January 28, 2008
Is that a crowbar in your pants?
SWEETWATER, Tenn. - A woman has been charged with possession of burglary tools after police said a crowbar slipped out of her pants as she was lurking around a church.
McMinn County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Shadrick pulled into the church parking lot early Saturday morning after he spotted a car parked near the building.
He found Jennifer Hunt, 35, walking from behind the building, where she said she was going to bathroom. When she was walking to her car to get her ID, a crowbar dropped from her pants
The officer also found Hunt had a screwdriver and observed pry marks on church doors. Hunt was being held on $2,000 bond pending a Tuesday arraignment.
Posted by ronnie at 08:16 AM | Comments (0)
January 04, 2008
Man accused of making bike trail holes
FULLERTON, Calif. - Police said they arrested a man who acknowledged digging holes on a park bike trail as payback for nearly being run down by a cyclist.
Warren John Wilson, 52, faces a single felony count of vandalism, police Sgt. Linda King said Friday.
King said nearly 50 holes measuring about 1 foot by 2 feet have been found since June along a trail at Laguna Lake Park, and in some cases attempts had been made to hide them from cyclists. She said some riders went over their handlebars after hitting the holes, but none reported major injuries.
Detectives watching the trails questioned Wilson, who said he had nearly been run over by a mountain bike rider and began digging the holes in retaliation, King said.
Police said Wilson had been released from custody. A phone listing for him could not be found.
Posted by ronnie at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2008
Motorist banned after driving 10 mph on motorway
LONDON (Reuters) - A woman banned from driving for seven days after traveling at speeds of less than 10mph on the motorway told Reuters on Friday: "that road's my nemesis." Stephanie Cole, 58, of Fishponds, Bristol, straddled the hard shoulder and inside lane as she dawdled along a stretch of the M32 near her home last August.
In the back window of the car was a sign which said: "I don't do fast, please overtake."
Cole admitted driving without reasonable consideration at North Avon Magistrates' Court on Friday and was told she would have to take another test at the end of the ban.
"I didn't intend getting onto the motorway, but all of a sudden I found myself on it and I could not get off," she told Reuters after the hearing.
"I just panicked. I hate that particular stretch of road and I avoid it normally. It is my nemesis."
Cole had been traveling from her home to a stationer's when she was arrested in her Perodua Kenari mini people-carrier.
"I thought "thank God" when I saw the blue flashing lights," she said. "I thought they could help and I asked them if they could drive me home."
Cole, who has multiple sclerosis, said she depends on her car for getting around.
"I will try and retake the test," she said.
"I will have to do my best when driving, and hope it is better than it was."
Posted by ronnie at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 02, 2008
Man, 75, hurt while riding pet buffalo
MESA, Ariz. - A man who took one of his pet buffaloes for a ride at a ranch north of Phoenix on New Year's Eve ended up being bucked off the animal and trampled, authorities said.
The unidentified 75-year-old man was flown to a Scottsdale hospital with non-life threatening injuries after the incident in rural Cave Creek, a chief with the Rural/Metro Fire Department said.
"He saddled up, got bucked off and was mauled," said John Kraetz, a district chief for the fire department. Kraetz said he's never been on a similar call.
"People do have buffalo on their property, but it's pretty darn uncommon," he said.
Posted by ronnie at 04:03 AM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2007
Club issues warning to British pensioner for farting: reports
LONDON (AFP) - A British pensioner has been ordered out of his local social club for breaking wind too loudly, which "disgusted" fellow members, media reports said Wednesday.
Maurice Fox, 77, received a letter from Kirkham Street Sports and Social Club in Paignton, south-west England, about his overly-audible flatulence, asking him to go outside when necessary.
"It's only a little bit of wind -- it doesn't really hurt anyone. I sit by the door anyway and try to get out when I can. But sometimes it takes me by surprise and just pops out," he said, quoted by The Guardian daily.
"I think someone has complained about the noise. I am a loud farter, but there is no smell," he added, noted that "there is no smell at all since I gave up the cider and started on the Bass (a type of beer)."
The letter from the club committee confirmed that others had been disturbed.
