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By TIMES WIRES
Published October 23, 2007

Bugging out

Vacant house wasn't quite empty after all

When four South Bend, Ind., police officers went to a house to investigate a burglary report, they probably were prepared to deal with a surprised intruder, even a dog. As it happened, the burglar got away - with a little help: A swarm of fleas overwhelmed the officers. "They were all over the place - in our socks and even in our shorts. It was disgusting," Cpl. Ken Stuart said. A van took the officers back to their station, where they showered with flea and lice shampoo and soap. Sgt. Chuck Stokes said the tenants of the house had recently been evicted but were keeping a dog in the back yard and allowing it to run around inside the garbage-filled house. No word on whether the burglar fled from the same problem or the cops, or whether anyone was caught. "The guys were very angry. The last thing they wanted to deal with was fleas," Stokes said of the officers' Oct. 14 ordeal. "That killed the whole shift."

Some use football to recruit ...

If the above item didn't gross you out and you're college age, you might consider the University of California at Riverside. At least that seems to be their line of thinking. The school is using a cockroach petting zoo to attract students and parents to a recruitment fair next month. The zoo will include several species, including cockroaches that emit a foul, ammonia-like scent and the palm-sized Madagascar hissing cockroach, pictured. The event targets high school students interested in careers as science teachers or engineers. See you there! ... Not.

The right choice

You might be drunk if ...

An 8-year-old boy riding in a car Saturday in Vancouver, Wash., thought something was amiss with the driver, his mother. So he called 911. "He said, 'I don't know where we are, and Mom's not acting normal,'" sheriff's Sgt. Randon M. Walker said. At least twice, the driver, Paulette Lynn Spears, 33, took the phone from the boy, told the dispatcher not to worry and hung up, Walker said. At one point, Walker said, Spears apparently bit the boy's hand to get the phone away from him. Eventually, Spears drove to a fire station, where police, guided by the boy's descriptions and GPS tracking of the phone calls, arrived less than a minute later and arrested her for investigation of drunken driving and on other charges. Records show she has at least one conviction for drunken driving. We'd like to think, though, that the boy learned what he did from her.

Worst gadget

They must not own universal remotes

The electric can opener is the worst household gadget invented, an online poll of 1,050 people said. Its failure to always complete the task and its high breakdown rate were the main reasons for its ranking. It topped the poll ahead of the "messy" waffle iron and "irritating" novelty alarm clocks. Rounding out the top five were the boiler system and the portable vacuum. The poll was conducted by British beddingmaker Comfy Quilts.

Compiled from Times wires and other sources.

[Last modified October 22, 2007, 23:51:02]