December 8, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Deep undercover
German police in Bochum used a mail-order catalog to help solve the case of a serial burglar in the North Rhine-Westphalia town. Police suspected the burglar who had been nabbing laptops around town had a hideout and stash in a local forest. So officers purchased a pair of tree costumes for about $130 each out of a catalog and waited for delivery. Once the costumes arrived, two cops donned the outfits and made way for the area of the forest identified by a tipster. The two officers reportedly waited for eight hours-looking either like a small Christmas tree while standing or a heap of moss while seated-before the burglar returned to his lair. After a brief struggle in their costumes, police arrested a 39-year-old Romanian man who allegedly traveled to Germany to commit the burglaries.
Winner saves all
A
lottery winner in New York promises his $3 million prize from a
scratch-off game won’t change his life. “I don’t want this to change my
style of living,” Milton Dominguez Estrada, 47, told The New York Post.
“I will continue to work.” And that’s exactly what he did. After
winning the lotto on a lunch break on Oct. 17, Estrada says he
“[calmed] myself down and [went] back to work.” The Long Island school
janitor opted for an annual payout of $150,000 a year for the next 20
years. Estrada said he would take a “long-awaited vacation” but save
the rest for his three children’s college education.
Lawnmower men
If a riding lawnmower ambling through downtown Glen Falls, N.Y., just after midnight on Nov. 14 wasn’t enough indication of foul play, a man riding on the hood of the mower gave watching police all the probable cause necessary for an unusual traffic stop. When officer Seth French approached the two men-driver Donald L. Johnson and rider Carl W. Critelli-the 42-year-old Johnson was not only drunk, but also admitted he had been smoking marijuana. Johnson attempted to explain that he was taking the mower to a local pub-in order to sell it. Police charged Johnson with driving while impaired and dealt him 10 traffic tickets. Critelli was cited for not wearing a safety belt.
December 1, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Line ‘er up
Fairly soon, Beatrice Muller will have to find a new home. For her, that means a new luxury ocean liner. For the past eight years, Muller has lived aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 as the vessel’s only permanent resident.
Muller, 89, began traveling aboard with her husband in 1995. And shortly after her husband died aboard in 1999, she sold her New Jersey home and moved onto the vessel for good, forking over close to $5,000 per month as rent. But when the soon-to-be-decommissioned QE2 makes its final port call in Dubai in December, Muller will be forced to look for another floating retirement home: “I’ll keep on staying at sea, I don’t want to go back to housekeeping,” she told the BBC.
Partied out
A spat between a Swedish school and parents got so ugly the Swedish Parliament got involved. The imbroglio began last May when an 8-year-old schoolboy handed out birthday party invitations to all but two of his classmates. The boy’s father explained that one of the uninvited boys hadn’t invited his child to his own party. The other uninvited boy had bullied his son, said the father. School officials didn’t like the snub, however. A teacher confiscated the invitations because the two boys weren’t included.
The father appealed the decision straight to the nation’s parliamentary ombudsman office, which sided with the birthday boy, but declined to sanction the school.
Meh too
Need a word for an expression of indifference or boredom? The new Collins English Dictionary published by HarperCollins now has an official way to say it: “Meh.” The expression will find its way into the dictionary’s 30th anniversary edition after gaining popularity on an episode of the television show The Simpsons in 2001. In the episode, Homer suggests taking a day trip with his children. Bart and Lisa are nonplussed by the offer. “They both just reply ‘meh’ and keep watching TV,” said Cormac McKeown, head of content at Collins Dictionaries.
If I had a hammer
More proof crime doesn’t pay: A 31-year-old Veradale, Wash., man bought an $11 hammer on Nov. 9 in order to walk next door to a closed liquor store, smash the window, and steal a $9 bottle of wine. After discovering the burglar (or was he the victim?) with a bloody hand and a bottle of booze, police arrested and charged Muoi Van Nguyen with two counts of second-degree burglary and three other lesser charges.
Think before you speak
Calling
the cops wasn’t Debra Hatton’s smartest move. The woman phoned the
authorities to report a burglary at her Upper Darby, Pa., home. But
when police arrived, Hatton and her husband Edward Hatton were the ones
who wound up in the slammer. Once inside the home, police discovered
the couple had been growing marijuana and had collected a number of
high–powered automatic weapons to protect their narcotics operation.
“[We] recovered this AK47 with a clip that was fully loaded containing
30 rounds of ammunition,” Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael
Chitwood told the local CBS affiliate. Along the way, police also ran
across a bizarre collection of police badges along with Nazi
memorabilia. Considering the Hattons called police to their house, “I
guess you have to put them in the realm of some of the world’s dumbest
criminals,” said Chitwood.
