Cell Phone in Man's Chest Pocket Stops Bullet
A man from Covington, La. says his cell phone saved his life. A stray .45-caliber bullet hit R.J. Richard's chest while he was mowing the lawn — hitting so hard he thought it was a stone kicked out by his tractor. He pulled out the phone. It fell apart.
The 68-year-old man was bruised. He said doctors told him two things prevented worse injury, maybe even death: the phone, and the fact that the bullet came in at an angle rather than head-on.
Richard says he put the phone in his overalls chest pocket rather than a pants pocket as usual. He figured the bullet was fired by a hunter in woods near his 5-acre property.
.10-year-old Girl Suspended From School for 'Hit List'A 10-year-old Kenosha, Wisconsin girl says she didn't mean any harm, but she's in trouble anyway for drafting a so-called "killing spree hit list."
A police report said officers were called to McKinley Middle School Monday after a teacher caught the girl passing a note and found it listed 25 people, including the teacher, who "were going to be killed or maybe killed."
The back listed others who would not be hurt.
Police said the girl told them she was upset at students who accused her of spreading rumors or were mean to her, and at the teacher for sending her out of the classroom when she talked.But she didn't have any plan for her list, although
she knew it could scare people.
She was suspended until school officials review the incident and was referred to juvenile court authorities.
.Dr Pepper to Delivers Its Free-Soda Promise
Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is a reality.
The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. "Chinese Democracy," infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.
"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."
Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.
.How Many People Have You Slept With?
Should you share your number?
When it comes to professing how many people you've slept with,
it is the ultimate "damned if you do, damned if you don’t" confession. For many, some things are better left unsaid.
You may be better off avoiding this conversation entirely, given you never know what kind of reaction you’re going to get.
For most people, claiming too many past lovers is frowned upon. For others, having too low a number can send their would-be lovers running for the hills, wary they’re a bit too "green." So given the distress it evokes, is it in a couple’s best interest to have the "how many" conversation? And at what point should you 'fess up your sexual experience (or lack thereof)?
.Police Officer Fired for Using Taser on Pregnant Teen, FirefighterA Kanawha County police officer has been fired after he admitted using a Taser on a pregnant teenager and a firefighter.
East Bank West Virginia Mayor Chuck Blair says Sgt. Steve Smith was fired after the Town Council learned of the incidents in September. Smith had been on probation because he had not been an officer for more than a year.
Eighteen-year-old Candice White told the Council she was sitting on her porch when Smith, who is a friend of her mother, showed up and began playing around with the Taser. She says Smith used it on her leg several times.
Smith told the Council White had asked him to use the Taser on her and that the power setting was very low.
An East Bank volunteer
firefighter also told the Council that Smith used the Taser on him because it was his birthday..Wyoming Men Accused in 100-Car Vandalism Spree
Two Cheyenne, Wyoming men accused of shooting windows of more than 100 vehicles around the city in recent weeks face felony charges.
Defendants Nathan D. Connin and Jared W. Barker on Wednesday waived their right to have a circuit court judge determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence against them to go to trial. Prosecutors say the damage to vehicles around Cheyenne amounts to at least $30,000.
Each of the men faces two felony counts of property destruction.
Laramie County Circuit Court Judge Roberta Coates ordered bond for both men to remain at $20,000.
Police arrested Barker and Connin after reviewing video surveillance from a Wal-Mart store that authorities say showed two men buying large quantities of BBs on Nov. 7, the night before more than 100 vehicles were shot with BBs.
.Alleged scam artist posed as Army sergeant
A West Hartford Connecticut man was arrested as he allegedly tried to cash a phony check wearing a phony U.S. Army sergeant's uniform bought online.
Orlando Ramos-Cabrera, 18, was decked out in full uniform with "Special Forces" and "Cavalry" patches when he went into a bank in West Hartford Thursday afternoon, The Hartford Courant reported. But some of the police officers who responded to a call of a potential fraud in progress were veterans and quickly recognized that the uniform was as fake as Ramos-Cabrera's check for $40,000 appeared to be.
Ramos-Cabrera, a Hartford resident, was allegedly driving a 2008 Dodge Charger he had just purchased from a dealer in East Hartford, police said. The car, allegedly paid for with another bad check, was seized by police.
Arrested at TD Bank North, Ramos-Cabrera was charged with first-degree larceny and illegal use of a uniform.
.School denies underwear checksA Winchester, England, school has denied claims that teachers have been checking students' underwear to be sure they comply with the dress code.
