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Letter to the editor

The skinny

By Times Wires
Published January 25, 2008

Attention shoppers

Frogs, scorpions available in the produce section

Yvonne Brechbuhler, a stage actor in New York, brought home some organic lettuce from the co-op, and as she was cleaning it noticed that a frog - presumably free range and also organic - was tucked in among the leaves. "I jumped away," she told the Daily News. "But once I realized it was a frog, I was okay." The finger-sized frog temporarily became her daughter's pet until they decided to take it to an animal rescue.

But that's better than what they found in the bananas in a Scottish supermarket, where BBC reports a 2.5-inch scorpion showed up in the produce department. Employees were able to find and remove it before anyone took it home. Experts say if it had stung someone, they would have been in excruciating pain for hours, but probably wouldn't have died. And the supermarket ensured its shoppers that this was an "isolated" incident.

Shipping swag

Hospital chain outlaws 'free' stuff

A lot of people think the price of health care might go down if drug companies stopped handing out tons of promotional trinkets to doctors. And one health company in Duluth, Minn., has a plan. SMDC Health Systems purged its hospitals and clinics of all the pens, notepads, coffee mugs, mouse pads, clipboards, clocks, stuffed animals and other assorted ... stuff ... with drug company logos. Through its facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin, they found 18,718 items. What did they do with 18,718 pieces of promotional ... stuff? They sent it to a hospital in Cameroon.

Dumb criminals

Lie leads to a police escort

Police in York, Maine, pulled over a 1996 Volkswagen Jetta on Monday because a taillight was out, reports Seacoastonline.com. The driver said his wife, in the passenger seat, was pregnant, so the cops did the right thing and escorted them to the hospital. But on the way, one multitasked and ran the plates. Turns out the car was stolen. They let the woman check into the hospital, where doctors almost immediately determined she was not even pregnant. Police arrested the man.

Footprints lead to burglary suspect

It is hard to be a burglar in Bend, Ore., in the winter. Police were able to track down a man who attempted to break into a restaurant on Monday by following footprints in the snow to the man's secret hideout, according to the Bend Weekly. A second suspect was not immediately caught.

Bitter cold leads to really bad decision

Four teenagers in Winnipeg, Alberta, were on their way to a court-ordered counseling program for chronic auto thieves. Being Canada, it was very, very cold, so they didn't really feel like walking. So they stole a car. "This is the perfect example of where you get a lot of resources going to certain people," said Kevin Kavitch, of the city's stolen autos unit. "And some people still make dumb decisions."

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

[Last modified January 25, 2008, 00:16:00]