DUBLIN, Ireland - A thief made off with 180 kegs of Guinness beer after
smoothly driving into the Dublin brewery, which makes the black stout
and snatching a trailer load of drink, police said Thursday. The incident took place Wednesday at the Guinness brewery on the banks
of Dublin's River Liffey where Ireland's trademark tipple has been
brewed for almost 250 years. The lone raider's haul also contained 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90 barrels of Carlsberg lager, police said. "A man drove into the yard in a truck and took a trailer containing the
drink which has an estimated value of 64,000 euros ($94,770)," a police
spokesman said.
HELENA, Mont. - A Helena Prerelease Center employee, hearing something rustling in the bushes, threw a rock at a shrub. To his surprise, he heard someone say, "Hey, you hit me in the head," said Helena Police Cpl. Bill Tompkins. The rock had hit a 22-year-old escaped convict the center was searching for. The convict was being transferred by bus from a prison in Seattle to one in Great Falls when he got off at the wrong stop in Helena on Friday, Tompkins said. It wasn't clear if the man meant to get off the bus in Helena or if it was a mix-up, Tompkins said. The convict contacted the Helena Prerelease Center, which brought him from the bus stop to the center, Tompkins said. Hours later, center employees noticed the convict was missing and alerted police, Tompkins said. They later called back saying the convict was hiding in bushes outside the center. Police found the man hiding behind some barrels and took him into custody for probation violation, Tompkins said.
AIKEN, S.C. - A bank teller in Clearwater had a million reasons not to open an account for an Augusta, Ga., man Monday, authorities said. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill, said Aiken County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank. The employee refused to open the account and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, Frank said. The second forgery charge came after investigators learned Smith bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check, Frank said. The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill, Frank said.
MISSOULA, Mont. - Taking holiday decorations from a man named Clouse this time of year might land you on the "naughty" list. Putting them up in your yard with the tags still on might land you in jail. Michael Allard, 39, is accused of stealing Christmas trees and wreaths from the Montana Wreaths & Pink Grizzly Christmas Store several blocks from his home. He was arrested Monday and charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor theft. Shane Clouse, the shop's owner, reported a burglary after he spotted Allard walking with a shopping cart full of items Clouse recognized as his own, the Missoulian newspaper reported. Clouse later saw two of his Christmas trees in Allard's yard and stacks of wreaths in the entryway of his trailer. Clouse said the trees were identical to those he sells and pointed out that the red and yellow sales tags were still attached. A sheriff's deputy who responded noticed trees and wreaths at Allard's house, then saw him inside making additional wreaths, according to the newspaper. Investigators said that Allard acknowledged taking the wreath-making supplies but said that the items had been abandoned near the business and that he didn't break in. He said a friend had given him the trees. Allard was being held Thursday in the Missoula County Detention Facility. A phone message left Thursday by The Associated Press with the regional public defender's office seeking the name of Allard's attorney was not immediately returned.
HELENA, Mont. - A Helena Prerelease Center employee, hearing something rustling in the bushes, threw a rock at a shrub. To his surprise, he heard someone say, "Hey, you hit me in the head," said Helena Police Cpl. Bill Tompkins. The rock had hit a 22-year-old escaped convict the center was searching for. The convict was being transferred by bus from a prison in Seattle to one in Great Falls when he got off at the wrong stop in Helena on Friday, Tompkins said. It wasn't clear if the man meant to get off the bus in Helena or if it was a mix-up, Tompkins said. The convict contacted the Helena Prerelease Center, which brought him from the bus stop to the center, Tompkins said. Hours later, center employees noticed the convict was missing and alerted police, Tompkins said. They later called back saying the convict was hiding in bushes outside the center. Police found the man hiding behind some barrels and took him into custody for probation violation, Tompkins said.
AIKEN, S.C. - A bank teller in Clearwater had a million reasons not to open an account for an Augusta, Ga., man Monday, authorities said. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill, said Aiken County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank. The employee refused to open the account and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, Frank said. The second forgery charge came after investigators learned Smith bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check, Frank said. The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill, Frank said.
