Curses, foiled again

When a man entered a bank in New Castle, Del., and handed a teller a holdup note, she told him she couldn’t make out what it said and asked him to rewrite it. Instead, he left empty-handed. Police spotted a man fitting the suspect’s description and arrested Thomas J. Love, 40. (Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV) State police said brothers Alexander Jones, 25, and Benjamin Jones, 24, spent several weeks using a blowtorch to dismantle a 70-year-old bridge near New Castle, Pa. Then they hauled away 15.5 tons of steel to a scrap dealer, hoping to cash in on the demand for metal. Instead, they received only $5,100 because the demand for steel had dropped recently. What’s more, when the recycler heard about the bridge theft, he notified authorities. “They saw it as an opportunity to make money,” Trooper Randolph Guy said. “But that’s not much money for the work they did.” (Wall Street Journal)

When eHarmony fails

Authorities accused Robbie Suhr, 48, of disguising himself by wearing dark clothes and a mask, then attacking a 26-year-old exchange student living with Suhr, his wife and their two children in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. Police said Suhr told them he wanted to be in a relationship with the woman and that he “intended to tie her up while masked, leave the area, and then return as himself to rescue her.” The woman had stepped outside for a smoke when the masked man appeared. “She fought back, and the suspect eventually gave up the attack and fled from the garage,” police Sgt. Peter Jung said. (Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV)

Lasting impression

Detailed photos of the moon’s surface, taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from an altitude of 13 to 15 miles, revealed that Apollo astronauts who visited the moon from 1969 to 1972 left behind buggy ruts in the surface and trash that included discarded backpacks, the bottom parts of three lunar landers, packing material and an insulation blanket. Arizona State University geology professor Mark Robinson, the orbiter’s chief scientist, predicted it would take 10 million to 100 million years for dust to cover signs of the astronauts’ landings. (Associated Press)

Extreme makeovers

A promotion by Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino offered Trump One Card holders the chance to win $25,000 worth of botox treatments, cheek implants, facelifts, breast augmentation, tummy tucks or liposuction. “Many people have something they want to change – a nip and tuck here, a lift there – but the cost of these procedures can be quite costly,” Kathleen McSweeney, Trump Entertainment Resorts senior vice president of marketing, said. “We wanted to change the face of a typical casino promotion, and with this one we are literally doing it.” (Reuters)

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