evaluation.
Tice was charged with robbery and criminal mischief, with bail set at $100,000
Pregnant woman charged in fast-food robbery attempt
A drunken, pregnant La Crosse woman is accused of trying to rob a South Side fast-food restaurant for drug money late Tuesday but failing when her weapon became jammed in her shorts.
A Taco John's cashier told investigators a heavy-set woman wearing an oversized floral shirt and shorts approached the counter at 1211 Jackson St. about 10:40 p.m. and demanded cash, according to La Crosse police reports.
"I want a soft shell, and this is a stickup. Give me all your money," the suspect reportedly told the cashier.
The woman tried pulling a hammer from her shorts pocket but could not remove the weapon after tugging on the handle, reports stated. The cashier pressed the restaurant's panic button and called 911. The suspect fled without any money, police said.
Julie Bailey, 38, of 934 Jackson St., was arrested a few minutes later with a wooden hammer in her hand after a short foot pursuit. She is facing charges of attempted armed robbery and obstructing officers.
Officers recovered pink and white slippers believed used during the crime near 10th and Jackson streets.
Man Charged for Making Up Story About Thrown Puppy
CADIZ, Ohio - The man who told authorities that he witnessed a driver toss a puppy out of a van and onto a highway is now in trouble after it was determined he made up the entire story, Fox 8 News reports.
According to a Harrison County Sheriff's detective, Jonathan Chapman, 26, of Jewett, Ohio, is currently in jail. He was arrested on Tuesday, and is charged with obstructing justice, filing a false police report and providing false information. He will be arraigned on Wednesday.
The detective tells Fox 8 News that Chapman was given the puppy from a litter of 10 by a friend. Afraid that his wife would not let him keep it, he fabricated the story about saving the pup after it had been thrown from a moving car.
Chapman's wife, who believed her husband's story, reported the incident to the local SPCA, which initially credited Chapman with saving the puppy before receiving a tip about what really happened. That tip eventually led to Chapman's arrest.
According to The Times-Reporter, the SPCA and the Harrison County Humane Society received many inquiries about adopting the puppy, and a home has been selected. The other nine puppies from the litter are also available for adoption.
Recently, Germany has reported a surge in the wild boar population. According to one recent study, German wild boar litters have six to eight piglets on average, other countries usually only about four or five.
It sounds like the plot of a B-movie, yet it’s bizarrely true: Radioactive boars are on the loose and thriving in Germany’s forests.
A succession of mild winters has left Germany scrambling to deal with a skyrocketing wild boar population. Tales of swarming beasts rampaging through city streets and attacking citizens occur with alarming regularity.
The problem has been aggravated by the lingering effects of the Chernobyl disaster from twenty-five years ago; a large portion of the wild animals are contaminated by radioactivity.
Poisonous radiation leaves the beasts completely inedible (wild boar is considered a delicacy in Germany), and the phenomenon is becoming expensive for the German government. In the last hunting season, 650,000 boar were shot versus 287,000 in the previous year. And due to atomic energy regulations, the government must buy contaminated animals from hunters who catch them.
Berlin compensated hunters to the tune of over $500,000 in 2009, writes German newspaper Der Spiegel -- quadruple the payment in 2007.
Though the Chernobyl explosion happened a quarter century ago, high levels of radiation remain in the region’s vegetation. And wild boars are especially susceptible because of their proclivity for mushrooms and truffles, which are especially efficient at absorbing radiation.
"In the regions where it is particularly problematic, all boar that are shot are checked for radiation," Andreas Leppmann from the German Hunting Federation told the paper. There are 70 measuring stations in Bavaria alone.
While general radioactivity in plants should continue to decrease, levels in fungi may even increase, leaving no end in sight for this issue. One expert told Der Spiegel that the problem will likely remain for at least another 50 years.
NJ man who shot parrot with pellet gun for interrupting NASCAR race enters PTI program
MORRISTOWN — A 67-year-old Randolph man has been accepted into a special probation program in Morris County for shooting his family's 20-year-old African gray parrot to death with a pellet gun last year.
Dennis Zeglin was admitted Wednesday by state Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan into the county's pretrial intervention program for first-time offenders. If he successfully serves three years on probation, an animal cruelty charge will be dismissed, and he will not have a conviction on his record.
Under the program's terms, Zeglin also must complete 100 hours of community service assisting a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or another organization that provides humane care to creatures. He also must comply with alcohol counseling and pay $1,000 for services and investigation done by the animal control officer for Randolph.
Zeglin declined to comment Monday. Defense attorney Stephen Fletcher could not be reached. He has said that Zeglin was intoxicated when he shot Mikey on June 7, 2009, because the parrot distracted him with its squawks as Zeglin watched a NASCAR race on television.
Zeglin's wife heard the shots and called police when she saw the bird had been shot.
Zeglin willingly turned over the pellet gun, a Daisy PowerLine Model 93, to police and immediately started intensive counseling for alcoholism, Fletcher has said. He has said his client was extremely remorseful over the death of the parrot, which had been in the household for two decades.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said the decision to let Zeglin go into the program was made after careful consideration and proof that Zeglin was rehabilitating himself from alcohol dependency.
"While deterrence is always a consideration, so too is the fact that this defendant has taken significant steps to rehabilitate himself on his own. He is extremely remorseful," Bianchi said.
Zeglin must forfeit any weapons he owns and his firearms ID card.
Woman tries to steal condoms, dog collars, coffee filters
FORT WALTON BEACH — A woman who concealed condoms, dog collars and teeth whitener in her purse and tried to walk out of a store without paying was arrested.
The 20-year-old woman was inside the Fort Walton Beach Walmart at the time of the incident, according to a report from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
A loss prevention officer told deputies the woman walked through the store and placed several items in her purse and then tried to leave without paying for them, the report stated.
When the loss prevention officer confronted the woman, she handed over a box of condoms, personal lubrication, a car window decal, two dog collars, two dog toys, teeth whitener, coffee filters and four cans of dog food. The items were worth $39.42.
Charge: Boy's bathroom use prompts Burnsville clerk to threaten man with bat
A Burnsville store clerk, angered by requests to use the bathroom and a faucet to fill a water bottle, threatened to club a man with a baseball bat and shoot him, according to charges.
Mahmoud Ahmed Alsharif, 47, of Rosemount, was charged with felony terroristic threats stemming from the incident Wednesday at Super Gas USA, at 1500 Southcross Drive.
According to the criminal complaint:
A man, his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son entered the store about 2:50 p.m., and the man asked Alsharif whether there was a faucet he could use to fill his water bottle.
Alsharif told the man that the bathroom and faucet were only for customers. The clerk began yelling and threatened to shoot them.
After feeling around under the counter, according to the man, Alsharif raised his hand in the shape of a gun and said, "I'm going to shoot you in the head!"
Alsharif then grabbed a silver baseball bat and followed the three out of the store, holding it near the back of the man's head.
The woman said Asharif also was angry that the boy had used the bathroom. She said that her attempt to buy juice was rejected by the clerk, who pushed it away and said he was not a slave.
Alsharif admitted being angered that the three wanted to use the bathroom, because they were not customers. He also acknowledged the conflict over the juice that the woman wanted to buy.
Officers located a pellet gun under the counter.
Neighbor’s music leads man to take up air horn
WATERLOO - A Waterloo man upset by a neighbor's loud music took matters into his own hands.
Carl Herold, 62, said he was tired of constantly calling police to complain about the "hippie tunes" coming from across the street, so Wednesday he got an air horn.
"I just started blasting it," said Herold, a resident of the Chautauqua Park neighborhood, which is across Conger Street from Exchange Park.
Herold's cacophony caused Waterloo police to arrest him for disorderly conduct and seize his air horn.
Herold said he's had a long-standing problem with the music and has filed complaints about the neighbor allegedly building a shed on adjacent city property.
"I don't have to sit in my house and hear his music," Herold said. "We called a number of times, and nothing seems to be done."
He's also upset about residents who park on the sidewalk.
The problems came to a head earlier this week, and Herold bought an air horn that was taken from an old dump truck.
He set up the horn on his deck facing the neighbor's home. He ran a hose to an air compressor to power the horn. Another line led to his living room where he could control the contraption from his couch.
Herold said it took a few minutes for residents to get annoyed and call police.
Officer Stephen Crozier was called to investigate shortly before 1 p.m. His report noted he could hear the horn five blocks before he arrived at Herold's Riverside Drive home. He said it continued to sound every five to 10 seconds.
Crozier noticed the device outside. Herold, still sitting on his couch at the switch, told him to come in.
"I asked him what was going on and the suspect told me he didn't like the neighbor's music across the street and so he was sounding the horn. He then sounded the horn," Crozier wrote in his report on the incident.
"I asked him why he didn't call the police about his neighbor's music and he said the police never do anything. He then sounded the horn," the officer's report continues.
Herold said he was arrested because he didn't quit blowing the horn when the officer told him to stop.
"I just blasted the (expletive deleted). I didn't give a (expletive deleted)," Herold said.
Herold was led away in handcuffs, and police told the neighbor to keep his music down.
Porn site airs at Indonesia's parliament
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesian lawmakers and journalists got a shock when an online porn video blazed across dozens of computer monitors outside the press room at Parliament.
Witnesses say it took security guards 10 minutes to shut down the computers Monday.
The touch-screen monitors are used by visitors to check the Parliament agenda and other political activities.
House Secretary-General Nining Indra said the unwanted interruption was probably caused by someone trying to access a porn site on the computer system.
She said officials would use close circuit TV footage to investigate.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. Authorities have been trying to crack down on porn ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan that starts next week.
A former assistant Hennepin County attorney, charged with six felony counts of promoting prostitution, allegedly ran an operation that set up "nice guy" customers for prostitutes.
John Paul St. Marie, 66, of Minneapolis received free or reduced-price sex in exchange for his services, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Ramsey County District Court.
Authorities said that because the crimes occurred in Hennepin County, the case was referred to Ramsey County to avoid a possible conflict of interest.
St. Marie's attorney, James Dahlquist, said he preferred to deal with the charges in court rather than in the press.
However, he said he and St. Marie were longtime friends, and that it was a sad day.
"The John St. Marie I know is a person who's been recognized for his contributions to society and the legal profession for the last 35 years" Dahlquist said. The charges are much in contrast to that."
St. Marie has been a quadriplegic since age 8, when he contracted polio, his attorney said. He worked in the civil division of the county attorney's office until four years ago, when his health forced him to leave, Dahlquist said.
The Ramsey County attorney's office said the clients — the "nice guys" — were well-to-do businessmen.
A spokesman for the Minneapolis city attorney's office said the cases against the men were "being reviewed for possible charging." He said the women will not be charged.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police began an investigation two years ago after a tip from man who had visited a prostitute and had said St. Marie was advertising the women online.
Police set up surveillance at the Radisson University Hotel in Minneapolis in August 2008. St. Marie gave a prostitute a "customer list" with appointments of men she would see. In return, he got free or reduced-price sex from the woman, the complaint said.
In October 2008, he reserved another room at the Radisson. St. Marie announced online that a woman would be arriving in Minneapolis and would be available for sex.
During a search of the room, police found a man who said he had set up the encounter through St. Marie.
The woman told police she had an agreement with St. Marie. He would set her up with "nice guys" — men he said were safe and would pay well.
The next day, police installed listening devices in a room at the Doubletree Hotel in Minneapolis, where the woman planned to meet customers. They then overheard her and a man discuss trading money for sex. Police immediately entered the room, and the man admitted he'd been recruited the previous year to be one of the "nice guys."
He agreed to act as an informant and gave police access to his e-mail account so officers could pose as the customer.
Investigators learned St. Marie planned to bring in a woman from outside the United States to Minneapolis in November 2008.
He picked her up at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and brought her to the Radisson University Hotel. After she checked into the room he reserved for her, she got back into his van and traveled to his home, the complaint said.
An investigator posing as a client contacted the woman to set up an appointment — telling her he was a friend of a "nice guy."
The woman called St. Marie to confirm the man was, indeed, approved. St. Marie told her he was. As soon as they made a deal for sex, police stepped in. The woman was intercepted by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
She was scheduled to come back into the United States, where St. Marie had set her up to work from a Chaska town home. She confirmed with police that he had provided a list of "nice guys" and had paid for her airline and hotel stays. Agents intercepted her at the airport.
In May 2009, an investigator posing as a patron from New York had a recorded phone conversation with St. Marie in which he admitted he had a list of "nice guys," and that in exchange for setting up the women with them, he received sex. He said that he was a pimp, the complaint said, and attempted to get the "client" to set up an appointment.
Several other clients were arrested and questioned. They gave similar accounts of St. Marie's role in setting up the prostitution appointments.
St. Marie, who is not in custody, is scheduled to make a first court appearance Aug. 11.
Man hitting punching bag strikes gas meter, causes leak
MIDDLETOWN — A man hitting a punching bag accidentally knocked the gas meter off his wall, causing a natural gas leak that forced residents out of their homes for about two hours.
Middletown fire crews responded to 1008 Jackson St. about 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 27, and immediately evacuated residents on Jackson and Midway streets.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation because this house could have easily blown up and at least three or four houses nearby could have suffered significant damage,” Deputy Fire Chief Tom Snively said.
Snively said gas spewed from the home for about an hour before Duke Energy crews were able to dig underground and shut it off.
One of two men inside the home where the gas leak began, who was not identified, was transported to Atrium Medical Center after suffering from nausea. According to the Butler County Auditor’s Office website, the home is owned by Jeffrey A. Amburgey.
Residents were allowed back inside their homes at about 8 p.m.
Edna Donisi, who has lived on Jackson Street for 30 years, stood nearby waiting to be allowed back into her home.
“I heard the sirens and came outside and they told me not to got back inside. I’ve been out here ever since,” Donisi said.
Tuesday night’s gas leak was the third in as many weeks in the city of Middletown, although all three are unrelated.
Nearly 40 residents were evacuated for two hours July 14 after a Bruce Plumbing employee was cleaning a sewer line when he hit and ruptured the gas line at a house on Goldman Avenue. It was later determined the gas line had breached the sewer line, however Duke officials said the incident remains under investigation.
Two days later, Queen Avenue residents were evacuated from their homes after a neighbor reported a strong odor of natural gas coming from 2218 Queen Ave.
Middletown crews on July 16 found all doors locked, candles lit, the TV on, and the home’s furnace appeared to have been tampered with, according to police and fire officials.
Homeowner Ivan Ray English, 49, is in the Middletown City Jail after he turned himself in to police on July 23. He is charged with aggravated attempted arson, a third-degree felony, for allegedly trying to destroy his home. English, who police said has a history of making threats to blow up his home, is set to appear at 1:30 p.m. Thursday for a preliminary hearing in Middletown Municipal Court.
Police: Wendy's robber complains about skimpy haul
ATLANTA – Police say a man who robbed a fast-food restaurant with a gun was so mad about the amount of loot that he called back twice to complain.
The man walked up to the drive-through window of an Atlanta Wendy's late Saturday night, wearing a ski mask and holding a gun.
He demanded the cash drawer, grabbed it and ran away.
But police say he later called the fast food restaurant to complain about the amount of cash.
Police say in one call he said that "next time there better be more than $586."
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A great-grandmother in Daytona Beach bit an assailant and was dragged several feet hanging on to the getaway car of a couple who snatched her purse. Patricia Robertson doesn't know how she summoned the strength, but the commotion she created helped get her belongings back.
Police said the 73-year-old was accosted at a gas station over the weekend by a man and woman who grabbed her purse and tried to speed off. On instinct, Robertson said she bit the man hard enough to draw blood and hung on to their truck when that failed.
A bystander who saw the attack called 911 and followed the assailants, updating police until they could apprehend the couple.
Robertson said she's sore and almost lost a tooth, but thankful for the good Samaritan's help.
Cops issue cat alert for feline that caused wreck
BANKS, Ore. – Oregon State Police have taken the unusual step of issuing a missing cat alert for a feline that caused a car crash, escaped from a smashed SUV and vanished. Southern Oregon University student Brittany Spady rolled her Ford Explorer on U.S. 26 east of Banks on Monday night after her long-haired tortoiseshell cat Calysta crawled between the brake and gas pedals. Spady said she took her eyes off the road to try and stop the cat.
She said the cat refuses to travel in a carrier. Spady was headed home from Ashland and was just two miles from her parents' house when her vehicle went into a ditch, rolled and hit a tree.
The cat bolted, vanishing into nearby forest.
State Police spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings said the family has been out looking for the missing cat — and he wanted to help.
German police impound bus with 1.8 million km on clock
BERLIN (AFP) – Berlin police said Wednesday they impounded a clapped-out Latvian tour bus with 1.8 million kilometres (1.1 million miles) behind it -- enough to go to the Moon and back twice, and then back to Latvia.
Police pulled over the white double-decker on Tuesday afternoon and found, apart from the massive mileage, an unroadworthy rust bucket with dangerously worn tyres, faulty brakes and a cracked windscreen.
The odometer, which runs to 999,999 kilometres, had already gone around once, a police spokesman told AFP.
"It wasn't even particularly old," he said. "From its shape it looked pretty modern."
The bus driver and the 67 Latvian tourists on board, who were on their way to Switzerland via the German capital, were told to find alternative means of transport.
Palm Harbor man tried to trade drugs for cheeseburgers, deputies say
PALM HARBOR, Fl. — Alexander M. Lemke went for a drive to get some cheeseburgers from McDonald's early Friday, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says.
Trouble was, deputies said, the 20-year-old Palm Harbor resident broke into a neighbor's home and stole their 2005 Toyota Solara at about 1:25 a.m. Then, he headed to the McDonald's drive-through window at 33830 US 19 N, where he tried to trade marijuana and prescription drugs for the burgers, deputies said.
Authorities were called quickly and Lemke was arrested at 1:40 a.m. at McDonald's.
Deputies found a collection of drugs in the center console of the car, the arrest report said.
Lemke was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, driving with a license that is suspended or revoked and eight drug-related charges. On Friday evening, he was being held in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $18,550 bail.
Maryland man sentenced for stealing library's tarantula
WESTMINSTER, Md. – A Maryland man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for stealing a spider from a public library. Carroll County Circuit Judge J. Barry Hughes sentenced 27-year-old Randy Humple of Westminster Monday.
Staff at the Westminster library called police May 19 after they discovered Chili Rose, a Chilean Rose tarantula at the information desk, had disappeared. Witnesses told authorities they saw Humple with the spider and that he bragged about swiping it.
Hughes also sentenced Humple to four years in prison for violating his probation in a 2007 assault case. Humple told the judge he knows he's done some stupid things and he wants to serve his sentence.
The judge said that while what Humple did may have been "stupid on one level," it was also "criminal on another level."
Caves offer new tour -- in Klingon
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) – Staff at the Jenolan Caves west of Sydney have added a new out-of-this-world attraction -- a tour in the Star Trek language Klingon.
Currently a self-guided audio tour at the caves in the Blue Mountains is offered in eight languages, but staff came up with the idea of adding the fictional language Klingon as the caves did once feature in the popular TV series.
"In the Star Trek universe, Jenolan Caves was first immortalized in the Next Generation episode 'Relics,' through the naming of a 'Sydney Class' Starship - the USS Jenolan," the Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust said in a statement.
"Now, this relationship will be developed further, when Jenolan Caves adds the language of Star Trek's great warrior race to a tour of their most popular cave."
The Jenolan cave system, located about 175 km (109 miles) west of Sydney, is enormous with over 40 km (25 miles) of passages and incorporating caves, underground rivers and natural archways.
The Klingon tour has been set up for the Nettle Cave, which attracts up to 200,000 visitors a year, and will start on August 22.
Jenolan Caves guide Gordon Mills said Klingon language experts Michael Roney Jr and Tracy Canfield earlier this month flew in from the United States to record the audio tour.
"We wanted to do something a bit obscure and we will now be the first tourist attraction on this planet at least to have a Klingon tour," Mills, a self-described Star Trek enthusiast, told Reuters.
"There is a fantasy side to caves and a timeless nature, rather like Star Trek, so we thought this was fitting."
A striped kitten is fighting for its life at the Montgomery County SPCA after someone left it in the book drop at the La Mott Community Center in Cheltenham Township, officials said today.
The male brown tabby, which has no name, was shoved into the book drop at the center, which also doubles as a library, sometime overnight Thursday after the center closed at 9 p.m.
It was discovered by a maintenance man at 7:30 a.m. Friday when he reported for work and heard mewing coming from the drop box.
"He investigated, and lo and behold, it was a kitty," said Kelly Rebitz, a center staffer.
The worker summoned police and community center officials who could unlock the drop box, she said. The kitten was freed at 9:30 a.m. and taken to the SPCA for emergency medical care.
Montgomery County SPCA director Carmen Ronio said the cat is six- to seven-weeks old and suffering from dehydration, eye infection and diarrhea. He said it is being treated with fluids and antibiotics.
Ronio put the kitten's chances of survival at 70 percent. He said it was eating, but not drinking enough yet.
"We're hoping for a happy ending, but I can't promise anything," Ronio said. He said the kitten likely was separated from its mother before it could develop the normal immunities from nursing.
Rebitz said the drop box is constructed so that a person would have to put an object into it deliberately; the kitten's presence was no accident.
"That's very disheartening and disgusting that someone would do that," Rebitz said.
Ronio said the cat's plight would have been less severe had someone simply turned it to the SPCA as soon as it appeared sick. The 12 hours spent inside the stifling drop box when temperatures were in the 90s only worsened its condition.
The shelter in Conshohocken is available 24 hours a day to deal with such situations, Ronio said.
SPCA officials have made no animal-cruelty arrests in connection with the incident, but they are seeking the perpetrator.
Shots fired over robbery of Playstation in Tarpon
TARPON SPRINGS — Police are investigating a robbery gone bad that started over a Playstation 3 game console and ended with gunfire, investigators say.
Police say Michael Tsilianos, 22, was selling the game console near W Boyer Street to a would-be buyer around 4:15 p.m. Saturday when the man, who looked in his mid 20s, pulled a gun and took the Playstation.
But Tsilianos was also armed. Police say as the suspect fled with an unidentified woman, Tsilianos pulled a .38 caliber handgun and fired two shots.
Police say a canine unit tracked the suspects to an area southeast of the crime scene, but the trail went cold. Police say the suspects may have left in a vehicle.
The circumstances of the incident are still being investigated.
A new Playstation 3 retails for about $300.
Robbery suspect in clown pants easy catch for police
It didn't take a lot of great detective work for Swissvale police to find and arrest a North Braddock man charged with robbing a Citizens Bank branch Saturday morning.
Police Chief Greg Geppert said officers arrested Dennis Hawkins, 48, of North Braddock as he sat in a parked car at a service station at Washington Street and Monongahela Avenue wearing an outlandish disguise and covered in red dye that exploded all over him when he tried to open the money he took from the bank.
Chief Geppert gave these details of the incident:
Mr. Hawkins first drew attention at the Giant Eagle supermarket in Edgewood Towne Centre. He described him as a black man with facial hair who was wearing a female blonde wig, a sweater with fake breasts under it and clown pants.
He left the supermarket and went to the Kmart store at the shopping center, where surveillance cameras later showed him shoplifting a BB gun.
He then went to the bank a couple of blocks away on McCague Street, entered and sat down in the waiting area. He initially turned down a teller who offered to help him, saying he was waiting for someone else to arrive, then later approached her and robbed her at gunpoint.
Bank cameras showed he went to a tree behind the bank, opened the money envelope and dropped it and some of the money when the dye pack exploded.
He ran a couple of blocks to the service station, where he approached several customers and asked for a ride. When they refused, he got into the car of another woman, who got out, took her keys with her and went inside to call police.
Officers on their way to the bank robbery call went to the station and arrested him while he waited in the car. He had dye on him, the wig stuffed in the waist of his pants and was still wearing the fake breasts.
Chief Geppert said Mr. Hawkins told police he had found the money and took them back to the tree where the dye exploded.
Mr. Hawkins is being held at the Allegheny County Jail on bank robbery and other charges.
"He'd be my candidate for America's dumbest criminal," Chief Geppert said.
(CNN) -- Pooping pigeons forced the Kings of Leon to abandon their St. Louis, Missouri, concert after just three songs Friday night, the rock band's management said Saturday.
An infestation of the birds in the rafters of the Verizon Amphitheatre bombarded the musicians as soon as they took the stage, according to Andy Mendelsohn of Vector Management.
"Jared (Followill) was hit several times during the first two songs," Mendelsohn said of the band's bassist.
"It's not only disgusting -- it's a toxic health hazard. They really tried to hang in there," Mendelsohn added.
Followill, who describes himself as a "germophobe," said there was already poop on his pedal and carpet when he walked out on stage.
The aerial attack began during the opening song -- "Closer" -- when he was bombed in the face. His bass tech wiped most of it off with a sanitary wipe, he said.
Excrement struck each of his arms over the next two numbers, he said.
"I was hit by pigeons on each of the first three songs," he said. "We had 20 songs on the set list. By the end of the show, I would have been covered from head to toe."
Followill said he couldn't see the pigeons above him and he had no idea how many there were.
"The last thing I was going to do was look up ... but if that was only a couple, we must have caught them right after a big Thanksgiving dinner," he quipped.
The group was determined to play for St. Louis fans even though they had fair warning earlier about the pigeon problem.
Opening bands The Postelles and The Stills came offstage complaining of getting riddled with large amounts of excrement, their publicist said.