MISSOULA, Mont. - Taking holiday decorations from a man named Clouse this time of year might land you on the "naughty" list. Putting them up in your yard with the tags still on might land you in jail. Michael Allard, 39, is accused of stealing Christmas trees and wreaths from the Montana Wreaths & Pink Grizzly Christmas Store several blocks from his home. He was arrested Monday and charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor theft. Shane Clouse, the shop's owner, reported a burglary after he spotted Allard walking with a shopping cart full of items Clouse recognized as his own, the Missoulian newspaper reported. Clouse later saw two of his Christmas trees in Allard's yard and stacks of wreaths in the entryway of his trailer. Clouse said the trees were identical to those he sells and pointed out that the red and yellow sales tags were still attached. A sheriff's deputy who responded noticed trees and wreaths at Allard's house, then saw him inside making additional wreaths, according to the newspaper. Investigators said that Allard acknowledged taking the wreath-making supplies but said that the items had been abandoned near the business and that he didn't break in. He said a friend had given him the trees. Allard was being held Thursday in the Missoula County Detention Facility. A phone message left Thursday by The Associated Press with the regional public defender's office seeking the name of Allard's attorney was not immediately returned.
APPLETON, Wis. - A Wisconsin thief apparently had quite the appetite. Appleton police received a call Wednesday of a burglary — not of valuables but of food. The
burglar apparently entered the unlocked apartment and walked away with
a pizza, six eggs, a can of beef ravioli, a can of peaches and one
chicken-and-broccoli Hot Pocket, authorities said. The crime apparently occurred between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., the police report said. Police had no immediate suspects.
BROOMFIELD, Colo. - A 6-year-old boy who tried to drive his grandmother's car to Applebee's said he won't do it again. Josh Barber said he was hungry for some chicken nuggets when he woke up early Tuesday while his grandmother was still sleeping. His mother was recovering from surgery at the time and his father was still at work. After taking the car keys, he unlocked the car, moved his child seat to the driver's seat so he could see better and tried to drive off. But, unable to take the car out of reverse, he backed up 75 feet from her house into a transformer, knocking out electricity and phone service to dozens of townhouses in this suburb north of Denver. "I hit the gas," Josh told Denver's KCNC-TV. "I crashed into these things and then what happened is I didn't know what to do." His grandmother, Claudia Price, said he ran into the house to tell her what had happened. "He just yelled 'Grandma, Grandma, I was driving your car and I hit something,'" she said.
APPLETON, Wis. - A woman who petitioned to change her last name to bin Laden did not appear in court on Friday and her case was dismissed. Caren Ann Burke, 49, of Seymour, failed to show for a name change hearing in front of Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Dee Dyer. Burke had filed a name change petition on Aug. 23. She wanted to change her name to Caren Ann bin Laden. She listed her reason as "divorce from Rory S. Burke." Dyer said in court that he received a letter from Burke stating she did not file a required third legal notice and was not intending to appear for the hearing. Dyer then dismissed her petition. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Burke for comment Friday were unsuccessful.
SEATTLE - Officially, it’s the South Lake Union Streetcar. But in the neighborhood where the new line runs, it’s called the South Lake Union Trolley — or, the S.L.U.T.At Kapow! Coffee, a shop in the old Cascade neighborhood, 100 T-shirts bearing the words “Ride the S.L.U.T.” sold out in days, and another 100 are on order.“We’re welcoming the S.L.U.T. into the neighborhood,” said Jerry Johnson, 29, a part-time barista. Some claim — incorrectly, according to representatives of Vulcan Inc., the company that is developing the area — that South Lake Union Trolley was the original name and that it was changed when officials belatedly realized the acronym.The $50.5 million project should be completed with streetcars running in December. Underlying the lighthearted opposition, however, is resentment over changes in the old working-class neighborhood.“There was a meeting with representatives from the city several years ago,” Johnson recalled.“They asked us, ‘What we could do for you?’ Most people raised their hands and said, ‘Affordable housing,”’ he said. “Then the people from the city huddled together — ‘whisper, whisper, whisper’ — and they said, ‘How about a trolley?”’Since then, Cascade has been ignored in Vulcan brochures that lump the neighborhood together with Denny Park and Denny Triangle under the term South Lake Union. With the streetcar, said Don Clifton, a Cascade resident, “We learned how fun it is to change the name of things.”
NEW YORK - Deal or no deal?
A woman's online bid to find a rich husband in New York earning more than $500,000 a year has caused an Internet stir with a mystery Wall Street banker publicly assessing her hunt for romance as a business deal — and a bad one at that.The anonymous 25-year-old woman posted an ad on the free online New York community Web site Craigslist seeking advice on how to find a wealthy husband in New York where Wall Street bankers can earn bonuses each year of up to $10 million. "I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all," wrote the woman, who described herself as "spectacularly beautiful" and "superficial."
"I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. $250,000 won't get me to Central Park West," she said, asking questions like "where do rich single men hang out?"Recently an apartment at 15 Central Park West sold for $42.4 million — the highest amount paid for a single unit new condominium in New York.
