Curses, foiled again
Three British burglars broke into a house in Leeds and made off with a $2,900 plasma television, but their getaway van got stuck, forcing them to flee empty-handed. London’s Daily Express reported police had no trouble identifying Christopher Lister, 21, as one of the culprits, however, since the crime occurred in broad daylight, and witnesses recognized Lister, who stands 7 feet 4 inches tall.
Slightest provocation
One homeless man smacked another homeless man in the face with a skateboard while the two men were discussing “quantum physics and the splitting of atoms,” according to prosecutors in Redwood City, Calif. Deputy District Attorney Sharon Cho said that at some point Jason Everett Keller, 40, got upset by the conversation and hit Stephen Fava with the skateboard, splitting his lip, but the jury acquitted him because they “just felt unable to really know what happened out there.”
When vibrate just won’t do
Tennis player-spokesmodel Maria Sharapova unveiled a dress designed to light up when the wearer’s cell phone rings. Reuters reported that British fashion student Georgie Davis, 20, created the dress as part of a school project with phone maker Sony Ericsson to incorporate new technology and fashion. The dress is designed to connect to the wearer’s phone so she can be alerted in the noisiest of places, Davis said, noting, “When you’re in a pub or a bar, you can never, ever hear your phone.”
California in crisis
Los Angeles County taxpayers have been paying $1.5 million a year to keep 8,000 old telephone lines active, according to auditors, who said they expect that the number of lines and the amount will double by the time they complete their investigation. The phone lines may never have served any legitimate government purpose, such as one registered to a now-defunct Hollywood ticket brokerage that the county paid the bill for for the past 14 years. “This is government at its worst,” County Supervisor Zev Zaroslavsky told the Los Angeles Times.
Leader of the flock
Police found 53 baby birds in the bedroom of a 15-year-old boy in Longmont, Colo. Sgt. Dave Orr said the boy took the hatchlings, including barn swallows, sparrows and a bluebird, from nests near his home and kept them until his mother realized he had them and notified animal control. Forty of the birds died.
Compiled from the nation’s press by Roland Sweet. Submit items, citing date and source, to P.O. Box 8130, Alexandria VA 22306.
