Ind. House Wrongly Valued at $400 Million
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) - A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana.
An outside user of Porter County's computer system may have triggered the mess by accidentally changing the value of the Valparaiso house, said Sharon Lippens, director of the county's information technologies and service department. The house had been valued at $121,900 before the glitch.
County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about $1,500 in property taxes; this year, it was billed $8 million.
The homeowner, Dennis Charnetzky, declined to comment about the situation to The Associated Press on Friday.
Lippens said her agency identified the mistake and told the county auditor's office how to correct it. But the $400 million value ended up on documents that were used to calculate tax rates.
Most local officials did not learn about the mistake until Tuesday, when 18 government taxing units were asked to return a total of $3.1 million of tax money. The city of Valparaiso and the Valparaiso Community School Corp. were asked to return $2.7 million. As a result, the school system has a $200,000 budget shortfall, and the city loses $900,000.
Officials struggled to figure out how the mistake got into the system and how it could have been prevented. City leaders said Thursday the error could cause layoffs and cost-cutting measures.
Lippens said the outside user changed the property value, most likely while trying to access another program while using the county's enhanced access system, which charges users a fee for access to public records that are not otherwise available on the Internet.
Lippens said the user probably tried to access a real estate record display by pressing R-E-D, but accidentally typed R-E-R, which brought up an assessment program written in 1995. The program is no longer in use, and technology officials did not know it could be accessed.
The county treasurer said his office spotted the $400 million error after it caused an improper billing, but apparently it wasn't corrected elsewhere.
"It didn't get fixed all the way," Murphy said.
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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Woman Carrying Human Head Arrested in Fla.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Airport baggage screeners found a human head with teeth, hair and skin in the luggage of a woman who said she intended to ward off evil spirits with it, authorities said Friday.
Myrlene Severe, 30, a Haitian-born permanent U.S. resident, was charged Friday with smuggling a human head into the U.S. without proper documentation.
Customs and Border Protection officials found the head Thursday, after Severe arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a Lynx International Airlines flight from Cap Haitien, Haiti, said Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.
"It still had teeth, hair and bits of skin and lots of dirt," Gonzalez said.
Severe told authorities she had obtained the package in Haiti for "use as a part of her voodoo beliefs," ICE Special Agent Erick Hernandez wrote in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
"Severe also stated that the purpose of the package was to ward off evil spirits," Hernandez wrote.
Severe, who also was charged with failing to declare the head and transporting hazardous material in air commerce, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.
Severe remained held Friday in lieu of a $100,000 bond. She is due back in federal court March 2.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Airport baggage screeners found a human head with teeth, hair and skin in the luggage of a woman who said she intended to ward off evil spirits with it, authorities said Friday.
Myrlene Severe, 30, a Haitian-born permanent U.S. resident, was charged Friday with smuggling a human head into the U.S. without proper documentation.
Customs and Border Protection officials found the head Thursday, after Severe arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a Lynx International Airlines flight from Cap Haitien, Haiti, said Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.
"It still had teeth, hair and bits of skin and lots of dirt," Gonzalez said.
Severe told authorities she had obtained the package in Haiti for "use as a part of her voodoo beliefs," ICE Special Agent Erick Hernandez wrote in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
"Severe also stated that the purpose of the package was to ward off evil spirits," Hernandez wrote.
Severe, who also was charged with failing to declare the head and transporting hazardous material in air commerce, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.
Severe remained held Friday in lieu of a $100,000 bond. She is due back in federal court March 2.
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Woman Puts 'Offender' Sign on Wrong House
BELLA VISTA, Ark. (AP) - A woman in Benton County hung a sign on a neighbor's door warning people that the man who lived there was a sex offender.
But there were two problems: she had the wrong house, and even if she had the right house, police say sex offender notifications can't be used to harass released convicts.
"Don't play here. Child molester lives here," the sign said, according to a police report.
Carolyn Hansen of Bella Vista also posted warnings in a nearby park. Those signs said, "There is a child molester here. Keep children out of the park."
Hansen told sheriff's investigators she'd been told by her daughter that a sex offender who moved to the neighborhood lived in the house.
The signs were collected, but a deputy saw Hansen posting the fliers again and stopped her.
After Hansen learned the address she had was the wrong one, she apologized to the man she targeted, deputies said. The man didn't want her prosecuted so she was not charged, Benton County sheriff's investigator Barb Shrum said.
The names, addresses and photographs of all level 3 and 4 sex offenders are available on the Arkansas Crime Information Center Web site. A sex offender listed on the registry had moved near the park.
The center's Web site notes that the information is provided to the public as a service, but "anyone who uses this information to commit a criminal act against another person is subject to criminal prosecution."
"The whole point of this is to be able to keep your family and your neighborhood safe from these people, but you can't harass them," Shrum said.
___
Information from: The Morning News
BELLA VISTA, Ark. (AP) - A woman in Benton County hung a sign on a neighbor's door warning people that the man who lived there was a sex offender.
