NEWS & BLUES

Curses, Foiled Again

Police investigating a break-in at a Little League snack bar in La Mesa, Calif., promptly located the culprits by following “a trail of chips, candy and other snacks leading away from the scene and up the street,” Sgt. Colin Atwood said. Officers found more snacks behind a vehicle, searched the home that the vehicle was parked in front of and discovered property belonging to the Little League, including a cash register. Authorities charged a man, two women and a girl at the home with burglary. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)

R.J. Williams, 22, admitted robbing 11 New York City banks in five weeks after he was caught trying to rob one of them a second time. Police said Williams was writing a note to a teller on a deposit slip when employees recognized him from the previous robbery attempt five days before. He noticed them staring at him and fled, but two bank employees followed him to where they saw him duck into a doorway and change clothes. They described the new clothing to police, who stopped Williams and brought him to the bank, where the teller positively identified him from his distinctive sideburns. Police found a demand note in his pocket. Police added that Williams holds the world record for eating an entire light bulb: 33 seconds. (New York Post)

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)

Basketball Justice

After 12-year-old Patrick Gonzalez had his head shaved to resemble the face of his favorite basketball player, San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner, he was suspended from school because the school district decided his $75 haircut was a distraction. The Spurs responded by giving Gonzalez and his family tickets to its next playoff game. (Associated Press)

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)

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)

Litigation Nation

When William Martinez, 31, saw a cardiologist in Gwinnett, Ga., about chest pain that radiated into his arm, the cardiologist determined the man was at “high risk” of having clogged heart arteries. He ordered a nuclear stress test to be done in eight days. The day before the test, Martinez and a friend had sex with a woman who was not his wife. He died shortly after the threesome. Martinez’s widow and their two children sued the cardiologist, insisting he should have had Martinez tested immediately or at least warned him to avoid physical exertion. A jury awarded the family $3 million. (Gwinnett Daily Post)

After the body of electrical engineer Paul Martin, 35, was found lying naked from the waist down in his Spencerport, N.Y., basement, hooked up to an electrical device attached to his genitals, his insurance company denied his widow’s claim for accidental-death benefits, declaring Martin died from “a deliberate act on his part.” Amanda Martin sued The Hartford life-insurance company, She lost, but an appeals court vacated the decision, declaring The Hartford’s position “would exclude injuries resulting from merely negligent acts, even if the insured did not intend to injure himself” — i.e., accidents. The court directed the insurance company to reconsider paying Amanda Martin’s $81,000 accidental-death claim. (New York Post)

Alert Mayor Bloomberg

Babies born by Caesarean section may be more likely to become obese children than those delivered vaginally, according to research published in the British Medical Journal’s Archives of Disease in Childhood. (The Washington Post)

Facilities Management

Norwegian authorities announced plans to convert part of a high-security prison where spree-killer Anders Behring Breivik is being held outside Oslo into a psychiatric unit if Breivik is found insane. According to deputy health minister Robin Koss, the proposed unit would guarantee that Breivik remains at the prison whatever the outcome of his trial. Breivik admitted killing 69 people at a political youth camp and another eight in a bomb attack on a government building but refused to plead guilty, insisting the killings were “cruel but necessary.” (Fox News)

The Indian government’s Planning Commission defended its decision to spend $63,146 to renovate three agency restrooms at its Delhi headquarters by explaining that hundreds of people visit the building daily and that it annually hosts more than 1,500 meetings, some attended by ministers and foreign dignitaries. The price tag includes a $9,000 security card system to limit access and security cameras to prevent the theft of equipment. The makeover came under fire right after the government lowered its poverty level to 44 cents a day, far below the World Bank’s standard of $1.25 a day, saving the government on assistance payments. (BBC News)

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.