Police said Raul Gaucin-Valenzuela, 33, and a friend broke into a home in Evans, Colo., intending to beat up the friend’s ex-wife’s new boyfriend. The plan failed because the woman living there was baby-sitting Gaucin-Valenzuela’s two children, ages 8 and 11, who recognized their dad, even though a bandanna covered his face. Police said Gaucin- Valenzuela didn’t realize his kids were at the home. (Greeley Daily Tribune)

Craig Owen David Jr., 32, met his ex-girlfriend at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Uniontown, Pa., to borrow money for prescription medication. State Trooper Ozzie Mills said that when the woman pulled out a $10 bill to give him, David grabbed it and two $20 bills and fled. He was quickly apprehended while making his getaway across the parking lot on a motorized scooter the store owns for the use of disabled shoppers. (Uniontown Herald-Standard)

Respite for print

The Long Island daily newspaper Newsday became one of the first non-business newspapers to charge customers for access to its Web site, which it spent $4 million to redesign and relaunch. In the first three months, only 35 people signed up to pay the $5 fee, according to publisher Terry Jiminez, who reportedly told a staff meeting, “That’s 35 more than I would have thought it would have been.” (The New York Observer)

Pre-slept comfort

Holiday Inn introduced a bed-warming service at three of its English hotels provided by staff members dressed in fleece sleeper suits and nightcaps. The chain said the human bed warmers at one Manchester and two London locations are equipped with thermometers to assure the temperature reaches 68 degrees F and will leave the bed before the guest occupies it. Spokesperson Jane Bednall likened the bed-warmers service to “having a giant hot water bottle in your bed.” (Reuters)

Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.