Crappy business deal
A mystery banker, who said he fitted the bill, offered the woman an analysis of her predicament — but described it as "plain and simple a crappy business deal." "Your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity ... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!" the banker wrote. "So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset," he said. "Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!"
"It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease," he said.
While the woman has since removed her posting from Craigslist, the ad and the response have become a popular e-mail traffic both within and outside New York where online dating has become commonplace. JPMorgan Chase said one of its bankers had mistakenly been credited with writing the response. Brian Marchiony, spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, said the banker did not write the response and that his e-mail signature accidentally became attached to the ad and response when he forwarded it to friends and it then wound up on blogs. Craigslist was not immediately available for comment, but a spokeswoman told The New York Times that "it does look as if the post was made sincerely."
BROOMFIELD, Colo. - A 6-year-old boy who tried to drive his grandmother's car to Applebee's said he won't do it again. Josh Barber said he was hungry for some chicken nuggets when he woke up early Tuesday while his grandmother was still sleeping. His mother was recovering from surgery at the time and his father was still at work. After taking the car keys, he unlocked the car, moved his child seat to the driver's seat so he could see better and tried to drive off. But, unable to take the car out of reverse, he backed up 75 feet from her house into a transformer, knocking out electricity and phone service to dozens of townhouses in this suburb north of Denver. "I hit the gas," Josh told Denver's KCNC-TV. "I crashed into these things and then what happened is I didn't know what to do." His grandmother, Claudia Price, said he ran into the house to tell her what had happened. "He just yelled 'Grandma, Grandma, I was driving your car and I hit something,'" she said.
APPLETON, Wis. - A woman who petitioned to change her last name to bin Laden did not appear in court on Friday and her case was dismissed. Caren Ann Burke, 49, of Seymour, failed to show for a name change hearing in front of Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Dee Dyer. Burke had filed a name change petition on Aug. 23. She wanted to change her name to Caren Ann bin Laden. She listed her reason as "divorce from Rory S. Burke." Dyer said in court that he received a letter from Burke stating she did not file a required third legal notice and was not intending to appear for the hearing. Dyer then dismissed her petition. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Burke for comment Friday were unsuccessful.
SEATTLE - Officially, it’s the South Lake Union Streetcar. But in the neighborhood where the new line runs, it’s called the South Lake Union Trolley — or, the S.L.U.T.At Kapow! Coffee, a shop in the old Cascade neighborhood, 100 T-shirts bearing the words “Ride the S.L.U.T.” sold out in days, and another 100 are on order.“We’re welcoming the S.L.U.T. into the neighborhood,” said Jerry Johnson, 29, a part-time barista. Some claim — incorrectly, according to representatives of Vulcan Inc., the company that is developing the area — that South Lake Union Trolley was the original name and that it was changed when officials belatedly realized the acronym.The $50.5 million project should be completed with streetcars running in December. Underlying the lighthearted opposition, however, is resentment over changes in the old working-class neighborhood.“There was a meeting with representatives from the city several years ago,” Johnson recalled.“They asked us, ‘What we could do for you?’ Most people raised their hands and said, ‘Affordable housing,”’ he said. “Then the people from the city huddled together — ‘whisper, whisper, whisper’ — and they said, ‘How about a trolley?”’Since then, Cascade has been ignored in Vulcan brochures that lump the neighborhood together with Denny Park and Denny Triangle under the term South Lake Union. With the streetcar, said Don Clifton, a Cascade resident, “We learned how fun it is to change the name of things.”
NEW YORK - Deal or no deal?
A woman's online bid to find a rich husband in New York earning more than $500,000 a year has caused an Internet stir with a mystery Wall Street banker publicly assessing her hunt for romance as a business deal — and a bad one at that.The anonymous 25-year-old woman posted an ad on the free online New York community Web site Craigslist seeking advice on how to find a wealthy husband in New York where Wall Street bankers can earn bonuses each year of up to $10 million. "I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all," wrote the woman, who described herself as "spectacularly beautiful" and "superficial."
"I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. $250,000 won't get me to Central Park West," she said, asking questions like "where do rich single men hang out?"Recently an apartment at 15 Central Park West sold for $42.4 million — the highest amount paid for a single unit new condominium in New York.
Crappy business deal
A mystery banker, who said he fitted the bill, offered the woman an analysis of her predicament — but described it as "plain and simple a crappy business deal." "Your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity ... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!" the banker wrote. "So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset," he said. "Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!"
"It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease," he said.