But there were two problems: she had the wrong house, and even if she had the right house, police say sex offender notifications can't be used to harass released convicts.
"Don't play here. Child molester lives here," the sign said, according to a police report.
Carolyn Hansen of Bella Vista also posted warnings in a nearby park. Those signs said, "There is a child molester here. Keep children out of the park."
Hansen told sheriff's investigators she'd been told by her daughter that a sex offender who moved to the neighborhood lived in the house.
The signs were collected, but a deputy saw Hansen posting the fliers again and stopped her.
After Hansen learned the address she had was the wrong one, she apologized to the man she targeted, deputies said. The man didn't want her prosecuted so she was not charged, Benton County sheriff's investigator Barb Shrum said.
The names, addresses and photographs of all level 3 and 4 sex offenders are available on the Arkansas Crime Information Center Web site. A sex offender listed on the registry had moved near the park.
The center's Web site notes that the information is provided to the public as a service, but "anyone who uses this information to commit a criminal act against another person is subject to criminal prosecution."
"The whole point of this is to be able to keep your family and your neighborhood safe from these people, but you can't harass them," Shrum said.
___
Information from: The Morning News
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Sports Broadcasting Legend Traded For Cartoon
NEW YORK (Exploding Cigar/AP) -- In exchange for allowing sportscaster Al Michaels to leave ABC early for a job at NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Co. is getting back a piece of its history: The first animated character created by Disney.
His name was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The cheeky bunny was created by Disney and his chief creative partner in 1927 at the request of Universal Pictures. (Click here to see picture of Oswald.)
Disney cranked out 26 of the silent Oswald cartoons. The character proved popular and soon began appearing on merchandise.
But Disney suffered a devastating blow when he found out that Universal owned the rights to Oswald, and would continue to create Oswald cartoons without Disney.
Disney recovered. He created a new cartoon character by the name of Mickey Mouse.
In the deal announced Thursday, Disney will get the rights to the Oswald character plus all 26 shorts created by Disney.
NBC also secured Michaels' NFL broadcasting team and talent in exchange for rights to Ryder Cup matches with a rights fee, Olympic highlights, broader access to Notre Dame football, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
The agreement was reached following negotiations between ABC Sports, ESPN president George Bodenheimer and NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol throughout the last month.
Michaels' partner in the booth throughout the last four years, John Madden signed a six-year deal with NBC in June. The company takes over Sunday night NFL games next season from ESPN, which will broadcast Monday Night Football. NBC will join Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth with the duo for their studio show.
Retired quarterback Joe Theismann, Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser and Mike Tirico will broadcast from the ESPN booth during Monday night games next season.
NEW YORK (Exploding Cigar/AP) -- In exchange for allowing sportscaster Al Michaels to leave ABC early for a job at NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Co. is getting back a piece of its history: The first animated character created by Disney.
His name was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The cheeky bunny was created by Disney and his chief creative partner in 1927 at the request of Universal Pictures. (Click here to see picture of Oswald.)
Disney cranked out 26 of the silent Oswald cartoons. The character proved popular and soon began appearing on merchandise.
But Disney suffered a devastating blow when he found out that Universal owned the rights to Oswald, and would continue to create Oswald cartoons without Disney.
Disney recovered. He created a new cartoon character by the name of Mickey Mouse.
In the deal announced Thursday, Disney will get the rights to the Oswald character plus all 26 shorts created by Disney.
NBC also secured Michaels' NFL broadcasting team and talent in exchange for rights to Ryder Cup matches with a rights fee, Olympic highlights, broader access to Notre Dame football, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
The agreement was reached following negotiations between ABC Sports, ESPN president George Bodenheimer and NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol throughout the last month.
Michaels' partner in the booth throughout the last four years, John Madden signed a six-year deal with NBC in June. The company takes over Sunday night NFL games next season from ESPN, which will broadcast Monday Night Football. NBC will join Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth with the duo for their studio show.
Retired quarterback Joe Theismann, Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser and Mike Tirico will broadcast from the ESPN booth during Monday night games next season.
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Mistake Saves Turlock Family From Carbon Monoxide
TURLOCK, Calif. (KOVR CBS 13/Exploding Cigar) - A mistake leads to a life-saving miracle for a Turlock family. A simple purchase helped the family escape a near disaster.
The Sanders family went to buy a smoke alarm, but accidentally bought a carbon monoxide detector. Little did they know, it would end up saving their lives.
Jason Sanders had no idea this device he bought by mistake would be the one thing that kept his family alive.
“I got home and I was a little discouraged it wasn't a smoke detector my wife said to plug it in anyway, it ended up saving our lives," he says.
With a newborn in the house and twin toddlers suffering from health problems related to their premature births, Jason and his wife Lisa decided to have their ducts cleaned. Turns out, the company didn't properly reconnect a pipe back up to the furnace.
