News & Blues

Curses, Foiled Again

Police investigating a fire at an automotive shop in Gloucester Township, Mass., accused Mark Trigg, 20, and Cameron Semple, 21, of setting the fire to cover up a burglary. Trigg had a master key to certain vending machines, but after he and Semple broke into the shop, they found the key didn’t fit the machine there. When they opened a door to look for items to take, they triggered an alarm and fled. They soon returned, police said, to “wipe clean any fingerprints left behind.” Trigg, “fearing he did not clear their fingerprints,” set fire to the building and called 9-1-1 to report the fire under a false name. Trigg and Semple then “sat across the street and watched the firefighting operations,” police said. An arson investigator identified Trigg as a suspect by calling the phone number recorded at the 9-1-1 dispatch center. Trigg answered and provided his real name. (Gloucester County Times)

Robert Strank, 39, tried to rob a bank in Beavercreek, Ohio, according to police, but suffered a medical condition that prompted tellers to call for medics. Before they arrived, the stricken Strank handed one of the tellers a note demanding cash. Medics arrived, briefly examined Strank and then turned him over to police. (Dayton’s WDTN-TV)

Litigation Nation

Claiming the “ridged seat” of his 1993 BMW motorcycle caused him to have an erection that lasted two years, Henry Wolf sued BMW North America and Corbin-Pacific, the seat’s maker. The lawsuit stated the severe case of priapism developed soon after Wolf completed a four-hour trip in San Francisco, causing him “continuing problems,” according to his lawyer, Vernon Bradley, who noted that his client “is now unable to engage in sexual activity, which is causing him substantial emotional and mental anguish.” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Drinking-Class Hero

When Jose Sanders, 22, tried to buy beer at a liquor store in Braselton, Ga. the clerk thought he looked too young, asked to see his identification but still wouldn’t sell him beer. Sanders told the clerk to call the police, declaring, “I have no worry. My whole intention is to buy this beer.” When police arrived, they arrested Sanders for disorderly conduct. Assistant Police Chief Lou Solis said Sanders admitted using profanity after he became “kind of frustrated,” but insisted he was just talking to himself. “Sometimes I talk out loud,” Sanders said, explaining he has a medical condition that affected his growth, causing him to appear younger and making him a constant victim of discrimination. (Atlanta’s WSB-TV)

Reasonable Explanation

Sheriff’s deputies dispatched to a vehicle burglary in Weber County, Utah, found Justin Atmore, 31, along with several burglary tools, including lock picks, pliers, knives, a screwdriver and bolt cutters. The arrest report said Atmore insisted he was just practicing to be a locksmith. Unconvinced, deputies searched Atmore’s truck and found stolen purses and wallets, a camera, stolen DVDs, gems valued at $5,000 and a stolen .380-caliber handgun. (Ogden’s Standard-Examiner)

Charged with grand theft after a surveillance video showed him stealing chairs and a carpet from a neighbor’s apartment in Doral, Fla., Spanish-language television news anchor Frank Cairo, 48, explained, “I make half a million dollars and don’t need to be stealing.” (The Miami Herald)

Covert Fashion

Noting the rise of concealed-weapon permits from 5 million in 2008 to 7 million today, at least three companies are creating clothing designed to hide the fact that the wearer is packing heat. Woolrich offers an entire concealed-carry line, including $65 chinos that feature an additional pocket and stretchable waistband. 5.11 Tactical announced it is introducing a vest containing a frontal “stealth compartment” that hides the wearer’s hand secretly holding a gun. Under Armor’s appeal to the toting crowd is that the company’s signature moisture-wicking fabric prevents rust. (The New York Times)

Driver’s Ed Dropout

After crashing into a utility pole in Mercer County, Fla., Janelle Schwieterman, 17, was uninjured and returned to her home to get another vehicle. As she pulled out of her driveway, she drove into the path of a tractor-trailer and was hospitalized with critical injuries. (Miami’s WMIA-FM)