November 24, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Great escape
If the church can be built brick by brick, it can be stolen that way too.
According to officials in the Russian Orthodox church, a 200-year-old church building has completely vanished, apparently stolen one piece at a time. Clergymen went to visit the abandoned church building in Komarovo, Russia, after officials began to discuss reopening the 1809 building for services. Figuring the brick heist must have occurred sometime in October, church officials reported to police that all that remained was the 200-year-old building’s foundation and a few wall sections.
Wanted: Hot Shot for hot shot
It could be the new big thing in Florida: Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. But don’t expect a mention of it in the travel brochures. Researchers at the University of Florida sent out warnings to pest control businesses and homeowners to be on the lookout for the roach among other pesky insects. The scientists say reptile owners could be to blame. Compared to the traditional, but smelly and loud, cricket diet, many reptile owners have turned to purchasing cockroaches on the internet for their pets. But entomologist Phil Koehler warned that once loose, new cockroaches, including the Madagascar (up to five inches long) would thrive in Florida’s climate.
Tempest in a tin pot
Good thing he didn’t put it on eBay with a “Buy it Now” option. Otherwise, one anonymous eBay seller might have missed out on the surprise sale of a lifetime. EBay member “123ecklin” listed a terribly beat-up 1963 Pontiac with no engine originally for just $500. The price didn’t stay that low for long. Once treasure hunters on the online auction site discovered the slightly rusted and heavily dinged muscle car carcass was actually a 1963 Pontiac LeMans Tempest Super Duty Coupe, one of seven ever made, bidding on the historic drag-racing vehicle skyrocketed. At close, the car fetched $226,521. The ultra-rare Tempest was said to be one of the fastest dragsters of its era. In the question-and-answer section of the eBay listing, the seller admitted that he had considered simply scrapping his inherited Pontiac.
November 17, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Officially illegal
Nineteen-year-old Gregory Griggs’ shirt alone may have caused police to suspect him of nefarious behavior. After being tipped off by an informant, police raided a Fort Mitchell, Ky., hotel room and caught Griggs with packaged marijuana, scales, and cash. Police charged him with trafficking the drug. The slogan on his shirt, captured on film in his mugshot: “It’s not illegal unless
you get caught.”
Monkeying around
David Grigorian will have to use more than cheap decorations and a newspaper to fool a California court commissioner. The California man had been ordered by the court to surrender his pet marmoset monkey to fish and wildlife officials under a violation of state animal control codes. But Grigorian appeared in court in October claiming he had sent the monkey to Mexico. His proof? Grigorian produced a photograph of Cheeta the monkey next to a recently dated Mexican newspaper and a backdrop of red, green, and white south-of-the-border decorations. When pressed by the court, Grigorian admitted he posed the photograph.
Billionaire bashed?
If real estate mogul Donald Trump isn’t currently a billionaire, a lawsuit he filed in a New Jersey court just might do the trick. But two big “ifs” stand in the way. First, Trump will actually have to convince a jury that a book that claimed his actual self-worth to be between $150 million and $250 million sufficiently damaged the self-proclaimed billionaire’s “brand and reputation.” Second, in the event Trump wins his defamation lawsuit against Timothy L. O’Brien, he may have trouble collecting the stated $5 billion in damages from the New York Times reporter.
Guard dog
When fire broke out in a house in Melbourne, Australia, one creature leapt into action even before firefighters arrived. A dog named Leo stood guard over a litter of kittens as flames engulfed the home. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they quickly found the Jack Russell terrier and a cardboard box filled with newborn kittens before rushing them to safety. Outside, firefighters administered oxygen and a heart massage to Leo, who had lost consciousness from smoke inhalation. Firefighters revived Leo, who now has a new nickname: Smoky.
Talk is not cheap
Combine a nanny-state bureaucracy and a politically correct culture and what do you get? Administrators for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service have paid more than $360,000 in case Laotians or Cherokee Indians need translation services to access the taxpayer-funded health system. Official records reveal no Cherokees live in England while only one Laotian lives there.
Strange smells
In space, no one can hear you scream. But can they smell you if you haven’t bathed recently? If not, it can only be because space has such a distinctively innate smell, says NASA. The U.S. space agency commissioned chemist and odor specialist Steven Pearce of Omega, a fragrance manufacturing company, to recreate space’s odor. According to interviews with astronauts and tests performed on gear used during shuttle flights, Pearce reports space tastes like chicken. “For them, what comes across is a smell of fried steak, hot metal and even welding a motorbike,” Pearce said.
