Star-Telegram.com: Weird News

Man in wheelchair allegedly hides cash in leg

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:53 CST

Authorities on Florida's east coast have arrested a man in a wheelchair who they say robbed a credit union on Merritt Island and hid the money in his prosthetic leg.

Brevard County deputies say a 45-year-old man was caught Friday afternoon about 10 minutes after they say he robbed Space Coast Credit Union. The man is a paraplegic who uses a motorized wheelchair.

Investigators said he came into the credit union about 4 p.m., told a teller he was armed with an explosive and demanded money. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The man told deputies that two people had threatened him with a gun, told him to commit the robbery and were going to take the money for themselves.

He was charged with robbery, grand theft, threatening to use a hoax explosive device and aggravated assault.

Man accused of dousing neighbor for a 'confession'

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:43 CST

Police said a Pennsylvania man bound his neighbor with duct tape, doused him with gasoline and threatened to set him on fire unless the neighbor confessed to burglarizing his house. John Black, of New Sewickley Township, was charged with burglary, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and related crimes.

Police said that on Thursday, Black accused Henry Schmitt Jr. of burglarizing his home earlier this month before eventually letting him go. Police said they have no evidence Schmitt burglarized Black. Schmitt lives in a camper on Black's property.

A listed number for Black couldn't be located and it was unknown if he has an attorney.

Goodwill finds man who mistakenly donated $7,500

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:38 CST

It took some fancy footwork, but a Goodwill store in Illinois has found the owner of $7,500 in cash mistakenly donated with old shoes.

A newcomer to the United States from Bulgaria found the money this month on her first day at the Goodwill store in Glen Carbon. Teodora Petrova turned over the money to management.

The cash was found in a shoebox, bundled in large denominations.

Goodwill found the family through hints on scraps of paper left in the box. The donor apparently also called the Goodwill office, figuring he was the source of the cash.

The shoes belonged to the man's recently deceased parents. The store said he didn't want to be identified.

The family has offered Petrova a gift for turning over the money.

Driver sentenced for throwing axe at motorist

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:23 CST

A driver who threw an axe at another motorist, wounding him, has been sentenced to 37 days in jail. The man, 51, was sentenced Friday in Lancaster County Court for third-degree assault and criminal mischief after pleading no contest to the charges.

Authorities said two vehicles were traveling near an intersection on June 13 and one cut in front of the other, prompting both vehicles to stop. The man threw a 3-foot axe through the other driver's passenger window, striking him in the ribs with the blunt end.

Motorist accused of throwing wrench at vehicle

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:18 CST

A 32-year-old man was booked and jailed for investigation of reckless endangerment and fourth-degree assault on Friday after allegedly throwing a wrench at another vehicle on a highway.

The tool broke a vehicle's driver's-side window, showering glass inside the vehicle, and struck the driver in his left shoulder on State Highway 16. The man driving the vehicle wasn't injured.

The State Patrol said investigators were unable to determine the reason for the assault.

Witnesses traveling westbound on the highway told troopers the man had been passing vehicles and traveling at a high rate of speed when he threw the wrench "for no apparent reason."

The man was arrested at his house.

Woman accused of forging her parents' checks again

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:08 CST

A Burlington woman awaiting a court of appeals ruling on an earlier conviction for forging her mother's checks has been arrested for allegedly doing it again. The woman, 43, was sentenced last summer to 15 years in prison but is free on bond while the case is being reviewed by the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Last week, she was arrested again on charges she stole checks from her parents. She also was accused of stealing another woman's credit card.

Police say the woman took at least 15 checks and wrote them out for about $850.

Skull with built-in sauna turns heads in Austria

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:08 CST

An oversize skull with a built-in sauna is turning heads in the Austrian capital. The white walk-in structure - situated near a busy Vienna intersection - is known as the "Wellness Skull" and also boasts a bathtub and shower. On either side of the neck, that is.

The eye-catching installation, which stands about 15 feet tall and is made of wood and synthetic material, is the brainchild of Dutch artist Joep van Lieshout.

Van Lieshout said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that his 2007 creation was part of a series of pieces linked to body parts.

"It's really a piece that has many different interpretations," van Lieshout said when asked about the skull's deeper meaning. "Like a painter uses paint, I use design."

