Woman in doghouse over Jehovah's Witness sign

Woman in doghouse over Jehovah's Witness sign

LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman has been ordered by police to take down a sign on her garden gate which read "Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses."

Janet Grove, who owns a terrier puppy called Rabbit, insisted the sign was a gentle joke to discourage callers at her front door.

Her late husband put the sign up more than 30 years ago when members of the church called at their house on Christmas Day.

But police were forced to act after receiving a complaint.

"We were informed by a member of the public who found the sign to be distressing, offensive and inappropriate," a police spokesman said. "Officers attended the address and the sign was voluntarily taken down."

 

Overly affectionate couple caused crash

Overly affectionate couple caused crash, man argues
By JEFF ECKHOFF
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

July 26, 2006

A married couple's poorly timed affection led to a wrecked Honda, a hit-and-run accident and "sustained permanent injuries" to the victimized driver, according to a Polk County lawsuit filed Monday.

Court papers filed on behalf of Garrett Sapp blame Christopher Garton, a manager at a Des Moines auto dealership, for a 2004 collision in the 5400 block of University Avenue in West Des Moines.

According to the lawsuit and West Des Moines police records, Garton and his wife were "engaged in oral sexual relations" on July 25, 2004, when Garton attempted to pull his 2005 Toyota Sequoia into a parking lot.

He ended up turning in front of Sapp's 1998 Honda Accord, triggering the collision.

Court papers say Garton initially agreed to exchange information at a nearby convenience store, but he instead drove through the parking lot and away.

Police Lt. James Barrett said witnesses spotted the dealer license plate from Toyota of Des Moines, where Garton currently is listed as a supervisor. Garton eventually turned himself in.

 

Crewless, Car-Laden Ship Drifts Towards Alaska

Including a photo with this one. It may be just the mentality of someone who is scared to death of large bodies of water, but this is the scariest picture ever!



A disabled, crewless Japanese-owned ship loaded with nearly 5000 vehicles has crossed into US waters, drifting today towards Alaska's Aleutian chain.

The Cougar Ace was still listing sideways as it floated in choppy seas about 240 km south of Atka Island, the US Coast Guard said.

The 196-metre car carrier had zigzagged 193 km since it tilted sharply on Sunday night, its crew rescued 24 hours later, said Petty Officer Richard Reichenbach.

The coast guard cutter Rush was tracking the ship as it moved north-east at 3.2 kph, pushed by 26-kph winds.

"There's always concern, but we do have an asset on scene," coast guard Lieutenant Heather Neely said. "We're doing all we can and it's not drifting very fast."

The ship's owner, Tokyo-based Mitsui OSK Lines, sent out a tug this morning with a salvage engineer on board from Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island about 645 km away.

The goal is to secure the vessel's cargo of mostly Mazda vehicles as soon as possible, said company spokesman Greg Beuerman. The cars are stacked 14 storeys high in the ship.

A salvage tow from Seattle is expected to reach the Cougar Ace no earlier than Wednesday, while the Dutch Harbor tug is expected to arrive tomorrow morning.

The Singapore-flagged ship began listing on Sunday night in international waters about 370 km south of Adak Island, also in the Aleutians.

The Cougar Ace likely had discharged too much water from ballast tanks at the bottom of the vessel, causing it to suddenly list in the space of 10 minutes, Beuerman said.

Company officials believe the ship rolled on the swell of the sea while the crew was adjusting the ballast tank, which regulates the ship's weight and balance.

The 23 crew members were hoisted to safety on Monday night, many bruised and cut up from the abrupt tilting of the ship. The worst injury was a broken ankle.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation was closely monitoring developments, fearing a repeat of the December 2004 grounding of the Selendang Ayu.

The Malaysia-flagged freighter was carrying about 66,000 tonnes of soybeans to China when it lost power in the Aleutians, drifting for two days before it split in two after grounding off Unalaska Island. The cargo of soybeans and about 1.2 million litres of oil spilled from the ship.

Six crew members died when a coast guard helicopter crashed during a rescue attempt.

 

Inmate Sends Threats with Real Name

Inmate sends threats with his real name

(7/28/06 - TRENTON, NJ) - Donald Ray Bilby made it easy for authorities to find him after he sent letters to the FBI and banks threatening to bomb their buildings and send anthrax-laced letters. Bilby, who was serving time at the Somerset County Jail for auto theft, signed his real name and included his inmate number.

"Just when you think you'd seen it all, a case like Mr. Bilby's comes along," U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said Tuesday after Bilby pleaded guilty in Trenton to a federal charge of false information. "I think it's fair to say we were not dealing with a great criminal mind here."

