Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

The skinny

By Times Wires
Published December 7, 2007

The great escape

Convict bails during commode commotion

In Indiana, a man in jail on a probation violation used his shift on work release as a chance to break out. During a lunch break from picking up roadside trash near Charlestown, Wayne Mitchell took a bathroom break. He clogged the toilet, presumably on purpose, then rushed out and said he needed towels to clean it up. As other inmates grabbed towels and began cleaning the mess, Mitchell, 24, just walked away. He ditched his prison suit at a nearby car dealership and told a salesman he wanted to test drive a 1995 Camaro convertible. So the salesman tossed him the keys. But he has not returned it yet.

Baby boom

Doctors await arrival of quints

Doctors at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans might have seen the story last week about the doctor in Wisconsin who delivered four sets of twins in one shift and said, "That all you got?" Early Tuesday, Pamela Kocke came in and delivered triplets, all boys. About 12 hours later, Alisha Murphy came in and delivered quadruplets, all girls. The triplets were conceived naturally, and the quadruplets by in vitro fertilization.

Dude, it'll be okay!

Concerned citizens try to rescue art

People walking around downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., on Tuesday were quite concerned to see a man hanging precariously from seven stories up on the city's Trade Center Building. So police and rescue workers responded, only to find that it was actually just a seemingly suicidal sculpture called Man Hanging Out. The installation is a life-sized likeness of Sigmund Freud, and even included the uplifting message, "Choose to hang on to life." "We wanted people to notice this great piece, and since nobody saw us putting it up, I think it surprised people," said Lisa McManus, a gallery spokeswoman. The rescue workers found the sculpture securely bolted to the building, and he will be there until spring.

UpdateS

Guinness robbery

Two men have been arrested in last week's robbery of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland. Police did not name the suspects or detail how much of the 450 kegs of beer has been recovered, or specifics of where it was found. Both men are out on bail while police try to find more suspects. The robbery, which amounted to 39,600 pints, was the biggest robbery in the 248-year history of the brewery.

No ho, ho, ho

The Australian staffing agency that swears it never told its regimen of Santas that they couldn't say "ho, ho, ho" has fired one of its Santas, and he says it's because he said "ho, ho, ho." Westaff, which reportedly told its St. Nicks not to use the term because of its dubious connotations in American slang, told the Cairns Post that John Oakes, 70, just wasn't jolly enough.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 7, 2007, 02:16:42]