November 10, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Sorry for the inconvenience
Even British burglars have manners-sort of. Days after frightening a 91-year-old woman during a home invasion, the burglar sent an apology note along with a bouquet of flowers to her Halifax home, about 200 miles north of London. In the note, the robber explained he believed the residence to be empty when he broke in around 4 a.m. on Oct. 9. Police said the perpetrator left the home empty-handed, but have asked him to come forward with his identity, not just a floral arrangement.
Impactful ‘stache
At long last, Tim Galvin is getting the acclaim he deserves. But it’s not for his professionalism during a 20-year career as a New York City policeman, during which he earned three medals of valor and survived two gunshot wounds. It’s Galvin’s facial hair that’s earned him notoriety. The American Mustache Institute chose the former undercover cop as the recipient of the group’s first-ever Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year award for what the AMI calls the nation’s “most impactful mustache.” Galvin’s son described the mustache as “respect-demanding,” while AMI’s chairman Aaron Perlut praised Galvin, saying, “Tim doesn’t sit around pondering whether his mustache is in fashion this season-it’s always mustache season to Tim.” Galvin beat out notable athletes like Jason Giambi, Art Monk, and Keith Hernandez, as well as Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr in the online ballot.
Contraband sand
Many travel to the Caribbean just for the white sand beaches. Now some are leaving with it. Authorities in nations throughout the Caribbean are bemoaning sand thieves who steal truckloads of beach sand used in construction of new developments. Builders favor the fine powdery sand for its usefulness to create smooth plaster finishes. At one private beach in Jamaica, thieves stole roughly 706,000 cubic feet of sand in 100 truckloads, endangering mangroves and a limestone forest. The haul was valued at more than $5 million. Jamaican police suspect government officials were involved.
Playing horse
A horse is a horse, of course, unless that horse belongs to 55-year-old Allyson B. Young of Meddybemps, Maine. At least in her mind, she and her horse are part of the same herd. That’s the argument Young made to a Calais District Court judge in October after a state animal welfare official removed Angel, Young’s poorly-cared-for saddlebred mare, after discovering the horse to be on the brink of starvation. In court, Young, who admitted she could not pay to care for the animal, argued against the separation, saying that she and Angel had become one herd and demanding the court find a suitable home where they could be together. State attorneys pleaded for Young to seek help from the state’s department of health and human services.
November 3, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Coming through
Each year, elephants in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park trudge down a migratory path to feast on the ripened fruit of some especially productive mango trees. Not even a new hotel built over the path has stopped them. Unfazed by the construction of Mfuwe Lodge in 1998, a small herd of 10 elephants has taken to walking directly through the open-air lobby of the Mfuwe Lodge in late November to reach their favorite spot for fresh mango. In recent years, hotel director Andy Hogg says the pachyderms have become more sociable with the hotel staff and guests-though humans typically give the wild beasts a wide berth. “This is the only place in the world where elephants freely get so close to humans,” Hogg told the Daily Mail.
Outdoorsy types
As countless schools embrace technology, one Canadian preschool says it’s going back to the basics. Way back. The Carp Ridge Forest Pre-School of Carp, Ontario, will introduce its all-outdoors, rain-or-shine preschool in early December just in time for blustery weather. Administrators from the preschool say that outside of lightning storms and temperatures below 14 degrees, 3- to 6-year-olds will bundle up and spend the day tromping through the forest, tending a garden, and going on nature hikes. School coordinator Marlene Power-Johnston criticized typical indoor preschools, telling CBC News, “The toys, the activities, and the environment [are] institutionalized, and also very manufactured.” A few outdoor preschools have existed in Europe for a few decades.
Domino effect
Just when banks worldwide were falling like dominoes either to government equity stakes or to financial collapse, one United Kingdom town council has set in place its own dominoes. Despite teetering on the brink of economic crisis, council leaders in Bournemouth Borough dropped nearly $120,000 on a sculpture of two giant domino-looking blocks of granite. Months ago the same council voted down a new elementary school over fiscal concerns. “I’m sure a lot of residents will be annoyed as they nervously wait to see how much their next council tax rise will be,” one local opponent told the Daily Express.
Canine worship
Some might say Pilgrim Congregational Church in North Weymouth, Mass., is for the dogs. Speaking literally, they’d be right. On Oct. 5, the church began a weekly “woof ‘n’ worship” service devoted to dogs and their owners. Rev. Rachel Bickford said the idea comes from an invocation in Psalm 148: “Let all wild animals, creeping things and flying birds give God praise.” Bickford explained, “So I thought wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to let all things praise God together and have families bring their dogs to church.” Bickford said parishioners who bring dogs to the 5 p.m. service will be responsible for cleaning up any messes created by pets.
