Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know you Needed

Squirrel at cemetery wraps nest in Old Glory
A brazen squirrel has been grabbing small American flags placed in a Port Huron, Mich., cemetery and carrying them up to its nest, which now looks as if it's bedecked in bunting.
Every Memorial Day, volunteers place the flags next to the graves of nearly 1,000 veterans buried at Mount Hope Cemetery about 55 miles northeast of Detroit. The flags were undisturbed during a Mass held Monday.
The Times Herald newspaper reports that workers at the cemetery on Tuesday noticed several flags had been torn off their wooden staffs, which were still in the ground.
The mystery was solved in front of superintendent Ron Ceglarek's eyes. He watched a squirrel detach a flag stapled to a staff and carry it up a tree to the nest.
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Idaho families survive postal cut
Twenty families in a roadless wilderness in Idaho say they've convinced the U.S. Postal Service to keep bringing their mail via airplane.
Service to the scattered residents on the Salmon River costs about 10 times the average cost of delivery -- $46,000 a year for plane service as the Postal Service faces a $6.5 billion budget deficit, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The families reside in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness -- the Postal Service's sole remaining air route into a wilderness in the continental United States.
Postal officials said they considered alternatives, including surface routes, but none would have provided acceptable service to the families, who have depended on pilot Ray Arnold, 72, and his Cessna 185 to bring them their mail, food and other supplies for the last 34 years.
"There's a tremendous community among the people in this canyon," said ranch owner Doug Tims, 62, calling the mail plane "the thread that ties it all together."
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BABY FOR SALE on Craigslist?
It is such a sad story if it is true.
An online ad out of Carollwood pictures a little girl for sale.
On the popular classifieds website, Craigslist.com. Annabelle, as she's named in the ad is an 18-month-old baby girl up for sale.
Bay area resident Natalya Watson first found the ad that was posted Friday night while she was shopping for baby toys for her own little ones.
"I came across an ad that said, "Brand new or hardly used," so I clicked on that and saw some lady trying to sell her child," said Watson.
The ad is written by a "single mom", it says, who's "barely 18-years-old." She writes how her career is "just kicking off", so she's looking for a family who can devote time to her daughter. She writes, she will even "sign a bill of sell."
"Why would you sell your daughter, I just can't imagine," said Watson. After the initial shock, Watson got worried about the child.
So, she sent an email to the site's legal services folks. They quickly replied saying they would review the posting and work with law enforcement.
"I think the Sheriff's and DCF needs to see if this is a good home for the child - to see if it was true," said Watson.
Watson hopes the ad is not real but as a mother, she is not willing to take the chance.
"God forbid, something happened to that little girl, I wouldn't want that on my shoulders knowing it's something I could have prevented."
Since Watson contacted the website, the ad has been taken down.
Click here to see the ad.
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K-9 Officer loses job due to recession
Aberdeen, Washington - The Aberdeen Police Department has laid off its K-9 dog Nitro due to budget cuts. But public outcry and support could land the pooch back on the force.
Officer Steve Timmons is raising money to bring his partner back after the German Shepherd was cut from the force earlier this month. Police Chief Bob Torgerson says laying Nitro off saves the department $12,000 a year. That's mostly in overtime the city pays Timmons to care for the dog during off hours. Timmons says he wants to work with the city and union to eliminate the overtime. He also wants to donate his time but says federal rules and labor laws won't allow it. Timmons is also seeking donations to cover Nitro's food if he returns to work. Six-year-old Nitro has helped nab between 35 and 40 suspects since he joined the force in 2005.
The dog has been with Timmons since he was laid off.
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Man driving with toddler hanging out car window arrested
A 43-year-old man was arrested on drug charges after sheriff’s deputies stopped him when they saw a toddler partially hanging out of his car window.
Hobe Sound resident John W. Williams told Martin County Sheriff’s deputies he had just put out a marijuana cigarette when he was stopped along Bridge Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities said they searched his vehicle and found a baggie of pot and a manila envelope with cocaine inside.
Williams, 43, was arrested on misdemeanor marijuana possession and felony cocaine possession charges. His 2-year-old grandson was released to his mother.
Deputies issued Williams a traffic citation for failing to restrain the boy while driving.
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Guy owes over $110,000 in child support. And his profession is....
Mauro A. Martissa, 45, owes more than $110,000 in child support, according to the U.S.Department of Justice.
He was found guilty of willfully failing to pay child support by a federal jury and faces up to two years in jail.
This Pasco County dad has "failed to make a single voluntary payment."
Guess his training didn't take.
Martissa is director of a debt-consulting business.
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Former School Board candidate arrested on child porn charges
A former local priest and past member of the county’s Children Service Advisory Committee was arrested Thursday on charges of possessing child pornography.
Vero Beach police arrested Gerard J. Lamothe, 60, of the 1800 block of 44th Avenue, Vero Beach, after a three-month-long investigation.
According to a Vero Beach Police release, investigators got a tip in February a computer monitor at the Pastoral Counseling Center, 3100 Airport West Drive, Vero Beach, displayed child pornography. Lamothe founded and runs the Pastoral Counseling Center, which is a marriage and family counseling center.
Though the business was closed at that time, the monitor was visible through the window, the release stated.
A Vero Beach officer went to the office later that day and saw a monitor from the front window showing a child of about 4-to-5 years old engaged in a sexual act, according to the release. The next day, Lamothe — now married and a father of 11 — denied having previous knowledge of the image on his computer, according to the release.
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