"The Kings of Leon decided to carry on regardless," they said in a statement released Saturday. "The band felt it would be unfair to the fans to cancel the show at that late moment."
"We couldn't believe what The Postelles and The Stills looked like after their sets," Followill said. "We didn't want to cancel the show, so we went for it. We tried to play. It was ridiculous."
Followill's mother called him when she heard from friends at the show that it had been abruptly ended.
"I was attacked, Mom, but not by humans," Followill said he told her.
Venue managers told the band's representatives earlier Friday about "a significant pigeon infestation problem with summer shows over the years, but they were doing all they could to fix it," the statement said.
"We want to apologize to our fans in St. Louis and will come back as soon as we can," Mendelsohn said.
Concertgoers were apparently spared the aerial bombardment.
"No fans got pooped on as far as we know," the band's publicist said.
Verizon Amphitheatre and concert promoter Live Nation did not immediately respond to CNN requests for comment.
The band is set to perform at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, on Saturday night.
Saudi man chains his son in the basement for six years because he is 'possessed by an evil female genie'
A Saudi man has been chained in a basement apartment for more than six years because his father believes he is possessed by an evil female genie.
'When he has fits he has convulsions and his entire body twists and his eyes become completely white,' said the father of the 29-year-old man who has been identified only as Turki.
'Then the voice of a woman can be heard coming from him.'
When Turki first began behaving bizarrely, his father took him to local Muslim clerics to recite the Koran over him.
'But most of them became scared when they heard the female voice telling them that she was a royal jinn (genie) and that no-one can exorcise her unless Turki dies,' his father said.
One cleric advised him to shackle his son’s arms and legs in chains and read the Koran to him.
DREAM OF A GENIE THAT IS MORE LIKE A NIGHTMARE
Most Westerners know the term genie from the tale of Aladdin and his magic lamp or the hit 1960s sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie.
But genies, or jinn, in Islamic theology can be much more sinister. Some are good, others bad.
They are believed to be normally invisible but have the ability to assume human or animal form and are often said to be motivated by jealousy or revenge.
'We did this. My son became quiet but is totally unaware of what is happening around him. He does not talk and is now unable to harm anyone,' Turki’s father told Arab News, an English language Saudi daily.
But genies, or jinn, in Islamic theology can be much more sinister. Some are good, others bad.
A Saudi family last year took a 'genie' to court, accusing it of theft and harassment.
The jinn was said to have terrified the children by throwing stones, stealing mobile phones and speaking in male and female voices.
Turki lives in a tiny, two-room basement apartment with his impoverished mother and her three other children in the holy city of Mecca. They survive on £150 a month from social security.
His parents divorced before he was 'possessed'.
Turki’s father claimed he himself was afflicted by a jinn at the age of nine and suffered for more than four decades until it was exorcised by a cleric.
'I used to see a woman who would at times appear very beautiful and at times extremely ugly,' he said.
On some occasions she was 'surrounded by fire' and on others appeared 'with animal limbs'.
A Saudi human rights activist and professor in Sharia (Islamic law) who visited Turki found him to be in a 'semi-coma'.
Muhammad Al-Suhali said Turki 'did not know what was going on around him. He could not eat, drink or use the toilet without the help of others'.
The professor added that when started to read some Koranic verses, Turki became furious and shook until he nearly fell out of his bed.
'When I stopped reciting, he became quiet again but was distant and unaware of what was happening,' Suhali told Arab News.
He praised Turki’s young wife for staying with him despite his frightening condition.
Suhali called on Saudi Ministry of Social Affairs to provide the family with better accommodation and to include Turki in its social security programme.
Women skip bill at Springfield restaurant, but forget purses
Three women skipped out on a $39 restaurant bill by running out the door, but two of them are paying a bigger price—they forgot their purses.
Springfield police were called to the Waffle House at 3135 N. Glenstone because three women had run out on the check.
The general manager of the restaurant said the women—one white and two black—had come in around 6:15 Sunday morning.
He described the women as seemingly intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. After about half an hour, the three women were handed a $39.31 bill.
The women then ran out the door, according to the manager, and into a gold Mitsubishi sedan.
They left behind two purses. The manager called police and locked the purses in his office.
Not long after, one of the women returned and allegedly demanded the purses back. The manager said he told the woman she could wait until the police arrived.
She didn’t.
The police report indicates that identifying documents — including what appeared to be a check stub from another Waffle House in Arkansas — were found in each of the purses.
The purses are now being kept in the police department’s property room. No charges have been filed as of Wednesday.
Next time you're in line at the grocery store and you roll your eyes at the person with two carts full of items refusing to leave the 10-items-or-fewer line, you might be in trouble with the law -- at least if you live in Elmhurst, Illinois. Officials of the Chicago suburb are looking into finding a way of putting an end to the practice by legal means.
The idiocy stems from a recent city council meeting where an Elmhurst resident was ejected from the room after rolling her eyes in reaction to something that was said by a council member.
Members of the Elmhurst city council have asked the City Attorney to look into the creation of a "disturbance and disorderly conduct" violation and to see if eye-rolling could somehow be shoehorned into its definition.
Illinois state law defines disorderly conduct is "an act in such unreasonable manner as to alarm or disturb another, or to provoke a breach of the peace."
While she apparently is against a prohibition on eye-rolling, the Elmhurst citizen who was booted from the meeting says she's all for having a definition of disorderly conduct in the city's books.
"I'd like for them (city officials) to have a better understanding of the open meetings act and its meaning and to understand what disorderly conduct is," she explained.
As for the City Attorney, who is slated to report back to the council on his findings on Jan. 26, he seems doubtful that rude behavior at a city council meeting should be an issue for law enforcement.
"It's not in any way a punishable offense by a fine," he said. "It's a matter of decorum."
What do you think: At what point does eye-rolling and such behavior cross the line and become something that could be considered disorderly conduct?
Candidate with history of feuds with local officials says she plans to sue
Madison, WISCONSIN — State elections officials Wednesday narrowly rejected a Milwaukee Assembly candidate's attempt to run with the slogan "NOT the 'whiteman's bitch' " under her name on the ballot.
Ieshuh Griffin, an independent candidate with a history of feuds with local officials, said in response she would sue the state Government Accountability Board for infringing on her freedom of speech.
She is running to replace retiring Rep. Annette "Polly" Williams (D-Milwaukee).
"I'm not making a derogatory statement toward an ethnic group. I'm stating what I'm not," Griffin told board members. "It's my constitutional right to freedom of speech."
Unlike candidates from the established Democratic and Republican parties, independents are allowed a five-word statement of purpose on the ballot to explain to voters what their candidacy is about.
Shane Falk, a staff attorney for the Accountability Board, said that the board had the ability to restrict obscene or derogatory candidate statements from the ballot.
The board staff ruled that the statement was derogatory and should not be allowed. With one member absent, the board voted 3-2 in favor of reversing that ruling and allowing the wording. Under state law, however, four votes are needed for the board to act.
As a result, the staff decision stands, and Griffin will be on the ballot with "independent" by her name and nothing else. Falk noted that Griffin was still free to use the phrase in her campaign literature and any ads she might run.
The board, which administers state election laws, consists of six former judges. All of them are white.
This is not the first time that Griffin has been critical of a government action.
She said the same thing in May 2007 of a decision by a Milwaukee County circuit judge who found her sister, April Griffin, in contempt of court and jailed her for refusing to tell authorities where to find her son in a custody dispute case that received national attention.
April Griffin spent eight months in jail. After her release police acted on a tip and found her with the child and arrested her for interference of custody, recklessly endangering safety and resisting arrest.
She was convicted in that case and is appealing.
Different spins
Williams, who is retiring after 30 years in the Assembly, said she learned of the phrase Ieshuh Griffin wanted to use when her constituents mentioned seeing it on her nomination papers.
"That phrase kind of threw them," said Williams, who is African-American. "They were just kind of surprised. . . . I think most of the people would feel kind of offended by that."
Board member Thomas Barland, who voted to allow Griffin to make the statement, disagreed.
"She says a lot in five words," Barland said of Griffin. "It wasn't pornographic. It wasn't obscene, and I didn't interpret it as racial."
Donald Downs, a free speech expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said approving the ballot language would have made it difficult to reject a hypothetical case in which a white candidate said he was not beholden to the "black man." He said that the board was probably within its rights to restrict the speech because the ballot was, in a sense, "providing a platform" for Griffin.
"I don't think they're out of the ballpark," Downs said of the board. "Because of the special context, the government is going to have more of a say in what's said."
But Mike Maistelman, a Milwaukee elections attorney who represents Democratic candidates, said he thought Griffin might have a good shot at winning a lawsuit.
"It is a political statement that should be protected by the First Amendment," said Maistelman.
Griffin, who describes herself as a "30-ish" community activist, has been critical of Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Thomas Donegan, who presided over her sister April's legal case. Ieshuh Griffin went to federal court in a failed attempt to challenge Donegan's authority to sit as judge.
Griffin also runs a YouTube channel about her sister's case.
She said she will appeal the Accountability Board's latest decision in federal court, representing herself.
Three Democrats and Griffin are running for the seat in the heavily African-American 10th Assembly District.
Williams said she is not endorsing and has told all four candidates she would offer advice if asked. She said she would have told Griffin not to use that phrase if she had been consulted.
"It's not something I would do and I would not recommend anyone running for public office to do," Williams said. "It's almost like you're not serious. I don't know what statement she's making."
Vodka bottle's look spurs insults, gunfire at West Side party
San Antonio, TX - An uninvited guest at a West Side party shot a man in the lower abdomen after partygoers ridiculed his choice of beverage early Sunday, police said.
James Collins, 23, was in stable condition at University Hospital, where he was taken following the shooting around 2:15 a.m. in the 2300 block of Gunsmoke Drive.
Collins and other guests were in the backyard of a home when the suspected shooter arrived, San Antonio police said. Although he wasn't invited, the party's host let the shooter inside to avoid a fight, an incident report states.
Police said the man brought a bottle of Nuvo, a sparkling vodka, which other guests made fun of, saying the “bottle looked like a lipstick cap, indicating that (he) is or was a homosexual, which made (him) upset,” according to an incident report.
He left the party and returned with a pistol, police said, which he fired into the air and then at guests in the backyard. Collins was struck, and a man with him threw Collins over a fence to avoid being injured further. The shooter then reportedly struck Collins' friend in the head with the pistol and continued to shoot at the home as he ran away.
Man Arrested For Breaking Into Bar, Selling Drinks
A Placer County man has been arrested after he broke into a shuttered bar, reopened the business and started selling drinks to unwitting customers, according to the Placer County Sheriff's department.
The Placer County Sheriff's department arrested 29-year-old Travis Kevie of Newcastle after his 4-day stint as the barkeep of the historic Valencia Club in Penryn which had been shutdown for more than a year.
Detective Jim Hudson became suspicious after reading about the Valencia Club's re-opening in an Auburn Journal newspaper article that featured a picture of Kevie and identified him as the club's new "owner/operator". Not only had Detective Hudson had previous run-ins with Kevie, he knew the Valencia Club's liquor license had been surrendered.
When Detective Hudson went to the bar to investigate, he found it open for business and customers at the bar. Kevie quickly went from behind the bar to behind bars.
Deputies describe Kevie as a transient. They say he broke into the Valencia Club and put an open sign in the window on July 16th. Kevie kicked off his business with a six-pack of beer he bought and resold at the club. He used his profits to buy more alcohol keeping the club open throughout the weekend serving about 30 customers a day, deputies say.
Kevie is being held in the Placer County Jail for burglary and selling alcohol without a license.
Gay zombie porn flick pulled from Aussie film festival
A "gay zombie porn" flick which shows aliens engaging in necrophilia has been pulled from Australia's biggest film festival after being rejected by censors, organisers said Tuesday.
"L.A. Zombie", which also features homosexual sex and full-frontal male nudity, is the first film in seven years to be banned from screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which starts on July 22.
Festival director Richard Moore told The Age newspaper he had received a letter from censors rejecting the film by Canadian director Bruce LaBruce.
Described by Moore as a "video art zombie film", "L.A. Zombie" stars French porn actor Francois Sagat as a man convinced he is an alien zombie sent to Earth to roam the streets of Los Angeles in search of dead bodies and gay sex.
Australia's film classification board said the movie had been denied an exemption from classification, not banned as Moore had claimed.
An exemption would have allowed the film to be shown at the festival, but board director Donald McDonald said he had concluded, from the film's synopsis and the director's previous classification history, that "L.A Zombie" was not suitable for screening.
"In the opinion of the director, the film, if classified, would be classified X18+ or RC (refused classification) and, in this circumstance, the law requires the director to refuse an exemption," McDonald said in a statement to AFP.
Films may not be screened publicly unless they are classified, while classifications of X18+ or RC prevent a film from being shown in most public cinemas.
Moore has defended the festival's attempt to show the film, telling public broadcaster ABC that people have a right to judge it for themselves.
"They know they're not gonna go and see Fantasia or Bambi," said Moore.
"L.A. Zombie" will have its world premiere next week in Locarno, Switzerland.
Last year's festival drew protests from China and had its website hacked over the decision to show "Ten Conditions of Love", a biopic of Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer.
Utah man in doghouse for writing to wife's cat
SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah man is accused of violating a protective order because he allegedly sent letters to his estranged wife's cat.
Authorities say 32-year-old Ronald Charles Dallas, of South Salt Lake, was ordered not to contact his wife, who is the alleged victim in a domestic violence case against him.
Prosecutors allege Dallas mailed 11 letters from jail that were addressed to her cat Molly Judge and a neighbor, but were intended for his wife. They say the letters asked her not to testify against him.
Dallas now faces 11 counts of violation of a protective order and two counts of tampering with a witness.
His court-appointed attorney, Trent Ricks, says he couldn't comment until he speaks to his client.
Stoughton officer resigns after meeting with stripper
A Stoughton patrolman has resigned from the department after internal affairs investigations found that he left his patrol to meet a stripper billed as "the world's smallest porn star" and that he modified his service pistol by adding a laser-sighting device, the police chief said today.
Officer Richard P. Bennett submitted a one-paragraph resignation letter on June 30 and promptly left the department, said Chief Paul J. Shastany, who became chief on April 5 of a force that has been battered for nearly a decade by scandals and corruption charges.
Shastany, who had worked in the Framingham and Natick police departments for 34 years and had vowed to restore Stoughton's reputation, said he was proud of his officers, not embarrassed. Bennett's colleagues, he said, reported the officer's misdeeds to the department, prompting two separate internal affairs investigations.
"This is a classic example of the organization policing itself,'' he said. "This surgically quick removal was a very beneficial thing for the organization."
Bennett, 28, of Fall River, was not immediately available for comment.
The patrolman, who has been on the force about two years and received a commendation last month for helping to quickly secure a murder scene, committed two forms of misconduct, said Shastany.
First, he deserted his post last month and went to Club Alex's, a strip club in Stoughton, said Shastany. He spoke to a manager at the club and arranged to have a 3-foot-9-inch stripper known as Bridget "The Midget" Powers to meet him outside so he could be photographed with her while he was in uniform.
"This brings discredit and shame on an organization," said Shastany, 55. If people in the community saw Bennett posing with the stripper, he said, "What's the takeaway? Is that something where people say, 'Oh, that's awesome, look at the community policing'? I am frankly livid that that's something an officer thinks he could get away with."
In a separate case of misconduct last month, Bennett was spotted by other officers with a laser-sighting device on his .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic service pistol, Shastany said. The officers reported it to the department's armorer, who told the internal affairs investigator. But when the investigator confronted Bennett, Shastany said, the officer initially denied doctoring his pistol before admitting that he had lied.
Shastany said officers are forbidden from modifying their weapons without permission and that he was unaware of any officers who have gotten approval to add laser-sighting devices to their pistols. But just as unforgivable as the modification, said Shastany, was Bennett's lie.
"We bring ourselves to court to testify and, potentially, take liberty and freedom from some people," said Shastany. "An officer that's not truthful is basically unable to perform his duties. He can't testify. He's of no use to me."
Spartanburg woman, 39, accused of stuffing burger down pants at McDonald's
A 39-year-old Spartanburg woman with a long criminal record was arrested Sunday after she was accused of stuffing a McDonald's sandwich down her pants and then screaming at a restaurant employee that she was cheated out of the second sandwich she ordered.
Lori Shannon Turner of 7136 Asheville Highway, RM 114, was charged with public disorderly conduct and released from jail Sunday evening on $262 bond.
Around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, a Spartanburg County sheriff's deputy responded to a disturbance at the McDonald's at 500 Hearon Circle. When the deputy arrived, a McDonald's employee stated that an intoxicated woman was causing a disturbance inside the restaurant.
According to an incident report, Turner ordered two sandwiches and two small coffees. When a cashier gave Turner the bag with the sandwiches while her coffee was being prepared, the report states, Turner took one of the sandwiches out of the bag and stuffed it down her pants.
The employee told the deputy Turner then claimed she was shorted one sandwich, and began demanding another free one. When the store refused, the report states, Turner got belligerent so an employee called 911.
The deputy reported that when he arrived on the scene, he heard Turner screaming at the cashier to “give me the (expletive) sandwich.” When the deputy noticed a large grease stain on the front of Turner's pants, he asked Turner to remove the food but Turner said she didn't have anything in her pants, according to the report.
A female officer was called on the scene to search Turner, who then reached inside her pants, removed the sandwich and placed it on the hood of the officer's patrol car, the report states. The deputy reported that Turner, who had a strong odor of alcohol on her, continued shouting profanities in front of other patrons, including several small children.
Turner's criminal record since 2008 includes charges of assault, shoplifting, forgery, resisting arrest, petit larceny, two counts of public disorderly conduct and four counts of inhaling aromatic hydrocarbons.
A female officer was called on the scene to search Turner, who then reached inside her pants, removed the sandwich and placed it on the hood of the officer's patrol car, the report states. The deputy reported that Turner, who had a strong odor of alcohol on her, continued shouting profanities in front of other patrons, including several small children.
Turner's criminal record since 2008 includes charges of assault, shoplifting, forgery, resisting arrest, petit larceny, two counts of public disorderly conduct and four counts of inhaling aromatic hydrocarbons.
It's a bird. It's a plane. No. It's... a donkey
MOSCOW – Authorities in Russia are opening an animal cruelty probe into a weekend stunt on a beach in southern Russia in which a donkey parasailed high over the surf. Amateur video footage showed men attaching a parasail harness to the trembling mule. The English-language Kremlin news channel Russia Today reported that sunbathers were distressed at the sight of the flying donkey, which brayed in fear as it glided above the bay for half an hour.
Russia Today reported the donkey was shell-shocked but survived.
Reports said the donkey flight was a promotional stunt. Employees of a leisure firm in the village of Golubitskaya on the Azov Sea could face two years in prison if they are charged and convicted of animal cruelty.
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Police arrested a man who they said punched another man who refused to hug him. Iowa City police responded to a report of someone being aggressive and punching cars Sunday night. The suspect, a 23-year-old man, told police he became upset after he tried to hug a man and was pushed away.
Police said the man punched and dented the hood of a car before punching the man he tried to hug.
Police said the man had a blood-alcohol content of .086. He was charged with simple assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief, a serious misdemeanor.
Winston Churchill's dentures up for sale
LONDON (Reuters) – A partial set of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill's gold-mounted dentures, specially designed to disguise his natural lisp, go up for sale this month.
The partial dentures, which Keys Auctioneers have catalogued with an estimated value of 4,000 to 5,000 pounds, are being sold by the son of the technician who was commissioned to make them.
A duplicate is on show at the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, and a third set was buried with Churchill in 1965.
According to documents written by the college of surgeons, the dentures were "carefully designed to ensure that Churchill retained his characteristically slurred diction -- a deliberate affectation designed to overcome a childhood lisp.
"Churchill lived in fear of losing his false teeth, and hence his speaking voice, and insisted that spare dentures always be on hand," it added.
The false teeth are the latest piece of Churchill memorabilia to go under the hammer. Earlier this year, one of his half-smoked cigars was sold for 4,500 pounds.
Other items in the catalogue include a broken Victorian cigar box with Churchill's initials on the lid, two sets of playing cards made for Churchill with a copy of his signature on the back and an usher's armband worn at Churchill's funeral.
The auction is at Keys' showroom in Norwich on July 29.
Cyprus bans 'dangerous' vuvuzelas from stadiums
NICOSIA (AFP) – Cyprus police announced on Friday that they would confiscate any vuvuzelas taken into the island's football stadiums because the tuneless plastic horns were "dangerous".
Police said the announcement was prompted by the appearance of the horns made famous by the World Cup finals in South Africa on the stands during Cyprus clubs' Europa League and Champions League qualifying games in recent weeks.
"The public are informed that in the instance where a fan is seen carrying a vuvuzela inside a stadium or the surrounding area, it will be confiscated," the announcement said.
Police said that a dangerous object "is anything that can be used or thrown in a way which causes bodily harm or material damage".
"These objects (vuvuzelas) are judged to be dangerous for possession at grounds under the law to prevent and combat violence at sports stadiums," the statement said.
Linguists from around the world voted vuvuzela the word of the World Cup but the monotonous drone is loathed by many and Cyprus police are not the first organisation to impose a ban.
Tennis authorities barred vuvuzelas from Wimbledon this summer, while in the Islamic world authorities in the United Arab Emirates issued a fatwa or religious decree against them.
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) - Police in Prince William County have charged two Virginia men with possessing counterfeit $100 bills that had a Spanish phrase inscribed on them roughly translating to "lucky ticket."
Police say the Secret Service has seen more than 100 such notes worldwide with the with "BILLETE DE LA SUERTE ALASITAS" written in one corner and the same purported serial number.
Last month an officer arrested 30-year-old Jose Portillio of Bealeton on drunken driving charges and found three counterfeit bills. The investigation led to the arrest of 39-year-old Ronald Virto. Police say Virto had 59 phony bills in his Manassas home and told police he brought them from Peru.
Police say "lucky tickets" mimicking real currency are popular trinkets in Peru, but these bills were meant to appear genuine.
Boulder: No masks, nudity during City Council meetings
The Boulder City Council has developed a proposed set of rules for public participation and general behavior during council meetings. Here's a look at the rules, designed to "develop an atmosphere of civility that is respectful of diverse opinions:"
All remarks must be made to the council as a whole, and not to the public, staff or a single council member, unless a person is asked a question by a council member.
No person shall disrupt a meeting by any means, including by uttering loud, threatening or abusive language, or by making personal, impertinent, contemptuous, unduly repetitive, slanderous or profane remarks.
No one shall engage in disorderly conduct, including shouting, jeering, clapping, whistling, stamping of feet, disrobing, wearing a mask or material of any kind that obscures the face of a person, boisterous conduct or other acts.
No one shall make threats or other forms of intimidation.
No weapons or firearms are allowed, with exceptions for holders of concealed-handgun permits.
All people in the audience must remain seated during the meeting. No one is allowed to stand in the aisles or doorways.
All people in the council chambers must silence their cell phones, pagers and other electronic devices.
People who have spoken during public comment time during the last four meetings could be limited to speaking during the last half of the allotted 45 minutes of public comment time.
Enforcement
The mayor, or whomever is officiating a council meeting, has the authority to order the removal of any person from the council chambers who is violating the rules of decorum.
The mayor may ask anyone who is "making personal attacks" to refrain from such statements. If a person refuses to comply, a verbal warning could be given or the person could be removed.
If the mayor orders the removal of a person, a police officer will escort them out and could charge them with a municipal offense.
If someone is removed, they could be banned from addressing the council again for 30 days. The council could also vote to impose a longer ban.
If the mayor determines there is a safety reason for it, the council chambers could be cleared of all spectators.
Members of the public who address the Boulder City Council during its meetings can not strip, shield their faces with masks, clap or stomp their feet, according to a proposed city policy.
Anyone who violates the council's "Rules of Decorum" could face removal from the room by a Boulder police officer, possible criminal charges under municipal code and a 30-day ban from addressing the council.
Critics say the rules could chill free speech, but city officials say they're needed to maintain order.
The recommended changes -- which the council will vote on Sept. 7 -- were drafted by council members Lisa Morzel and George Karakehian. The two were appointed by the council in January to review council procedures and rules for how people are expected to behave during meetings.
The work of the committee was later influenced by the February arrest of longtime council critic Seth Brigham, who stripped to his boxer shorts during a meeting and began questioning campaign contributions to individual council members.
Brigham was told to stop talking and was arrested after he protested, but the charges were later dropped and the council apologized for over-reacting.
Now, one of the proposed rules specifically forbids members of the public from disrupting a council meeting by removing their clothing. Another says the public can't address individual council members.
Karakehian said he and Morzel plucked ideas from other cities, and the rules are designed to allow the council's business to move along without unnecessary interruptions.
"It's a starting place," Karakehian said, noting the rest of the council will get to weigh in on the changes.
He said the council wants the public to participate in its meetings -- as long as people follow some basic rules.
"We want to hear what everybody has to say," he said.
'Testing the waters'
Under the proposal, the mayor would have the authority to ask speakers who are "making personal attacks" to stop, or possibly be removed from the room by police.
The suggested rules also would prohibit "uttering loud, threatening or abusive language" and "personal, impertinent, contemptuous, unduly repetitive, slanderous or profane remarks."
Brigham, who has retained high-profile lawyer David Lane, said Thursday that he has been negotiating a settlement with the city over his arrest, but the proposed restrictions on public comment have him reconsidering a lawsuit.