October 27, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Crime and punishment
A tire-slashing granny caught in Germany has been ordered by her judge to do a penance that might actually benefit her community. Fed up with the number of vehicles in her neighborhood in western Germany, 89-year-old Heidi Kohl embarked on a tire-slashing spree, slicing open perhaps 50 car tires, according to prosecutors. When Kohl claimed she couldn’t pay the fine, a judge ordered her to knit a sweater for each of her victims.
Tricks are for kids
After treating citizens to a holiday swap moving Halloween to Nov. 1, many residents of Oxford, Mass., feel tricked. The city’s Board of Selectmen voted to move trick-or-treat one day later than the traditional Oct. 31 celebration in an attempt to avoid Friday evening traffic that, according to the board, could endanger children out soliciting candy. In an email to selectmen obtained by a local newspaper, Kimberly A. Shaw asked, “Is this some socialist country that I don’t recognize? I think we parents are mature and responsible enough to keep our children safe on Friday evening.” Many other letter-writers panned the move. And despite backing the date change, Police Chief Michael Boss said he would not move to enforce the measure.
Bad bulbs
Compact fluorescent bulbs: great for the environment? Not so fast. Once a hot item to soothe the enviro-conscience, a new study by Yale University scientists reveals the energy-saving bulbs probably do more harm to the Earth’s environment than good. Yale researchers found that while compact fluorescent bulbs do save a lot of energy compared to traditional incandescent bulbs, the benefits to the environment are outweighed by the harm in disposing all of the toxic mercury contained in the long-lasting bulbs if dumped into landfills.
Playing dress-up
If James Ticker wanted to play military for his wedding, he at least should have dressed for the role. For his April nuptials in Slidell, La., the 42-year-old man dressed in a Navy captain’s dress uniform replete with medals signifying a Navy Cross, Silver Star, and a Purple Heart. Problem: Ticker has never been in the military. And someone in attendance spotted something fishy. Ticker mistakenly wore the Navy lieutenant commander’s hat he used in a previous wedding instead of securing a more accurate captain’s hat with the appropriate gold leafing. A tipster at the wedding notified authorities who charged Ticker with violating the Stolen Valor Act, a 2006 federal law making it illegal for imposters to wear military medals or commendations. Ticker pleaded guilty and on Sept. 30 was sentenced to one year of home confinement and a $500 fine.
October 20, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Idleness and folly
Nanny State residents in the United Kingdom may soon have to pay a $37 fine for leaving their engines running while stuck in traffic. British officials announced they will roll out phase one of the project aimed at curbing carbon emissions in one West Sussex city by January and could soon expand the program nationwide if denizens don’t put up much fight. Officials say wardens will target folks who leave engines on at railroad crossings and in heavy traffic jams. But the AA, a British auto insurer, notes that unless a vehicle can remain off for more than a minute, the gas required to start the car would exceed the amount needed to idle.
A rose by any other name
Persona non grata has turned to vinum non gratum in the San Francisco wine scene. The wine-buying elite in the liberal Bay Area have projected their annoyance with Republican Sen. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as vice presidential running mate onto a wine that bears a similar name to the Alaska governor. According to one local wine merchant, sales of the formerly popular Palin Syrah wine, a Chilean organic red vino, have plummeted since McCain’s announcement. “Before McCain made his announcement it was selling very well, because it’s an affordable wine and it’s from South America,” said Celine Guillou, co-owner of the Yield Wine Bar in San Francisco. “Then he made his announcement and we hear people making comments constantly about the wine.” Other areas of the nation have different tastes, however. Sales of the boutique wine have spiked in conservative Houston and even in staunchly Democratic New York City.
Wakeup call
Greek police reported last week that two airplanes had to delay landing for 40 minutes and instead circled over the Aegean Sea. The reason: An air traffic controller had overslept, and the pilots’ repeated tower calls for directions went unanswered. The planes finally were able to land safely at their destination on the island of Lesbos. Police said the controller, whom they did not name, would face a suspension of a few days.
Animal guilt
No fingerprints were possible for an Egyptian thief. A local judge in the Nile River Delta area sentenced a donkey to 24 hours in jail after police discovered the animal to be in possession of corn on the cob stolen from a nearby agricultural research institute. The donkey’s owner escaped jail time but garnered a $12 fine.
No cooking
If Eddie Mangini wants to enjoy a fresh breakfast before school, he’ll now have to bring home the bacon. Mangini and 27 other seniors at Middletown High School in Connecticut gained suspensions after school officials broke up a quiet breakfast barbeque of eggs and bacon before school in the student parking lot on Sept. 23. The two-day suspension of the 28 seniors who cooked out next to a propane grill confused Mangini and other students. “We didn’t have beer, we didn’t have weed, we had bacon,” Mangini told the Middletown Press. School officials made no comment to the newspaper.