While the woman has since removed her posting from Craigslist, the ad and the response have become a popular e-mail traffic both within and outside New York where online dating has become commonplace. JPMorgan Chase said one of its bankers had mistakenly been credited with writing the response. Brian Marchiony, spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, said the banker did not write the response and that his e-mail signature accidentally became attached to the ad and response when he forwarded it to friends and it then wound up on blogs. Craigslist was not immediately available for comment, but a spokeswoman told The New York Times that "it does look as if the post was made sincerely."
SOUTHWORTH, Wash. - A man trying to loosen a stubborn lug nut blasted
the wheel with a 12-gauge shotgun, injuring himself badly in both legs,
sheriff's deputies said. The 66-year-old man had been repairing a Lincoln Continental for two
weeks at his home in Kitsap County northwest of Southworth, about 10
miles southwest of Seattle, and had gotten all but one of the lug nuts
off the right rear wheel by Saturday afternoon, Kitsap County Deputy
Scott Wilson said. "He's bound and determined to get that lug nut off," Wilson said. From about arm's length, the man fired the shotgun at the wheel and was
"peppered" in both legs with buckshot and debris, with some injuries as
high as his chin, according to a sheriff's office report. "Nobody else was there, and he wasn't intoxicated," Wilson said. The man was taken to Tacoma General Hospital with injuries Wilson described as severe but not life-threatening. The deputies did not take a statement from the man beyond what they
were able to gather while he was being treated by medics, The Kitsap
Sun reported on its Web site. "I don't think he was in any condition to say anything," Wilson said,
according to The Sun. "The pain was so severe, and the shock." It was not immediately clear whether the shotgun blast loosened the lug nut.
MASCOUTAH, Ill. - Two hugs equals two days of detention for 13-year-old Megan Coulter. The eighth-grader was punished for violating a school policy banning public displays of affection when she hugged two friends Friday. I feel it is crazy,” said Megan, who was to serve her second detention Tuesday after classes at Mascoutah Middle School. “I was just giving them a hug goodbye for the weekend,” she said. Megan’s mother, Melissa Coulter, said the embraces weren’t even real hugs — just an arm around the shoulder and slight squeeze. “It’s hilarious to the point of ridicule,” Coulter said. “I’m still dumbfounded that she’s having to do this.” District Superintendent Sam McGowen said that he thinks the penalty is fair and that administrators in the school east of St. Louis were following policy in the student handbook. It states: “Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time. It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.” Coulter said she and her husband told their daughter to go ahead and serve her detentions because the only other option was a day of suspension for each skipped detention. “We don’t agree with it, but I certainly don’t want her to get in more trouble,” Coulter said. The couple plan to attend the next school board meeting to ask board members to consider rewording the policy or be more specific in what is considered a display of affection. “I’m just hoping the school board will open their eyes and just realize that maybe they shouldn’t be punishing us for hugs,” Megan said.
ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Tag, you're out! Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable. Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban. While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous. Modified versions now include softer balls and ways for children to re-enter the action. Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports. "I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid." Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.
MASCOUTAH, Ill. - Two hugs equals two days of detention for 13-year-old Megan Coulter. The eighth-grader was punished for violating a school policy banning public displays of affection when she hugged two friends Friday. I feel it is crazy,” said Megan, who was to serve her second detention Tuesday after classes at Mascoutah Middle School. “I was just giving them a hug goodbye for the weekend,” she said. Megan’s mother, Melissa Coulter, said the embraces weren’t even real hugs — just an arm around the shoulder and slight squeeze. “It’s hilarious to the point of ridicule,” Coulter said. “I’m still dumbfounded that she’s having to do this.” District Superintendent Sam McGowen said that he thinks the penalty is fair and that administrators in the school east of St. Louis were following policy in the student handbook. It states: “Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time. It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.” Coulter said she and her husband told their daughter to go ahead and serve her detentions because the only other option was a day of suspension for each skipped detention. “We don’t agree with it, but I certainly don’t want her to get in more trouble,” Coulter said. The couple plan to attend the next school board meeting to ask board members to consider rewording the policy or be more specific in what is considered a display of affection. “I’m just hoping the school board will open their eyes and just realize that maybe they shouldn’t be punishing us for hugs,” Megan said.
ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Tag, you're out! Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they'll get hurt and hold the school liable. Recess is "a time when accidents can happen," said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban. While there is no districtwide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous. Modified versions now include softer balls and ways for children to re-enter the action. Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports. "I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. "Playing tag is just part of being a kid." Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. "I've witnessed enough near collisions," she said.
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