"This is an outrageous reaction to what happened in my case," Brigham said. "It's another attempt to control the free speech of public speakers."
Brigham said that, in particular, the proposed restrictions on addressing individual council members and not making personal attacks are too broad to enforce fairly.
"You can be sure that I'll be going to council and I'll be testing the waters," he said.
Mayor Susan Osborne said she felt lost when Brigham stripped in front of her earlier this year.
"I certainly felt, even at the time, like I didn't have a script to deal with this," she said. "I really didn't know what was expected of me."
The council still needs to have a "deep discussion" about what's OK at council meetings, and when -- if ever -- it's appropriate to remove someone from the room, she said.
"We're in a vetting process," she said. "Nothing is going to change until we have an opportunity for the public to weigh in."
"It's never, ever an intention of mine or anyone else's to squelch public comment."
Steve Zansberg, a First Amendment attorney who represents the Camera through the Colorado Press Association, said the city is allowed to set reasonable rules for behavior during public meetings.
He said a person who wants to be critical of the actions or decisions of an individual council member, for example, could phrase it in a way that addresses the council as a whole without breaking the rules.
"It's a rule of protocol," he said. "It wouldn't mean you couldn't respond to, or speak to, the actions of any individual council member."
'Negatives motives' provision removed
Another provision in the draft released Thursday morning included language giving the mayor permission to interrupt and possibly eject a person who is "assuming negative motives of another."
That notion, Zansberg said, is legally suspect because the mayor could potentially use the rule to force someone to stop speaking because of how a comment is interpreted.
"I think it would not pass constitutional muster if challenged," he said.
Tom Carr, Boulder's city attorney designee -- who took office July 1 -- agreed with Zansberg after reviewing the proposal.
"We would never want the council to remove somebody just because they assumed they had negative motives," Carr said.
Just before 5 p.m. Thursday, the City Attorney's Office sent out a revised draft of the rules, showing the removal of the "negative motives" provision.
Laurel Hamilton, the senior legal administrator for the city, wrote in a memo to the council that the mayor would only be allowed to "interrupt a speaker disrupting the meeting or violating the rules, rather than assuming the thoughts of the speaker."
Another proposed rule raising eyebrows would ban members of the public from bringing weapons or firearms into the council chambers.
The city can -- and has -- restricted the open carrying of firearms inside city-owned buildings. But it cannot, under state law, restrict holders of concealed handgun permits from carrying a firearm unless the city installs permanent metal detectors and security personnel at all public entrances of a building.
"If they don't have that, the policy is moot -- it is not valid," said Dudley Brown, executive director of the pro-gun lobbying group, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.
Carr, the city attorney designee, said Brown is correct that concealed-carry would still be allowed, but he said the city isn't obligated to point that out in its written rules.
Man believed clowns were attacking home in Roberts, Wisconsin
Police responded early Friday to a call of shots fired at a home in Roberts and found a man apparently hallucinating an attack by clowns.
The 40-year-old man, armed with a shotgun, had fired several shots in his mother's home. It also appeared that he fired a shot at his mother and visiting father as they fled from the home in a vehicle, said St. Croix County Sheriff Dennis Hillstead.
"Pellets probably hit their windshield," Hillstead said.
Police arrived about 4 a.m. and surrounded the home. The man came to the door at one point and was "yelling at what he could see in the yard, but there was nothing there," Hillstead said.
The man went back into the home and fired more rounds, Hillstead said. In total, about 22 shotgun rounds were fired into the walls and ceiling of the home.
The man then went to the porch with the shotgun in hand and a bag of ammunition around his neck. He did not respond to police commands, but after the man slipped and fell, deputies were able to take him into custody, Hillstead said.
While being taken to a hospital for examination, the man indicated he had taken a hallucinogenic drug. He said he believed that people dressed as clowns were attacking his mother's home and that he had shot and killed a number of them, Hillstead said. He also said he had shot dogs that were attacking him and that his mother had been shot and killed.
"He was ... not in touch with reality," Hillstead said.
No one was injured in the incident.
The man, who was visiting from Arizona, is being held in a mental facility while he undergoes a psychological evaluation, Hillstead said Tuesday.
He has not been charged with a crime, and police have not released his name.
VINELAND, N.J. – Authorities say a New Jersey woman lied twice to cover up the theft of a laptop computer, claiming first that she was carjacked and then that her car crashed because she was having sex.
Authorities say 23-year-old Sarah Blasse of Vineland initially told police Saturday that she broke her arm during a carjacking.
Police say Blasse later claimed her car crashed into a tree while she was performing a sex act on a man she had picked up.
Camden County prosecutor's spokesman Jason Laughlin says Blasse and her boyfriend actually stole a laptop computer from a car and slipped away from pursuing police in her car, but then crashed and attempted to set the vehicle on fire.
Blasse and 27-year-old Henry Goode Jr. face charges including arson, burglary and hindering apprehension. Authorities say they don't yet have lawyers.
NJ man accused of using fake cash to pay bail
CINNAMINSON, N.J. – Authorities said a New Jersey man charged with shoplifting paid his bail with phony money and returned to demand a refund. The man, 25, was arrested July 7, accused of shoplifting at a clothing store and supermarket in Cinnaminson. He was locked up for having two outstanding warrants and paid $400 bail in cash. Police later realized the money was fake.
Before they could find him, the man showed up and argued his bail should have been only $200. He wanted $200 back.
He was charged with counterfeiting and put in Burlington County Jail on $5,000 bail.
Lack of pilots grounds Bolivian leader's jet
LA PAZ (AFP) – Bolivian President Evo Morales' new executive jet, bought for 37.8 million dollars, is standing idle at a military airport due to a lack of experience pilots, local media reported.
For insurance reasons, pilots must have at least 100 hours flight time to fly this model, a Dassault Falcon 900EX, Bolivia's Minister of the Presidency Oscar Coca told reporters.
The company, said Coca, also requires a pilot with experience to accompany any new pilots to fly the plane, which was delivered earlier this month but remains confined to a Bolivian Air Force base in the Andean city of El Alto.
"We have the certified pilots, but they need at least 100 hours of flying," he lamented, adding that he hoped an experienced pilot approved by the insurance company would be able join the president's flying team, but could not say if or when that would happen.
Earlier this year, Bolivia's Economy Minister Luis Arce told reporters that the presidential jet would be a new French-built executive plane once commissioned by English football club Manchester United.
Arce had said in April that the government agreed to buy the Dassault Falcon 900EX after the storied team declined to take delivery of the aircraft.
The purchase was meant to replace Bolivia's president's access to the skies, a US-built Sabreliner NA-265, acquired in 1975.
Lisa Baywood would throw hot water on her 61-year-old disabled boyfriend when he wouldn't give her money, Cook County prosecutors said.
Other times, the West Side woman allegedly threatened to "burn his ass up" and would ignite small fires by striking a match near an aerosol hair spray can to "spook him."
When those scare tactics didn't work, Baywood, 42, upgraded her sadistic tantrums and actually set her boyfriend on fire in the first-floor apartment the on-and-off couple shared in the 3100 block of Washington Boulevard, assistant state's attorney Lorraine Scaduto said Tuesday.
Baywood, who previously has been convicted of prostitution, had just come home at 3 a.m. July 2 after "working the streets" when she attacked her boyfriend who uses a cane to walk, Scaduto said.
Baywood first took a gas can and poured the liquid over the bed, explaining that she needed to burn it because it had bed bugs, Scaduto said.
She then proceeded to splash the gas on her boyfriend's chest, Scaduto said. The victim, who screamed for help and said he couldn't see, ran to the kitchen door to escape. But Baywood blocked his path and engulfed his body in flames by lighting a lighter, Scaduto said.
Sixty-five percent of the man's body is burned, and he is currently at Stroger Hospital. Doctors do not think he will survive; his condition is so unstable they cannot perform any skin grafts, Scaduto said.
Baywood told authorities she expected her boyfriend to give her $150 to $200 from his monthly retirement and disability checks so she could pay her phone bill and buy other items, Scaduto said.
But the man would "play games" with her and refused to give her the money in a lump sum, angering her, Scaduto said.
Baywood, who is also known as Sherry Ann Hartison and Lisa Hartison, remains hospitalized at Stroger Hospital with burns to her legs, Scaduto said. She did not appear at her bond hearing Tuesday.
Baywood has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, heinous battery and aggravated domestic battery.
Porky Pig allegedly assaulted at Great America
Two patrons were ejected from the Six Flags Great America theme park in Gurnee this week after allegedly striking repeatedly a woman dressed as Porky Pig, police said Tuesday.
The woman, an employee of the park who was dressed as the Warner Brothers character, was hit 10 to 15 times on the head at about 4 p.m. Monday, according to police and a statement by Great America.
Witnesses reported seeing Taras Sikalchuk and Dmytro Petrychenko hit the character on the back, sides and top of her head after posing for a picture with the character, Gurnee police said.
The victim was taken to Six Flags’ first aid station, and said she was experiencing a headache and sore neck and shoulders. A Great America spokeswoman described the employee’s injuries as “minor.”
"This was an isoloated incident," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "We have a Guest Code of Conduct at the park that we expect all our park guests to abide by. These guests clearly violated our Code of Conduct."
"Park security responded immediately and ejected the guests from the park," the Great America statement said.
Near Great America on Tuesday afternoon, park-goers expressed support for the worker.
Sikalchuk, 19, and Petrychenko, 20, both of Waukegan, denied hitting Porky Pig, police said. But both were cited for battery and released from custody – and the park.
Linda Lozano, 14, Joliet, said she’d tell the nearest Great America employee if she saw Porky Pig getting beat up. And she might have a few words for anyone attacking the character.
“I would tell them to back off, because she probably didn’t do anything that bad – or anything at all, maybe,” she said.
“There’s a lot of security people around,” added Jacob Verner, 14, of Saint Charles. “You want to help them, but there’s probably someone better to do it.”
“What a loser!” said Mike Kuhn, 15, also of Saint Charles, when told of the incident. “Why would you pay … to come here just to get kicked out?”
“I’d be like, ‘What are you doing? That’s just a helpless cartoon character!’” he added. “… I’d wrangle up all the cartoon characters and riot.”
Joanna Chavez, 19, of Brookfield, didn’t think it was a laughing matter.
“That’s kind of disgusting,” she said. “You just have to feel bad for these people. They’re out there in the hot sun all day.”
Man at border: Ankle monitor is support for Lohan
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Border agents said a New York man who's on probation and not supposed to leave the country explained away the ankle monitor he was wearing while returning from Canada as a show of support for actress Lindsay Lohan. Customs and Border Protection officers found the bracelet around 29-year-old Eugene Todie's ankle July 9 after he allegedly tried to re-enter the country using someone else's passport.
Officers said Todie told them a probation officer friend gave him the bracelet to wear for Lohan, who's had to wear an alcohol ankle monitor. Record checks showed the Buffalo man is on probation for criminal contempt.
Pennsylvania dog trapped in hot car honks to alert owner
MACUNGIE, Pa. – A veterinarian said a dog trapped in a car on a 90-degree day in eastern Pennsylvania honked the horn until he was rescued. Nancy Soares said the chocolate Labrador was brought to her Macungie Animal Hospital last month after he had been in the car for about an hour.
She said Max's owner had gone shopping and was unloading packages when she returned but forgot that Max was still in the car. She later heard the horn honking and looked outside several times but saw nothing amiss. Finally, she went outside and saw Max sitting in the driver's seat, honking the horn.
Soares said the owner immediately gave Max cold water to drink and wet him down with towels before rushing him to the clinic.
Soares said Max was very warm and panting heavily but had suffered no serious injuries, only heat exhaustion.
Ohio crash leaves scared pet monkey atop pole
MEDINA, Ohio – Police said a truck crash in Ohio left animal carcasses all over a road and the driver's pet monkey stranded atop a utility pole. The State Highway Patrol said the truck was hauling carcasses for a meat processing plant late Monday afternoon. The patrol says the truck flipped over while going into a curve on a local road in northeast Ohio's Medina County. The frightened monkey scampered up the pole after the accident.
Troopers said the truck driver was OK. The monkey had to be coaxed down from its perch.
The meat plant sent another truck to pick up the carcasses. State and county highway crews were sent to help clean up the mess.
No charges have been filed. The crash is still being investigated.
Police: Man torches car, posts photos on Facebook
BELFAST, Maine – A 36-year-old man was arrested on Monday and faces a felony arson charge after he allegedly set a Mercedes-Benz on fire and then posted photos of the burning vehicle on Facebook. The Bangor Daily News said the arrest came two weeks after police found the burning 1982 Mercedes.
Police said the man told officers he saw the car with a "small campfire" in the back seat.
The Bangor Daily News said the charge came after police scrutinized surveillance tape from a Belfast store and seized the man's cell phones and computer.
Police said the owner of the non-working car had been trying to sell it.
Bass Pro Shops employee fired after putting kitten in freezer
An employee of Bass Pro Shops at Discover Mills has been fired after putting a sick or dead kitten in the store's freezer, a company spokesman said Thursday.
After a coworker of the female employee found the kitten frozen and lifeless, over $2,500 worth of ice cream had to be thrown out.
Bass Pro Shops national spokesman Larry Whiteley said three kittens were found behind the store in June, two of which were healthy and taken home by employees. The third kitten, which was not healthy, was placed in the store's freezer -- but the employee's motive is still under investigation.
"We don't know if [the kitten] died before it was placed in the freezer, or if it died in there, " Whiteley said. " But there is no blame being put on Bass Pro Shops. "
The employee was fired shortly after the kitten was found.
Animal Control and Gwinnett police are investigating the incident, Gwinnett police spokesman Brian Kelly said.
"If the investigation does prove any criminal wrongdoing on the employee's part, then certainly charges will be brought against them," Kelly told the AJC.
Reno police: Microwaved squid leaves 2 queasy
RENO, Nev. – Reno police say a squid left cooking in microwave is the suspected culprit of noxious fumes that left two apartment dwellers queasy. Authorities don't know if the squid was put in the microwave as a prank or act of cruelty when they found it Sunday night.
But they believe the squishy cephalopod was stuck in the microwave by burglars and left to cook in a communal kitchen.
Two residents made ill by the fumes were treated at a hospital.
Police were still investigating Monday.
Road melts in Chinese heatwave
Dozens of vehicles stuck to a road in heatwave-hit China after the tarmac melted in the hot sun.
The road, in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, had just been resurfaced the previous day, reports the Zhengzhou Evening Post.
It melted in 40C temperatures which saw the street surface temperature reach as high as 70C.
Vehicles including cars, buses, taxi cabs and ambulances began sticking to a 200m stretch of the road.
Plastic sheeting had to be laid as a temporary surface to get the traffic moving again.
Motorist Lao Yang said his car seemed to get heavier and heavier as he drove along the street.
"After getting out of the car to check what the problem was, I found both front wheels were covered in melted tarmac," he said.
"I had to lift the car with a jack, and take off the tyres to remove the asphalt."
An ambulance and a taxi cab nearly crashed into each other after losing control in the sticky conditions.
"It's lucky that our ambulance was empty, otherwise the wasted time here may have cost a life," said the ambulance driver.
The vuvuzela, the plastic trumpet made famous by the football World Cup in South Africa, is in trouble in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the authorities in Abu Dhabi have issued a fatwa against it.
The plastic trumpet, whose drone has been likened to a swarm of bees, has become the unmistakable background sound of the World Cup.
The fatwa issued by the UAE's General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments says that above 100 decibels, the buzzing sound of the vuvuzela is "haram", The National newspaper reported on Friday.
According to the fatwa, the horns can be used only in stadiums if they pose no harm.
"However, importers and traders must ensure that its power is not over 100 decibels so as to avoid damaging people's hearing," the ruling declares. "The vuvuzelas in the markets now could produce sounds reaching 127 decibels."
Meanwhile, a few traders cancelled orders for more vuvuzelas after they found the horn could be harmfull.
One trader found out that the horns had originally been used by African shamans and witchdoctors. "I searched on the Internet and found some articles regarding it. They were used to bring out devils," he said.
NM man set on fire after losing drinking bet
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - A 47-year-old man's friends set his prosthetic leg on fire after he lost a drinking bet, causing him to suffer severe burns to his buttocks and lower back. Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies found the man naked on the side of U.S. Route 70 with his prosthetic leg in flames. Deputies learned that the man and his friends were drinking Monday and bet that whoever drank the least would be set on fire.
The man told investigators that at six beers, he drank the least, and agreed to let his friends set him on fire.
He said his friends ignited his prosthetic leg, and the flames spread to his body.
The sheriff's office said the man took his clothes off because of the pain and his friends decided to take him to the hospital. But they got nervous and instead dropped him off on the side of the highway.
The man was taken to a Texas burn treatment center.
Woman who taped dog to fridge gets 30 days in jail
BOULDER, Colo. – A Colorado woman convicted of taping her boyfriend's dog to a refrigerator has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years' probation.
Twenty-one-year-old Abby Toll was sentenced Friday after she was convicted of felony animal cruelty in April. She could have faced up to 18 months in prison.
Prosecutors say Toll used hair ties and packing tape to bind the snout and legs of her boyfriend's 2-year-old Shiba Inu (SHEE'-bah EE'-noo) named Rex, then taped the dog upside-down to the refrigerator.
Police say Toll told them she was getting back at her boyfriend, Brian Beck, for paying more attention to the dog than to her.
Beck pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted animal cruelty and was given a one-year deferred sentence.
Man throws tantrum when police hold brandy as evidence
A Madison man threw a tantrum when police told him he couldn't get his bottle of brandy back after two young men took it from him, even laying down in the road demanding he get his booze, Madison police reported.
The robbery and subsequent bizarre scenario played out on the east side on Friday, said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.
According to the police report, the 50-year-old man was hanging out with two white male teens in James Madison Park when he decided to buy a bottle of brandy to share with his friends.
"He bought the booze and shortly afterward was robbed of the brandy and his wallet at knifepoint," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain.
The two young men fled, but a UW police department dog led officers to some garages on Johnson Street, where two backpacks were recovered, believed to belong to the suspects.
"The brandy was in one backpack," DeSpain said. "The victim became very upset when informed it was evidence and he wouldn't be getting it back immediately."
At one point, he lay down in the road at the intersection of Dayton Street and Few Street, demanding the brandy be returned.
"He was arrested later on for making false 911 calls (that were) more failed attempts at retrieving his liquor," DeSpain said.
Dublin Zoo relieved over return of stolen penguin
DUBLIN – Kelli the penguin's back home in Dublin Zoo after pranksters snatched the bird and abandoned her on a city sidewalk.
Dublin Zoo condemned Thursday's theft as no joke, because the 10-year-old Humboldt penguin could have been injured during her abduction or crushed by a vehicle.
Zoo officials said police tracked down Kelli using a signal from a microchip planted on the bird. She got the medical all-clear and was returned to her penguin partner, Mick.
Police said the thieves climbed over a security fence into an enclosure housing about a dozen Humboldt penguins and picked Kelli for reasons unknown.
Dublin Zoo has been targeted by annoying pranks before. In 2008, its switchboard was overwhelmed by callers asking to speak to Rory Lyon, G. Raffe and Ana Conda.
Online pranksters vote to send Justin Bieber to North Korea
WASHINGTON (AFP) – An online contest to decide where Canadian pop star Justin Bieber should go on tour next has been hijacked by a Web prank group that has been encouraging voters to send him to North Korea.
With just a few hours left to vote, North Korea was the top vote-getter on Tuesday in the "My World Tour" contest with more than 625,000 votes, followed by Israel with 608,000 votes and Poland with 513,073 votes.
According to the BBC, the campaign to garner votes for an unlikely tour to notoriously isolated North Korea by the 16-year-old singing sensation was launched by users of the Internet bulletin board 4chan.
Users of 4chan have carried out a number of stunts in the past involving Bieber and previous 4chan pranks include getting the founder of the site, Christopher Poole, on to Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people.
Bieber was signed by Island Records after posting his performances on YouTube. His debut single "One Time" was a huge hit last year and his album "My World 2.0" hit the top of the US charts.
Gainesville police said they arrested a woman on a robbery charge after a man claimed negotiations over sex for money broke down when the woman's teeth did not meet his standards.
ccording to an arrest report filed by Officer Kenneth Davies, the victim, Dan Alford of Lake Butler, was in his car at about 7 p.m. Monday at 3900 S.W. Archer Road when he saw Elder and another woman. Alford said he honked at the women and they responded by waving at him. Elder and Alford both told Davies they talked about a spaghetti dinner and the possibility of having sex.
In a news release about the incident, Cpl. Tscharna Senn said the discussion ended "when Elder smiled and (Alford) saw the extent of her dental issues (as perceived by him)." He then balked on pursuing the matter, Senn said.
Alford told police Elder grabbed a checkbook containing $78 that had been sticking out of his shirt pocket and ran off. Elder's version of events was that she did not realize the man had tucked an unknown amount of money in her bra and she got scared and ran off.
Elder was arrested at her home a short time later. She was being held at the Alachua County jail on Monday.
City Council votes unanimously to return Beaver to Bemidji Sculpture Walk
Deborah Davis hid her face with a fan created from a copy of the Bill of Rights as the Bemidji City Council made it official: “Gaea” will return to downtown Bemidji.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to reverse last week’s decision by City Manager John Chattin to remove “Gaea” from its spot at the intersection of Fourth Street Northwest and Beltrami Avenue Northwest due to concerns about what was depicted on the abdomen of the beaver.
“I do believe good always wins,” Davis said after the meeting, her voice slightly cracking. “But I didn’t think I could fight City Hall.”
“Gaea” is one of 10 beaver sculptures placed throughout Bemidji. Completed by Davis, it features, on the belly of the beaver, a human figure rising from a sea of pinkish-red circles.
While Davis has said the front of the sculpture shows Mother Earth praying and the circles are roses coming forth from her hands, others have viewed the sculpture differently, seeing, instead, a portion of the female anatomy.
“Gaea” was removed from the Bemidji Sculpture Walk last week at the city’s request, prompting an outcry from artists and supporters concerned about censorship.
Those supporters filled the City Hall council chambers Tuesday as they protested the removal of the 4-foot-tall, multicolored sculpture.
With more than 80 people in attendance, there was a standing-room-only crowd of people that spilled out into the entryway after chairs were filled.
Fifteen people addressed the council, 12 of whom clearly advocated for returning “Gaea” to the Sculpture Walk.
“Bemidji has aspired to be an especially art-friendly city,” said Brian Donovan. “We need to be careful not to chill the climate for artistic expression in the form of public art in this sculpture walk and elsewhere. Nothing chills expression more than censorship.”
Kathryn Lavelle said “Gaea” depicted womanness, womanhood, feminine strength and beauty.
“I’m interested in knowing which of these things … Mr. Chattin or the council has an issue with,” she said.
The crowd of spectators was overwhelmingly in favor of restoring “Gaea” to the Sculpture Walk, but other views were represented. Dave Larson said knew he respected artists’ rights to expression, but questioned whether a downtown intersection was the best location for the sculpture.
“In my opinion, I think it’s inappropriately displayed on a corner of our street,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the place to display it.”
He said he has six granddaughters and three daughters.
“I would hesitate to walk downtown and try to explain to them what they’re looking at,” Larson said. “I would find that difficult.”
In response, Linda Brown stepped to the podium and said that any child who looks at “Gaea” and see a portion of the female anatomy probably “has been exposed to something (the child) should not have been exposed to” and said social services should meet that child.
Brown said she has viewed “Gaea” multiple times and never saw an image of the female anatomy.
Following the public input, the council did not take long to reach its decision.
Councilor Barb Meuers opened that portion of the discussion by asking Chattin how he came to reach his decision.
“I chose to remove it because I felt it was inappropriate for a major intersection or any other public place for the city of Bemidji,” Chattin said.
While he did discuss the sculpture with city staff and City Attorney Al Felix, Chattin said, “This was entirely my decision.”
Meuers said “everyone is watching us,” and referenced recent interviews she gave to the Star Tribune and Wall Street Journal.
“I’m hoping we don’t go the way you did, with censorship,” she said.
Councilor Roger Hellquist said the controversy has presented an opportunity for the city to develop a process or policy to address similar situations in the future.
While both later voted to return “Gaea” to the Sculpture Walk, both Mayor Richard Lehmann and Councilor Greg Negard tried to temper the anger some supporters felt toward Chattin.
“I don’t agree with his decision on this,” Negard said. “But he did make a decision and I don’t think we should take him to task too much on this.”
A meeting had been planned for Tuesday afternoon in advance of the council meeting, but that meeting was canceled, Lehmann said.
Cops: Man holds his mom hostage for not ironing
VILLA RICA, Ga. – Authorities have charged a 29-year-old man with aggravated assault and false imprisonment after they allege he held his mother hostage for failing to iron his clothes. Carroll County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Marc Griffith said the man remained in jail Wednesday without bond. The unidentified woman was not harmed in the June 30 incident.
Griffith said the man, who lives with his parents, wanted his mother to do some ironing because it was "woman's work." When she refused, authorities allege he pulled out a gun, and took his 51-year-old mother's keys and cellphones and refused to let her leave for at least six hours.
She eventually escaped and went to a police station. Authorities were able to get the man out without incident.
LAND O' LAKES, Florida - The 29-year-old resident of Chelsea Meadows apartments got sick of looking at a trailer loaded with furniture in the complex parking lot, Pasco County deputies say.
