Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know you Needed

Man pays electric bill with pennies
Rather than get upset about his $350 electric bill, John Almany decided to pay it in pennies.
Almany said he and his brother Gary came up with the idea in January. After finding enough banks to supply the pennies, Almany delivered more than 29,000 to Bristol Virginia Utilities.
"I thought I’d make light of the situation," Almany said. "Everybody gets mad, but there’s nothing anyone can do about it."
Their first challenge, Almany said, was finding that many pennies.
"I called some nearby banks to see if I could exchange cash for pennies," Almany said. "We got all the way to the w’s in the phone book. One bank gave me $170 in pennies and the other $123."
After trading in the cash, Almany and his brother spent about an hour removing the coins from the 50-cent rolls and dumping them into two large, black duffle bags.
That many pennies weighs about 170 pounds, so the two men worked to carry the duffle bags into BVU’s Lee Highway office.
"We pulled into BVU about 2 (p.m.) and took the bags of unrolled pennies to the pay counter," Almany said. "To make my case better, I noticed a man just paid cash right before me. I laid my bill on the counter and told the lady, ‘Here is my bill and I’m here to pay every penny of it.‘"
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Woman Contaminated DQ Malts With Ajax
An employee of a Ferndale Dairy Queen says she "accidentally" poured Ajax into the malt dispenser, sickening two customers, according to court documents.
Alexandra Margot Georgia Dale, 44, has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault in connection with the poisoned malts.
Two men reported burning sensations in their mouth and on their tongue after consuming the malt beverages from a Dairy Queen located in the 5600 block of Riverside Drive on Feb. 25.
One victim told KIRO 7 reporter Jeff Dubois that he tasted something funny when he took the first bite of his chocolate malt. When he took a second bite, he said he felt a burning sensation in his mouth.
He alerted the Dairy Queen Manager and by the time he got home, he had three red chemical burns on his tongue. They went away a couple days later.
A second man had worse injuries. He had to stay in the hospital for two days with medical issues including ulcers located in his esophagus, detectives with the Ferndale Police Department said.
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