Parents of 11- through 16-year-old students at Kings School said their students were told during assemblies that boys are only to wear white or black underpants and girls are to only wear white or light-colored unpadded bras, The Daily Mail reported.
Some students claimed teachers were performing "spot checks" to ensure students were following the underwear rules.
Stuart Gander, whose daughters Chelsea, 15 and Kirby, 13, attend the school, said his children were told that the school considers colored bras "offensive."
"They were told they had to wear white ones or very light pale bras and they would be spot checked," Gander said. "You wouldn't be able to do that in a work place so why should you be able to do that at school?"
However, a school spokeswoman said female students were merely told what was appropriate dress for the school as a way to prepare them for the workplace.
"There is no rule, we are not checking underwear. We are not checking girls' bra straps and we have certainly not had an assembly with any of the boys telling them what color underwear to wear."
.Police: Carjackers couldn't drive manual
Police in Kansas City, Mo., said attempted carjackers were forced to abort their theft when the vehicle turned out to have a manual transmission.
Investigators said two males, an adult and a juvenile, approached a woman sitting in her car outside of a store at about 11 p.m. Monday and one of the suspects pointed a gun at the woman.
The suspects ordered the woman to hand over her cell phone and exit the car, police said. However, officers said the suspects exited the car quickly after attempting to drive off because they were unable to work the manual transmission.
Police said two suspects in the crime were arrested shortly after the incident following a street robbery on the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus.
.Released prisoner refused to leave
Officials with the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights said they had to call the police after a released prisoner refused to leave prison grounds.
The officials said an officer from the Oak Park Heights Police Department was called to the facility Nov. 13 after King Phillip Veiga, 23, refused to leave the prison, saying he wasn't due to be released until May 2009, the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press reported Thursday.
The police report said Veiga "would not sign any paperwork stating his release date was today because he felt he would be rearrested and brought back to prison."
Veiga was sentenced to one year and one day in prison for a fifth-degree controlled substance charge of possession of marijuana. He was placed on supervised release July 15 after spending 140 days in jail, but he was brought back to prison Aug. 8 after he violated the terms of his release, said Shari Burt, communications director for the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Burt said Veiga was eventually convinced to leave the prison.
.FLORIDA NEWS
.
Man drives by cop twice with unzipped pants
First the driver drove with a flat tire right by a Crestview cop.
Then he backed up through the same intersection.
Next the guy put his hand over his face and slumped down in his seat.
By then, he really had the cops attention. When the officer pulled him over he noted that the guy smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes.
He also had difficulty standing.
Oh, and his pants were completely unzipped.
Dispatch informed the officer that the man's license had been suspended 15 times.
Why are we not surprised?
.
Female fight results in charge after "bite to nipple area"
What a cat fight.
Cops arrested a 35-year-old Fort Pierce woman after another woman "complained of a bite to her nipple area" following several confrontations at BJ’s lounge.
The victim told investigators a woman identified as Cherail W. Ware "jumped" her as she exited the bathroom. The victim added she wouldn’t "start something" with Ware, whom she described as a "big old girl."
"She is way bigger than me," the victim said of Ware, who is 5 feet 8 inches tall and 262 pounds.
The victim had several scratches on her head and neck and "complained of a bite to her nipple area," the affidavit states. A female Fort Pierce police officer took photos of the alleged bite mark.
.
And she calls herself a teacher
Well, not anymore.
The St. Lucie County School Board voted unanimously to suspend an elementary school teacher without pay for one year after she let kindergarteners vote on whether 5-year-old Alex Barton could remain in class.
Alex, in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, had left the class twice that day for discipline referrals to the principal’s office.
The teacher brought Alex to the front of the classroom and asked students to tell him how his behavior affected them.
After classmates talked, the teacher asked the class to vote on whether Alex should stay in the class.
Alex lost the vote, 14 to 2.
Maybe the teacher is watching too many reality shows.
We suggest she star in one: Survival: The Meanest Teacher in Florida.
What do you think?
.
Florida Man Commits Suicide Live on Web Cam
A 19-year-old Florida man committed suicide live on a Web cam, encouraged by those who were watching, according to reports.
Abraham K Biggs, of Broward County, took an overdose of pills while broadcasting himself on Justin.tv, a live video streaming Web site.
Biggs used the Web site to stream footage from his bedroom and told users he would be committing suicide and invited them to watch live.
He posted a suicide note, where he said he had hurt other people and hated himself for being a failure.
The teen then took several pills before lying on the bed with his back to the camera.
Forum members reportedly continued to insult him, believing his actions were staged. Members eventually managed to contact the local
police who broke down the door, found Biggs' body and turned off the camera. .