"After several complaints regarding your continual breaking of wind (farting) while in the club, would you please consider that your actions are considered disgusting to fellow members and visitors," it said.
"You sit close to the front door, so would you please go outside when required. So please take heed of this request," it added.
Fox -- who said he gets no complaints at another nearby club he attends two days a week -- voiced surprise that he had received no oral warning before the written complaint.
But he admitted they had a point. "I do not think it is unreasonable, you get ladies in there," he said.
"The ladies find it a bit rude but the men have a chuckle. My wife died seven years ago and I live on my own so I might have lost a few social graces. But I was surprised to get the letter from the committee."
Posted by ronnie at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2007
Wis. city bans archery in Archery Park
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The city's Archery Park may need a name change. How about No-Archery Park?
Tom Draper was surprised recently when he found a sign that cited a city ordinance prohibiting bows and arrows.
"Several archers that I've talked to are kind of in disbelief," Draper said, who along with his bowhunting friends have practiced archery at the park for more than 20 years.
The park is next to the Eau Claire River, and the city had developed earthen berms and even an archery tower for deer hunters to practice shooting from a platform.
Wooded hillsides helped provide barriers to arrows flying out of the park, but it wasn't enough, Parks Superintendent Phil Johnson said.
The park was closed to archery in September after a neighbor complained of finding an arrow in his yard, Johnson said. It was the latest of several similar complaints from neighbors over 15 years or more, he said.
"Everybody's been most gracious about it up to this point, but the person has a legitimate concern," Johnson said.
Draper said he would like the city to appoint a committee of neighbors, archers and city representatives to review the situation.
Posted by ronnie at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2007
Pa. woman cited for cursing at toilet
SCRANTON, Pa. - Talk about a potty mouth. A Scranton woman who allegedly shouted profanities at her overflowing toilet within earshot of a neighbor was cited for disorderly conduct, authorities said.
Dawn Herb could face up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $300.
"It doesn't make any sense. I was in my house. It's not like I was outside or drunk," Herb told The Times-Tribune of Scranton. "The toilet was overflowing and leaking down into the kitchen and I was yelling (for my daughter) to get the mop."
Herb doesn't recall exactly what she said, but she admitted letting more than a few choice words fly near an open bathroom window Thursday night.
Her next-door neighbor, a city police officer who was off-duty at the time, asked her to keep it down, police said. When she continued, the officer called police.
Mary Catherine Roper, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Philadelphia, took issue with the citation.
"You can't prosecute somebody for swearing at a cop or a toilet," she said.
Posted by ronnie at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2007
Armless man gets 5 years for driving
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - A man with no arms and one leg who wouldn't stop driving despite a long list of traffic violations was sentenced to five years in prison Friday on felony driving and drug charges.
Michael Francis Wiley, 40, also was sentenced to 15 years of drug offender probation. He pleaded no contest in June to the charges.
"I'd just like to say I know what I did was wrong," Wiley said in court Friday. "I am truly sorry your honor. I am."
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a license, kicking a state trooper and other charges.
He once had a valid license, but it has been suspended several times since 1985, according to his attorney. He starts the car with his toes, shifts with his knee and steers with the stump of his left arm. He turns on the lights with his teeth.
In his most recent brush with the law last May, Wiley sped off in a Ford Explorer when police approached him at a convenience store, officials said. Officers pursued, but called off the chase after eight minutes because they did not want to put others in danger, police said.
Defense attorney John Hooker pleaded for leniency and a minimum sentence of 2 1/2 years. He cited his client's need for treatment for his many physical and mental health problems, including anxiety, panic attacks, depression and a pain disorder related to his amputations.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Wiley said he's done driving.
"I'm beat. The white flag is up," he said. "You can only bang your head against the wall so long before it hurts."
Posted by ronnie at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2007
Wis. boy's lemonade stand robbed
OSHKOSH, Wis. - A boy who was robbed at his lemonade stand is seeing another side of humankind in the outpouring of support he has received since his story was reported.
Austin Cundy says some people have asked if he would like to set up a lemonade stand at their businesses, while others have sent cards with money or offered to replace the $20 that was in his plastic container when it was taken Tuesday.
"I think it's very nice that people care," he said Thursday.
