Curses, foiled again

Robby Rose pleaded guilty to felony cheating in a fishing tournament in Rockwall County, Texas, after he was caught stuffing a one-pound lead weight into a bass to try to win top prize: a bass boat. Tournament officials became suspicious when they placed the fish in a holding tank before weighing it, and it sank to the bottom. “As far as we’re concerned, the case was about a $55,000 boat,” county prosecutor Kenda Culpepper said, “not a 10-pound fish.” (NBC News)

Unfriendly skies

Europe’s Ryanair confirmed it intends charging passengers to use the restroom on flights lasting an hour or less. The coin-operated lavatory will cost either 1 euro or 1 pound. The airline also plans to reduce the number of restrooms. “By charging for the toilets, we are hoping to change passenger behavior so that they use the bathroom before or after the flight,” Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said. “That will enable us to remove two out of three of the toilets and make way for at least six extra seats.” (Britain’s Daily Mail)

Reasonable explanations

Police said Hope L. Neff, 35, admitted setting a fire that destroyed an apartment building in Juniata, Pa., explaining she was curious to see “how fast a mattress would burn.” Fire officials estimated the damage at between $350,000 and $500,000. (Altoona Mirror) After four people reported they were shot with blow darts from a passing van while walking in downtown Stevens Point, Wis., police arrested Paula Wolf, 41, who explained “she liked to hear people say ‘ouch.’” (Wausau Daily Herald)

Schoolwork in later life

After a camera caught his wife running a red light in Collier County, Fla., math tutor Mike Mogil insisted the ticket was illegal because the yellow light didn’t last long enough. County guidelines state the yellow light should be 4.5 seconds, but Mogil tested it 15 times and found it averaged only 3.8 seconds. He challenged the ticket, and a special magistrate dismissed it. Not content to stop there, Mogil said he checked 65 of the county’s 200 intersections with red-light cameras and found that only seven yellow lights are long enough. (Southwest Florida’s WBBH-TV News)

ET stay home

Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, 68, warned that communicating with aliens could be “too risky.” He explained that a visit to Earth by extraterrestrials would be like Christopher Columbus arriving in the New World, “which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.” (Discovery Channel)

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