Small Bits of News

Wife shoots at husband over temperature dispute
A woman who was angry because her husband wanted her to turn up the heat pulled out a gun and shot their flat-screen TV while he cowered behind a pillow, Macomb County authorities say. The 65-year-old man called 911 Sunday night from the basement of their Washington Township home, about 25 miles north of Detroit. "My wife's got a gun. She's shooting at me," Joseph Grucz said in the recorded call. He told the operator that Cheryl Grucz, 61, was angry because he wanted the heat turned up. She fired a round while he hid his head in a pillow, striking the plasma TV, then went upstairs. » Article here

Woman's body found in car a day after it was towed
Paramedics and traffic officers apparently overlooked the body of an elderly woman who was found in a car at a tow yard over the weekend, a day after the the vehicle was involved in a crash, authorities said today. "There was an accident Saturday and the car was impounded, and later it turned out there was another victim in the vehicle," Modrell said. "Obviously, that is something they're trying to figure out -- how this could happen." » Full article here

Sausage throwing case costs £20,000
A police investigation to prosecute a 12-year-old for throwing a cocktail sausage at a neighbor has cost £20,000. The youngster was charged with common assault and brought before magistrates six times after the case was repeatedly adjourned to allow reports to be prepared.
Greater Manchester Police yesterday dropped all charges against the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after he was diagnosed as suffering from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.
One judge who heard the case in August questioned whether the prosecution served the public interest. Judge Tim Devas said: "If he has done what was suggested it is very bad behaviour. But is it in the public interest to prosecute a 12-year-old boy who threw a sausage?"

Blunder registered boy as girl
A furious mom reckons her son will be a laughing stock - after being wrongly registered as a girl. Rachel Chick, 22, demanded a fresh birth certificate giving the correct sex of little Ieuan James Jones. But she claims an official told her the mistake was permanently logged in their computer and could not be changed. Instead, they issued her with a new document listing nine-week-old Ieuan as female on the front - with a correction on the back stating he was a boy.
Rachel said: "With a name like Ieuan James Jones how could they possibly mistake him for a girl? It's going to be so embarrassing for him when he gets older. People are going to think he's had a sex change."Officials at Treorchy, South Wales, insist the error was dealt with "according to handbook instructions".

County Jail in Ohio Getting Painted Pink
TROY, Ohio (AP) - Jail administrator Dee Sandy thought the sheriff was joking when he mentioned painting cellblocks pink. He wasn't.
Inmates at the Miami County Jail are putting color on the jails once cream-colored walls after Sheriff Charles Cox entered the academic debate over the color pink's calming abilities.
After Sandy realized Cox was serious, she said she picked purple for the jail bars, which had been blue.
The jail, about 20 miles north of Dayton, houses up to 111 inmates, both men and women.
Researchers have documented the ability of certain colors to evoke emotional and physical responses, and many jails around the nation have been painted pink as a pacifying measure.
County jails in Arizona, Tennessee and Texas have had similar makeovers, but last year, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department abandoned pink for institutional gray. Jail officials there said the pink hue had no discernible effect on prisoners but annoyed the jail staff.

Police Reward Good Drivers With Coffee
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (AP) - Happy holidays. Now pull over to the side of the road.
Motorists may be in for a surprise if they spot flashing red lights in their rearview mirrors in this Sacramento suburb during the holiday season.
Police are stopping law-abiding motorists and rewarding their good driving with $5 Starbucks gift cards.