Austin was using the stand to raise money to go camping with his grandparents and to buy his mother a birthday present.
He told police he saw two teens eyeballing him as they bicycled past, then one of them punched him, shoved him off his chair and took the container along with his wallet.
A tip from the public led officers to the home of a 17-year-old boy on Wednesday where officers found a container but no money, police Sgt. Steve Sagmeister said. The teen was being held on suspicion of robbery and physical abuse of a child, pending formal charges, he said.
Austin's mother, Nicole Cundy, said the community's response has been impressive.
"All of these people are showing how much they care about a little boy they don't even know," she said. "It's wonderful."
Posted by ronnie at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2007
Man calls 911 to save him from police
LARGO, Fla. - A 38-year-old man was arrested after he called 911 and told a dispatcher he was surrounded by police officers and needed help, authorities said.
Police officers met Dana Farrell Shelton after being called to investigate a disturbance at a bar on Sunday but had found no problems and told him to move along.
Shelton, who officers said appeared intoxicated, then called 911 to report he was "surrounded by Largo police," according to an arrest affidavit.
"Our officers were standing there scratching their heads. He called, standing there in their presence," Largo Sgt. Melanie Holley said. "It's one of our 'truth is stranger than fiction' cases."
Shelton was charged with misdemeanor misuse of 911. The charge carries maximum penalties of one year in jail and $1,000 in fines.
Posted by ronnie at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2007
Two jailed after bridge built by blind man collapses
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court has jailed two officials after they let a blind contractor build a bridge which collapsed during construction and injured 12 people, the official Xinhua news agency said Monday.
Huang Wenge, township head of Bujia in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, and colleague Xia Jianzhong were sentenced to 18 months and one year in jail, respectively, for not stopping the project, Xinhua said.
"Huang Wenge and Xia Jianzhong, who were in charge of road management and supervision, did not ask the contractors to provide certificates guaranteeing their proficiency," it said, citing the court ruling.
"When they knew the bridge was being built by a blind contractor, they did not stop it," it said, adding the contractor had changed the blueprint without getting a professional to look at the design.
"After the blind contractor changed the blueprint, he carried out the work only using a roughly drawn draft of the plan, which caused the bridge to collapse," the report said.
Xinhua did not explain how the contractor was able to run the project considering his inability to see.
Posted by ronnie at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2007
Police arrest plus-size 'hugging bandit'
BUFFALO, N.Y. - The "Hugging Bandit" — the plus-size pickpocket who put the squeeze on tipsy men and their wallets in upstate New York — is behind bars, police said. Myra Castleberry, 48, was being held without bail and police hoped they had seen the last of a decade-long spree of thefts.
"Hopefully, she'll be hugging her pillow in her prison cell for a long time," Detective Sgt. Tom Donovan said Tuesday.
The Hugging Bandit targeted dozens of unsuspecting men outside bars over the years, distracting them in the wee hours of the morning by fondling them and then secretly stealing their wallets. She would use the victims' credit cards within hours of the thefts.
Castleberry, who has been arrested 17 times between 1998 and 2005 and has two felony convictions, was suspected in the thefts, but police said most victims were too drunk to identify her.
That changed when a Tonawanda man called police after reading a February newspaper account and reported he had lost $238 to the Hugging Bandit in August 2005.
"We set up a photo array, and he picked her out immediately," Donovan told The Buffalo News for its Wednesday edition. "He said, `I'll never forget a face.'"
Police apprehended Castleberry Sunday night on a felony warrant charging grand larceny. She is scheduled to appear Friday in Buffalo City Court.
Posted by ronnie at 07:15 AM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2007
Woman uses axe to eject son from car
BERLIN (Reuters) - A Danish woman whose teenage son locked himself into her car and refused to get out borrowed a policeman's axe and smashed open a window to make the boy change his mind, police said on Monday.A spokesman for the police in Flensburg near the Danish border said the 15-year-old locked the doors after his mother left the car to go shopping and refused to come out.
"She called police asking for help," the spokesman said, but the youth still refused to budge when an officer arrived.
"So she borrowed his axe and smashed open a window. It was a rather unusual way to resolve the matter."
It was not clear what the boy wanted.
I say way to go! A parent that acts like a parent.
Posted by ronnie at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2007
Teenager leaves "deposit" in German bank
BERLIN (Reuters) - An 18-year-old man has been detained for repeatedly defecating in front of a cash machine in a bank vestibule in the southern German town of Eggmuehl, police said on Tuesday.
A police spokesman said man, who left his deposit at the bank eight times, was caught only after the bank installed video monitors to film him in action. A staff worker later spotted the man as he was boarding a local bus.
She alerted police and they then detained him as he was about to get off the bus. He faces charges of vandalism, the spokesman said.
Posted by ronnie at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
November 04, 2006
School bus driver fired for obscene gesture to Bush wants job back
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A schoolbus driver who was fired for allegedly making an obscene gesture to President George W. Bush during a visit to Seattle is demanding her job back, media reports said.
The King County Journal reported that the 43-year-old female driver was sacked in September for giving Bush the finger when his presidential motorcade passed her bus during a visit in June.
The driver, who has not been identified, landed in hot water after she was reported to the school district by Republican Congressman Dave Reichert, who was accompanying Bush at the time.
The paper said the woman had filed a grievance seeking re-instatement.
A statement from the the Issaquah School District meanwhile said the bus driver had been sacked for making the gesture in front of children.
"This incident has to do with the responsibility of an employee who is supervising students to act professionally and serve as a role model for appropriate behavior," the district superintendent said.
Posted by ronnie at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)
October 25, 2006
Montana principal returns after 'wedgie'
LIVINGSTON, Mont. - The principal of Park High School returned to school Tuesday after a six-day suspension for giving a student a "wedgie." The Livingston School District Board held a special meeting Monday and approved Superintendent Hannibal Anderson's recommendation that Principal Eric Messerli be allowed to return to work.
"It has been clearly recognized and stated that the behavior is inappropriate, unprofessional and unacceptable," Anderson said.
Messerli's behavior "warrants substantial disciplinary action" but was not sufficient grounds for a recommendation for termination, he said.
Messerli was suspended for two days without pay and four days with pay for grabbing a Park High senior's soccer jersey and pulling it over his head and giving the student a "wedgie" by pulling up on the waist band of his underwear. The incident happened on Oct. 5 at a junior varsity soccer game.
Messerli cried Monday as he read a statement to the board and the public.
"I've made mistakes in my life, but none have had the impact that this one has had," he said.
He said his first reaction was to resign, but he wanted to "tackle this mess" head on.
"I want to live in a world where we don't have to hide when we screw up," he said.
Public comments about Messerli, voiced by students, parents and community members, ranged from reprimand to encouragement.
"What could be better than showing how you bounce back after a mistake?" community member Brad Snow said.
"The days of a school staff person laying hands on a student are long gone," said a woman in the audience.
Park High Vice Principal Bob Stevenson and girls' soccer coach Nate Anderson, who both witnessed the Oct. 5 incident, expressed support for Messerli. They said his actions were a mistake, but they were done in an effort to joke around with the student.
"It was meant in playfulness," Anderson said.
Others, including trustee Greg Brainerd, said Messerli's trying to be on equal level with students was the problem.
He attributed the incident to "loss of traditional authority structure," which he believes should be re-established in the school system.
Anderson said Messerli also received a letter of reprimand.
Posted by ronnie at 07:44 AM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2006
Philiippine judge who talks to 'dwarfs' loses appeal to keep his job
MANILA (AFP) - A Philippine judge who allegedly claimed to have psychic powers and communicate with imaginary "dwarf friends" has lost his appeal to keep his job.
Judge Florentino Floro, who presided in a suburban Manila court, was sacked on March 31 on "administrative grounds" after he failed a psychiatric test ordered by the Supreme Court.
The judge, who started his court sessions with a reading from the Bible's Book of Revelation, lodged an instant appeal.
Floro was also understood to have claimed supernatural abilities, the ability to read the future and held "healing sessions" in his chambers.
But the Supreme Court was not convinced of the judge's mental state and rejected his appeal Friday.