So she took matters into her own hands by taking a picture of it and posting an advertisement on Craigslist, deputies say.
"Come get this trailer, attach it to your car and get it out of here," it read. "I'm tired of looking at it, and I have no idea what to do with it. You must take couches and dresser too either keep them or dispose of them, just get them out of here! Thank you! No need to email or call just come get it," it stated. The ad continued with specific directions to the complex. "The trailer is sitting in the parking lot ready to be attached to the car and take. I will delete this post when it is gone. Thank you!"
The problem, deputies say, is the trailer or the furniture didn't belong to her. It belonged to a new tenant, Robert Andrews.
On Thursday, deputies arrested Vanessa Kimball, 29, on a charge of grand theft.
Andrews, 24, said he was at work when the theft occurred. His fiancee, Jennifer Lepage, also 24, was home when someone knocked on the door looking for the free trailer.
She said it wasn't free and looked outside and saw it had vanished, Andrews said.
He came home from work immediately and reported it stolen.
At some point, another person came over looking for the freebie and had the printed advertisement in hand and waited for deputies to arrive.
"If he had not had printed it out, I would have had no way of proving to the deputy that it was on Craigslist because by that time it had been deleted," Andrews said.
He said the trailer actually belonged to his father and he had a tough time explaining it to him.
Andrews had used it to move and was preparing to go to the dump with old furniture but hadn't had the time in a week to move it since he works every day.
"I just can't believe someone would put someone else's property on Craigslist," Andrews said.
By the next day, according to a sheriff's office report, Kimball was nowhere to be found, but the trailer reappeared - still loaded with the furniture - at the end of the complex's driveway at 4427 Dylan Loop.
The return, however, didn't come without problems. The trailer is damaged, he said.
"Now we have the trailer back, but we can't use it," he said, adding that they can't afford the repair.
Kimball, who reportedly has moved out of her apartment, was released from jail early Friday after posting $2,000 bail.
She could not be reached for comment.
Corporate "firewalk" ends with burnt feet in Italy
ROME (Reuters) – A "motivation day" organized by one of Italy's biggest real estate agencies ended in tears and scars when nine staff had to be treated in hospital after walking barefoot on a bed of hot coals.
Alessandro Di Priamo, a former athlete now turned motivational trainer for companies, said the nine salespeople from the Tecnocasa agency had suffered light burns and none were seriously hurt.
"Firewalking helps people overcome their fears, seek new challenges and understand that most of what they see as their limits are self-inflicted," Di Priamo told Reuters.
He said the hotel near Rome where the exercise was held used the wrong kind of wood and some artificial coal without him knowing.
"I have done this job for 12 years with thousands of people and never had a problem. I myself walked first on that bed of burning coals and didn't feel anything -- in fact that same evening I went for a 16 km run," he said.
Unions take up fight for lewd cop blogger
The Swedish Police Union (Polisförbundet) has objected to the sacking of a Skåne police officer who in his blog revealed that he and a colleague secretly dabbed the tips of their sex organs against parts of a car driven by female co-workers.
The National Police Agency's staff disciplinary board decided in June to dismiss the man with immediate effect after establishing that the officer was indeed behind the indecent blog posts which constituted a serious breach of discipline and were deemed to damage the reputation of the police force.
But the police unions have now reacted to what they argue constitutes a case of unfair dismissal and have submitted an application to The Swedish Agency for Government Employers (Arbetsgivarverket) to have the decision overturned.
"We demand that the decision is overturned. The Police Union does not consider there to be factual grounds for dismissal. We demand general and economic compensation," the union wrote in its application on behalf of the officer.
Writing a blog under the pseudonym Farbror Blå (Uncle Blue), the officer revealed that he and his cop buddy "bell-ended"* the door handles, window buttons, gear stick, steering wheel, stereo buttons and the police radio buttons, as well as the receiver used to talk to the operations room".
The practice of bell-ending, or ollning, involves a man touching an object with his glans and has established itself as a recurring form of practical joke in Sweden. The term comes from ollon, the Swedish word for glans.
"When the girls had driven around for an hour or so in the bell-ended police car we had a chat with them and revealed our bell-ending exploits," and "now we know what a facial expression of bleak anxiety looks like," were sample of posts from the blog, ending with a smiley face.
'Uncle Blue' also wrote in lurid detail about a call-out to a student residence where a mentally unstable young woman allegedly made sexual advances towards both him and his partner.
"We decided we couldn't force her into institutional care. Being horny isn't dangerous, after all," he wrote.
Further blog posts included details of how he shook hands with a man who had just hanged himself, provoking guffaws from his colleagues. He also claimed it felt "damn good" to punch somebody in the mouth.
When police management became aware of the blog through a newspaper, the policeman said that everything was made up and intended as a joke.
The police officer had previously been suspected of sexual assault, but the prosecution noted that it was not possible to connect anything he had written to the actual events and decided not to prosecute him.
However, the Police Authority (Polismyndigheten) in Skåne recommended that the police officer be dismissed regardless of whether the stories were true or not and the disciplinary board followed the recommendation.
Is that art or porn on the belly of the Bemidji beaver?
That question came up last week for strollers along downtown Bemidji's Sculpture Walk, which this year features nine painted fiberglass beavers, including one with -- to some eyes -- a suggestive painting on its belly.
After about 20 callers complained to City Hall that artist Deborah Davis' painting appeared to be of female genitalia, City Manager John Chattin on Thursday ordered Davis' sculpture removed from the Sculpture Walk, officials in the northern Minnesota city said this weekend.
Al Belleveau, president of the Bemidji Sculpture Walk, said that at Chattin's request, he moved the sculpture to his yard until the City Council decides what to do with it when it meets Tuesday.
That prompted a protest during Sunday's July 4th parade. "A crowd" of people gathered near where Davis' beaver sculpture had stood, some carrying signs that read "Censored," Davis said Sunday afternoon by phone. In addition, some of the other beaver artists veiled their own works in solidarity with Davis.
Davis, of Blackduck, Minn., called her work "Gaea," which she said can mean "Mother Earth" or "God is gracious." The beaver has female figures painted on its sides and a tree on its back. Its belly features a painting in which some see praying hands and some see woman's genitalia.
"My intent was to paint Mother Nature, Mother Earth," Davis said. "I didn't understand that some people saw genitalia. ... I understand people see different things in art, and they need to be free to do that. ... My intent was to paint a praying woman."
Bemidji City Council Member Barbara Meuers said she saw a photo of the Gaea sculpture in the local paper and "it was not enough to raise eyebrows." She said she believes Davis, a former kindergarten teacher, "didn't intend for it to be a sexual thing. ... I did not find it offensive."
City Council Member Kevin Waldhausen said he won't make a decision about the sculpture's fate until he gets more information at Tuesday's meeting. "It does appear to be part of the female anatomy on the front of it," he said. "There's two sides to every issue. Art is perceived by the person looking at it. There can be 100,000 interpretations of it. That's art."
He said he expects a lively discussion Tuesday.
Belleveau, himself an artist, said, "I really want the sculpture to continue to be part of the art Sculpture Walk."
Options, he said, include having Davis modify the controversial painting or moving the sculpture inside a building, such as an art gallery, so viewers have to choose to go see it instead of just stumbling across it.
Davis said she wants to talk to the city manager before deciding whether she will modify the work.
"I'd prefer that my art stay," she said. "My hope is that people could be free to make up their own minds, particularly on Independence Day."
Litter box becomes weapon in fight, Pasco police say
NEW PORT RICHEY — A spat over prescription drugs turned ugly early Wednesday when Rachel Switzer lost a messy cat fight with her live-in girlfriend, authorities said.
Enraged that Switzer had refused to give her Roxicodone pills, Kristin Stiehler, 23, banged on the front door of their shared home and broke through the door of their bedroom, where Switzer was hiding, New Port Richey police said.
Then, police said, Stiehler picked up a cat litter box and attacked.
By the time the fight was over, Switzer was sprawled on the bed with cat feces on her face, hair and ears and cat litter coating her hair, police said.
Switzer told police she had blacked out after being slapped and choked.
The couple have lived together for six months at 5344 James St.
Police arrested Stiehler and charged her with domestic battery by strangulation. More charges may follow after authorities investigate the Roxicodone pills at issue in the argument, Capt. Jeffrey Harrington said.
Stiehler is being held at the Land O'Lakes jail without bail.
Jam said to be made from Princess Di's hair
LONDON – The royal hair? Jam made from what its maker claims is one of Princess Diana's hairs is up for sale at an art exhibition in London.
The preserve, called "occult jam," is part of a surrealist art show at London's Barbican Art Gallery that includes exhibits by Salvador Dali and Rene Margritte. The 5-pound-a-jar ($7.60) jam is both art and food, Sam Bompas, who founded catering company Bompas and Parr, said Sunday.
He said the preserve is made by infusing a tiny speck of the late princess of Wales' hair with gin, which is then combined with milk and sugar to create a product with a taste resembling condensed milk.
The hair was bought on eBay for $10 from a U.S. dealer who collects what he says is celebrity hair and sells it in extremely tiny parts.
The art show's organizers asked his company to come up with a response in food to the exhibition's surrealist theme. Bompas said he decided to make the bizarre product to provoke people into thinking about food marketing and how language enhances the everyday eating experience, he said.
"We thought about it and the most mundane food of all is jam. So we made it a surreal object," he said.
Self-styled "food architects," past projects included a banquet consisting entirely of gelatine molds shaped like architectural landmarks.
In another, they gave audiences at a screening of Peter Greenaway's film "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" scratch-and-sniff cards that evoked smells from key scenes in the movie.
Murderer Appears in Court Wearing Diaper on Face After Spitting on Jury!
CLEVELAND - An Ohio murderer who spit on a jury returned to court, this time, with a plastic diaper on his face!
Neil Simpson appeared in an Elyria court wearing mosquito netting along with the diaper around his head.
The convicted murderer told the judge he'd rather be executed then spend the rest of his life in jail.
"I have two ways that I prefer to be murdered, one is to be crucified in front of the courthouse for all to see it, for all the convicts throughout the world, and the other way would be to be stoned to death by the victim's family, to be make them feel better," said Simpson.
Simpson was found guilty for the murder of pizza shop owner Dave Kowalczyk in June of 2007 during a robbery.
A jury recommended Monday that Simpson's life be spared, accepting the defense claim he was raised in a hostile environment.
Ironically, their act of mercy came a week after Simpson spit on members of the jury and cursed at them.
Kowalczyk's family members say Simpson robbed them of a warm and giving loved one.
Asst. Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo stated in court, "Because at heart your honor, he's nothing more than a coward, somebody that covers his face and walked in and shot a defenseless man at close range. That's the true Neil Simpson, the bravado he shows in court, spitting on the jurors, I've never had the misfortune of meeting a more foul piece of humanity at this point in my life."
The judge sentenced Simpson to life in prison without parole
Fired For Fetus?
A woman who worked for an Omaha, Nebraska, homebuilder has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming she was fired because the company's CEO believed her unborn child carried "negative energy."
Jammie Harms of Lincoln says in her lawsuit against Hearthstone Homes that she suffered religious and gender discrimination that led to her dismissal last June. The 34-year-old had been Chief Executive Officer John Smith's executive assistant.
In the suit, Harms says she was fired by Smith, who said her fetus had a "negative agenda" and was "'hostile' towards him." She also states that the CEO consulted with psychics about the "negative energy" he felt from her fetus, which reminded him of his own unpleasant experience in the womb.
Harms claims Smith called a chiropractor, described as an "energy worker" who said the fetus had a past life with the company's CEO.
Harms filed a similar complaint the the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity and Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commissions in August. She was given the go-ahead to file a discrimination lawsuit against Hearthstone last month. Harms had a baby boy in September.
La. deputies say man planned to eat park duck
CHALMETTE, La. – A St. Bernard Parish man was arrested Monday after sheriff's deputies said he stole a duck from a public park and planned to eat it. The Sheriff's Office said the man, 38, was booked with theft of an animal after someone saw him take a muscovie duck from Sidney Torres Park. A deputy found the man at his home with a duck inside a bucket in his van, authorities said.
Deputies said the man told them he intended to eat the animal.
Disabled man given a three-year ban for being drunk in charge of a mobility scooter
A DISABLED man has been banned from driving for three years after being caught drink driving — on his mobility scooter.
David Gorman admitted driving while almost three times the drink-drive limit on his electric scooter along a pavement in Pinhoe Road, Exeter.
The scooter has a top speed of 8mph.
The ban means he now has to get around on a manual wheelchair.
Exeter Magistrates Court heard police were called on Wednesday, June 9, at 4.30pm, by someone raising concerns about a man who had been drinking in the Whipton Village Road area of Whipton, close to the Red House Hotel.
Officers went to the scene and found Gorman, 45, of Beacon Lane, Exeter, sat on his scooter on the pavement.
As police pulled up he drove the scooter along Pinhoe Road, towards the city centre.
Police officers called out for him to stop and he gave them his details.
Prosecutor Ed Canning told the court: "The officers noticed that he smelt of liquor and his speech was slurred.
"He had an open can of Special Brew on the floor of the scooter and told officers he had just drunk another can."
The officers found another eight cans on him. He failed a breath test and was arrested.
He gave a drink drive reading of 104mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath — the legal limit is 35mcg.
Gorman appeared in court aided by a single crutch.
In mitigation, Rachel Bentley told the court that there was no suggestion that Gorman's driving was bad.
"There were no pedestrians thrown into the road, or him weaving off the pavement," she said.
"This invalid carriage has a maximum speed of eight miles per hour and is usually driven at speeds of two to three miles an hour."
She said the offence occurred on the pavement.
"The difficulty in this case is the high reading," she said.
"You are entitled to infer that his driving would be impaired."
She said Gorman admitted he has an alcohol problem and he has voluntarily made contact with alcohol services .
The court was told Gorman has been disabled since 1984, when he suffered an injury during training while he was in the armed forces.
The court was told that a driving licence is not needed to use a mobility scooter.
However, a driving disqualification stops a person using all mechanically propelled vehicles, including scooters.
Gorman has been banned from driving before. His wife does not drive.
Magistrates fined Gorman £135 and banned him for three years.
Man sets light to BBQ and own car at Whitstable
A hapless barbecuer set his own car on fire.
The mystery griller was returning on Sunday morning at around 11am to pick up his barbecue from Island Wall, Whitstable.
Thinking the coals had cooled down enough from the night before he folded down the back seat and placed it into his Volkswagen Golf.
However the boot caught fire, destroying the vehicle and sparking a call-out for Whitstable fire station.
The car is now a write-off.
Firefighter Andy Hudsen said: "It was certainly one of the silliest call outs we have had this summer.
"Anyone who has had a barbecue should aways make sure the coals aren't hot before moving it.
"We would also advise that someone doing the cooking remain sober and people throw disposable barbecues away properly."
Whitstable fire station is also reiterating the message that people should stop parking irresponsibly.
Mr Hudsen added: "There have been several calls in Island Wall that have been difficult for us to get to.
"It is a narrow road and we struggle to get the engine down there if people park badly."
Man Busted Looking At Porn In McDonald's Play Area
MADISON, Wis. -- A 38-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly looking at pornographic images and fondling himself at a West Side McDonald's.
Madison police said Michael Baumgartner, 38, of Madison, was arrested on suspicion of lewd and lascivious behavior and disorderly conduct at about 12:45 p.m. on Sunday.
Police said he was using his laptop to look at pornographic images in a McDonald's play area on Odana Road while 15 to 20 children were playing.
According to police, one of the other parents became suspicious when it appeared the man on the computer had no children in the play area.
He told police that he saw the man looking at a pornographic image and typing with one hand, while fondling himself with the other, according to the report. It also stated that the responding officer witnessed the same behavior.
Police said the suspect, who told police he has no children, admitted to exercising bad judgment.
Tim Scott was snapping cellphone pictures of a wild black bear in Kentucky when it attacked him: "The bear had a really good chunk of my leg in his mouth and was shaking me." The animal is now being hunted.
Scott was hiking with his wife and son in the Daniel Boone National Forest when, about 25 feet away, he spotted a black bear he guessed to weigh around 150 pounds. So, naturally, he thought to take out his cellphone and get a few shots. The bear became upset and went for Scott's leg: "He was trying to subdue me, and he was focused on nothing but doing that," he told the AP. He tried hitting the animal with a tree branch, but it bit into his leg and began to shake him. Scott said he was about to pull out his pocket knife to stab the bear in the eye, when a group of hikers appeared and chased the animal off by throwing a daypack at it. Scott was released from a hospital with around 60 stitches.
After leaving the hospital, Scott said, "This was a private incident between me and a bear." The attack was the first ever in Kentucky, however the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has set up traps and will kill the bear for acting like a wild animal in a protected wildlife area. Makes sense.
Students may have witnessed TTUHSC professor surfing for sexual material
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - A Texas Tech professor is under fire for what reportedly happened during a class this week.
Sources tell KCBD NewsChannel 11 that 50-year-old Texas Tech Health Sciences Professor Rod Hicks was instructing students this week from Austin via teleconference. We're told that when the class ended, he left the video feed open. This is when students on the other side of the feed saw hicks surfing for sexual material.
In 2008, Hicks was presented the UMC Endowed Chair for patient safety. According to his Texas Tech staff listing, he also specializes in pediatrics.
We've learned through an open records request that Hicks was removed Thursday from his professorship of the endowed chair.
As of Friday afternoon, federal records do not show criminal charges of any kind but it is our understanding he may face civil and administrative penalties.
We're told Texas Tech police are investigating this, but that no crime reports are available at this time.
The Texas Tech Health Sciences Center released this statement, "This is a personnel matter and the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center is unable to discuss details at this time."
KCBD NewsChannel 11 has confirmed from more than one source that TTUHSC asked Dr. Hicks to come home from Austin yesterday without telling him why. But instead of coming home when planned he took a different flight. Our sources say the university was unable to locate him Friday.
KCBD NewsChannel 11 called Hicks' cell phone at 6:45 pm and the person who answered said Dr. Hicks was not available.
We also sent a message to his university email which came back with an error message that the mailbox could no longer accept messages.
Holy masquerade! Cat woman strikes
Cat Woman is on the prowl.
A serial stickup artist with a penchant for disguises -- including a cat mask -- has sunk her claws into shoe and beauty stores in Manhattan and Queens, The Post has learned.
The last two hits by the sleek, amber-eyed thief took place last week -- targeting the high-end Arche shoe store on Astor Place in the East Village on Thursday and The Body Shop in Forest Hills, Queens, the next day.
In the strike at Arche, which was caught on video, the slick thief donned a cat mask, the source said.
According to the source, the lithe 5-foot-6, 115 pound thief, described in a wanted poster as possibly Middle Eastern, strode into the store at around 1:30 p.m. She prowled for about 45 minutes before donning her disguise and pouncing on a sales clerk.
"Give me the money. I have a gun," read a note Cat Woman passed to the worker, according to the source.
She got her paws on $86 in cash and scampered off, the source said.
A day later, Cat Woman turned into the Burqa Bandit, wrapping a black scarf over her head.
According to the source, she strode into The Body Shop on Austin Street and Continental Avenue in Queens at 12:50 p.m. and barked out her order to hand over some cash, the source said.
Bungling burglar alarmed to discover his victim is a 20-stone wrestler
A hapless thief soon discovered he had chosen the wrong house to burgle when he came face-to-face with the owner - a 20-stone wrestler. Lee Christie had grabbed a laptop and was about to make his escape when Adam Kalinowski returned home.
Father-of-one Adam, 37, wrestled Christie to the ground then got him in a headlock. The factory worker held on to the 6ft 2in burglar - who began to cry and begged to be released - until police arrived at the address in Coventry. Heavyweight Adam Kalinowski, 37, a trained wrestler, pinned burglar Lee Christie down until police arrived Mr Kalinowski said: 'I came home and saw the door was broken.
I saw the man, and I mean this guy was big, but I didn't know what he was doing there or what was in his bag. He could have had a knife. 'Maybe it was the adrenalin, but I wasn't scared because this is my house, my castle, as they say in England.'
Caught out: Lee Christie was jailed for two years 'He looked at me and said; 'Oh, s**t!' and pushed me against the wall so I gave him a kick in the stomach and that slowed him down.' 'I know how to wrestle and I like fighting sports, so I got him in a Nelson headlock. 'He was trying to get up, so I had to punch him in the head. My neighbour called the police and I held him until they came. 'He was crying and saying "Leave me alone" but he was lucky I didn't kill him because of the way I felt at the time.' 'He was stealing my son's laptop ...I am not a rich man; we are in bad times, there is a recession. People in this country have to stick to together and look out for each other.'
Christie, of Tile Hill, Coventry, was sentenced to two years in prison after admitting burglary at Coventry Crown Court. He avoided a stricter three-year term because his last burglary was committed more than ten years ago, before new sentencing powers came into force. In mitigation, the court heard Christie had been out of trouble for several years, was not on bail at the time of the offence and had tested negative for drink and drugs.
Judge Marten Coates said: 'It's been a good ten years since you were in trouble. It's a pity to see you returning on this occasion.' After sentencing Mr Kalinowski, a father-of-one, said: ' I do not want to say anything bad about him because times are terrible for him too. He said he needed the money to buy narcotics. He must have been desperate.'
Dallas store sells U.S. flag with 61 stars
DALLAS — Next weekend, when you see the red, white and blue proudly displayed for Independence Day, take a closer look. President Eisenhower set the standard for all American flags 51 years ago. The order requires 13 stripes and 50 stars on a field of blue.
Tim Childress had to double-check when he unfurled Old Glory — he got more than he wanted. Large or small, the American Flag is supposed to be flown with pride, a symbol of our nation. The seven red stripes represent hardiness and valor; six white stripes stand for for purity and innocence. There's a blue field for perseverance and justice. And, of course, 50 stars for each of the 50 states.
That makes Tim Childress' flag something other than American. "You can kind of see the stars are all crooked, and if you count them, there's actually 61 stars," he said. Childress counted several times. He multiplied rows and columns. He counted them one-by-one. Every time, it added up to 61. So he went back to the Dollar Tree store where he bought the plastic flag and sent an e-mail message to the Virginia marketing company.
"I kind of let them know there are 50 states in the United States, and they need to correct this — or at least get the Chinese supplier to correct this," Childress said. Yes, it's a plastic flag, and it only cost a dollar, but Childress argues this is not just another decoration at a discount store. "They can do that to Santa Claus; do what they want, change his face. But this is the flag, and it needs to stay that way," Childress maintains.
The Dollar Tree assistant store manager wouldn't comment on camera, but said the flag is sold as a "patriotic banner" — not as an American flag.
Denver cops kill man with fake gun
One man died early this morning from multiple gunshot wounds fired by Denver police after he pulled a "replica handgun" on the officers, according to police spokesman John White.
White said the incident began after Denver dispatchers received a call at 12:48 a.m. from a caller in the 3100 block of West Louisiana Avenue alerting them to a man with a gun in the area. White said officers contacted the caller and received the descriptions of two men, one of whom the witness said was armed with a handgun. Within minutes, the officers located the two individuals near West Alabama Place and South Hooker Street. There, said White, the officers gave repeated commands to the men.
One man obeyed the commands while the second man didn't, said White. At that point, the man who refused to obey pulled what appeared to be a handgun. Two officers fired multiple times, hitting the man repeatedly, said White. The wounded man later died at Denver Health Medical Center, said White. The handgun was recovered at the scene and was found to be a replica handgun, not a working weapon, said White. White said that the man who pulled the replica handgun was reportedly involved in an assault just minutes before he was shot by officers. White said he did not know if the assault involved the caller who originally alerted police.
Larry Trujillo, a long-haul, over-the-road truck driver and Vietnam Army veteran who lives on West Alabama Place, said he had gotten up about 1 a.m. to open his bedroom windows and curtains to let fresh air into his house. He saw two men walking eastbound on West Alabama directly in front of his house. Trujillo said as two Denver squad cars pulled up behind the men and the officers got out, one of the men reached down to his waist and pulled out what appeared to be a handgun. "It looked like a real gun," said Trujillo. "I heard five shots and it was quick - boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! The gentleman went down." Trujillo said the officers acted appropriately. "It was either the officers or the gentleman. It was a clean shooting. It was justified," said Trujillo.
He said in the aftermath of the shooting, the second man sat on the grass just feet from where his companion had fallen, his head down. Trujillo said in the seconds just before the shooting, he heard none of the people — either the officers or the two men — say anything. Carl Faller, who lives at the intersection of South Hooker Street and West Alabama Place, said he was sound asleep when he heard five or six rapid shots, a pause, and then a final shot. "I've never come out of my bed so fast after that gun went off," said Faller, a retired postal worker who has lived in the neighborhood since 1982.
In the next few minutes, the area was flooded with police cars. "I've never seen so many cop cars. There were at least 10," he said. He said additional equipment arrived, including a large crime scene truck, which lit the area with flood lights. Faller said that if somebody pulls a gun on an officer, the officer isn't going to take the time to figure out if the gun is real or fake before defending himself. Both Faller and his wife, Patricia, said the neighborhood has been quiet the past couple of years. Prior to that, there was some trouble at an apartment complex on West Louisiana Avenue immediately to their south, but those problems have disappeared, they said.
Faller added that the officers who patrol the area seem nice and he exchanges greetings with them. "I have a lot of admiration for our police department," added Patricia Faller. Faller said that about 50 yards down West Alabama Place from where the man fell, there appeared to be a second disturbance, but he couldn't see clearly what was going on. White, the police spokesman, said the two officers, whose names are not being released, have been placed on paid administrative leave.