Self-Examination

After former Defense Secretary Robert Gates complained that his department was “awash in taskings for reports and studies,” he ordered a study to find out how much the studies cost. Two years later, the Government Accountability Office undertook its own study of the Defense Department’s study of studies and concluded it was a failure. Its “approach is not fully consistent with relevant cost estimating best practices and cost accounting standards,” the GAO reported. The Pentagon said it “partially concurs” with the GAO’s findings. (ABC News)

The nonprofit Pew Research Center, one of the country’s most reputable polling organizations, discovered that barely 10 percent of Americans contacted for its surveys respond. That compares with a response rate of 36 percent just 15 years ago. The pollsters identified two big reasons for the drop in responses to its telephone surveys: people switching from landlines to cell phones and caller ID. (Slate)

Another Nail in Journalism’s Coffin

Robots are being taught to write news stories. Programmers at Chicago-based Narrative Science have developed computer algorithms that initially produced rote summaries of sports games and stock market data but have advanced to learning human sensitivity, enabling them to recognize a team’s strong performance or pick up on trends and details that human reporters might miss. Robot reporters are already getting bylines for earnings forecasts at Forbes.com. (Wired)

Infamous Firsts

Police who arrested Chad Lee Lindley, 40, in Fargo, N.D., identified him as the first person in North Dakota to be charged with pimping. “We are not going to tolerate this,” Lt. Joel Vettel announced. (Fargo’s WDAY-TV)

Retired judge Jacques Delisle, accused of murdering his wife of 50 years, was identified as the first member of Canada’s judiciary to stand trial on such a serious charge. Authorities said Delisle was living a double life and seeing his secretary when partially paralyzed Marie-Nicole Rainville, 71, was found dead at the couple’s Quebec City apartment with a revolver lying beside her. Delisle called 9-1-1 and reported the death as a suicide. When the operator asked him if Rainville had mentioned taking her own life, Delisle answered, “It’s a long story.” (CBC News)

Igniting Outrage

Citizens in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, objected after their longtime “eternal flame” was extinguished for five hours. The 28-year-old flame, a tribute to Soviet soldiers who died in World War II, burns in Victory Square in front of a statue of a woman symbolizing those who waited for loved ones to return from the war. Yevgeniy Orlenko, deputy director of the state-owned energy supplier KyrgyzGaz, explained the gas was shut off because the local government’s unpaid bills totaled $9,400. After the incident was reported abroad, KyrgyzGaz officials re-explained that the gas had actually been turned off for maintenance. (The Washington Times)

Salesmanship Follies

During a tour of six Asian countries, Russia’s newest civil airliner, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, took passengers on demonstration flights. In Indonesia, the aircraft completed its initial flight, but on its second flight later that day, it disappeared 21 minutes after take-off while flying over a volcano south of Jakarta. The crash killed all 45 on board. Earlier this year, two Superjet 100s operated by Russia’s Aeroflot had to make unscheduled landings because of faulty landing gear.  (CNN)

Computer Justice

A computer glitch resulted in 1,200 citizens being summoned for jury duty all at once at Placer County, Calif. The system’s error caused a rare traffic jam on Interstate 80 in Auburn as 800 of the jurors actually showed up for the 8 p.m. Tuesday session. Court executive officer Geoff Brandt explained the technical error caused the juror-summoning system to go into default mode, “and we were unaware the default mode was to call in every jury panel we had scheduled for the week.” Although Brandt added, “We apologize profusely,” the people who showed up were informed that they’d still have to show up on their real scheduled day. (Sacramento’s KVOR-TV)

Instant Karma

Even though Spain’s King Juan Carlos, 74, is honorary president of the Spanish branch of the World Wildlife Fund, in April he made a secret trip to Botswana to hunt elephants. While on safari, the monarch fell and broke his hip. (Associated Press)