October 13, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Green and dirty
If environmentalists get their way in Vancouver, Wash., driveway car washes may soon become illegal. According to The Oregonian, state officials in Washington have asked officials in Clarke County (directly across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore.) to consider how they might eliminate contaminants-including soap-from entering the public water system. County officials have protested the edict from the state’s Department of Ecology, and Vancouver’s Public Works Director Brian Carlson indicated a number of cities might file a lawsuit unless the state relents. “We’re not going to be car-washing bureaucrats run amok,” Carlson said. “We have higher priorities than that.”
Caught on camera
While James Jeppe never saw it coming, his victim did. Bradley Bosworth and his father installed security cameras in their 2008 Hummer H2 after the Southlake, Texas, family had three previous Hummers keyed. The security cameras paid off when they captured Jeppe using a car key to scratch X’s into the side panels of the luxury SUV on Sept. 5 in the parking lot of Bosworth’s Dallas-area high school. Days later, police released the footage to local television stations, which replayed a shorts-and-polo-wearing Jeppe calmly walking up to the Hummer and making three quick X marks on the side and rear panels. In a statement to police, Jeppe explained why he felt the need to key the high-schooler’s Hummer. “They have a big carbon footprint and they use four times as much gas as the rest of us do, and I don’t think it’s fair,” said the Greenpeace and Sierra Club member. Jeppe drives a 1998 BMW four-door sedan.
Never too old
Perhaps inspired by stories of the elderly warding off home invaders, scores of elderly citizens in Mesa, Ariz., have flocked to a local police academy course especially designed for seniors. The free course gives Mesa seniors tips in preventing crime and identity theft, and also something fun to do. Mesa resident Ruby Dayton, 93, said she now has a reason to carry a cane after attending classes. “The only reason I carry my cane is I know how to hit you in the knee, honey,” she said.
Drinking game
Henry Earl finally did it. This time, he might actually wish he hadn’t. The Lexington, Ky., man racked up his 1,000th arrest for public intoxication since 1992 on Aug. 23. But this time, the judge gave Earl a fitting sentence to commemorate his inauspicious anniversary. “For your anniversary we’ll give you a thousand days,” Judge Gary Payne told Earl. In all, Earl has spent over 4,100 days in jail-averaging just two days free before being arrested again on public intoxication charges.
October 6, 2008
By The Editors of WorldMag.com
Rowing her boat
It took her 99 days to row from San Francisco to Hawaii, but distance rower Roz Savage isn’t even half-way done. After successfully rowing the Atlantic in 2005, Savage set out on May 25 to row across the Pacific Ocean. Landing on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu finished just the first portion of a three-part journey of about 7,200 miles. For the first leg of the trip, Savage stowed a pair of laptops and four iPods filled with audiobooks to break up the monotony of her voyage. She says she will embark on the next leg of her journey, designed to raise awareness of ocean litter, next spring.
Sandwich ruse
Nothing can ruin a lunch hour faster than discovering some unknown perpetrator has stolen your ham-and-cheese right out of the office refrigerator. Sherwood Forlee thinks he has a solution. The New York–based design engineer is trying to market a sandwich bag that camouflages a normal sandwich as a moldy disgusting sandwich by painting on translucent green splotches on the bag to ward off would-be lunch thieves.
Bird house
Trouble came into the lives of Don and Fran Roy of Manchester, N.H., and is refusing to leave. That’s because Trouble is the name the Roys have given to a homing pigeon that has made their house its home. They’ve tried to throw the pigeon into the air, but Trouble swoops around the yard and then returns. From an identification band, the Roys have traced the bird to Dan Sizczynski, of Dingmans Ferry, Pa., but he says he gave the bird, along with dozens of others, away, and he isn’t sure to whom. No animal shelter has been willing to take Trouble. “We’re worried about it,” Fran Roy told the New Hampshire Union Leader. “We haven’t the heart to take her out in the wild and let her go.”
Crazy talk
In terms of outrageous Detroit politicians, City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers has a long way to go-but she’s off to a good start. Walking out of an elevator in a Detroit courthouse, Conyers began screaming at news media that had assembled in the lobby. “You are all evil! Please leave me alone!” she shouted at reporters who had not even asked a question yet. Conyers has had altercations with other city officials, but she’ll have to step up her antics to match those of disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was forced to resign from office on Sept. 18 in connection with two guilty pleas to felony charges of obstruction of justice.