Curses, Foiled Again
Police charged Arthur Avery, 30, with setting fire to an apartment building in South Daytona, Fla., after they located the arson suspect at a hospital where he was being treated for burns. Witnesses said the suspect became angry when he couldn't locate a resident and began pouring gasoline onto a discarded mattress in a stairwell. When he knelt down to light the fire, he also ignited himself. While he rolled around on the ground to snuff his burning clothing, a set of keys and his wallet fell out before he fled. (Orlando's News 13)
• A tornado that damaged buildings in Kingsport, Tenn., dumped the contents of Jerrod Christian's home on his yard. When neighbors emerged to check on the destruction and spotted the items, one of them noticed that several had been stolen from him. Police charged Christian, 20, with burglary and theft. (ABC News)
Pants on Fire
White bus driver Rickey Wagoner, 49, reported that three black men attacked and shot him in Dayton, Ohio, but he was miraculously spared when an inch-thick book of Bible verses in his pocket deflected the bullets. He said he grabbed the gun and fired at the fleeing men, one of whom had announced he needed to "shoot a polar bear," which is a term for a white person. Police investigated the incident as a hate crime but quickly dismissed it, according to Police Chief Richard Biehl, who said the evidence and testing didn't support Wagoner's version but wouldn't state whether Wagoner shot himself. (Associated Press)
Tax Dollars at Work
U.S. taxpayers have spent $2.87 million so researchers can determine why "nearly three-quarters of adult lesbians [are] overweight or obese." Led by S. Bryn Austin, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, the National Institutes of Health study, now in its fourth year, so far has concluded that lesbians may become obese because of lower "athletic self-esteem." (Washington Free Beacon)
Mistakes Were Made
Adam Kwasman, an Arizona state representative who favors stronger border control, joined a group of people protesting the arrival of undocumented immigrant children. When a yellow school bus approached, Kwasman tweeted, "Bus coming in. This is not compassion. This is the abrogation of the rule of law." He also claimed to see fear on children's faces. Informed that the children on the bus were actually YMCA campers, Kwasman deleted his tweet and apologized. (Reuters)
Unclear on the Concept
Police conducting a reverse prostitution sting in Daytona Beach, Fla., reported that Alonzo Liverman, 29, told the undercover police officer posing as a prostitute that he didn't have any money but offered a salad as payment for sex instead. (The Daytona Beach News-Journal)
Social Media Follies
More than 80 percent of U.S. divorce attorneys surveyed indicated that social networking in divorce proceedings is on the rise, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. And social media clauses are popping up in pre-nuptial agreements. "This is something new," New York attorney Ann-Margaret Carrozza said, adding about a third of her clients have expressed interest in adding social media clauses to pre-nups since she started offering them in April. A typical clause forbids couples from posting nude photos of each other or photos or posts that might harm each other's professional reputation. Even though the damage is embarrassing, the penalty is monetary, Carrozza said, amounting to "$50,000 per episode." (ABC News)
• More American teens are texting while driving, according to the government's latest study of worrisome behavior. Of teens surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 41 percent said they had texted or e-mailed while behind the wheel in the previous month. The figures range from 32 percent in Massachusetts to 61 percent in South Dakota. (Associated Press)
Ironies of the Week
While award-winning filmmaker Kristian Hill was shooting a documentary in Detroit intending to promote a positive image of his hometown, thieves broke into his car and stole all of his camera and audio equipment. "I'm trying to keep a happy face on," Hill said, insisting he still loves Detroit, although he admitted the incident is "just going to make things a bit more difficult for this project." (Detroit Free Press)
• A 20-year-old Philadelphia man was shot and killed outside a concert promoting "Peace on the Streets." Police commissioner Charles Ramsey blamed the shooting on street thugs. "This is what they do," he declared, "and they don't care if it's at a peace rally, in church. They could care less." (Philadelphia's KYM-TV)
Blessings to Go
A New Jersey church has opened a drive-through location, hoping people might stop to ask for a prayer or share their worries with one of the volunteers staffing the converted bank. "It might not be any person of any faith with any kind of belief system, but we try to be open and prepared for whatever might come through," said Nancy Seigle of the Hope Methodist Church in Voorhees Township. "There's nothing to do with collecting money or targeting people." The drive-through hours are 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, but the prayer drop box is open around the clock. It's one of several across the country that provide church services to motorists. Another is in Estero, Fla. It's open Wednesdays from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. "I think people get a kick out of it, regardless of whether they're church-going folks," said John Halley, director of discipleship at Estero United Methodist Church. "But for people who stopped, they're very thankful." (The Washington Times)
Love Seat
Police arrested a 33-year-old woman they said "hiked up her dress and engaged in an intimate act with several lawn chairs" in Seattle. She then began urinating on the lawn before "quite purposefully exposing her genitalia, and then posterior, to the family inside the home," according to the report. The family called 911. Officers who arrested the "extremely intoxicated" woman for indecent exposure explained that public nudity is not illegal but it becomes criminal if it "causes a person to reasonably experience fear, alarm or concern." (Seattle's KOMO-TV)
Crime Doesn't Pay
Police said Dorren Singh, 26, stole $32,000 from 14 New York City banks then took a bus to Atlantic City "to meet girls and have fun." Instead, he lost his ill-gotten gains playing roulette. (New York Post)
• Joshua James Pawlak, 27, demanded money from four businesses in Woodbridge, N.J., but police said all he got was $2, which he grabbed from the tip jar at a bakery. (NJ.com)
Compiled from mainstream news sources by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.