White said the second man who was cooperative prior to the shooting has remained cooperative. His name is not being released. Police are attempting to identify the deceased man, said the police spokesman. The Denver district attorney's office will conduct an investigation into the shooting, said White
FORT WORTH, Texas — A house on Berry Street has a reputation. According to Fort Worth police reports, everyone in the neighborhood knows it's an after-hours beer stop, where anyone can pay a $1.50 for a beer dispensed from a backyard Pepsi machine. Some people we spoke with were reluctant to admit to knowledge of the machine. But Dwayne Smith has the proof. He says he finds dozens of beer cans in his yard every weekend, and that makes the owner of the machine a bad neighbor.
"Cops have warned him, busted in his house. They've done all this stuff, and he's still doing what he does," Smith said. "No one is stopping him." Fort Worth police have filed three reports in the last six days, saying cars line up on the street and people are leaving the backyard at all hours with cold beer.
The person at the house did not answer the door, but he did return a call to News 8. He said what's in his backyard is a "personal refrigerator," and he said he doesn't sell the beer, but people have taken it from the machine. Police have asked the man to lock his gates so people can't get in. But when we stopped by, the gates were open — and people who drove by knew where to find the beer. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission says that any money transaction for alcohol is illegal without a permit or liquor license.
Tallahassee man jumps out of Wakulla Springs tour boat 'to swim with gators'
A 37-year-old Tallahassee man was charged with disorderly conduct at Wakulla Springs State Park after jumping out of a tour boat to “swim with the alligators” on Saturday, June 19 at 5:06 p.m., according to Wakulla County Sheriff David Harvey. Eric Ross told Deputy Nick Boutwell that he intentionally jumped off the tour boat because he observed an alligator in the water and wanted to fulfill a lifelong fear/fantasy of swimming with a gator. He compared the thrill to “sky diving” as he was being questioned by the deputy.
Park Ranger James Hines responded to the scene with another boat and discovered that Ross had swum to the river bank and was walking toward the public swimming area. The park ranger found Ross holding a stick in a wooded area before taking him to meet with law enforcement officials. Ross told law enforcement officials that he had consumed alcoholic beverages and that could have contributed “somewhat” to his actions. Wakulla Springs boat captain Kenneth Clineman told Sgt. Ronald Mitchell that that Ross jumped from the tour boat and swam toward an alligator on the river bank. Ross refused to come back to the boat and the alligator began swimming toward him. Clineman maneuvered the tour boat between the gator and swimmer and requested assistance. After receiving assistance from Hines, Clineman assured the tour guests that the event was highly unusual and continued his tour. Ross was taken to the Wakulla County Jail without incident and released later the same evening.
Man dies from heart attack after receiving receipt for his own cremation service
AN elderly Indian man was so shocked to receive a bogus receipt for his own cremation service that he suffered a heart attack and died, The Times of India reported overnight. Frail Than Singh, 70, was left aghast after reading that he had supposedly been cremated the week before. But before the anxious dairy farmer could get to the bottom of what had happened he started complaining of chest pains. Relatives rushed him to the hospital but Singh suffered a massive heart attack and died, The Times reported.
In a macabre twist, his body was subsequently delivered to the same crematorium in Ghaziabad, northeastern India. And in another apparent coincidence, it was issued with the serial number 89 -- the same number listed on the mysterious letter. Suspicious relatives called in police who believe his death was the result of a sick prank rather than an administrative mistake. "The element of mischief is apparent and obvious," said senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad Raghubir Lal. "What remains to be deciphered is if the person behind it wanted to shock the old man to the extent that he may collapse and if so then why, or if it was merely a prank that took a serious turn."
Parent brawl breaks out during kindergarten graduation
VICTORVILLE • School officials placed Puesta del Sol Elementary on lockdown after a group of parents got into a fight during a kindergarten graduation ceremony Wednesday morning, officials said.
“According to witness statements, it appears a few parents went over to a field away from the actual ceremony to discuss something when the alleged fight broke out,” Karen Hunt, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Victorville station, said.
Hunt confirmed the school was placed on lockdown but couldn’t say if there was a physical confrontation. She said no one was arrested.
“When deputies arrived, they didn’t observe anyone physically fighting,” Hunt stated. “We did receive reports some people did become physical but we also heard it remained only a verbal confrontation. Also no one at the scene came forward as a victim.”
No children were hurt in the incident and no one required medical attention.
According to a witness, several mothers were involved in a verbal argument which turned physical in a field near the ceremony. At that point, several men jumped in, turning the incident into a brawl. The witness also stated someone involved in the fight possibly had a weapon.
Coast Guard reports drunk man drifted mile off shore on "pool toy" unconscious
Belleair Beach, Florida-The US Coast Guard reports a Largo man got drunk on a pool float and drifted a mile out into the Gulf unconscious before finally being spotted by a good samaritan.
The man, identified as 48 year old Jerry Whipple was found around 12:30 Wednesday afternoon more than a mile off the coast of Belleair Beach.
"He didn't respond to our boat horns, he didn't respond to our yells and we were pretty close," says boater Tim Ramsberger of Treasure Island. "At first we thought it was just some debris floating in the water."
Ramsberger called 9-1-1 after making the discovery thinking the man might be dead.
Coast Guard Crews arrived and say they found the man to be severely intoxicated after waking up.
"He was sitting on a small pool raft. Had no idea where he was, didn't know what time of day it was, how long he was out for, or even how far of shore he was," says Petty Officer Brodie MacDonald of the U.S. Coast Guard. "The winds were blowing him further out. Really is quite lucky he is still alive today."
Whipple was transported to a local hospital and released. No word yet on if he'll face any charges.
Frenchman who ate cellmate's lung gets 30 years jail
ROUEN, France (Reuters) – A French convict who killed his cellmate and ate his lung was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday.
Nicolas Cocaign and Thierry Baudry had a fight when Cocaign asked Baudry to wash his hands after he had used the toilet during the night of January 2, 2007. Cocaign strangled Baudry and cut open his chest with a razor blade.
Thinking it was the heart, Cocaign then ripped out a piece of Baudry's lung and ate part of it raw before cooking the rest.
"What I did, I liked doing," said Cocaign, 37, who has a shaved head and whose face is covered in tattoos.
He will have to serve at least 20 years of his sentence.
Aware of his impulses, Cocaign had requested psychiatric help in 1998 and asked to be placed in isolation in 2006.
"It's exceptional to see a psychologically disturbed person say: I have to be treated," said defense lawyer Fabien Picchiottino, noting the "failure of the psychiatric, penitentiary and social system."
A Lynnwood, Washington, man has been charged with insurance fraud after claiming that car thieves had made off with his $33,000 collection of silk neckties, according to the state Insurance Commissioner's office.
Carlton Wopperer, 49, is to be arraigned next month in Snohomish County Superior Court on two counts of insurance fraud, according to a Tuesday news release.
Three times in nine years, he claimed thieves had stolen his collection of 212 silk neckties from his vehicle. But an insurance investigation revealed that Wopperer had returned many of the ties to stores within minutes of buying them. Then he kept the receipts, apparently to back up his theft claims.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler called it classic insurance fraud.
In one claim, Wopperer told the Mill Creek Police Department his vehicle had been broken into while parked at a greeting-card store Jan. 5, 2009. He said four plastic containers containing 212 of his silk neckties had been stolen. He said he'd taken the ties to a quilt shop to see about having them sewn onto a quilt for display.
Wopperer purchased replacement ties from Nordstrom, Butch Blum, Barneys New York and Mario's of Seattle, submitting the receipts to his insurer, who paid him $33,370.
Six months later, he reported a similar crime. He told the Everett Police Department his vehicle had been broken into while he was moving. The 212 replacement ties he'd purchased after the January theft had been stolen, he said. He then filed an insurance claim for about $35,000.
But an adjuster with his insurance company, checking with the retailers, learned most of the replacement ties purchased in January had been returned to the stores almost immediately. Wopperer's claim was denied and reported to the Insurance Commissioner's Special Investigations Unit. The case then was referred to the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office.
The investigation also revealed there had been a third claim. Nine years earlier, in 2000, Wopperer told the Lynnwood Police Department that his collection of 212 silk ties had been stolen from his vehicle while parked at a mall. His insurer at the time paid his $16,900 claim.
Disney worker poses as a cop to stop speeders in his neighborhood
Osceola County deputies arrested a man accused of trying to stop a speeder in his Kissimmee neighborhood by flashing a gun and claiming to be a police officer, reports the Orlando Sentinel.
Walter Diolosa, 35, was arrested Saturday after a confrontation and charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer and carrying a concealed firearm.
According to an arrest report, Taisha Cintron told deputies her brother-in-law was speeding in the neighborhood
She said Diolosa came to her driveway and told them to stop speeding. She told the deputy that Diolosa said, "I'm a cop and you guys can't be speeding, next time I'm gone [sic] write you a ticket," the arrest report said.
While Diolosa spoke, Cintron told deputies, he pulled up his shirt and flashed a black gun in his waistband, the report said.
Authorities were called.
WFTV reports that Diolosa is a Disney worker — not a cop.
When investigators checked Diolosa's loaded weapon, they discovered it had been stolen from the Kissimmee Police Department in 1994. Diolosa told deputies he obtained the gun at a local flea market 16 years ago. Diolosa did not have a concealed weapons permit, reports ClickOrlando.com.
Threats to romantic rival included animal parts
ST. LOUIS — A woman admitted in federal court here Tuesday that she had sent threatening letters, a cow's tongue and the head of an opossum to a romantic rival.
Jessica L. Bradshaw, 39, of Lincoln County, was married at the time but fell hard for a woman in Trenton, Ill., officials said. In January, Bradshaw sent threatening notes and the animal parts to the woman's girlfriend, she admitted in court.
Bradshaw pleaded guilty on three felony counts of mailing a threatening communication, and faces up to 16 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
Bradshaw's lawyer, Yi Sun, will ask for less, arguing that she should get a break due to her "diminished mental capacity" at the time of the offense, her plea agreement says. Sun did not return a call seeking comment.
The first threatening letter read, in part, "WE WILL TAKE OUT ALL YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH."
Bradshaw next mailed the cow's tongue in a tampon box, along with another threatening note. The opossum head was the third to arrive, according to Bradshaw's plea agreement.
Her feelings for the woman "took on an intensity that overwhelmed her rational thought," according to a psychiatric evaluation conducted earlier this year.
Rules violation costs Citation win, record, $900,000-plus in Big Rock
Moorehead City, N.C. - The lack of a $15 fishing license cost the Citation $912,825, not to mention first place and a spot in the record books in the 52nd annual Big Rock Blue Marlin Fishing Tournament.
Ouch? You bet so.
“It hurts,” said angler Andy Thomossan, who caught a record 883-pound blue marlin Monday that he and everyone else bet would win the $1.66 million tournament. “No record. No money. No fish. No nothing. Yep, it’s a nice ending to the story, isn’t it?”
Not for Thomossan and Co.
The Citation’s victory was initially put on hold Saturday night during the awards banquet and a day later erased by Big Rock officials because a crew member didn’t have a fishing license, said Thomossan, 63, who lives in Richmond, Va.
“We didn’t do anything wrong. But one of our people did. He failed to get a fishing license, but we didn’t know it. He told us he had it. He didn’t. So you take a man for his word, you know? I can’t do anything. They made their decision,” Thomossan said, referring to the Big Rock board of directors.
“They’re taking it away, everything. The fish is disqualified. We’re disqualified. So that’s the end of it. Yeah, wow. That hurts. To have it done it like that…, to have somebody beat me because they caught (a bigger) fish is not so bad, but…,” he said, his voice trailing off without completing his thought.
A North Carolina Coastal Recreational Fishing License costs $15 annually for state residents 16 and older or $30 for nonresidents, according to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ website. A 10-day license can also be purchased for $5 for state residents 16 and older or $10 for nonresidents.
Also, fishing boat owners can purchase a block of 10 10-day fishing licenses for $150.
Under tournament rules, “anyone fishing aboard a vessel” in the Big Rock must have a N.C. fishing license, including the captain, the mate and anglers.
The lack of a license by a “for-hire mate” was discovered during a lie detector test Saturday night, said Michael Topp, one of the boat’s three owners. The tournament requires a lie detector test for the top money winners, including the captain, mate and angler as well as “others as deemed necessary.”
“Based on that, it appears that they are going to withhold all the winnings and disallow the catch of the fish,” Topp said. “It’s their tournament, their rules, their judgment. We, of course, feel that the action of the particular individual on an individual license should be dealt with on an individual license basis.
“We made the individual go and turn himself in once we found out about it. He’s obviously going to be fined.”
Topp declined to identify the crew member, and was nearly as speechless when asked how disappointed he was.
“I do not have the words,” he said.
Topp said he didn’t know if the board of directors had had made an official decision, which is expected today after the board meets.
“We did have a meeting with them today,” he added. “But the fact of the matter it was revealed last night in the lie detector that the for-hire mate … lied to us, concealed actually the fact that he didn’t have a license from both the captain and the owners. Hence, the situation.”
Asked if the situation was unbelievable, he replied:
“There’s lot of people that don’t think that’s the way the committee should have come down. But I don’t know. It doesn’t change how things are, and it’s not going to change how they come out.”
Topp was asked whose responsibility it was to make sure all members of the boat had fishing licenses. While sidestepping the specific question, he said he felt that was where “the tournament kind of crosses the line.”
He said it was the individual’s responsibility to have an individual license.
“That’s where the … line gets gray. Where do you transition from an individual responsibility to a tournament responsibility or a boat responsibility?” he said. “I think the Big Rock committee is doing what they have to do. I understand that. I’m a 30-year-old retired colonel. I know about rules.
“But the guys that did all the right things on the boat, the owners, the captain, we’re the victims here. We’re the victims of ‘administrivia.’”
As a result of Citation being stripped of its victory, the winning boat will now be Carnivore, which is captained by Ed Petrilli of Cape Carteret. Angler John Parks of Jacksonville caught what turned out to be the winner, a 528.3-pound blue marlin on Wednesday.
Also, the Big Rock record now reverts back to the 831-pound blue marlin caught in 2000 by Ron Wallschlager on the Summertime Blues of Kiawah Island, S.C.
On Sunday morning, tournament director Crystal Watters e-mailed a news release to the media that said the Big Rock board of directors had “withheld presentation of blue marlin prize money until an alleged rules violation by the top team has been totally researched and a decision made regarding this alleged violation.”
Watters said Big Rock officials would have further comment today.
“I really have nothing to tell you,” she said. “I won’t know anything until tomorrow until the board meets. The board is going to convene and make some decisions about the issues and then we’ll do a press release.”
Citation captain Eric Holmes didn’t return messages left on his cell phone.
Pork board squeals over imaginary unicorn meat
PORTLAND, Ore. – It's official: The National Pork Board says it knows unicorns don't exist.
The industry group says it was only protecting its trademark when it issued cease-and-desist warning to online retailer ThinkGeek for calling a fake unicorn meat product "the new white meat."
The fictional canned meat, described as an "excellent source of sparkles," was an April Fool's prank.
But the 12-page letter from the board's law firm was no joke.
"We certainly offered our apologies," Scott Kauffman, President and CEO of Geeknet Inc., the parent company of ThinkGeek, told the Associated Press. "It was not our intention to confuse the public as to the attributes and qualities of the two meats."
In a public apology this week, ThinkGeek said its nonexistent canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red and not approved by any government entity.
"We certainly understand that unicorns don't exist," said Ceci Snyder, vice president of marketing for the National Pork Board. "Yes, it's funny. But if you don't respond, you are opening your trademark up to challenges."
The council said it is in discussions with the company.
"Where we feel victimized, is I don't know of another organization that does more to promote pork products than our site," Kauffman said, noting the company sells around 20 real items related to bacon, such as bacon gumballs and bacon soap.
ThinkGeek "launches" mock products every April Fool's day. The company said it was surprised the board did not raise any concerns about another prank item this year called "My First Bacon" — a talking stuffed toy that looked like a piece of bacon.
"To be attacked in this manner, given all we do for pork, the irony is not lost on us," he said.
Kissing politician wins underwear from fans
LIMA (Reuters) – Charles Zevallos, a politician in Peru's Amazon basin, often wins kisses from female supporters, but things have moved to a whole new level as women at his rallies have started throwing their underwear at him.
Zevallos, a candidate for mayor in the province of Maynas, has made a tradition of giving fans, watches or soccer balls at his rallies in exchange for women's kisses.
But in the past few days, some supporters have taken off their underpants and tossed them to him during rallies for his progressive party, 1000 Movimiento Integracion Loretana.
Zevallos has downplayed any resemblance to Tom Jones, the Welsh crooner who for years was showered with women's panties while performing at pop music concerts.
Commentators in Peru's capital of Lima, 990 miles from Maynas, said the underwear throwing was proof that politics in the Andean country had reached a new low.
"It was spontaneous, I didn't ask for them, but then I saw a pair of yellow ones, and then another woman threw another pair at me," Zevallos said.
He said he cannot be blamed for having zealous supporters.
"I don't know if this will stop, it's really crazy here right now. The people love me," Zevallos said.
A Myrtle Beach man was charged with assaulting his roommate after the men argued because the suspect was being loud while having sex with a woman, according to a police report.
Russell Willis Shepherd Jr., 40, was charged with second-degree assault and battery after police were called to Casa Marina Apartments at 2703 North Kings Highway where they found a 58-year-old man had been stabbed in the hand, police said.
The victim told police he had been in another apartment with friends and when he returned to his apartment he found Shepherd being very loud while having sex with a 39-year-old homeless woman, according to the report. The victim told police he waited outside and smoked a cigarette before he walked back to the apartment.
Investigations regarding cats in Motel 6 room are ongoing
COLUMBIA — Investigations regarding why Susan Kohler kept 32 cats — 28 of which were alive and four of which were dead — in a Motel 6 room are ongoing, and many questions remain unanswered.
After receiving a call and obtaining a search warrant, Boone County Animal Control removed 28 cats from room 328 at Motel 6 on 3402 I-70 Drive S.E. on Wednesday.
“Somebody just called our office and said there’s a lady staying at Motel 6 on the east side of town, and she has a lot of cats,” Molly Aust, supervisor of Animal Control, said.
Although 28 of the cats found were alive, four were found dead. Three of these cats were in a freezer; one was in a crate in the room, Aust said.
Aust, who was one of the people to carry out the search warrant, recalled a terrible odor upon entering the room. She said urine was sprayed throughout the room and feces was everywhere.
“The litter boxes were so full, in fact, that they weren’t even using them anymore,” Aust said. “The bathtub was overflowing with empty cat food cans and trash.”
There was no food or drinkable water in the room, Aust said.
The cats were taken to the Central Missouri Humane Society. Typically, rescued animals are held for five days, said Gerald Worley, environmental health manager of Boone County Animal Control, but with this situation, it is complicated.
Kohler is scheduled to appear in court June 25. Her actions are in violation of a city ordinance allowing ownership of, at most, four dogs or cats. Animal control plans to take responsibility for the welfare of the cats for an indefinite amount of time.
“We may have to hold them while that legal action is occurring,” Worley said.
Cats needing immediate assistance were taken care of Wednesday, Aust said. Thursday, Animal Control conducted a more thorough investigation of each cat to determine which ones needed veterinary care.
Aust hopes to speak with Kohler about relinquishing rights to the cats and hopes Kohler will cooperate.
“I don’t know that I’ll be successful, but I can always try,” Aust said.
“The longer they stay at the shelter, the possibility of them becoming more feral will kick in,” Aust said. “If they’re not being handled any more than just to clean their cages, they will get to where they don’t care if they have human contact or not.”
Aust said Kohler seemed surprised when Animal Control arrived at the motel room. Aust repeatedly asked Kohler why the cats were being kept in the room but got no answer, he said.
“I wouldn’t say she was uncooperative either, she just didn’t have anything to say,” Aust said.
Employees at the Motel 6 where Kohler was keeping the cats and might have been residing, declined to comment.
Aust said she was aware Kohler had another address and said she thinks Kohler was not actually living at the motel. As of Thursday afternoon, Kohler's actual residence was not confirmed.
“We believe that she would come to the hotel and spend the day with her cats,” Aust said.
The question of why Kohler was keeping so many cats in the Motel 6 room remains unanswered.
Worley and other members of Animal Control are continuing to investigate the incident.
Bangladesh asks shopping malls to close for Cup
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh power authorities have asked shops and shopping malls in the capital Dhaka to shut each evening so that fans can watch the World Cup on television without overloading the supply.
They had already made a similar request to 5,000 mills and factories after angry viewers attacked several power distribution centers and vandalized at least 20 vehicles on Saturday following a loss in the transmission from South Africa.
At least 30 were injured in the incident.
The state-run power supply companies gave the latest directive on the eve of Tuesday's match between Brazil and North Korea, both teams having millions of supporters in Bangladesh.
The companies also asked subscribers to switch off air conditioners, water pumps, micro-ovens and other home appliances during the tournament which runs from June 11-July 11.
"Notice has been served to obey the instructions to manage frequency of load-shedding increased in the city due to the World Cup," said Mohammad Afrazur Rahman, spokesman of the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources.
Although Bangladesh, ranked 157th in the world, lost 6-1 to Tajikistan in a two-legged first round Asian zone qualifier for this year's finals, the 150 million population have a large proportion of avid soccer fans.
Man attempts to hold up gas station with caulk gun
Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man accused of injuring a gas station clerk while attempting to rob him — with a caulk gun.
The suspect fled the scene in the company of a transgender prostitute he’d picked up earlier in the evening, according to an affidavit issued by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
The affidavit says the clerk, Johnnie Limuel, 68, told police that a man dressed in women’s clothing entered the Speedy Stop on East 51st Street around 4 a.m. June 7 and bought a pack of cigarettes and $5 worth of gas, the affidavit said.
Just after he walked out to a red pickup truck at a gas pump, another man — who police later identified as Jose Alejandro Romero, 17 — walked into the store with a caulk gun partially visible under a white t-shirt, the affidavit said.
The man pointed the caulk gun at Limuel and demanded money, the affidavit said.
Limuel told police he thought it was a joke when he saw the caulk gun, but the assailant continued to demand money, the affidavit said.
The man struck Limuel with the caulk gun after he could not open the cash drawer, the affidavit said, then Limuel struck back, hitting the man with a plastic trash can.
The assailant left the store without any money and sped off in the red pickup truck, the affidavit said.
The other man, later identified as Kenneth Williams, a transgender prostitute, told police that Romero had picked him up from the street before the attempted robbery, the affidavit said.
Williams spent the night driving around with Romero as he got money from several locations including his mobile home to buy and smoke crack, the affidavit said.
It was during this time that Williams suggested they stop at a gas station, because he wanted to buy cigarettes, the affidavit said.
Police confirmed Romero’s identity yesterday when they visited his mobile home where his mother also lives, the affidavit said.
Police have not arrested Romero, who has been charged with aggravated robbery, the affidavit said.
Cops: Man performs sex act on bus
Talk about a wild ride...
Police said a homeless man exposed himself and performed a sex act in front of passengers on a LYNX bus in Orlando.
A passenger told the bus driver that James Lanzer had unzipped his pants and exposed himself on the bus sometime around 5:17 p.m. last Sunday.
Another passenger told police Lanzer yelled out "Yes! Yes!" as he performed the sex act — in front of her children, ages 6 and 4 months.
Authorities said they will review the surveillance video shot inside the bus.
Lanzer was arrested on two counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition. Yes! Yes!
Woman accused of fighting boyfriend over last beer
LAND O'LAKES, Florida — At 8:30 Wednesday night, a 53-year-old man sat in a chair, drinking the last beer in the house.
His girlfriend wanted it.
Elizabeth Breeden, 41, "went off" on him and tried to grab it out of his hand at their home on McKaig Lane in Land O'Lakes, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
He wouldn't let go.
Breeden ripped the Natural Light can in half, spilling the lager on her boyfriend, his chair and the floor, a report states. The boyfriend stood up. Breeden slapped him in the face. Then she kicked him in the groin, authorities said.
Breeden told a deputy that her boyfriend kicked her and threw beer on her, which is why she ripped the can in half.
She was arrested and charged with domestic battery. This is her 18th arrest since 1999 — with charges such as possession of cocaine, shoplifting, fraud and failing to appear in court, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The boyfriend told authorities he started dating Breeden in February and she moved in with him in May. He didn't want to press charges, the report states.
As of Thursday, Breeden was being held at the Pasco County jail in lieu of $1,000 bail. The report said Breeden was "extremely intoxicated" and there were "numerous Natural Light beer cans in the trash can."
LONDON - Joe Cooper might want to think twice the next time he’s asked to participate in a bikini waxing fundraiser for charity.
Cooper, 24, was left in agony after an “intimate beauty waxing” event at a pub went a bit too far and he nearly lost a testicle.
“I'd never do it again. I wouldn't put any man through that pain,” he told British media Wednesday.
Cooper and 10 male friends had agreed to undergo the waxing on June 5 to raise cash for a local hospital. But all the others just had their chests waxed, while Joe endured the "male Brazilian,” the Daily Sun reports.
Onlookers placed bids to pull the strips off in the charity event at the pub in Birstall, Leicester.
One of the strips stuck to a very sensitive spot — and an over-energetic tug by one of his friends tore off six of his seven layers of skin, the newspaper said.
