Martina Rabess, 52, was sanctioned by Britain’s Sevenoaks Magistrates Court in October after neighbors complained about her loud, continuous recitations of the Lord’s Prayer in early morning hours around her apartment house. Atlanta municipal bus driver Leroy Matthews was suspended in November for a recent incident in which he suddenly stopped the bus and refused […]
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Posted inArts & Culture
People With Too Much Money
After Nicolas Cage filed a lawsuit against him for mismanaging the actor’s money, Cage’s former business manager Samuel Levin filed his defense in November, charging Cage with creating his own problems by disregarding Levin’s budgetary advice. According to Levin, Cage’s 2007 purchases included three houses (costing $33 million), 22 cars (including nine Rolls-Royces) and 47 […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Least Competent Criminals
Better Planning Needed: Brier Cutlip, 22, and Paul Bragg, 25, who were on parole and prohibited from possessing firearms, were re-arrested in December in Elkins, W.Va., when they showed up for a parole appointment. However, they had just come in from a day of hunting and were still wearing orange vests, alerting the parole officer […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Must Be Something About Septic Systems
After six years of total obstinacy, Janet and Lowell Carlson finally agreed in October to upgrade their farm’s septic system in Camden Township, Minn. Until then, the couple had ignored numerous inspections, sheriff’s visits and court orders even though a new system had already been paid for (by escrow funds left by the owner who […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Common Sense Takes a Vacation
Three men were convicted in August in Kansas City, Mo., of having convinced “numerous” customers to buy 3-inch-by-4-inch laminated “diplomat” cards that, promoters said, would legally free them from ever having to pay taxes or being arrested for any crime. According to the FBI, customers ponied up fees ranging from $450 to $2,000 to get […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Science of Sex
Wake Forest University’s Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which has successfully grown human bladders in the lab using only a few extracted cells sprayed onto a chemical frame that mimics the body’s tissues, has so far been unsuccessful at regenerating penises because of the organ’s complexity. However, it announced in a November journal article a success […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Common sense takes a vacation
Three men were convicted in August in Kansas City, Mo., of having convinced “numerous” customers to buy 3-by-4-inch laminated “diplomat” cards that, promoters said, would legally free them from ever having to pay taxes or being arrested for any crime. According to the FBI, customers ponied up fees ranging from $450 to $2,000 to get […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Least Competent Criminals
Brier Cutlip, 22, and Paul Bragg, 25, who were on parole and prohibited from possessing firearms, were rearrested in December in Elkins, W.Va., when they showed up for a parole appointment. However, they had just come in from a day of hunting and were still wearing orange vests, alerting the parole officer to the fact […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Smooth Reactions
In July, Charles Diez was charged with attempted murder for his angry reaction to a bicyclist who was carrying his 3-year-old son on the bike unsafely, on a busy Asheville, N.C., street. According to police, Diez was so anguished that he pulled his gun and fired at the bicyclist, grazing the man’s helmet. In October, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
People Who Went Too Far
Great Expectorations: Charles Hersel, 39, was arrested in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in November after police investigators overheard him offer $31 to a Westlake High School boy to spit in Hersel’s face. Several boys had complained to police that a man (allegedly Hersel) had approached them, offering money for expelling saliva and other bodily fluids on […]