Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know You Needed

Man doing yard work is arrested
Police in Bangor, Maine say a man wanted for failing to pay fines accidentally helped officers find him when he repeatedly "pocket dialed" 911 while doing yard work.
Police say 29-year-old James Green was using a backpack leaf blower when he kept calling 911 without realizing it.
Police Lt. Jeff Millard says officers were able to determine where the calls were coming from by triangulating the signal from Green's phone. There were two active warrants for Green's arrest for failure to pay fines.
.
Compressed air turns man into 'balloon'
A New Zealand truck driver said he blew up like a balloon when he fell onto the fitting of a compressed air hose that pierced his buttock and forced air into his body at 100 pounds a square inch.
Steven McCormack was standing on his truck's foot plate when he slipped and fell, breaking a compressed air hose off an air reservoir that powered the truck's brakes.
He fell hard onto the brass fitting, which pierced his left buttock and started pumping air into his body.
"I felt the air rush into my body and I felt like it was going to explode from my foot," he told local media from his hospital bed.
"I was blowing up like a football," he said. "I had no choice but just to lie there, blowing up like a balloon."
He was rushed to the hospital with terrible swelling and fluid in one lung. Doctors said the air had separated fat from muscle in McCormack's body, but had not entered his bloodstream.
.
Lawnmower race season begins
The qualifying session for the Spanish Grand Prix was on most motorsports enthusiast’s minds this weekend - but a dedicated few in Britain found their adrenalin fix in the new lawnmower race season.
In this motorsport, mowers race on an even field. The machines are only allowed minor modifications although for obvious safety reasons, all the blades are removed.
.
Police arrested man who falls through ceiling
Authorities say an Athens, Ga. man hid in an attic to avoid officers who had come to arrest him, then fell into their arms when the ceiling collapsed.
Officers had a warrant for the arrest of 41-year-old James Vernard. Smith and they went to a home looking for him.
Officers said they found Smith in an attic. Police said he was crawling toward the officers when part of the ceiling gave way, and he fell partially through the ceiling. Police said the officers helped lower Smith to the ground and arrested him.
Police said Smith faces several charges including burglary, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, failure to appear in court, and two counts of violating probation.
.
DUI suspect hits patrol car with another DUI suspect inside
A suspected drunk driver ran her car into a Washington state patrol car while the trooper was getting ready to arrest another DUI suspect.
The accident happened after 3 a.m. on Highway 167. The trooper had already put the 36-year-old Auburn woman in the back seat of his patrol car, and was in the front seat waiting for a tow truck for her Ford Focus.
Then a BMW driven by a 24-year-old Auburn woman crashed into the back of the trooper's car, while it was sitting on the right shoulder with its lights flashing.
Authorities say the trooper sustained minor injuries and was taken to Auburn General Hospital.
Both women have been booked into King County jail on suspicion of driving under the influence.
.
Drunken parrots acting up in Australia
Raucous parrots have been accused of being drunk and disorderly by residents living in Palmerston, Australia. 
The birds are thought to get into their inebriated state by eating a particular plant that makes them exhibit all the tendencies of having overdone it on the sauce.
According to Ark Animal Hospital vet Dr Stephen Cutter, the birds act in a drunken manner and then fall over: ‘It's probably a plant with alcohol, or toxins in a plant making it worse’.
The birds typically start out by making a lot of racket, followed by more loud drunken behavior before they eventually fall over.
The morning after is said to be very bad for the seriously hungover parrots, who can be sick for up to three days.
It’s not the first time that this phenomenon has occurred, with the birds noted for engaging in their drunken antics around early May.
.

No comments: