Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Digest

The skinny

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 23, 2007

HE HAS A METALHEAD

IF UNTREATED, HE MAY DEVELOP THE BOOGIE-WOOGIE FLU

A man in Sweden has officially been diagnosed as addicted to heavy metal, according to the Swedish Web site, the Local. Because the music dominated so much of Roger Tullgren's life, the government will pay part of his salary as a dishwasher. "I have been trying for ten years to get this classified as a handicap, " said Tullgren, 42. "(Psychologists) agreed that I needed this to avoid being discriminated against." So now he can come to work late on the 300 nights a year he goes to concerts, wear his ratty T-shirts and play loud music while he works. "But not too loud when there are guests, " he said.

PUBLIC SERVANTS

Baltimore cops must mind waist

Police of a certain girth in Baltimore have a decision to make: lose weight or bulk up. Because if their waist size is 36 or 38, the city just doesn't have any uniform pants for them. "We are officially out, " said Troy Harris, a police spokesman. "We're putting in an emergency order for those two sizes." New recruits get four pairs of pants when they start, and the department says that the problem is that they just hired 240 new officers.

Firefighters put out roach house

The 35 firefighters who fought a warehouse fire in Edinburg, Texas, will be excused from any drug tests for a while. Seems the warehouse was holding 2, 000 pounds of marijuana went it sparked up on Thursday. It took a half-hour and 1, 000 gallons of water to put it out, and a spokesman said that even though the firefighters were wearing air packs, some were a little loopy when they walked away. And a little hungry.

SEASONAL RUN

Welcome summer, clothing optional

If celebrating a midsummer festival without the benefit of clothing is your thing, then a town in Latvia is the place to be this weekend. Kuldiga will host its eighth annual naked run first thing Sunday morning. "The nude run is for everybody, no matter their gender, age or race, " Ilze Dambite-Damberga of the city council told AFP. "One can wear shoes or sneakers, as long as they don't go up to the armpits." The 500-foot fun run will culminate with beer drinking, and has turned into a bit of a spectator sport. "Usually there are more watchers than runners, " Dambite-Damberga said.

FLAW & ORDER

Thief, outdone by victim, needs cop

A man in jumped into a taxi in the German town of Aldenhoven with bad intentions. He demanded the driver's wallet. Reuters reports that the driver initially gave it to him, then decided to fight back. A scuffle ensued during which the driver not only got his wallet back, but lifted the wallet of the would-be thief and kicked him out of the cab. Then he locked the doors and called police. Oh, but the story doesn't end there. The robber waited for police ... because he wanted his wallet back. The cops got him the wallet, and charged him with attempted robbery.

Compiled by staff writer Jim Webster from Times wire services and other sources.

[Last modified June 23, 2007, 00:02:57]