Weird But True

[tanker5117]

Miss. Police Probe Port-A-John Pyromania




STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) -- Starkville police detectives are investigating a series of incidents in which portable toilet facilities, or port-a-johns, have been set on fire and destroyed at various construction sites around the city.

The incidents have been occurring at night usually between midnight and dawn, police detective Bill Lott said.

"We do believe that whoever is doing this is using some type of accelerant to get the port-a-johns burning rather quickly. They're all made of plastic, and once it goes up, it burns up rapidly, which is what we've seen in all the cases," Lott said.

No suspects had been identified or arrested as of Friday.

Police are planning to send remnants of one of the burned port-a-johns to the State Crime Laboratory in Jackson for testing to determine if accelerants were used to set them aflame.




Those responsible for the vandalism face arson charges and five to 20 years imprisonment if convicted.

"Our biggest concern is that if one of these port-a-johns is close to a house or other building under construction and is set on fire, then the fire could spread to the larger structure and possibly to an adjacent one that might be occupied," Lott said.

"We are urging people in areas where there is construction going on and port-a-johns have been placed to keep an eye out, especially at night. Being alert could help us catch those who are responsible."

[E40FDNYL35]

November 26, 2003 --There was a big furor when a Seattle restaurant started serving sushi on naked women, so it now has two men serving as platters, too. The guys, wearing only their boxers, went to work last weekend, covered in donuts rather than sushi. The happy-hour crowd "sipped drinks and took way too long deciding between crullers or pink with sprinkles," the Seattle Times reported.





November 26, 2003 --DWI charges have been dropped against Brad Lieser of Belgrade, Minn. The reason: The tiny town (pop. 750) can't afford to prosecute him. "A few thousand dollars for one case - that's time we can have an officer out handling other cases," said Police Chief Gabe Tweten.

[tanker5117]

Woman rescued from flooded car arrested
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 Posted: 8:27 AM EST (1327 GMT)



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WINFIELD, West Virginia (AP) -- A woman whose rescue from her flooded car was broadcast on CNN and The Weather Channel was later arrested when a deputy who saw the TV footage realized her driver's license had been revoked.

Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy David Bailey, saw Christy Walker, 37, on a newscast November 19. A TV crew filmed her driving past screaming firefighters, fire trucks and cones set up to block part of a roadway covered in water. Her car submerged and she was rescued by volunteer firefighters.

Because he remembered her from a previous run-in, Bailey ran a driver's history check on Walker and confirmed that her license was invalid.

Last week, he used what he saw on TV to charge her with driving on a DUI-related revoked license. Walker was arrested in January on a charge of driving under the influence and Bailey also had charged Walker with driving illegally in September.

On Monday, Walker pleaded guilty to two counts of driving on a revoked and suspended license. She faces up to $500 in fines and up to six months in jail for each charge when she is sentenced December 15.


Future Darwin Award winner?



Tanker

[E40FDNYL35]

November 27, 2003 -- It's Thanksgiving Day and it's 63 degrees in New York.

[E40FDNYL35]

November 28, 2003 --A student has been arrested for disrupting cop radio signals by playing the sounds of sex acts over police frequencies. Rjib Mitra, 24, jammed police radios in Madison, Wis., with a porn-film soundtrack, cops said. He has been released on bail to his Milwaukee parents, who have been instructed to padlock the room in their home that contains a computer.


November 28, 2003 --A West Virginia woman whose dramatic rescue from her flooded car was broadcast on TV was later arrested after a sharp-eyed sheriff saw the footage, recognized the woman and remembered that her license had been revoked. Christy Walker, 37, was filmed careering into a roadway covered in water and then being rescued by volunteer firefighters. When the Putnam County sheriff saw her on TV, he remembered she'd had a run in with the law before, ran a driver's check and found out her license was invalid.

[E40FDNYL35]

November 29, 2003 -- You'll be in hot water if you live in Kentucky and don't bathe at least once a year. A state law requiring annual baths is one of the wackier ordinances on the books in Kentucky. Another odd statute requires that a woman in a bathing suit on a highway be escorted by at least two cops or be armed with a club. "Sometimes unusual laws have a little sense behind them," said Elizabethtown City Attorney D. Dee Shaw. "Sometimes they don't."

[engine1321]

In Ohio it is illegal to tie your horse to the state fountain and you have to give an audible single when passing other cars.