The final ruling, written on August 11, said "judges are expected to be guided by the rule of law and to resolve cases before them with judicial detachment" to ensure the public maintained its confidence in the judicial process.
"The psychological finding of mental unfitness, when taken together with Judge Floro's claimed dalliance with 'dwarves' poses a serious challenge to such required judicial detachment and impartiality," the ruling said.
This would "eventually erode the public's acceptance of the judiciary as the rational guardian of the law, if not make it an object of ridicule.
"His insistence on the existence of 'dwarves', among other beliefs, conflicts with the prevailing expectations concerning judicial behavior and manifests a mental state that should lay to rest any doubts about his valid removal from office for lack of the judicial temperament required of all those in the bench."
Judge Floro could not be reached for comment Friday.
Posted by ronnie at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2006
Woman in doghouse over Jehovah's Witness sign
LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman has been ordered by police to take down a sign on her garden gate which read "Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses."
Janet Grove, who owns a terrier puppy called Rabbit, insisted the sign was a gentle joke to discourage callers at her front door.
Her late husband put the sign up more than 30 years ago when members of the church called at their house on Christmas Day.
But police were forced to act after receiving a complaint.
"We were informed by a member of the public who found the sign to be distressing, offensive and inappropriate," a police spokesman said. "Officers attended the address and the sign was voluntarily taken down."
Posted by ronnie at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2006
Easter Bunny Accused of Hitting Customer
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Easter Bunny has been fired — for losing his head. Arthur J. McClure, 22, who had been hired to play the Easter Bunny at a local mall has been accused of removing the head of the costume and hitting a customer, authorities said.
McClure punched Erin Johansson when she got upset that the photo exhibit was closing 10 minutes early Saturday night, police reports said. The incident was witnessed by dozens of people at the Edison Mall, including 15 children.
McClure said he never punched Johansson. He claims he was trying to stop a fight between his wife — exhibit manager Crystal Frechette — and Johansson.
He said he took the bunny's head off because he had been wearing it for nine hours and was hot.
"My shirt was soaked with sweat," McClure said. "I almost threw up."
Mall management issued an apology to parents and children. Golden, Colo.-based Noerr Programs Corp., which contracted with the mall to run the photo set, fired McClure and Frechette on Monday. They also have been charged with battery and disturbing the peace.
Posted by ronnie at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2006
Diaper Dumper Strikes Again in Wisconsin
MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. - A small stretch of this Wisconsin village might want to change its name to "Mount Unpleasant" now that the diaper dumper has struck again.
Residents along Braun Road report 12 to 15 of the used adult diapers have shown up in the grassy ditch, apparently dumped in the middle of the night. Similar activity had been reported to The Journal Times of Racine in January before it stopped, at least temporarily.
Police haven't received any reports about the latest incidents, said Lt. Wally Sparks when reached Thursday night.
The road is near Interstate 94, providing quick access and escape for whoever dumps the diapers, he said, and the area is not conducive to use of a surveillance camera to catch the culprit on video.
"It's a rural stretch of road," Sparks said. "Obviously you can't cover a quarter or half mile with a camera."
He said there was little police could do, unless a witness can provide a vehicle description or license plate number, which has not yet happened.
Anyone caught doing the dumping likely would be cited for violating the village's littering ordinance, he said.
Posted by ronnie at 12:24 AM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2006
St. Paul City Office Boots Easter Bunny
ST. PAUL, Minn. - A small Easter display was removed from the City Hall lobby on Wednesday out of concern that it would offend non-Christians.
The display — a cloth Easter bunny, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words "Happy Easter" — was put up by a City Council secretary. They were not purchased with city money.
Tyrone Terrill, the city's human rights director, asked that the decorations be removed. Terrill said no citizen had complained to him.
Council Member Dave Thune called it a shame.
"This has just gone too far," he said. "We can't celebrate spring with bunnies and fake grass?"
The council president, Kathy Lantry, said the removal wasn't about political correctness.
"As government, we have a different responsibility about advancing the cause of religion, which we are not going to do," she said.
It's not the first time a holiday symbol has been removed from City Hall. In 2001, red poinsettias were briefly banned from a holiday display because they were associated with Christmas.
Posted by ronnie at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)