Pub manager Josh Adcock told the U.K. Daily Mail: 'Joe's a bit of a clown, he likes to do things like that.
"People were bidding quite a lot to have a rip. I was laughing but I did feel quite sorry for him, especially as we had a disco later on and he couldn't walk."
Cooper wound up at the hospital. "You can imagine how much everyone was laughing at me. It was ironic. I was meant to be helping them — and they ended up helping me. They told me if any more skin had come off, that would have been it. I was very lucky really," he was quoted as saying.
Cooper, who has so far helped to raise about $4,400 for Leicester Royal Infirmary's children's ward, added: "I just hope people will sponsor me more now — because I'm still hurting."
German student attacks Hell's Angels with puppy
BERLIN (Reuters) – A German student created a major traffic jam in Bavaria after making a rude gesture at a group of Hell's Angels motorcycle gang members, hurling a puppy at them and then escaping on a stolen bulldozer.
German police said on Monday that after making his getaway from the Hell's Angels club, the 26-year-old dumped the bulldozer, causing a 5 km (3 miles) traffic jam near the southern town of Allershausen, local police said. He then fled to his home nearby where he was apprehended by the police.
"What motivated him to throw a puppy at the Hell's Angels is currently unclear," said a spokesman for local police, adding that the student had lately been suffering from depression.
The puppy was now in safe hands, the spokesman added.
Sea turtle films self, becomes YouTube sensation
MIAMI (AFP) – Move over James Cameron. A sea turtle found a waterproof camera in the Caribbean, somehow activated the device, filmed itself and is now a YouTube sensation.
Back in May US Coast Guard agent Paul Schultz found a digital camera in a waterproof case on a beach in Key West, Florida, and posted images he found on its memory chip on the Internet in an attempt to find its owner.
In a video clip dated January 2010 "a turtle came across the camera, and it's really hard to tell how, but it turns the camera on and recorded itself swimming with the camera," Schultz told AFP.
"When I saw the video, I thought first that someone was getting attacked by a sea creature," Schultz said.
"I thought that a diver was getting attacked," he said. However, he later realized that the camera was just hitching a ride with a sea turtle.
"The last thing the camera owner did was shoot a video underwater, and then it goes right into the next video with the camera turning around in the water," Schultz said.
Schultz eventually found the owner, a Dutch navy sailor who lost the camera when he was diving off the island of Aruba in November.
As the crow flies, Aruba, off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, is some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) from Key West, Florida.
But the camera likely took a roundabout journey on the Loop Current, which would have taken it from Aruba to the coast of central America, past Belize and the Yucatan peninsula, around the western coast of Cuba, into the Gulf Stream and on to the Florida Keys.
He didn't get his way: Man arrested after no lemonade at Burger King
A Florida man was squeezed behind bars after police say he became sour over the lack of lemonade at a local fast food restaurant.
Burger King manager Brenda Jackson, 51, said a drive-thru customer, later identified as Pedro Vargas, 36, of the 200 block of North 3rd Street, Immokalee, began screaming at her after she informed Vargas that the restaurant was out of lemonade on Sunday night.
Jackson said Vargas got out of his pick-up truck, reached through the drive-thru window and grabbed her by the shirt nearly pushing her down.
A female passenger in the vehicle was pleading for Vargas to settle down and let go, Jackson said.
Vargas eventually released Jackson, got back in his truck without ordering any food and went across the street to another fast food restaurant.
Witness Karen Guzman, 32, also a Burger King employee, said she saw the man, who wanted the lemonade, attack the manager.
Jackson said Vargas smelled of alcohol. Jackson and Guzman both got the license plate number of the gray pick-up truck Vargas was driving.
Deputies later caught up with Vargas at his home, arrested him and charged him with battery.
Penis protest rises to greet Russian economic forum
ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – Radical Russian artists painted a giant protest penis on a drawbridge in central St. Petersburg ahead of a meeting that is the Russian answer to the World Economic Forum, police said on Wednesday.
Measuring 65 metres (220 ft) long and 27 metres across, the light-coloured phallus rises and glistens against the imperial-era capital's elegant skyline when the bridge is drawn up to let ships pass in the twilit northern summer nights.
Politically minded art collective Voina, or War, said they drew the graffiti on Monday to protest the heightened security measures expected at the International Economic Forum, held from June 17 in Saint Petersburg, the hometown of both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Unsanctioned political art or public messages in the form of graffiti and painting are extremely rare in Russia.
"We have painted a giant phallus to show what the FSB and Interior Ministry are doing in terms of security for the forum," Voina said in a statement. The FSB is Russia's main internal security agency.
When the bridge is opened, the erect-looking penis stands beside the local headquarters of the FSB, successor to the KGB.
The forum will draw international business leaders and will be attended by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. St. Petersburg is the hometown of both Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer and FSB chief.
The phallus was still visible on Wednesday, when one of the artists was fined by police, a spokesman said.
Voina became a household name in the Russian blogger scene two years ago when they filmed five couples having sex a day before Russia's last presidential election. The stunt was seen as a wry pun on the handover of power.
Ice cream vendor accused of threat in turf battle
MARYSVILLE, Wash. – Police said an ice cream vendor threatened another vendor with a knife and told her to get off his turf. The man acknowledged talking with the woman Sunday in a cul-de-sac but denied making threats. Police found a knife in his truck and arrested him for investigation of assault.
The Daily Herald of Everett reported the 51-year-old man appeared in District Court Monday and was ordered held on $25,000 bail.
The woman said she didn't think she was violating the unwritten code among vendors about where they sell frozen treats.
MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.
The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.
The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.
The nickname is the same used for a famous mural of the resurrected Jesus that overlooks the Notre Dame football stadium.
The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said.
Estimated damage from the fire was set at $700,000 — $300,000 for the statue and $400,000 for the amphitheater, Fire Capt. Richard Mascarella said Tuesday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol was at the scene Tuesday to prevent traffic jams and potential accidents from motorists stopping along the highway to take photographs.
The patrol began issuing citations about 4 p.m. Tuesday to motorists for stopping on the side of the highway, dispatcher Adam Brown said. The number of gawkers coupled with construction had slowed I-75 traffic in the area to a crawl, the state Highway Patrol said.
Some people were scooping up pieces of the statue's foam from the nearby pond to take home with them, said church co-pastor Darlene Bishop.
"This meant a lot to a lot of people," she said.
Keith Lewis, of nearby Middletown, arrived at the church around 7 a.m. Tuesday to photograph the remains for his wife. Lewis said he had viewed the statue as both an oddity and an inspiration.
Cassie Browning, a church member from Dayton, said she was driving home when she saw smoke and noticed the statue was missing.
Travelers on I-75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.
Bishop said the statue will be rebuilt.
"It will be back, but this time we are going to try for something fireproof," she said.
The 4,000-member, nondenominational church was founded by Bishop and her husband, former horse trader Lawrence Bishop.
Lawrence Bishop said in 2004 he was trying to help people, not impress them, with the statue. He said his wife proposed the Jesus figure as a beacon of hope and salvation.
PARIS (AFP) – Southern Ocean sperm whales are an unexpected ally in the fight against global warming, removing the equivalent carbon emissions from 40,000 cars each year thanks to their faeces, a study found on Wednesday.
The cetaceans have been previously fingered as climate culprits because they breathe out carbon dioxide (CO2), the commonest greenhouse gas.
But this is only a part of the picture, according to the paper, published in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
In a heroic calculation, Australian biologists estimated that the estimated 12,000 sperm whales in the Southern Ocean each defecate around 50 tonnes of iron into the sea every year after digesting the fish and squid they hunt.
The iron is a terrific food for phytoplankton -- marine plants that live near the ocean surface and which suck up CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
As a result of faecal fertilisation, the whales remove 400,000 tonnes of carbon each year, twice as much as the 200,000 tonnes of CO2 that they contribute through respiration.
By way of comparison, 200,000 tonnes of CO2 is equal to the emissions of almost 40,000 passenger cars, according to an equation on the website of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The whales' faeces are so effective because they are emitted in liquid form and close to the surface, before the mammals dive, said the paper.
Industrialised whaling not only gravely threatened Southern Ocean sperm whales, it also damaged a major carbon "sink," the scientific term for something that removes more greenhouse gases than it produces, it added.
Before industrial whaling, the population of this species was about 10 times bigger, which meant around two million tonnes of CO2 were removed annually, said the paper.
The Southern Ocean is rich in nitrogen but poor in iron, which is essential for phytoplankton.
The scientists suspect that because sperm whales cluster in specific areas of the Southern Ocean there is a clear link between food availability and cetacean faeces.
This could explain the "krill paradox," they believe. Researchers have previously found that when balleen whales are killed, the amount of krill in that sea area declines, which thus affects the entire food chain.
The study is lead-authored by Trish Lavery of the School of Biological Sciences at Flinders University in Adelaide.
The EPA's website, on the basis of a calculation made in 2005, says that a passenger car that is driven for 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) a year yields annual emissions in CO2 or its equivalent of just over five tonnes.
The future of sperm whales and other species comes under scrutiny next week in Agadir, Morocco, where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) discusses a plan to relax a 24-year moratorium on commercial whaling.
Michigan woman shoots self to get medical attention
NILES, Mich. – An out-of-work Michigan woman shot herself in the hope she'd receive medical treatment for a shoulder injury. Kathy Myers says she injured the shoulder a month ago while playing with her dogs. The 41-year-old Niles resident said she's been unable to see a specialist because she can't afford health insurance.
So Myers shot herself on Thursday.
She was released from the hospital a few hours later.
Myers told WSBT-TV in South Bend, Ind., she has "no suicide wish." She says her life isn't great "right now, but I want to live."
Myers says she wouldn't do it again and now is searching for a specialist who will accept a payment plan she can afford.
The prosecutor's office is going to decide whether Myers will face charges for firing a weapon within city limits.
Jim Harris has thrown Hells Angels out of Maine's biggest biker bar and spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War -- and never suffered a scratch.
But when a stuffed water buffalo head with large horns fell off the wall, it took four 911 responders to pull the trophy from his lap.
``This is so embarrassing to get my ass kicked by a dead water buffalo,' Harris said.
The 56-year-old was in his comfy recliner sipping milk and watching the 11 o'clock news in his rented waterfront home in Tavernier when ``I leaned over to turn on the lamp and kapow,' he said.
``Bubba,' the 200-pound head of a water buffalo shot in Africa, fell off the wall and landed on his head and right side. The impact knocked him out.
``I guess it's payback for the buffalo, but I'm not even the guy who shot him,' Harris said. ``It's not even mine. I don't even like hunting.'
When the six-foot-two, 220-pound Harris returned to consciousness more than two hours later, he was trapped under the water buffalo's head. Harris thought he was paralyzed.
Fortunately, he had his cellphone next to him on the recliner and was able to reach it. On his second attempt, he managed to reach a 911 operator and desperately requested help.
Since he could not put the phone next to his ear to hear what the dispatcher was saying, he just kept repeating his address and saying, ``I'm trapped. I'm crushed.'
Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies and emergency workers had no idea what to expect when they arrived a few minutes later.
Harris was in excruciating pain. He said it took four of them to lift the water buffalo head off his body. Rex Andis, who owns Bubba and the house rented to Harris, said it originally took four people to mount the wildlife trophy on the wall.
``I looked like the Michelin man when they took me to the hospital,' said Harris, who had been stabilized for a possible broken neck.
Harris was taken to Mariners Hospital in Tavernier. ``I was stuck with needles and had all these IV's in me, and the nurses were all laughing their heads off,' Harris said.
He was treated for bruises, a concussion and pinched nerves, and released.
He said he hopes he heals fast because he has just started a new business, HydroPure Technologies of the Keys, which sells water filtration systems.
Bubba appeared to be just fine but will have to move.
``I told Rex I want it out of here,' Harris said of the head that stands 3 ½ feet high.
He also wants the rabbit head gone.
``It has horns, too,` Harris said.
Andis -- who acquired Bubba years ago in a barter deal with a friend -- said he already has a new home for the head: Hugh's Catering in Fort Lauderdale.
``He has a room full of animals; it's like a museum for wild animals,' Andis said. ``It's a good place for Bubba to go.'
Cops bust woman, 74, for pouring mayo in book drop
BOISE, Idaho – Police in Idaho think they might have solved a yearlong condiment crime spree. Authorities said a 74-year-old Boise woman arrested after pouring mayonnaise in the Ada County library's book drop box is a person of interest in at least 10 other condiment-related crimes.
Joy L. Cassidy was picked up Sunday at the library, moments after police say she pulled through the outside drive-through and dumped a jar of mayo in the box designated for reading materials.
Cassidy was released from jail and faces a misdemeanor charge of malicious injury to property.
Boise police say Cassidy is under investigation for other cases of vandalism that started in May 2009. Library employees have reported finding books in the drop box covered in corn syrup and ketchup.
Virginia officials find goat shoved in woman's trunk
BEDFORD, Virginia – Authorities said a regional drunken-driving checkpoint led to the discovery of a goat, bound and shoved in the trunk of a car. The Bedford Sheriff's Office said the car, driven by 32-year-old woman, pulled up to the checkpoint on Friday night when deputies heard noises from the trunk.
When asked what was in the trunk, the driver said she bought a goat from a farmer to give to the four passengers in her car, who are from Kenya but reside in Lynchburg. The goat was panting heavily and animal control officers said the temperature in the trunk was 94 degrees.
The woman told deputies she is from the United Kingdom and transporting goats in this manner was acceptable there. She was charged with cruelty to an animal and released.
Omahan Glen Eisel, vice president of the Nebraska Herpetological Society which studies reptiles and amphibians,said Cory Byrne's death surprised him.“It was the first time that I ever heard of a boa (constrictor) doing that,” Eisel said Thursday.
Byrne, 34, was critically injured while showing his pet snake to a female friend in his apartment at 635 S.Washington St. The snake, estimated by authorities to be 9 feet long and weighing 25 pounds, wrapped around Byrne'sneck and began strangling him.
Byrne's roommate unsuccessfully tried to pry the snake loose. Officers from the Papillion Police Department finallypulled the snake off Byrne and began CPR, but he died later at Midlands Community Hospital.
Papillion Police Lt. Chris Whitted said officers first identified the snake that killed Byrne as a python based oninformation provided by neighbors at the scene. Nebraska Humane Society officials later identified the snake as ared-tailed boa constrictor.
Mark Langan, vice president of field operations for the humane society, said the snake appeared to be well caredfor. It is being held by the humane society until Papillion concludes its investigation.
Eisel said herpetological societies often publish guidelines for handling amphibians and reptiles. One of the guidelines is to never put a snake around your neck. “We don't condone wrapping a snake around your neck ever,” Eisel said. “The guidelines also say if you take a snake outside, it should be kept in an enclosure.”
Jessi Krebs, curator of reptiles and amphibians for the Henry Doorly Zoo, said it would be extremely rare for a boaconstrictor to attack its owner.
“That type of behavior is more typical of a Burmese python,” Krebs said.
He speculated that the snake may have felt vulnerable as Byrne handled the animal. “Snakes like to feel anchoredand safe,” he said. “It could have utilized its tail to try to secure its position around his neck.”
Neighbors told police that Byrne often took the snake outside to show children. Earlier this spring, Byrne broughthis snake over to his next-door neighbor's home. He placed it on the trampoline outside. He let the children play with it. “My daughter actually had it around her neck,” said David Driggers, 44, the neighbor. “There were about five or six kids over here that day.”
Whitted said he personally witnessed Byrne walking around Papillion with the snake across his shoulders.
A Papillion ordinance prohibits residents from keeping dangerous wild animals, including snakes, but Whitted saidhe didn't believe the snake fit that description.
“I know that there are a lot of snakes sold legally, and I really never thought anything of it,” Whitted said. “Ifit were a cobra or rattlesnake that would have been a problem.”
In Omaha, it is illegal to keep a snake that's more than 8 feet long. Papillion has no length limit for snakes.
Langan approves of the Omaha ordinance. “Snakes over 8 feet long can easily get too big to handle,” Langan said. “Tragically, that's what might have happened in this case.”
Byrne worked for a local McDonald's restaurant, his landlord and neighbors said.
Police: Drive-thru order ends in food fight, brawl
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Hamburgers, fries, punches and chairs all were thrown during a fight involving customers and employees of a fast food restaurant in Kalamazoo that ended with two arrests. Police said four customers in a vehicle at a Wendy's drive-thru lane midday Saturday claimed their order was incorrect. Police said they hurled drinks, hamburgers and fries at an employee inside.
Police said the employee then threw food at the vehicle, hitting it with a drink, ketchup and fries, and two people from the vehicle went inside the restaurant, where they fought with employees.
Two of the customers were arrested on charges of assault. The employee had scrapes and abrasions, but didn't need medical attention.
Police said employees blamed the fight on a "communication breakdown."
Bra causes headache for lawyer visiting Miami jail
MIAMI – An attorney claims she couldn't visit her client at a South Florida detention center because of the undergarment she was wearing. The attorney said an underwire bra set off a metal detector at the Miami Federal Detention Center earlier this month. Guards at the facility then wouldn't let the woman inside.
According to The Miami Herald, the attorney removed the bra in a bathroom and again tried to enter the detention center. This time, guards refused to let her inside because she wasn't wearing a bra.
The woman later e-mailed other attorneys about the incident.
Officials at the detention center declined to comment to the newspaper, as did the attorney who was involved.
Drunk driver: I was distracted by the alligator in my headlights
CRESTVIEW, Florida — A man who drove over a curb, down a long grassy strip and into a ditch told a Crestview Police Department officer that he "became distracted by an alligator in his headlights."
He also said he'd had "six beers or so."
The first officer on scene found the man in his car in a ditch behind Walmart with his vehicle running and his tires spinning, according to his arrest report. She said it appeared he was trying to drive out of the ditch.
The 40-year-old Texas man said he'd gotten lost driving back to his hotel and drove to Walmart, where he left the roadway and ended up in the ditch.
During his conversation with the officer, the driver warned them about the lions and leopards around him and warned the officer to be careful.
The officer suspected that the man was impaired and administered a field sobriety test. The man almost fell over during one portion of the test, the report said.
The breathalyzer revealed a blood alcohol content of .091 and .092. While waiting at the jail, the man stood up and walked over to a desk and told the employee he was "waiting to check out." He then said he was at the EconoLodge.
The man was charged with DUI and given a June 22 court date.
Warrant issued for man over obscene jury summons response
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Yuma, Arizona man who sent his jury questionnaire back to the court clerk's office with obscenities written on it.
Timothy Michael Jones was ordered to appear in Superior Court Tuesday morning, on an order to show cause — which required him to appear before a judge to explain his reason for what he did.
But when Jones did not show up for his court appearance, Superior Court Judge Andrew Gould issued the bench warrant. Jones is facing a charge of indirect criminal contempt.
According to court records, Jones was sent a jury summons last month that informed him that he had been randomly selected as a prospective juror for the Yuma County Superior Courts and requested he fill out a questionnaire.
The summons also stated that if qualified, Jones was subject to being summoned anytime from July 1, 2010, for a period not to exceed 12 months.
Instead of filling out the questionnaire, Jones used a black marker to write a vulgar statement in big letters on the summons and sent it back to the court clerk's office.
The court also appointed Jay Cairns of the city of Yuma Prosecutor's Office as a special prosecutor in the case. Court records also stated that Jones is entitled to representation by counsel, but that he is not entitled to a jury trial on the charge.
If found guilty, Jones could be sentenced to up to six months in jail and a fine of no more than $300.
The warrant will remain in effect until Jones appears in court, whether voluntarily or after he is brought before the court in custody after his arrest.
Wacky World Cup bets get punters going
LONDON (AFP) – Drugs scandals, shark attacks, head-butting, insults, stamping on someone's genitals and the appearance of Jesus Christ: these are just some of the things which can be bet on at the World Cup.
British bookmakers -- who are predicting they will handle a record-breaking one billion pounds (1.2 billion euros, 1.4 billion dollars) on the tournament -- are taking bets on all manner of bizarre events in South Africa.
Of course, bets will be placed on who will win the tournament, with Spain the favourites.
But others want to put their money on who will get sent off first, who will commit the most fouls and who volatile Argentina manager Diego Maradona will insult first.
The tournament gets underway on Friday when hosts South Africa take on Mexico.
But what will be the first goal celebration?
A badge kiss is the 5/2 favourite, followed by somersaults at 4/1, taking the shirt off at 9/2, a prayer to God at 7/1, then "stand there and do nothing" at 9/1.
"The Robbie Fowler: sniffing the white line" is the outsider at 150/1, according to Paddy Power.
Which team will be the first to celebrate by revealing a Jesus Christ t-shirt?
Brazil are the favourites at 15/2, followed by Italy and Argentina at 9/1 then Spain at 12/1. North Korea are the outsiders at 1,000/1.
Spain's David Villa at 9/2 is the favourite to be the first player to bless himself after scoring a goal in Durban's Moses Mabhida stadium, followed by team-mate Fernando Torres.
However, the bets are also on for when football gets a little more unholy.
In the stakes for who or what Maradona will insult first, a match official is 11/8, followed by South Africa at 2/1, the media at 3/1 and FIFA or its president Sepp Blatter at 8/1.
He is only 9/1 to get sent off.
Chile are 16/1 favourites to be the first team to fail a drugs test, followed by Mexico, South Africa and Argentina at 18/1, then Ivory Coast and Paraguay at 20/1.
France striker Thierry Henry, whose handball helped Les Bleus beat Ireland and qualify for the tournament, is 100/1 to score with his hand.
French playmaker Zinedine Zidane was infamously sent off in the last World Cup final, and a player getting sent off for head-butting this time around is deemed more likely than not at 8/13.
Argentina's Javier Mascherano (6/1) and Gabriel Heinze (9/1) are favourites to commit the most fouls, followed by Brazil captain Lucio and England's John Terry at 10/1.
On the receiving end, Argentina's Lionel Messi is 4/6 to be fouled the most, then Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo at 5/2 and England's Wayne Rooney at 10/3.
The first England player to be sent off is tipped to be John Terry at 15/2, then Rooney at 10/1, with Gareth Barry 18/1.
Rooney is 150/1 to stamp on someone's genitals -- surely a red card offence.
But also at 150/1 is for Steven Gerrard to forget he is not playing for Liverpool and accidentally set up club colleague Torres for a winning goal should England play Spain.
The classic way for England to finish their campaign is with a draw followed by a penalty shoot-out defeat and the merciless lambasting by the media of anyone missing their spot kick.
Jermain Defoe is the 9/1 favourite to miss the last kick if England are eliminated, followed by Lampard, Gerrard and James Milner at 10/1.
But if the football is not entertaining enough, you can always take a punt on off-the-field matters.
There are bets available on former South African president Nelson Mandela, including the number of different shirts he will wear, the number of matches he will attend, and the number he will wear on a replica jersey.
Even more bizarrely, fans can bet on the number of shark attacks during the tournament, with none deemed most likely at 10/11, one at 4/5 and two at 12/1.
A Mayo High School senior's yearbook prank could end in his suspension, as officials attempt to scrub his work from the newly released annuals just days before the end of school.
Students at the southeast Rochester high school have reported that a freshman student's name was altered in the $85 book to read "Moe Lester." It also appeared in the index of names in the back of the book.
Officials were alerted to the change after the yearbooks came out earlier this month, and they have been scrambling through classrooms to get the 1,000 or so books and make changes, which included pasting a sticker over the student's name to correctly spell the name and then working over the index with what students thought looked to be a Sharpie pen.
Mayo officials did not return messages left Tuesday morning.
The student suspected of making the changes is a senior who was in the yearbook class for his English course, Mayo students said.
It's not believed that the suspect and the prank victim knew each other, and the victim's name apparently was selected at random.
Coded messages and other pranks in school yearbooks are not uncommon, but most are caught long before publication. Even so, controversies with yearbooks are an annual issue across the country as some outgoing senior tries to sneak something into the yearbook, sometimes offending others with the message.
In 1996, a senior at Mayo High included what some said was a racist comment in his yearbook senior message. It was a series of initials that, if reversed, spelled a racist phrase. It's unclear, according to news coverage, if the student was disciplined.
In the current case, if a suspension is handed down, the student will likely miss Mayo's commencement ceremonies on Friday night.
Ohio woman jailed for calling 911 seeking husband
ALLIANCE, Ohio – An Ohio woman spent three days in jail for calling the 911 emergency line five times seeking a husband. The dispatcher was flabbergasted by the requests and asked Audrey Scott, of Alliance, "You need to get a husband?" The 57-year-old Scott responded, "Yes."
Told that she could face arrest for misusing 911, Scott responded, "Let's do it."
Scott was convicted last week of improper use of the 911 system and was sentenced to the three days in jail, which she had already served since her arrest. Seven other days were suspended if she stays out of trouble for a year.
After her release, Scott blamed the case on alcohol. There is no phone listing for Scott, who could not be reached for additional comment Wednesday.
British students given 'sexy high-heel lessons'
LONDON (AFP) – Students have been taught how to walk in stilettos as part of a government-funded course, a south London college said on Wednesday.
The six-week "Sexy Heels in the City" course was offered as an extra-curricular activity at South Thames College and finished in May.
The college said five students aged between 16 and 50-plus took part in the classes, and said the reactions were overwhelmingly positive.
"The course improved students' confidence, it was a fun, sociable activity for them to do in their free time," a college spokeswoman told AFP.