I use this when passing police officers on the freeway *beep beep*

[E40FDNYL35]

November 30, 2003 --Bill Fickett's nice gesture went up in smoke on Thanksgiving Day - literally. The St. Cloud, Minn., man just wanted to give his wife a break from the kitchen, so he offered to cook. But he ended up burning down the garage, causing about $14,000 in damage. However, Fickett said his family still had a nice dinner. "We just had to have chicken instead of turkey," he said.

[LadyCapn]

November 29, 2003 -- You'll be in hot water if you live in Kentucky and don't bathe at least once a year. A state law requiring annual baths is one of the wackier ordinances on the books in Kentucky.

That one isn't wacky at all. What's wacky is that the same law could still apply today ( Tries to imagine what not having a bath for a year would feel like..... )

[E40FDNYL35]

December 5, 2003 --"Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers! Sheriff's deputies in aisle 2." A judge in Goldsboro, N.C., ordered deputies to go to the local discount megastore and "shop" around for folks willing to volunteer as jurors. Seems there weren't enough potential jurors for an upcoming murder trial. The deputies met with lots of resistance from Christmas bargain-hunters, but came up with 50 possibles.

[ffexpCP]

Originally posted by E40FDNYL35
December 5, 2003 --"Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers! Sheriff's deputies in aisle 2." A judge in Goldsboro, N.C., ordered deputies to go to the local discount megastore and "shop" around for folks willing to volunteer as jurors. Seems there weren't enough potential jurors for an upcoming murder trial. The deputies met with lots of resistance from Christmas bargain-hunters, but came up with 50 possibles.

- and yet another reason to avoid the stores.

[E40FDNYL35]

December 6, 2003--- SNOWING STILL here in New York.

[RspctFrmCalgary]

One of my favorite pics of you! I remember that day, weren't you outside shoveling snow for something like 6 hours straight?! hehehe

And weren't you just bragging a few days ago about it being 68 degrees?! Mother Nature's revenge! LMFAO

[firefiftyfive]

Hey Eng40!.. are those JET gloves I see you wearing??

PS I wish I was at home so I could go out and shovel some snow but I'm stuck here in my dorm room playing video games and watching Football

[engine1321]

I hear ya on that firefiftyfive... final exams next week and then I'm done for Christmas.

[firefiftyfive]

Engine1321, your lucky I have another week of class and then finals and of course I have a final on the last possible day for the worst class ever..stupid arts&values.... I think I have slept more in that class than been awake...hahahaha

Soon enough we will be chillin at home with all the old friends putting some beers away..hahaha can't wait!!

[engine1321]

Where do you go to school and what are you majoring in?

[firefiftyfive]

I go to Marist College in Poughkeepsie New York. Right now I am a criminal justice major! I dunno why just seeems to be the most interesting major. I don't really like school so I figure I'll try and make the best of it. (Aside from the partying).. Trying to get on a paid fire department, school is just taking up the time in between. sorry for all the info just went on a little rant..haha O by the way I'm a sophmore

[NJFFSA16]

Foraging pigs spark blaze in Cambodia, killing owner
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Five pigs searching for food ran
into their owner's house in Cambodia, knocked over a container of
gasoline and started a fire that killed the sleeping owner and
seriously injured his wife, a newspaper reported Monday.
Phan Sophal, 37, died from burn injuries in hospital after the
incident last Thursday in Kampong Speu province, 45 kilometers (30
miles) southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh, the Koh Santepheap
(Island of Peace) newspaper said.
The victim's 32-year-old wife, Ly Rany, was burned and remains
hospitalized in critical condition, the report said.
The pigs ran into the kitchen to look for food after the couple
forgot to lock them in their pen at the end of the day, the report
said. They knocked over a container holding about 20 liters (5.3
gallons) of gasoline, which splashed onto the stove where Ly Rany
was cooking and started "a raging fire," the newspaper said.
Phan Sophal ran from his bed after catching fire and plunged
into a nearby pond to extinguish the flames, according to the
report.
The couple have three children who were not home at the time of
the fire.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A New Zealand man went bungee
jumping Sunday - without the rope, police said.
The 30-year-old man, whose name was not released, leapt off a
platform into the Waikato River on New Zealand's central North
Island after staff at the bungee had refused to let him jump, said
Constable Tracey Haggart of Taupo police.
He then barged past the staff and dived 47 meters (154 feet)
into the river.
The impact knocked him unconscious and he was rescued by the
bungee jump staff before being flown to nearby Taupo hospital,
Haggart said in a statement. His condition was not immediately
available.
Taupo is a tourist town 375 kilometers (233 miles) north of the
capital, Wellington.
Haggart said police had no plans to charge the man, who had
consumed "a small amount of alcohol."

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)