Curses, foiled again
After robbing a bank in Cornwall Bridge, Conn., Jason Durant, 32, tumbled down a steep embankment behind the bank, crashing into a snowplow blade at the bottom and breaking his leg in several places. The Waterbury Republican- American reported he also lost his gun and the stolen money, leaving him with only $2. He managed to reach his getaway car and drove to the hospital, where the medical staff, having been given a description of the robber and his likely injuries, called the police.
When guns are outlawed
Police in Boulder, Colo., said a restaurant employee was washing the restaurant’s windows when a man walked up behind him holding a knife and demanded money. The employee brandished a squeegee, and the would-be robber fled. Amanda Watkins, 26, told police in Greeley, Colo., that when she told a 3- year-old boy to stop hurting a cat, the boy’s mother attacked and beat her with a child’s metal scooter, then fled.
Real life not always like TV
While more than 100 people on foot and in the air searched for a missing 62year-old man in Carroll County, Ohio, Sheriff Dale Williams said he tried to use the man’s cell phone signal to locate him. He told the Carrollton Times-Reporter that when he called Verizon to activate the signal, the operator refused because the missing man’s bill was overdue and said that the sheriff’s department would have to pay at least $20 of the unpaid bill. After some disagreement, Williams agreed to pay. As he was making arrangements, however, deputies discovered the man, unconscious and unresponsive, in an area where there is a Verizon cell phone tower.
Hopping on the green bandwagon
British gardeners have begun using wallabies to keep their lawns trimmed. All that prospective owners need, according to the Times, are at least a half-acre of land, a lot of grass and a tall fence. The highhopping marsupials, natives of the Australian outback, are being bred in England, where the biggest supplier is Waveney Wildlife, which has been breeding wallabies for 25 years, mostly for zoos and animal parks. Five years ago, owner Trevor Lay started getting inquiries from individuals. To keep up with demand, he now breeds 35 wallabies a year, but said, “If I had 100, I could easily get rid of them.” Wallabies cost from $237 for a male to $1,108 for a female. Albino wallabies sell for $791 for a male, $1,583 for a female.
Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Submit items, citing date and source, to P.O. Box 8130, Alexandria VA 22306.