"They practiced the Alexander Technique and learned how to walk responsibly and carefully in high heels." The Alexander Technique is a method that helps to improve a person's posture and balance.
Professional singer China Whyne -- who has worked with Eric Clapton, Seal and Peter Gabriel -- was paid 750 pounds (1,000 dollars, 900 euros) to teach the six-week course.
On her website, the tutor promises to teach women teetering in high heels how to improve their posture, reduce back pain and "achieve that gliding feeling when walking".
One of the college students who completed the course said she now "felt more comfortable in my heels."
"I no longer feel pain on a night out because I know what exercises to do beforehand," said 16-year-old Celina Mystery. "Now I can finally rock my heels."
South Thames College said it was still evaluating whether to run the course again.
Meanwhile, the TaxPayers' Alliance campaign group dismissed the course as a waste of money.
"This is a silly gimmick that's most likely diverting money away from more needy parts of the college," chief executive Matthew Elliott told the Daily Mirror website.
Massachusetts teacher finds 1792 document in classroom
PEABODY, Massachusetts – A Massachusetts teacher cleaning up her classroom in preparation for a move has discovered a Colonial-era document buried in a pile of outdated textbooks and dusty scraps of papers.
Michelle Eugenio, a fourth-grade teacher in Peabody, found the yellowed sheet of paper two weeks ago. Dated April 1792 and protected by plastic, it appears to document the payment of a debt by a Vermont man named Jonathan Bates.
Peabody Historical Society President Bill Power verified the paper's authenticity. He tells The Salem News he was thrilled with the discovery.
No one knows how the paper ended up at Peabody's Center School or how long it has been there.
Bates served in the Continental Army in 1780 and died in 1808 at age 63. He's buried in Williamstown, Vt.
Galileo lost tooth, fingers go on show in Florence
FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) – A tooth, thumb and finger cut off from the body of renowned Italian scientist Galileo, who died in 1642, go on display this week in Florence after an art collector found them by chance last year.
The body parts, along with another finger and a vertebrae, were cut from Galileo's corpse by scientists and historians during a burial ceremony 95 years after his death.
"The laymen and masons that were attending the ceremony thought that they should have some souvenir of Galileo's body," Paolo Galluzzi, director of Florence's Galileo Museum, told Reuters in an interview.
"They thought that having a piece of the man would have been a homage to his tradition. The idea of having relics of science is very similar, is a mirror of the relics of religion," he said.
The remains, along with two telescopes, a compass and a wealth of other instruments designed by Galileo, are the main attraction at the refurbished -- and renamed -- Galileo Museum, which reopens on June 10 after two years of renovation work.
While one of Galileo's fingers and the vertebrae had been conserved in Florence and Padua since 1737, the other finger, the thumb and the tooth had passed from one collector to another until they went missing in 1905.
Alberto Bruschi, a renowned Florence art collector, unknowingly bought them with other religious relics last October at an auction, where they were being sold as unidentified artifacts contained in a 17th century wooden case.
When Bruschi and his daughter noticed that Galileo's bust topped the case, and read a book by Galluzzi documenting how parts of the scientist's body had been cut off at his burial, they contacted the museum. Tests and studies confirmed that they had found Galileo's missing remains.
Galileo Galilei, born in Pisa in 1564, is considered one of the fathers of modern science due to his studies in physics, mathematics and particularly astronomy, where his work led to great advances in developing the telescope.
For 95 years after his death, ecclesiastical authorities refused to allow Galileo to be buried in consecrated ground because his findings -- and his support for the view which placed the sun, and not the Earth, at the center of the universe -- were contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
His body now lies in Florence's Santa Croce church, opposite the tomb of Michelangelo.
"My wish is that at some stage those fingers and tooth will be placed with him in his grave," said Bruschi. "That way, if one day he rises from his tomb, he'll be in one piece."
Farmer fires home-made cannon to defend land
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese farmer has declared war on property developers who want his land, building a cannon out of a wheelbarrow and pipes and firing rockets at would-be eviction teams, state media said on Tuesday.
Yang Youde, who lives on the outskirts of bustling Wuhan city, in central Hubei province, says he has fended off two eviction attempts with his improvised weapon, which uses ammunition made from locally sold fireworks.
"I shot only over their heads to frighten them," the China Daily quoted him saying of his attacks on demolition workers sent to move him off his land. "I didn't want to cause any injuries."
The rockets can travel over 100 meters, and exploded with a deafening bang, the official paper added. It did not say if anyone had been injured.
His approach is more aggressive than most, but Yang's problem is a common one.
Anger over property confiscation is one of the leading causes of unrest in China, with many people forced to give up homes and land to make way for anything from roads to luxury villas.
Yang says the local government has offered him 130,000 yuan ($19,030) for his fields, on which they want to erect "department buildings." He is asking for five times that amount.
Construction ditches have already been dug across the land of less obstinate neighbors.
A first eviction team attacked him in February after his rockets ran out, but local police came to his rescue. In May he held off 100 people by firing from a makeshift watchtower.
The government is planning to reform property confiscation rules, but rights groups say the changes do not go far enough to address the potentially destabilizing issue.
Prosthetic leg washes ashore in Jacksonville Beach; Willie Nelson sticker included
You would think that a prosthetic leg would be hard to miss, or at the very least hard to forget about and leave behind.
But that's what the Jacksonville Beach Police Department has in its property room right now, discovered Thursday on the beach near 10th Avenue North.
Sgt. Thomas Bingham, the police spokesman, said a man brought the left leg in after it apparently washed ashore, also posting the missing limb on jacksonville.craigslist.org.
"There are no markings on it except for a Willie Nelson sticker," Bingham said. "It's kind of hard to forget."
Cheeky inmate overpacked for jail stay, astonished cops say.
WENATCHEE — A full load of contraband came into the Chelan County Regional Justice Center on Wednesday night, leaving law enforcement officers amazed.
Coming in rectally — via one person — were a green cigarette lighter, cigarette rolling papers, a golf-ball size baggie of tobacco, a bottle of tattoo ink, eight tattoo needles, a one-inch-long smoking pipe and a small baggie of suspected marijuana, said Sgt. John Kruse, a Wenatchee Police Department spokesman.
“We were all wondering, ‘How do you put all that up there?’ ” Kruse said. “The tobacco was pretty impressive; it was a good ounce.”
Gavin Stanger, 24, of East Wenatchee, was booked into jail about 10 p.m. on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, said Phil Stanley, jail administrator. The inmate had arranged to serve three days in jail on the charge.
He said no contraband was found on a pat-down search or on a later strip search. About 90 minutes later, with Stanger in a single holding jail, a jailer found a plastic bag and duct tape floating in the cell’s toilet. After being questioned by jailers, the man surrendered the contraband.
The man will be charged with another misdemeanor: introduction of contraband into the jail, Kruse said.
California man gets prison for smuggling songbirds
LOS ANGELES – A man who smuggled Asian songbirds into the country by hiding them under his pants during a flight from Vietnam to Los Angeles was sentenced Monday to four months in prison. Sony Dong, 46, of Garden Grove, was also ordered to pay $4,000 in restitution to federal authorities who are caring for the birds.
Dong came under investigation in December 2008 when customs inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport found an abandoned piece of luggage that contained 18 birds, five of which were dead, and determined that he had checked it while boarding a flight in Vietnam.
In April 2009, customs officials determined that Dong was scheduled to fly from Vietnam and arrive at LAX. They conducted an inspection and saw bird droppings on his socks and feathers peeking out from under his pants.
Fourteen live birds were found attached to pieces of cloth wrapped around his calves. When officials served a search warrant at Dong's home, they found 51 additional songbirds.
Dong pleaded guilty to illegally importing wildlife.
Prosecutors said the ringleader of the operation, Duc Le, bought plane tickets for Dong and instructed him to purchase the birds and smuggle them into the U.S.
Le, 34, also of Garden Grove, pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy. He was sentenced Monday to six months in prison, and ordered to pay more than $25,000 in restitution.
DARIEN, Conn. - Police said a naked man "yelling that he was Jesus" was the catalyst for a five-vehicle accident on I-95 North in Darien, Conn., that injured three and slowed traffic for around six hours.
Darien Police Sgt. Jeremiah Marron said police responded to reports Saturday that a nude male was causing a disturbance on I-95 north.
Police say a distracted driver caused the tractor-trailer to slam its brakes, jacknife and careen into four cars before flipping over.
Rescue workers extricated the driver of the tractor-trailer, whose legs, arms, hand and head were pinned in the doomed vehicle.
The naked man, whose name was not released, was later pulled by police.
It was not immediately known if he has been charged.
Inventor pursues sex toy battle in court
A Houston inventor whose medical device turns out to have more market value as an adult novelty item was in federal court on Friday fighting against what he claims are sex toy knockoffs.
“Our business took a major detour when men started using our prostate massager for recreational purposes,” said Amy Sung, executive director of High Island Health, a Houston company named for a translation of her inventor father Jiro Takashima's Japanese name.
The product in question is called a Pro-State massager on the company's white and blue-hued medical website, which features a happy-looking, fully dressed middle-aged couple and promises better health. Massager starter kits start out at $78.50.
The massager is also called Aneros on the company's red and black-colored adult novelty website, which features younger naked people and promises great orgasms. That starter kit goes for $49.95.
British company sued
Sung said once they realized in around 2003 that the product was selling more as a toy than for medicinal purposes she started advertising it to both markets, despite her father's initial reluctance. One of their slogans is, “The sex toy that's good for you.”
Takashima and High Island have sued British company Libertybelle Marketing, also known as Pleasure2Me, and others claiming infringement of the 1998 patent of the plastic massager designed to massage a man's prostate without the use of electrical power.
The design was intended to relieve fluid congestion, but it apparently does more than that for some.
“We started getting calls from men saying things like ... ‘I can last longer in bed,' and asking if that was normal,” Sung said.
She said she now attends conventions both for medical devices, where their booth often brings randy comments, and the adult novelty industry, where the jokes are fewer and the purchasing interest higher.
She said they are often the most popular booth at some medical conventions and rock stars at adult novelty shows.
Her father came up with the product, and some other medical devices he's invented, after a Japanese urologist told him years ago that prostate problems were more common among Americans, Sung said. She said her father's knowledge of how an engine works may have helped him develop this massager that works with muscle contractions.
“Even though the engine work was more challenging, the prostate massager has to be my favorite invention because it's been a greater help to everyone,” Sung translated for her father, who speaks only Japanese.
She said he's in court because he feels the copies have cheapened his work and also might be dangerous because they aren't carefully crafted.
Patent questioned
Houston lawyer Charles Rogers was in court Friday defending Libertybelle and others by attacking in preliminary motions whether Takashima's patent was ever properly approved and ever specific enough to be patentable.
Rogers said his clients have not infringed on Takashima's work in any way.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes has yet to decide on the motions that could stop the case in its tracks or send it on to trial.
Even in the austere quiet of the high-ceiling wood-paneled courtroom with its leather chairs and straight-backed occupants, Rogers did make one tiny joke about the subject when he said: “I don't have an expert to rebut that claim. No pun intended,” to the judge.
Sung said that her father's hemorrhoid massager also was developed for medicinal purposes yet took off in sales as a sex toy.
Woman pays cellular bill after car crashes through store
TROTWOOD, Ohio — Salesman Rob Thomas stood in the open space where a glass door and two large ceiling-to-floor picture windows once stood at the entrance to The Cellular Connection, a Verizon wireless store in Consumer Square, 5529 Salem Ave.
Thomas was standing in the middle of the room about noon Thursday, June 3, when an SUV crashed through the glass.
“If I hadn’t jumped over the counter, I’d be dead,” said Thomas. “It was loud and moving fast. You can see the burns on the carpet.
For some reason, the 16-year-old grandson of JoAnne Famal was in the driver’s seat, and he hit the accelerator instead of the brake, hopped the curb and crashed through the store, stopping after knocking over a round table and crashing into the wall that divides The Cellular Connection with Super Subby’s next door.
Before she tried to back out her vehicle, Famal walked to the counter and paid her cellular bill, which is why she was at the store in the first place.
No one was hurt in the crash, and Famal eventually drove away, with her grandson in the passenger seat.
The cellular store was closed the rest of the day while David’s Glass worked on repairing the damage. Store manager Kaitlin Hagan said she hoped to have the store open again Friday.
Police Reportedly Ask Transgender Topless Sunbathers To Put Tops Back On
REHOBOTH BEACH, Delaware - Rehoboth Beach lifeguards requested police assistance late Saturday afternoon for a situation involving a group of transgender men who had their breasts exposed according to a report by the Rehoboth Weekend Update.
The on-line publication reported that the incident happened by the surf near Queen Street around 4:45 p.m.
The report says that a lifeguard reported having an ‘odd problem’ involving 'girls' on the beach with their tops off.
Over the radio the lifeguard reported that the male individuals claimed to be transgender and claimed they did not have to wear tops.
The incident was reported to a passing police officer.
The beach patrol and police officer insisted the group was not in compliance with city ordinances.
According to the Update, a police source told them at least two of the men appeared to have breast implants.
The incident was resolved when the beach patrol and several police officers convinced the men to cover their breasts.
ARTICLE III Offenses Against Morals (§ 198-12 — § 198-19)
[Adopted 11-8-1974 as Ch. 11, Art. 8, of the 1974 Code] § 198-12 Indecent exposure.
[Amended 8-13-1993 by Ord. No. 893-2]
A.
A male is guilty of indecent exposure if he exposes his genitals or buttocks under circumstances which he knows his conduct is likely to cause affront or alarm to another person.
B.
A female is guilty of indecent exposure if she exposes her genitals, breasts or buttocks under circumstances which she knows her conduct is likely to cause affront or alarm to another person.
Editor's Note: Former § 11-56, Wearing apparel, amended 7-11-1975 by Ord. No. 775-1, was repealed 7-11-1980 by Ord. No. 780-2.
§ 198-13 Topless bathing suits prohibited.
No female over the age of five years shall wear a topless bathing suit or otherwise fail to cover her breasts with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the upper portion of the nipple.
I.C. man charged with indecent exposure
Police charged an Iowa City man with indecent exposure after witnesses allegedly saw him masturbating in front of an Arby's restaurant.
Officers arrested James Russell Hirt, 67, of 1117 First Ave., Friday night after witnesses reported seeing him laying in the grass outside of the business at Gateway One Plaza along Highway 1.
Witnesses told police that Hirt had his shorts pulled down and had his hand on his genitals, and that he made eye contact with them as he fondled himself.
Witnesses told police that Hirt left in an RV heading eastbound, and police were able to make the stop and arrest him. Hirt denied to officers that he had his pants down.
Hirt was being held at the Johnson County Jail on Sunday night on $2,500 cash-only bond.
Religious leaders unite against planned Jesus cartoon
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – It's not on the air yet. It's not shot yet. There's no pilot yet. There might not even be a script yet.
But Comedy Central's plan to develop an animated project about Jesus Christ has the biggest names in the TV watchdog business forming a protest supergroup to preemptively smite the show.
Brent Bozell (president, Media Research Centre), Tony Perkins (president, Family Research Council), Michael Medved (talk radio host), Bill Donohue (president, Catholic League), Rabbi Daniel Lapin (American Alliance of Jews and Christians) and Tim Winter (president, Parents Television Council) are joining forces to form the Coalition Against Religious Bigotry.
Comedy Central's "JC" is in development, which means it's still a couple of steps from getting the green light as a series. The project is about Jesus trying to live as a regular guy in New York City and wanting to escape the shadow of his "powerful but apathetic father." Because Comedy Central recently censored "South Park" for its portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad, some Christian leaders see the prospect of a Jesus cartoon as proof of an offensive double standard.
CARB will hold its first press conference on Thursday to urge advertisers not to support the project, should it ever hit the air.
"After we reveal the vile and offensive nature of Comedy Central's previous characterizations of Jesus Chris and God the Father, we expect these advertisers to agree wholeheartedly to end their advertising on Comedy Central and discontinue their support for unabashed, anti-Christian discrimination," Bozell said in a statement. "Why should they be supporting a business that makes a habit of attacking Christianity and yet has a formal policy to censor anything considered offensive to followers of Islam? This double standard is pure bigotry, one from which advertisers should quickly shy away."
Woman sues Google, blames faulty Google Maps directions after being hit by car in Utah
Turn right at the next intersection and continue for 3 miles. Oh, and watch out for any oncoming traffic.
A California woman is suing Google after she was hit by a car while following directions provided by Google Maps on her cell phone, according to AOL News.
Lauren Rosenberg says that the Google Maps BlackBerry application told her to use Deer Valley Drive -- a highway also called Utah State Route 224 -- to walk from one Park City address to another.
However, the directions did not tell her that there were no sidewalks along Deer Valley Drive, which, Rosenberg alleges, led to her being struck by traffic.
"As a direct and proximate cause of Defendant Google's careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions, Plaintiff Lauren Rosenberg was led onto a dangerous highway, and was thereby stricken by a motor vehicle, causing her to suffer severe permanent physical, emotional and mental injuries," according to the complaint filed in Park County district court.
Rosenberg is asking for Google to pay her medical expenses in addition to punitive damages and loss of earnings. She is also suing the driver of the vehicle, Patrick Harwood of Park City.
Google Maps warns users about walking directions on its version for computers, saying that "Walking directions are in beta. Use caution -- This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths." However, the mobile version of Google Maps does not come with the warning.
Former Colorado governor had missing moon rock
DENVER – A missing moon rock awarded to Colorado in 1974 has turned up in an ex-governor's house.
The lunar souvenir was given to former Gov. John Vanderhoof by the Nixon administration, which awarded bits of moon rubble to all 50 states and more than 130 foreign countries.
Vanderhoof is now 88 and living in Grand Junction. He has kept the rock on a plaque in his house and didn't think much of it until college students started looking for the moon rocks. On Tuesday a Denver television station called to ask if he had Colorado's.
Vanderhoof joked that he had offered the rock to museums, but no one was interested. Its estimated value is $5 million.
German robbers destroy bank but fail to get cash
BERLIN (Reuters Life!) – Would-be robbers in Germany had to flee empty handed after blowing up everything in a bank except for where the money was, police said on Wednesday.
Photos in German media showed a scene of devastation in the northeastern village of Malliss, with the bank reduced to a pile of rubble and its roof completely obliterated. Amid the wreckage, only the cash machine could be seen intact.
"The explosion was so big, they had to run away without the money," said local police spokesman Niels Borgmann. "Something evidently didn't work the way the robbers wanted it to."
Cars and buildings in a radius of up to 100 meters were damaged in the night time explosion, though no one was injured.
A man accidentally shot himself in the testicles at Lowe's Home Improvement store in Lynnwood Sunday afternoon, police said.
The man's handgun, which was in the waistband of his pants, went off at about 12:30 p.m. — an apparent "accidental discharge," according to Shannon Sessions, a Lynnwood police spokeswoman.
"It made a loud noise and scared a lot of people in the store," Sessions said. "I believe he shot himself in the testicles and he also had some injuries to his leg and foot. He was obviously in shock."
Nobody else was hurt and no one appeared to be with the man, she said.
Police and fire responded, and the man was rushed to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle before police had a chance to interview him extensively. Sessions had no further details about the man.
Lynnwood police are continuing to investigate but "at this point it does look like it's accidental," Sessions said. A manager at Lowe's said store personnel are not commenting on the incident.
After DWI stop, suspect pleads not guilty to disorderly conduct charge involving feces
An Austin man who allegedly defecated on himself then tried to spread the feces on an officer while being arrested for a suspected DWI pleaded not guilty to disorderly conduct and driving while under the influence Thursday.
Michael Charles Braaten, 61, also pleaded not guilty to refusing to submit to chemical test.
According to a criminal complaint, police responded to a drunk driving call Saturday at around 11:30 p.m. They found Braaten sitting in a vehicle in the 200 block of Fourth Street Southwest, making movements indicating that he wanted to drive away. Officers noticed a strong smell of alcohol from inside the vehicle, and Braaten had watery, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, the complaint states.
Braaten was cuffed, but as we was being led away, he complained that he had to go to the restroom. When police arrived at the jail downtown, Braaten had soiled himself, the complaint states. While getting out of the squad car, he allegedly leaned over and tried to rub his pants against an officer.
Braaten showered up and was taken into custody, the complaint states.
Records indicate that Braaten was previously charged with DWI in November 2002, and that he had his license revoked in January 2003.
He refused to submit to a breath test Saturday night, so his blood-alcohol content at the time of the arrest is unknown.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for July 29 and a jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 9.
Pigeon held in India on suspicion of spying
NEW DELHI (AFP) – Indian police are holding a pigeon under armed guard after it was caught on an alleged spying mission for arch rivals and neighbours Pakistan, media reported on Friday.
The white-coloured bird was found by a local resident in India's Punjab state, which borders Pakistan, and taken to a police station 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the capital Amritsar.
The pigeon had a ring around its foot and a Pakistani phone number and address stamped on its body in red ink.
Police officer Ramdas Jagjit Singh Chahal told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency that they suspected the pigeon may have landed on Indian soil from Pakistan with a message, although no trace of a note has been found.
Officials have directed that no-one should be allowed to visit the pigeon, which police say may have been on a "special mission of spying".
The bird has been medically examined and was being kept in an air-conditioned room under police guard.
Senior officers have asked to be kept updated on the situation three times a day, PTI said.
Chahal said local pigeon fanciers in the sensitive border area had told police that Pakistani pigeons were easily identifiable as they look different from Indian ones, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
Terri Penza was alarmed to find out, on the eve of an April trip to Jamaica, that she couldn't renew her passport because she was dead.
At least that's what U.S. passport officials and the Social Security Administration believed.
"A little part of me worried," said Penza, 49, a stay-at-home mother in Mill Creek.
She said she remembered getting a letter in late fall from the clothing store Banana Republic, telling her that she'd been turned down for a charge card because she was deceased.
At the time, Penza thought it was "a crazy fluke." She had no other indications that anyone else believed she was dead. Her other credit cards and accounts were unaffected and no unexpected flowers or condolence cards turned up.
Penza said she intended to follow up, but the holidays and other events -- including the actual death of her own mother -- distracted her until April, when she got the news that her passport renewal had been denied.
Leslie Marra, whose family was going on the trip with the Penzas, said she could not understand how someone who was "upright and breathing" could be declared dead by a government agency.
Penza said her husband and children were more worried that she might not be able to make the trip than about the premature reports of her demise.
And at the time, Penza had to guess that it was an erroneous report of her death that was blocking her passport renewal, because officials would not tell her what was going on.
So with just days before the trip, Penza went to the Social Security office near New Castle, which confirmed that sometime in 2008 she was falsely listed as deceased. The office then provided Penza with a letter certifying that she had provided the proper documents "to correct a false report of death." And upon presenting that to officials in Philadelphia, Penza got her passport and was able to later joke about the "eerie" circumstances over drinks in Jamaica.
Penza said a Social Security employee told her that her death -- at least in government computers -- was likely caused by a mistyped Social Security number on an actual death, but Penza suspects identity theft.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Burke said people have to guard their Social Security numbers closely. "You have to think of it like a stack of money," he said.
Burke said that in prosecuting identity theft cases he's never come across one in which the victim was erroneously reported dead, but added that odd things have happened because of identity theft. Not all cases involve financial gain -- with a thief opening a credit card in the victim's name, he said. Some involve undocumented workers stealing identities to secure employment or criminals trying to hide their convictions.
Burke said a New Jersey woman recently found that out during a traffic stop when police informed her she was wanted on an outstanding warrant for prostitution. The mistake was later corrected and the Delaware identity thief -- who had a lengthy criminal record -- was convicted.
Aidan Diviny, a public affairs specialist with the Social Security Administration, said they cannot state definitively what happened but he believes human error, either by an employee or an agency that reports deaths to Social Security, is to blame.
He said Social Security receives reports of more than 2.5 million deaths every year "and keystroke errors happen."
"It is an odd case," Diviny said, adding that it does not have the tell-tale signs of an identity theft.
Diviny said the agency does not track how often people are mistakenly declared dead, but said the office recognizes the serious consequences of such an error. When officials find it has occurred they act quickly to correct it, he said.
"It looks like we've been able to take care of this quickly for Mrs. Penza," he said, adding that the agency will be "backtracking" to see if the problem occurred inside Social Security, and if so, take steps to deal with it.
Mason City man fined for loose snake at motel
MASON CITY,Iowa — A 25-year-old Mason City man was fined $65 in magistrate court Tuesday for allowing his pet snake to be on the loose at the Holiday Inn earlier this month.
Police said Michael Salo permitted his 5-year-old bull python to be at large in a hallway without control or supervision on May 1. He was charged under the city animal-control ordinance.
Brandy Smith Branstad, hotel manager, said Tuesday employees noticed the snake at about 7 a.m. and notified authorities. The incident caused no disruption for patrons, she said.
“The man was a guest at the hotel. The snake was not,” Branstad said Tuesday.
Branstad said Salo was apologetic about the incident.
“We like to think of ourselves as pet friendly,” she said, “but when we say that, we really mean cats and dogs.”
The world's first musical fish
A US woman claims she owns the world's first musical fish, which can play the glockenspiel and handbells.
Goldfish Jor Jor has been trained to play single notes, chords and four part harmonies by simply using her mouth.
The two-year-old tugs on a string attached to the instrument in perfect time to the music playing outside her tank.
And she always comes in at the same point when she hears Barbara Streisand sing Moon River.