Bilby, 30, admitted that he sent five letters, each demanding $20,000 be deposited in his inmate account. He told federal agents he needed the money for bail, prosecutors said.

The count carries up to five years in prison, but sentencing guidelines suggest a term of 18 to 24 months.

The letters were sent to the FBI office in Franklin Township, the Secret Service office in Morristown, to the Somerville Post Office, to a Commerce Bank branch in Somerville, and to a Valley National Bank branch in North Plainfield, prosecutors said.

An April 6 letter to the FBI contained a piece of paper labeled "anthrax" and a white powdery substance. It tested negative for anything dangerous, and Bilby admitted today that he knew the powder was not anthrax, prosecutors said.

Bilby, who lived in Bound Brook, is now serving his state term at Southwoods State Prison in Bridgeton.

 

Jury Acquits Man of "Handshake" Assaults

Jury acquits man of 'handshake' assaults

July 25, 2006 (MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.) - A jury acquitted a man who had been charged with assault after authorities said an assistant prosecutor, police officer and courtroom bailiff got sick after shaking hands with him.

John Curtis Ridgeway, 42, was seen pulling out a vial of liquid and rubbing his hands with the contents after a December jury trial in which he was found guilty of driving without insurance, authorities said.

The assistant prosecutor, Amanda Swanson, became suspicious and tried to avoid contact when Ridgeway offered his hand for a handshake. Ridgeway insisted on shaking hands with her, the police officer who pulled him over and a bailiff, authorities said.

The three got sick within an hour or so, according to testimony. Symptoms, which lasted about 24 hours, included nausea, headaches, numbness and tingling. Two of the three went to the hospital.

Ridgeway told The Associated Press after he was charged that the substance was olive oil. He testified that he used oil to anoint "corrupt buildings" and that it was meant to rid the buildings of demons.

He was acquitted Friday of assaulting a police officer and two counts of assaulting a public officer. If convicted, he could have faced six years in prison.

Prosecutor Keith Kushion declined to comment. Defense lawyer William Shirley said Ridgeway had not intended to harm anyone.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

Elderly man fights off shotgun-wielding mugger with cane

Elderly man fights off shotgun-wielding mugger with cane

(7/25/06 - GREENSBORO, NC) - An elderly North Carolina man has shown that the cane can be mightier than the shotgun. Police say 82-year-old Robert Flynn used his cane to fight off a mugger.

Investigators say it started when the mugger drove in front of Flynn's home in Greensboro Monday and asked him for a cigarette. When Flynn said he didn't have one, the mugger got out of his car, leveled a shotgun at Flynn and demanded money.

Instead of handing over his wallet, Flynn hit the shotgun with his cane and ran.

Police say the mugger returned to his vehicle and chased Flynn, again threatening him with the gun. This time, Flynn hit the mugger on the head and shoulders with his cane, sending his attacker back to his vehicle empty-handed.

Flynn is declining comment on the incident.

 

Some Serious Concealment

This is not a news article, but this is a video that was created to 
be a serious plea for stricter dress codes in schools. As you can see, 
this gets a little silly, especially towards the end. For anyone who 
does not own guns, please take note that loaded, all of these 
guns would slow this young man down to a snails pace... if he could 
walk at all, considering what he's pulling out of his pants.



 

Man wakes up with a bullet in his tongue

Man wakes up with a bullet in his tongue

June 22, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --Police say a man who woke up with a serious headache walked 12 blocks to a hospital with a swollen lip and powder burns. Doctors discovered the problem. 47-year-old Wendell Coleman had a bullet lodged in his tongue.

Coleman told police that a woman stuck a gun barrel in his mouth during a dispute around 2:30 Tuesday morning and that he heard the gun go off.

Police say Coleman then went home to sleep.

What authorities did with the bullet wasn't clear last night.

© Copyright 2005 Associated Press.

 

Teen steals corpse's head to make bong

Teen steals corpse's head to make bong

An 18-year-old from Vermont has been sentenced to prison for breaking into a tomb and cutting off the head of a corpse. Nickolas Buckalew, was convicted of intentionally removing or injuring a tombstone and intentionally disinterring and carrying away the remains of a human body. He faces between one and seven years in prison.

In April of 2005, Buckalew broke into a tomb, cut the head off a corpse and stole the eyeglasses and bow tie from the dead man. After wrapping the head in plastic bags, he carried it home. Buckalew told friends he planned to dry the head and then bleach it. His ultimate plan was to turn the dead man’s skull into a bong – a pipe usually used to smoke marijuana.