Tourists and locals alike appeared astounded by the skull on Monday, two days before it officially goes on display as part of an effort by Public Art Vienna to revitalize and enhance urban space around the capital.

"It's the most random thing I've seen in Vienna," said 27-year-old Nick Abrahams from London as he walked it Monday afternoon.

"It's really strange," echoed Nick Trute, 29, from Sydney, Australia.

Although the skull was built to be fully functional, visitors won't be able to try it out or witness steam emanating from its eye sockets - something that only happens when the sauna, which fits eight people, is in use.

Visitors will be able to go inside every first Saturday of the month or by appointment through March 15.

Maine man sheds 140 pounds to join the Marines

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:13 CST

Army and Navy recruiters took one look at 330-pound Ulysses Milana and told him to forget about joining. "'You've got to lose weight,'" Milana remembers them saying. But Marine recruiters were willing to work with him as he began his weight-loss journey in December 2007.

Now, 11 months later, Milana is 140 pounds lighter as he leaves Monday for Parris Island, S.C., to begin boot camp.

It wasn't easy, Milana said, but he managed to slim down through exercise, healthier eating habits and forgoing an occasional beer after work. The 23-year-old said he even refused a beer at his going-away party Saturday night.

Milana said he always wanted to follow in his family's footsteps by serving his country. His wife, Latoya, also comes from a military family.

Much of his weight-loss motivation came from Latoya, a nurse, who helped him reduce his calorie intake when he began his effort in earnest last December.

"It was really difficult for him at first. He always said, 'I'm gonna lose weight.' But I never took him seriously," Latoya told the Sun Journal newspaper. "Then, when he started to do it, I told him he needed to cut his portion sizes way down."

Marine recruiters also worked with him, helping to develop a workout regimen.

"You can sit there and preach and preach, but if you're not willing to help, then it doesn't lead you to success," Staff Sgt. George Monteith said. "If I say, 'Go lose weight and I'll see you in a year,' then what kind of help have I offered to make that happen?"

A former culinary student, Milana said it was a challenge to give up favorites like pizza and hot wings, but cracking open a cold beer after work was perhaps the toughest guilty pleasure to abandon.

"It was really hard. You see all your friends drinking beer, and you're like, 'Oh, man, I want one,'" he said. But his determination kept him on track, and he would head for the gym or don a head lamp and go out for a run.

Times Square getting its first 'green' billboard

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:18 CST

This winter, New Year's Eve revelers will have a close-up view of Times Square's first environmentally friendly billboard powered entirely by wind and sun.

But the billboard might not be quite as dazzling as some of its high-powered neighbors along the Great White Way.

Construction on the 35,000-pound sign advertising Ricoh Americas Corp. is to begin this month across the avenue from the building where the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

Powered by 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels, the sign is expected to save $12,000 to $15,000 per month in electricity costs. Ricoh, an office equipment and document storage supplier, estimates the sign will also keep 18 tons of carbon out of the environment.

The billboard will be lit by floodlights rather than light-emitting diodes. It won't have a backup generator, so it could go dark during a long period with little wind or sun.

But Ricoh spokesman Ron Potesky said the sign's turbines will probably be able to keep the billboard lit even after four days without breezes or bright sun.

"The point is that there are ways of being environmentally friendly to the planet, even on a billboard," Potesky said.

A lighting ceremony for the 126-foot wide, 47-foot tall sign is scheduled for Dec. 4.

Small La. community gets new ZIP code _ finally

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:28 CST

It's no 90210, but residents of a small, rural community in southern Louisiana are just happy to have any five-digit ZIP code.

For four decades, folks in Larose have had to go to neighboring towns' post offices to retrieve their mail. Beginning Saturday, the 7,000 or so who live in the town can start using 70373 and should soon receive letters, packages and fliers in their roadside mailboxes for the first time.

"This will make it easier. You don't have to worry about two addresses, it will be a Larose address," said Christine Hohensee, a resident for 43 years. "I like it. It's time. The older people probably aren't going to care for it, but times change."

Residents petitioned for years to bring a rural route to the area, but the switch wasn't made until a recent survey showed widespread support, said Daisy Comeaux, spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service.