News & Blues

Curses, Foiled Again

David Sherman, 49, stole a DVD player from a Wal-Mart store in Gretna, Neb., but didn’t get far because 24 Sarpy County sheriff’s deputies were in the store for “Shop with a Cop Night.” Some of the deputies escorting 75 underprivileged children spotted Sherman running from the store with the DVD player, gave chase and caught him hiding in a car. (Omaha’s WOWT-TV)

Bolivian authorities intercepted a van carrying 204 1-kilogram bags of cocaine that aroused their suspicion because all of the brick-sized bags were wrapped in red and stamped with the Nazi swastika. (Australia’s News.com.au)

Pedro Prieto and Yordan Llauger aroused suspicion when they tried to buy a Nissan Maxima in Austin, Texas, using 90 $100 gift cards. Police linked the pair to the theft of people’s credit-card data. (Austin’s KVUE-TV)

The Gloves Are Off

Some Michigan residents have accused Wisconsin of stealing their state’s long-standing mitten image after the Travel Wisconsin website posted a knit mitten shaped like Wisconsin. Michiganders have long held up a hand to show where they live, representing the state’s outline and sometimes adding the other hand showing the state’s Upper Peninsula to the one-handed state outline. “Wisconsin already took the Rose Bowl from us this year,” Dave Lorenz of Travel Michigan said. “They’re not going to take the Mitten State status from us.” Lisa Marshall of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism insisted the winter tourism campaign isn’t an attempt to usurp Michigan’s claim to be the mitten state. She explained that its fall promotion used a leaf shaped like Wisconsin and that it’ll have a new image for spring. (Associated Press)

Icing Terrorism

Thanks to a grant from the Michigan Homeland Security Program, 13 counties received Arctic Blast Sno-Cone machines costing a total of $11,700. Explaining that the machines can be used to make ice to prevent heat-related illnesses during emergencies, treat injuries and provide snow cones as an outreach at promotional events, Sandeep Dey, executive director of the regional agency responsible for overseeing homeland security in the counties, said requests for the machines would not have been granted by themselves but were approved because they were included with other homeland security equipment. Dey pointed out one county had requested a popcorn machine, but that request was denied. (Greenville’s The Daily News)

Don’t Steal
the Charmin’

Three men walked into Burgers, Dogs and Wings in Albuquerque, N.M., immediately headed for the bathroom and walked out with about a dozen rolls of toilet paper. Noting the men appeared “messed up,” employee Josh Flannery-Stewart said, “They got in their car, and all of a sudden APD (Albuquerque Police Department) was surrounding them.” Police already had the men under surveillance as suspected drug dealers. (Albuquerque’s KOAT-TV)

Upset after checking into a motel in Charlotte, N.C., and finding his room had no toilet paper, an unidentified man walked upstairs to a vacant room that was being renovated and stuffed enough paper into the toilet to clog it, causing it to overflow and damage the carpet, as well as the ceiling of the room below. He also broke a blow dryer and several lights before returning to his own room and damaging more property. (Charlotte’s WBTV-TV)

Media Bias

Upset that the news media were devoting too much coverage to crime, Mayor Mike Winder of West Valley City, Utah, began writing upbeat articles using an alias. His stories appeared in several outlets, among them Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, which had begun accepting articles from contributors after cutting its newsroom staff. Submitting articles as Richard Burwash, Winder said all he had to do to get stories published was set up a Gmail account and a Facebook page. He communicated with editors by email and phone. As an unpaid writer for several months, Burwash even quoted himself as mayor, noting after revealing his true identity, “I was an easy source.” (Associated Press)

Declaring
Independence
from Foreign Oil

Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz of Buckfield, Maine, set a distance record for a car that runs on candy and soda. During its test run, the Mark II single-seat rocket car, which uses a simple piston-and-cylinder mechanism to get it moving, traveled 239 feet, fueled by 54 bottles of Coke Zero and 324 Mentos. The previous record was 220 feet. (Associated Press)

The Great Train Robbery

Police in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state reported that thieves stole 55 tons of corn from a moving train by greasing the tracks to make the wheels of the locomotive hauling the 54 cars skid and slow down. Then they pulled alongside in a tow truck and used a hook to remove the corn-filled containers. (Associated Press)

What Next:
Pledge Drives?

China’s government has banned commercial interruptions in dramatic programs lasting at least 45 minutes. An official at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television declared that eliminating ads from programs would make the shows conform to “public interests and aspirations” and “help TV dramas develop in a scientific and healthy manner.” But the move also follows the Communist Party’s announced intention to raise TV’s entertainment and ideological value to hold the attention of people who’re increasingly turning to the Internet for alternate viewpoints. The new rule came after most advertising contracts for the new year had already been signed. TV advertising revenue in 2010 amounted to $78 billion, much of which supported the nation’s 3,240 TV stations. “The government could really take our lives if it bans all commercial breaks during the most-watched TV series,” one station executive said. (BBC News)

Spoilsport of the Week

The U.S Labor Department is considering limiting corn sex among rural teenagers. The practice, technically known as detasseling, is designed to promote cross-pollination of corn crops. The proposed rules would prevent children younger than 16 from working for detasseling companies, which pay anywhere from minimum wage to $10 an hour and require teens to work long days in the fields for about a month. 

The detasseling companies and other farm organizations condemned the proposed rule change, insisting it interferes with time-honored tradition and will ultimately raise the price of corn. The Labor Department said the issue is safety. Two 14-year-old girls were electrocuted while working in an Illinois cornfield last summer when they stepped into a puddle apparently charged from a nearby irrigation system. (The Washington Times)

News and Blues is compiled from the nation’s press. To contribute, submit original clippings, citing date and source, to Roland Sweet in care of The New Times.