Police found the head while executing a search warrant at Buckalew’s home. They also found the necktie, a hacksaw, crowbar, garden trowel and two small parts of the damaged casket.

After the incident, the victim's widow, was told of the vandalism. "The widow was in shock," the local chief of police said. "She did not want any information. She did not want to know any details."

Buckalew addressed the court after his sentencing, saying, "It was a horrendous thing that I did -- what I did was appalling. I didn't think of the victim."

He went on to say he wants to get help for his mental problems.

 

Customer subdues robber with applesauce

Customer subdues robber with applesauce

(7/19/06 - PHILADELPHIA, PA) - A customer at a city grocery tackled an armed robber and beat him with a can of applesauce when he refused to drop his gun, police said.

The suspect shot himself in the head during the struggle, and passed out after the 66-year-old customer administered four blows to the head with the Mott's applesauce.

"Finally, the guy passes out," said Det. Curtis Matthews. "There's blood everywhere on the floor, all over."

About 15 customers were in Gomez Grocery in the city's East Germantown section when the gunman walked in Sunday afternoon, jumped atop a small freezer and pointed the gun at store owner Eddie Gomez, police said.

Customer Thomas Santana, who is 5-foot-4, grabbed the 6-foot-1 gunman from behind when he was on the freezer, and with help from Gomez knocked him down.

The suspect, 23-year-old Thomas Reyes, was in stable condition at a hospital, and was expected to be charged with attempted murder, attempted robbery and other charges, authorities said.

 

Judge orders paintballers to target their own cars

Judge orders paintballers to target their own cars

(7/21/06 - PAINESVILLE, OH) - A judge ordered two paintball shooters to take aim at their own cars in order to stay out of jail.

Joshua Breeding, 20, and 19-year-old Christopher Lyons were found guilty on Thursday of splattering up another man's vehicle with paintballs in May. They each got a sentence of 60 days in jail.

Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti gave them the option of shooting their own cars with paintballs and then cleaning up the mess. They also have to spend 40 hours painting at a Habitat for Humanity home.

The judge also ordered the pair to apologize to their victim and pay court costs.

 

Team plans cemetery for die-hard fans

 Team plans cemetery for die-hard fans

By Michael Atkins

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German soccer club plans to open a cemetery next to its stadium so that die-hard fans can rest in peace alongside their favorite team.

Hamburg SV, a Bundesliga side from the northern port city, aims to open the graveyard some 50 feet from the stadium's main entrance, said deputy chairman Christian Reichert.

"For a large number of people, it's important to be close to the club after their lives are over," he said. "The cemetery will have the look of a small, open stadium."


With 42,000 registered supporters at the club and just 500 graves up for grabs, competition for places promises to be fierce. Officials have already begun taking reservations.

"I don't know of any other place in Germany where this is done, so it's a unique opportunity for our fans," Reichert said, adding that teams like England's Everton FC have been known to inter fans' ashes around playing fields.

Fans get 25 years in the turf and can choose from a range of burials: ashes in an urn from 2,500 euros ($3,150), a single grave at 8,000 euros and a two person plot at 12,500 euros.

Plans for the 70,000 euro graveyard, due to be completed in September, include a war memorial from the team's former stadium, as well as commemorative stones honoring former Hamburg players, who include ex-England star Kevin Keegan.

Not everyone is happy about the cemetery though.

"Some people, especially from churches, have said that it's not appropriate," Reichert said. "It's not for everyone but a lot of people are interested. Even if only one percent of our members take a place, that would be enough."

Hamburg hosted five matches at this summer's World Cup, including a quarter final between Italy and Ukraine.

Police Dog Blamed for Pickup Hitting Woman

Police Dog Blamed For Pickup Hitting Woman

POSTED: 11:40 am CDT July 13, 2006
OGDEN, Utah -- The dog did it.

That's what police in Ogden said about how one of their pickup trucks got put in gear and ran over a woman.

Authorities said Ranger, a German shepherd, was left in the truck while an officer went to check on a domestic disturbance call. The engine was running to give the dog air conditioning.

But police believe Ranger hit the shift on the steering column. The truck rolled forward, running down Mary Stone as she went to her mailbox. It then plowed through Stone's yard, into a car in the driveway.

Stone is hospitalized with a fractured pelvis and tailbone. Her husband said she had tire marks on her clothes. He's fuming that he's heard nothing from police -- not even an apology.

Investigators are looking to see if the Ford had some sort of malfunction, since a driver is supposed to step on the brake to put it into drive.

Posted at http://www.handgunforum.com. Original source unknown.