Curses, Foiled Again
When a man entered a bank in New Castle, Del., and handed a teller a hold-up note, she told him she couldn’t make out what it said and asked him to rewrite it. Instead, he left empty-handed. Police spotted a man fitting the suspect’s description and arrested Thomas J. Love, 40. (Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV)
•State police said brothers Alexander Jones, 25, and Benjamin Jones, 24, spent several weeks using a blowtorch to dismantle a 70-year-old bridge near New Castle, Pa. Then they hauled away 15.5 tons of steel to a scrap dealer, hoping to cash in on the demand for metal. Instead, they received only $5,100 because the demand for steel had dropped recently. What’s more, when the recycler heard about the bridge theft, he notified authorities. “They saw it as an opportunity to make money,” Trooper Randolph Guy said. “But that’s not much money for the work they did.” (Wall Street Journal)
When eHarmony Fails
Authorities accused Robbie Suhr, 48, of disguising himself by wearing dark clothes and a mask, then attacking a 26-year-old exchange student living with Suhr, his wife and their two children in Pleasant Prairie, Wis. Police said Suhr told them he wanted to be in a relationship with the woman and that he “intended to tie her up while masked, leave the area, and then return as himself to rescue her.” The woman had stepped outside for a smoke when the masked man appeared. “She fought back, and the suspect eventually gave up the attack and fled from the garage,” police Sgt. Peter Jung said. (Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV)
Lasting Impression
Detailed photos of the moon’s surface, taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from an altitude of 13 to 15 miles, revealed that Apollo astronauts who visited the moon from 1969 to 1972 left behind buggy ruts in the surface and trash that included discarded backpacks, the bottom parts of three lunar landers, packing material and an insulation blanket. Arizona State University geology professor Mark Robinson, the orbiter’s chief scientist, predicted it would take 10 million to 100 million years for dust to cover signs of the astronauts’ landings. (Associated Press)
Extreme Makeovers
A promotion by Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino offered Trump One Card holders the chance to win $25,000 worth of botox treatments, cheek implants, facelifts, breast augmentation, tummy tucks or liposuction. “Many people have something they want to change—a nip and tuck here, a lift there—but the cost of these procedures can be quite costly,” Kathleen McSweeney, Trump Entertainment Resorts senior vice president of marketing, said. “We wanted to change the face of a typical casino promotion, and with this one we are literally doing it.” (Reuters)
• A Tokyo dental clinic began offering a procedure aimed at giving men and women an “imperfect” look to make them more attractive to the opposite sex. The theory behind Dental Salon Plaisir’s Tsuke-yaeba—Stick-on Crooked Teeth—is that classic good looks intimidate suitors, whereas ordinary-looking people are more approachable. Tsuke-yaeba, which involves applying crooked false teeth over real teeth with glue, costs upwards of $390. (CNN)
• California inventor Gregg Homer announced the development of a 20-second procedure that turns brown eyes blue by using a computer-guided laser to break down the brown pigment. “People like the depth of a light eye,” he said, citing a poll conducted by his Stroma Medical firm that found 17.5 percent would have the procedure, which is irreversible and costs $5,000. (New York’s Daily News)
Suspicions Confirmed
Missing work to stay at home waiting for deliveries and service calls is costing American workers $37.7 billion this year, according to a survey by IBOPE-Zogby. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they spent more than four hours waiting. More than a quarter said they lost wages from waiting at home for appointments, and half used a sick day or vacation day. Most—57 percent—said they spent the most time waiting for the cable guy. (CNN)
Reckless Driving
Sheriff’s deputies responding to a call of a couple fighting in Broward County, Fla., couldn’t find anyone but then heard “cries for help” coming from the darkness. They noticed a woman struggling to stay above water in a lake. After rescuing her, they learned her husband had been hitting her while she was driving, causing her to lose control of the car and veer into the lake. The husband, Sandro Michel, 27, drowned. (Broward-Palm Beach New Times)
• North Carolina authorities reported that a 30-year-old woman and her boyfriend were arguing while driving with the woman’s mother when they stopped on the shoulder near Pineville. The woman got out, and the man chased after her. Separate cars hit them, killing them both. (Charlotte Observer)
Second-Amendment Follies
When Stephen M. Comrie, 20, and a friend hid in the woods and made animal noises intending to frighten a group of 10 to 20 people partying around a bonfire in Manlius, N.Y., Jeremy J. Messina, 21, responded by firing his shotgun three or four times. Police Sgt. Tina Stanton reported that Comrie suffered wounds in the face, arm, chest and thigh. (Syracuse’s The Post-Standard)
Them That Has, Gets
New Jersey’s Crestek, which makes ultrasonic cleaning equipment, became the first company in America to be fined for stating in a help-wanted ad for a service manager that applicants “must be currently employed.” Crestek chief executive J. Michael Goodson said he’s contesting the $1,000 fine, explaining he wanted to hire someone “at the top of their game” and that if he hired someone not currently working, “my concern would be that their last job was in a bakery or pumping gas.” (Newark’s The Star-Ledger)
Thrust and Parry
A 37-year-old man kicked in the door of a motel room In Wichita, Kan., and told the 57-year-old man inside that his actions toward a woman who wasn’t present “were unacceptable.” The intruder refused to leave and threatened the older man with a sword with a 2-foot-long blade. The victim countered by grabbing two steak knives to defend himself. The two men fought in the room and then in the motel parking lot. Police Lt. Doug Nolte said that when officers arrived, the older man had pinned his attacker against a wall. (The Wichita Eagle)