Owner Diane Rains, 54, from Hudson, Wisconsin, says Jor Jor is able to time her aquatic interventions perfectly by listening to the tune.
She said: "Jor Jor certainly is a unique musician. She likes to listen closely until a particular moment inspires her to contribute.
"At precisely the right time, she will play her bells or chimes for a few seconds only, then swim off satisfied.
"Moon River has an instrumental intro and then Streisand comes in. Nearly every time, Jor Jor listens for several bars, then just before the vocals began, exactly on the beat, she rings her F bell once."
Diane, 54, started training Ryukin goldfish Jor Jor a year and half ago using a technique called positive reinforcement.
When Jor Jor performs a certain act she is rewarded and so is trained to do that act more regularly.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Alaska State Troopers are puzzled by a gruesome discovery in the city of North Pole: 26 headless chickens carefully arranged at a coop.
Police say the fly-infested carcasses found Monday were arranged in a 12- to 15-foot-long line pattern that ended in a circle. There was no sign of the missing heads.
Three chickens were left unharmed, and there was no damage to the coop.
Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters says officers "have no idea what the thought process was."
They say there's a possibility that the killings were intended as a threat. Those responsible could be charged with felony criminal mischief.
The birds were unsuitable for eating, so investigators disposed of the chickens after photographing the scene.
Sleeping woman left on plane in Philly for 4 hours
PHILADELPHIA – Airline officials are trying to figure out how a sleeping passenger was left aboard a flight for four hours after it landed in Philadelphia.
According to police and the Transportation Security Administration, the passenger didn't wake up when her United Express flight from Dulles airport outside Washington landed shortly after midnight Tuesday. At about 4 a.m., a cleaning crew found her.
United Airlines says they're working with a regional partner carrier to determine why the plane wasn't cleared upon landing.
Hello? Hello? Greek PM's phone cut off by mistake
ATHENS (Reuters Life!) – Greek telecom engineers cut off the telephone line to the prime minister's house while attempting to disconnect a customer who was behind in payments, the telephone company said on Wednesday.
The Athens phone number of the customer in arrears was the same as that of Prime Minister George Papandreou's home number save for one digit, telecoms company OTE said in a statement.
Greece is suffering its worst financial crisis in decades and many are struggling to pay their bills as the government cuts wages and raises taxes to try to pay off its huge debt.
OTE is 20 percent owned by the state. OTE's chairman wrote a letter to Papandreou to explain the mistake and engineers went to the prime minister's house immediately after they were informed of the problem.
Banned Pa. gambler has to give back $2,001 jackpot
ERIE, Pa. – A Pennsylvania man who won a $2,001 slot machine jackpot must forfeit the winnings and will be charged with trespassing, because he had previously banned himself from casinos under a state program for problem gamblers.
State police have not identified the 55-year-old Waterford Township man who won the jackpot Friday at Erie's Presque Isle Downs & Casino.
Under the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's self-exclusion program, problem gamblers can choose to ban themselves from casinos for one year, five years or for life. Banned players are charged with criminal trespass if they enter a casino and must forfeit any winnings. The money goes to a compulsive and problem gambler treatment fund.
Some spat-upon NYC bus drivers take months off
NEW YORK – New York City bus drivers took an average of two paid months off last year after being spat upon by upset riders.
The indignity is considered an assault under the drivers' union contract. That entitles them to take a paid break.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Monday that 83 drivers were spat on last year. Of those, 51 took an average of 64 paid days off. One driver took 191 days of paid leave.
The drivers made up one-third of the number of transit workers who took time off due to assaults.
The drivers' union says the encounters cause psychological trauma, because workers they may contract a disease or be assaulted again. They say all cases are cleared by a transit agency doctor.
Jackson fans to spend night among his possessions
TOKYO (Reuters) – Want to spend a night with Michael Jackson's possessions? The Japanese promoter of a collection of his belongings on display in Tokyo can make that dream come true on the first anniversary of the pop icon's death. Starting Sunday, fans in Japan are expected to line up for the chance to spend one night inside the Neverland Collection at the Tokyo Tower, which to many is a shrine to the sacred memory of their idol.
More than 300,000 people have flocked to the central Tokyo landmark since the opening of the world's only official Michael Jackson exhibition on May 1.
Jackson's death on June 25, 2009 from cardiac arrest at the age of 50 shocked fans around the world and sparked a new wave of interest in his music, while a documentary film featuring the singer, "This Is It," became a blockbuster cinema hit.
The "King of Pop" was almost as well-known for his compulsive collecting as his songs.
"The idea may sound a bit odd to Western cultures, but in Japan the tradition of being with the remains and possessions of passed loved ones on the anniversary of their passing is an important ritual," said Hiroyuki Takamura of the Tokyo Tower.
Fans who are selected at random will enter the Tokyo Tower venue from 10:30 p.m. on the night of June 25, and will be able to stay until 8:00 a.m. the next morning.
"The chance to spend the anniversary of Michael's passing together with things like clothes he wore, things from his home, countless awards, and iconic video and stage sets will be an unforgettable experience," said Michael Jackson fan Mamiko Morii, who expects to be in line on Sunday.
"I have been to this exhibition more than eight times already and each time I feel more connected to Michael's legacy."
Guests will pay up to $1,000 for the one-time opportunity to sleep on the floor among Michael's belongings.
"Michael Jackson fans religiously visited daily, and many stay inside the venue for six hours or more," said Matt Taylor, producer of the exhibition.
"Many Japanese fans become overwhelmed with emotion when in the presence of so many things precious to Michael and iconic to the rest of the world. People stand fixed in front of artifacts with tears streaming down their face, still trying to come to grips with losing Michael."
SISSONVILLE, W.Va. – Kanawha County authorities said a marital spat over a late dinner has landed a man in jail on an arson charge. Lt. Sean Crosier of the Sheriff's Department said 60-year-old Guy Edward Jones came home Sunday and got angry because his wife, Beverly Jones, didn't have dinner on the table.
Crosier said the couple fought and Beverly Jones ran to a neighbor's house. Crosier said she turned and saw flames coming out of the basement and her husband exiting through the basement door.
Guy Jones was in the South Central Regional Jail on Monday afternoon in lieu of $50,000 bond. It could not be determined whether he had a lawyer.
Guinness finds Minnesota man is tallest in US
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Guinness World Records has recognized a Minnesota man as the tallest man in the United States.
The Guinness World Record Association measured Rochester's Igor Vovkovinskiy (voh-kov-IN'-ski) at 7 feet, 8.33 inches tall during NBC's "The Dr. Oz Show" on Monday. He edged out Norfolk, Va., sheriff's deputy George Bell by a third of an inch.
The 27-year-old Vovkovinskiy is originally from Ukraine but moved to Minnesota with his mother when he was 7 years old for treatment at the Mayo Clinic for a pituitary disease that spurred his rapid growth.
Vovkovinskiy now attends the Minnesota School of Business and is pursuing a degree in paralegal studies.
Guinness says the world's tallest man is Turkey's Sultan Kosen. He measures in at 8 feet, 1 inch tall.
Minn. mom gives birth while driving to hospital
BEMIDJI, Minn. – A Minnesota mother has given birth to a baby boy while driving herself to the hospital, with the newborn's father steering the car from the passenger's seat. The Pioneer of Bemidji said 29-year-old Amanda McBride was rushing to the hospital Wednesday when suddenly her water broke and the baby "just slid out."
McBride said she was feeling labor pains at work, so she drove to pick up the baby's father and headed for the hospital. The father, 33-year-old Joseph Phillips, did not drive because he has a history of seizures.
Phillips told the newspaper that McBride yelled at him to take the wheel as she cradled the 8 pound baby boy, Joseph Dominick Phillips.
Officials at North Country Regional Hospital said they were stunned to learn the expectant mother was driving.
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: School bus driver fired after being caught relieving herself on bus
WITI-TV, MILWAUKEE - FOX6 News has learned the school bus driver accused of using plastic bags as a bathroom on her bus is now fired. That woman was driving for First Student bus company and Milwaukee Public Schools. Per the district's contract with First Student bus company, MPS has demanded the driver not have any contact with kids.
Neighbors first showed FOX6 where the driver allegedly was dropping off bags filled with her own waste. It was near I-94 and 60th St. One of the neighbors actually caught on camera, the driver in the act of using the bags as a bathroom. A second tape and another witness backs up the acts.
One of the neighbors said, "She took down her pants and turned around and did something you'd probably never do on a bus... The bus would stop right here by the curb, once in a while by the telephone pole."
The video that neighbor shot shows the driver flicking a cigarette out of the bus, driving down one block and then dumping her own waste along the street.
The neighbor took his tape to the police. Police called the owner of the bus First Student. A spokeswoman says the driver is one of their most experienced. Again, she has been indefinitely suspended.
Police: Man sucked into sausage seasoning machine
DANVERS, Mass. – Police said a cleaning man was taken to a hospital after being sucked into a machine at a sausage-making company in Danvers. The accident happened Thursday night as the man was cleaning the vacuum-type machine that is used to season the meat at DiLigui Sausage Co. Police said the man's head and shoulders became stuck in the machine after it somehow activated while being cleaned.
Lt. Carole Germano told The Salem News that the man — whose name was not released — was freed from the machine and showed no obvious sign of trauma, but was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the mishap.
Police: Cleaver threat prompted by BP oil spill
UNIONTOWN, Pa. – State police said a Uniontown man has been jailed on charges that he threatened his girlfriend with a meat cleaver while they argued about the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Trooper Douglas Arndt said 34-year-old Anthony Dodson attacked the woman while she was holding their child during the argument about 9 a.m. Monday.
Arndt could not be reached for comment Friday, but said in a news release that the couple was arguing about the oil spill. The release doesn't make plain how it was the couple came to argue about the spill.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Dodson who was in the Fayette County Prison unable to post $20,000 bond. He faces a preliminary hearing May 26 on charges of reckless endangerment, terroristic threats and harassment.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – About 180 county employees in suburban Atlanta are being asked to return thousands of dollars the county says they were overpaid 16 years ago.
Gwinnett County's chief financial officer, Aaron Bovos, calls it a project to "clean up receivables and to eliminate outstanding obligations."
The county is seeking to collect more than $39,000 from employees who received bonuses in their paychecks in 1994. Authorities blamed the overpayments on a payroll anomaly when the county adjusted employees' payroll cycles.
Employees can apply the money to vacation leave or make a cash payment.
Organ trafficking trial exposes grisly trade
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Beijing court is prosecuting a man for illegal organ trafficking, local media reported, putting the spotlight on a grisly black market in body parts in a country where demand for transplants far outstrips supply.
Half a liver can be bought for 45,000 yuan ($6,590), while an entire transplant including operation and recovery costs, can be completed for 150,000 yuan, according to a defendant from another organ trafficking trial prosecuted at the same court last month.
China in 2007 banned organ transplants from living donors, except spouses, blood relatives and step or adopted family members, but only launched a national system to coordinate donation after death last year.
Its efficiency has yet to be proved. Nearly 1.5 million people in China need organ transplants each year, but only 10,000 can get one, according to the Health Ministry.
The defendants in the two Beijing trials face up to five years for their role as go-betweens between donors and buyers, which could "damage society and moral values," the Procuratorial Daily reported. They are still waiting for their verdict.
But at least two of them say they are being unfairly hounded for playing a vital role in helping both the sick and poor.
"I believe I was helping people, not harming others," the paper quoted defendant Liu Qiangsheng as saying.
Liu says he got into the business after selling half his own liver in 2008 to help pay for this father's medical bill. A friend of the recipient, who was waiting in despair for a liver, asked him to find another organ provider.
"I saved the life of the person who received my liver. He was only in his 30s. I do not regret it," he said.
His partner, Yang Shihai, had also sold one of his own kidneys, the paper reported.
"The donors were free. They were not controlled by us. They sold their organs voluntarily," it quoted Yang saying.
Middlemen specialized in faking documents allowing donations between strangers have helped raise transplants from living donors to 40 percent of donations, from 15 percent in 2006, the official China Daily reported last year.
However the majority of organs for transplant are still harvested from executed criminals, the paper said. Beijing hopes the new system will end both live transplants and taking organs from prisoners, which makes senior officials uncomfortable.
"(Executed prisoners) are definitely not a proper source for organ transplants," Vice Minister Huang Jiefu told China Daily.
Making cold calls? People would rather give up sex
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The prospect of making cold calls for a week as a salesperson is more unappealing than giving up sex for a month, a survey showed this week.
Only getting a root canal was deemed worse than making sales calls to businesses people did not know, said the survey of 1,226 respondents about public attitudes in the United States toward salespeople.
From five options presented, one-third of the people said a root canal was worst, followed by cold calls at 23 percent and giving up sex for a month at 18 percent.
Of the other worsts, 15 percent picked being a surprise guest on a reality television show and 13 percent chose speaking in front of an audience.
The random online survey was conducted in February for Sandler Training, a sales management training company based in Owings Mills, Maryland, by Inforsurv, an Atlanta-based research company. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Asked to choose among types of salespeople, respondents said they trusted those who sell cars the least, followed by financial services salespeople. Retail salespeople were ranked the most trustworthy.
Being contacted by door-to-door salespeople ranked as most annoying, while being contacted by e-mail or social media was the least aggravating.
MAY 19--Late for a hair appointment, a 72-year-old South Carolina woman yesterday careened across a highway at speeds in excess of 100 mph, nearly hitting another vehicle, before being collared for reckless driving.
When a cop caught up to Sandra Powell's vehicle at an intersection, she "was upset because she was late for a hair appointment," according to a City of Union Police Department report. When Sgt. Richard Powers asked if she knew how fast she was going (in a 45 mph zone), Powell "stated yes, that she was going 100MPH."
Powell was booked yesterday morning into the county jail on a misdemeanor rap. A personal property receipt shows that she was carrying a green purse and $20 when busted. The name of the beauty parlor to which she was rushing is unknown.
Ex-NASCAR Driver Gets Jail Time after 140 mph Pursuit
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. -- A former NASCAR driver who was arrested after leading police on 140 mph pursuit in a 2003 Corvette has been sentenced to a month in jail and probation.
James Neal pleaded guilty on Tuesday to misdemeanor felony evasion while driving recklessly.
Neal was arrested in San Diego County early Monday following the 50 mile chase.
The 56-year-old San Clemente resident was booked into Orange County Jail.
Sheriff's Lt. Mike Jansen says San Clemente deputies tried to pull over the 2003 Corvette for a traffic violation at about 3 a.m. but Neal refused to stop and raced along Interstate 5 to San Diego County.
The Corvette's engine blew up in the La Jolla area and deputies arrested him without a struggle.
NASCAR officials say Neal was a NASCAR track racer at the old Ascot Park track in Gardena in the early 1980s.
According to his website, jimmynealracing.us, Neal won three NASCAR races in the early 1980s.
He retired for 21 years before returning to racing in 2008.
He raced in the regional series; he was not a national driver.
Neal raced in Winston West and Southwest Tour races.
Man on mower screams for guns
MEDINA — The sight of a Liverpool Township man screaming atop a riding lawn mower while zipping around the gazebo on Public Square drove numerous passers-by to call police Tuesday.
At 12:26 p.m., Lt. Bob Starcher said Stephen Williams, 43, was riding his lawn mower around the square “at a high rate of speed” along with a homemade flag bearing the words “Not Guilty” scrawled in black paint on a white sheet.
“We must have gotten 15 calls” about Williams, the lieutenant said.
Williams, of 754 W. River Road, reportedly was screaming “he wanted his guns,” Starcher said.
Police arrested Williams on a disorderly conduct charge, but he later was charged with a probation violation. He was being held in the Medina County Jail without bail Tuesday night, a jail spokesman said.
In 2009, Williams was found guilty of aggravated assault, a fourth-degree felony, according to common pleas court records.
Starcher said police do not know Williams’ motives or why he had the “Not Guilty” flag.
He said Williams was not intoxicated at the time and it is not known whether he drove the lawn mower to the square from Liverpool Township that morning or if he hauled it in a vehicle.
COSTA MESA, California – A homeless man was arrested Monday night on suspicion of "beating up (an) ATM," police said.
Police received a call around 9:40 p.m. from a witness who had just used a Wells Fargo ATM kiosk at 1835 Newport Blvd. The witness said a man approached him at the ATM and asked him for money. When the witness said no, the suspect said he was homeless and began to attack the ATM screen, police said.
"Basically, he was ... jumping up and karate-kicking the ATM screen," Costa Mesa police Sgt. Matt Grimmond said.
Police identified the man as Jason Lee Wills, 29, an out-of-work mutual funds manager. Grimmond said officers found an intoxicated Wills kicking and punching a trash can near the broken ATM. Wills told police that the bank owed him $300 and that he would "keep doing this" until he got his money, Grimmond said.
An ATM repairman told police he had just fixed the screen 20 minutes before and that it costs at least $1,400 to fix it each time, Grimmond said. Police said this is the fourth time this particular ATM had been broken. Grimmond said further investigation would be needed to determine if Wills might have been involved in the other incidents.
Police arrested Wills on suspicion of felony vandalism. Grimmond said Willis also had a warrant for failure to appear on a "do not walk" pedestrian violation.
Court records show Willis was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years of probation in April after being convicted of battery of a peace officer or emergency personnel and resisting a public officer. He was also convicted of public intoxication in September, according to court records.
Ex-Harvard student accused of living a lie
He crafted an elaborate web of lies to con his way into Harvard University, authorities say, but Adam B. Wheeler wasn’t content to graduate quietly and get away with just a degree.
After two years of blending into campus life and racking up academic prizes and tens of thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships, Wheeler allegedly upped the ante: The 23-year-old senior applied for the prestigious Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships last fall using falsified credentials, including a fake transcript and work he plagiarized from a Harvard professor, said investigators.
Wheeler was indicted yesterday on charges of larceny and identity fraud, among other charges. If proven, the charges — he is also accused of falsely claiming to have attended MIT and Phillips Academy and coauthored several books — suggest a student on a fraudulent quest for advancement at all costs, and raise questions about how he nearly got away with it.
“This defendant seriously undermined the integrity of the competitive admissions process, compromised the reputation of some of the finest educators and educational institutions in the country, and cheated those who competed honestly for what he fraudulently received,’’ Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. said in a statement.
Leone also highlighted what he said was the financial toll from Wheeler’s alleged deeds: more than $45,000 in grants, scholarship, and financial aid money awarded to him “based on lies and reproductions of other people’s hard work.’’
Calls to Wheeler’s Milton, Del., home were not returned yesterday. Attempts to reach his lawyer were not successful.
A Harvard spokesman said yesterday that federal privacy laws prevent the university from discussing individual cases. Wheeler was dismissed from Harvard in October.
In court documents, authorities laid out the intricate life they say Wheeler concocted to gain admission to one of the world’s most selective universities, where he enrolled as a transfer student in 2007. In his Harvard application, he said he had graduated from Phillips Academy, an elite prep school in Andover, and attended MIT.
The MIT transcript he submitted indicated perfect grades from his first year there, according to the documents. In addition, he submitted letters of recommendation from four MIT professors and the director of college counseling at Andover, essays discussing his time at MIT, and official documents from The College Board indicating he had received a perfect SAT score of 1600 in March 2005.
He also included a full transcript from Andover that indicated he had graduated and held a diploma from the school.
In fact, Wheeler graduated in 2005 from Caesar Rodney High School, a public school in Kent County, Del., and was a Bowdoin College student for two years until 2007, when he was suspended for academic dishonesty, according to Bowdoin and court records. At the time Wheeler was informed of his suspension, he was completing his transfer application to Harvard.
The recommendations Wheeler had submitted to Harvard carried the signatures of professors at Bowdoin, not MIT, according to court documents. All the professors have told officials they never wrote a recommendation for Wheeler, and some said they did not even know him, the documents say.
A subpoena sent to The College Board revealed that Wheeler’s SAT scores from the two times he took the test were 1160 and 1220, in March and November 2004, the court documents show, well below the 1600 he asserted. Wheeler paid attention to small details, according to an official in the prosecutors’ office. Harvard personnel have reported his recommendations and transcripts arrived on the appropriate letterhead from the other schools.
During a mandatory interview with a Harvard alumnus on the Bowdoin campus in April 2007, Wheeler presented himself as an MIT freshman hoping to transfer. When the interviewer asked what an MIT student was doing in Brunswick, Maine, Wheeler said that his spring courses at MIT did not require exams so he finished up his work and moved to Bowdoin mid-semester to work for a professor as a student assistant, court documents say.
Wheeler’s alleged charade began to unravel last fall during Harvard’s interview process for the Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships. His application packet contained glowing recommendations from Harvard professors, a resume listing numerous books he had coauthored, lectures he had given, and courses he had taught, according to court documents.
He also allegedly doctored a transcript to make himself a straight-A student. Court documents show Wheeler had a far less impressive record — some A’s, a few B’s, and a D.
Harvard officials found him to be an “exceptionally strong candidate’’ who, pending his final interview, was likely to receive the college’s endorsement for one or both of the scholarships, the documents said.
But James Simpson, a Harvard English professor, sensed that something was awry in September. Upon reviewing Wheeler’s application, Simpson discovered Wheeler had plagiarized the work of Stephen Greenblatt, another Harvard English professor, and notified university officials, court documents say. Neither Simpson nor Greenblatt, a noted scholar of Renaissance literature, responded to calls for comment yesterday.
When confronted and offered a chance to share his side of the story at a disciplinary hearing, Wheeler told his resident dean that he was going to leave Harvard and would not attend the hearing. That is when Harvard officials dug deeper and discovered the scope of Wheeler’s alleged scheme.
University officials then found that the recommendation letters Wheeler submitted for the Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships, which were written by three professors, had been altered or expanded upon.
Harvard officials also learned that Wheeler won two Harvard writing prizes using a submission plagiarized nearly word for word from a dissertation by a Cornell University graduate student, according to court documents.
Those who knew Wheeler at Harvard describe him as personable, if a bit of a loner.
“I was just knocked silly by this,’’ said one Harvard professor, speaking on condition of anonymity, who likened Wheeler’s fabrications to a scenario from the film “The Talented Mr. Ripley.’’ “There’s something that’s pathological there. And it’s something that seems to me that needs care and clinical treatment, rather than incarceration.’’
After his dismissal from Harvard in October, Wheeler did not sit idly. Three months later, he applied for an internship at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School’s psychiatric hospital. The hospital concluded that Wheeler had fabricated his background, prosecutors said.
In the meantime, Wheeler once again submitted transfer applications — this time to Yale and Brown universities. In his applications, Wheeler said he was interning at McLean and included two false letters of recommendation, the documents show.
Wheeler is being held by Cambridge police pending his arraignment this morning at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn. He is charged with four counts of larceny over $250, eight counts of identity fraud, seven counts of falsifying an endorsement or approval, and pretending to hold a degree.
Women arrested after Taser wielded at Wendy's
DAYTONA BEACH -- A botched food order Monday enraged a Wendy's restaurant patron so much that she went after an employee with a pink Taser, police said.
The Daytona Beach woman was unable to get a clean shot at the employee and never hit him, police said, even as her friend cheered her on. The two women were found a while later by police and arrested Monday afternoon.
Melanese Asia Reid, 20, who held the small pink Taser according to witnesses, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The woman with her, 23-year-old Katrina Mari-Alyce Bryant, was charged with being a principal to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The incident began just after 10 a.m. Monday at the 2120 LPGA Blvd. restaurant as Reid and Bryant got into an argument over the order with the employee working the drive-through. Then Reid tried to slap him, according to the police report.
He deflected her hand and the women got out of the vehicle and came into the restaurant, with Reid carrying the Taser, police said. Reid chased the employee around the restaurant with the Taser.
The women told police they only pulled out the Taser after the employee grabbed one of their arms, and one of the women said they never went into the restaurant.
Reid and Bryant were booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail, with bail set at $5,000 apiece, police said.
Neighbor's son says Tiger Woods is a jerk, tells story in pay-per-view video
A man whose parents landed in the news after Tiger Woods crashed in their yard has decided to talk about what it's like living in Isleworth next to the pro golfer — and he doesn't have many nice things to say.
But if you want to hear what Jerome "Jay" Adams Jr. has to tell, be prepared to pay.
For $3.99, you can hear a disgruntled Adams talk for nearly 14 minutes about how Woods once snubbed him, mocked his mother and had tall hedges planted for privacy.
"He's a jerk," Adams states on the video, posted at behindthegates.com.
On Thursday, Adams, 33, alerted media to his web site and the pay-per-view video. He advertises that people can "learn the truth" about Woods from his next-door neighbor.
"He's not real. He's not true," Adams said in a video clip. "The person that you know is just a crafted image."
A second video is to come at an undetermined date, Adams states, which will provide his "eyewitness" account of the Nov. 27 "accident scene."
Woods was injured in the early morning crash when he tried to drive away from his mansion, bounced off two curbs, plowed through shrubs, hit a fire hydrant and then crashed into a tree.
The crash triggered months of public embarrassment and ridicule for Woods, who was ticketed for careless driving, as his extra-marital affairs were revealed.
What exactly Adams saw is unclear.
On Thursday, he did not respond to phone calls or e-mails from the Orlando Sentinel with specific questions. His lawyer, Michael Moore, responded instead.
When asked if Adams actually saw anything transpire before the crash, and where he was at the time, Moore replied that the answers are contained in the second, to-be-released video.
The Florida Highway Patrol contends Adams was no witness to
