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The skinny

By TIMES WIRES
Published March 9, 2007

BANK FLUBBERS

WITH A 'BOMB,' WOMAN CLEANS UP AT THE BANK

"Give me the money and nobody gets hurt," was the general theme of a woman's rant as she walked into a bank in Manhasset, N.Y. People were worried, because she was holding what she said was a bomb. So the teller handed over the cash. The woman ran out. She dropped the "bomb." It was a container of baby wipes. Which, if used, can certainly be deadly. But no one was hurt. Police remain on the lookout for the woman.

Fire chief follows the getaway cab

At least she had a getaway plan. A man in Graniteville, S.C., robbed the Security Federal Bank and hailed a taxi out front to make his escape. Apparently, taxis are very easy to get in Graniteville. A witness went to the hardware store owned by fire chief Phil Napier and told him what happened. Napier asked the witness to mind the store while he chased the taxi in his pickup. He radioed deputies, who caught the cab and arrested Thomas Washington. The cab driver was oblivious to the fact he was leaving a crime scene.

FROZEN IN TIME

Cameras too cold to catch speeders

The Mythbusters on Discovery Channel tested a lot of legends on how to beat speed cameras in this week's episode. None of them worked. But some people in Finland are reporting success in circumventing the cameras set up in Lapland. All you have to do is wait for it to get really, really cold. It seems that the automatic cameras tend to freeze, which is an unfortunate feature in Lapland. So now officials will install individual miniheaters on each camera and wait for that fine revenue to start rolling in. In 2005, the devices issued more than 38,000 tickets and have netted the country millions in fines.

THE NAKED TRUTH

Court candidate disrobed for mag

Charles "Benny" Neal is running for Circuit Court clerk in Rockingham County, Va. He's a 49-year-old self-employed businessman now, but 28 years ago he was beefcake in the pages of Playgirl. He's not putting the spread on his campaign posters or anything, but he isn't hiding from his past, either. "I am going to stand tall. I have no regrets," Neal said. "If I can get (voters) to smile about it, I might get their vote."

UPDATE

Body parts delivered

Good news! The delivery company that misdelivered some body parts to unsuspecting citizens has tracked them all down and gotten them to the lab they were supposed to go to. A couple in Cascade Township, Mich., thought they were opening parts of a table last week when they found a liver and part of a head instead. The company initially feared it had incorrectly delivered a bunch of boxes of people parts, but it is now pretty sure they are where they're supposed to be.

[Last modified March 9, 2007, 02:19:19]