“What happened was the carbon monoxide built up and had no place to go," says Kirk Summers of the Turlock Fire Department.
It went back into the ventilation system and filled their bedrooms.
"We woke up to a high pitch sound built up extremely high," says Sanders.
Sleepy and disoriented the couple, the three infants and Lisa's mother called 911, and were rushed to the hospital. The detector read 118 parts per million, Captiain Kurt Summers who responded to the call, said at 35 parts per million firefighters are required to wear protective gear.
"The inherent danger is it's silent. You can't see, taste or smell to know it's there," says Summers.
The sanders say they know they were minutes away from not making it. They say knowing other families lives can be saved by hearing their story will make them breathe easier.
"Get a detector, get one or else it could be really bad."
TURLOCK, Calif. (KOVR CBS 13/Exploding Cigar) - A mistake leads to a life-saving miracle for a Turlock family. A simple purchase helped the family escape a near disaster.
The Sanders family went to buy a smoke alarm, but accidentally bought a carbon monoxide detector. Little did they know, it would end up saving their lives.
Jason Sanders had no idea this device he bought by mistake would be the one thing that kept his family alive.
“I got home and I was a little discouraged it wasn't a smoke detector my wife said to plug it in anyway, it ended up saving our lives," he says.
With a newborn in the house and twin toddlers suffering from health problems related to their premature births, Jason and his wife Lisa decided to have their ducts cleaned. Turns out, the company didn't properly reconnect a pipe back up to the furnace.
“What happened was the carbon monoxide built up and had no place to go," says Kirk Summers of the Turlock Fire Department.
It went back into the ventilation system and filled their bedrooms.
"We woke up to a high pitch sound built up extremely high," says Sanders.
Sleepy and disoriented the couple, the three infants and Lisa's mother called 911, and were rushed to the hospital. The detector read 118 parts per million, Captiain Kurt Summers who responded to the call, said at 35 parts per million firefighters are required to wear protective gear.
"The inherent danger is it's silent. You can't see, taste or smell to know it's there," says Summers.
The sanders say they know they were minutes away from not making it. They say knowing other families lives can be saved by hearing their story will make them breathe easier.
"Get a detector, get one or else it could be really bad."
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Islanders comb beach for washed-up shoe cargo
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Thousands of sports shoes washed up onto a Dutch island Friday after a passing container ship lost part of its cargo, attracting hundreds of local residents anxious to find their size.
Nine containers from the Hamburg-bound ship drifted ashore on the island of Terschelling after an overnight storm, packed with shoes, aluminum briefcases, toys and hamburgers.
Most containers remained sealed, Dutch evening paper Het Parool reported, and police were guarding their contents, although they turned a blind eye to any locals selecting a few shoes.
The last good opportunity for beachcombing here was about 15 years ago, said local newspaper reporter Annemarie Brink.
"Then it was a case of toys, shirts and rain jackets. You'd still see islanders walking around in them years afterwards."
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Thousands of sports shoes washed up onto a Dutch island Friday after a passing container ship lost part of its cargo, attracting hundreds of local residents anxious to find their size.
Nine containers from the Hamburg-bound ship drifted ashore on the island of Terschelling after an overnight storm, packed with shoes, aluminum briefcases, toys and hamburgers.
Most containers remained sealed, Dutch evening paper Het Parool reported, and police were guarding their contents, although they turned a blind eye to any locals selecting a few shoes.
The last good opportunity for beachcombing here was about 15 years ago, said local newspaper reporter Annemarie Brink.
"Then it was a case of toys, shirts and rain jackets. You'd still see islanders walking around in them years afterwards."
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Official wants coca fed to school children
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia's foreign minister says coca leaves, the raw material for cocaine, are so nutritious they should be included on school breakfast menus.
"Coca has more calcium than milk. It should be part of the school breakfast," Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of La Razon.
The new leftist government of Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, has vowed to promote the legal uses of coca, the plant used to make cocaine, which is revered in Andean culture and is commonly chewed or made into tea.
Morales, himself a former coca farmer, has pledged to fight the drugs trade but at the same time protect the cultivation of coca in Bolivia -- the world's third-biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and Peru.
A coca leaf weighing 100 grams contains 18.9 calories of protein, 45.8 mg of iron, 1540 mg of calcium and vitamins A, B1, B2, E and C, which is more than most nuts, according to a 1975 study by a group of Harvard University professors.
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia's foreign minister says coca leaves, the raw material for cocaine, are so nutritious they should be included on school breakfast menus.
"Coca has more calcium than milk. It should be part of the school breakfast," Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of La Razon.
The new leftist government of Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, has vowed to promote the legal uses of coca, the plant used to make cocaine, which is revered in Andean culture and is commonly chewed or made into tea.
Morales, himself a former coca farmer, has pledged to fight the drugs trade but at the same time protect the cultivation of coca in Bolivia -- the world's third-biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and Peru.
A coca leaf weighing 100 grams contains 18.9 calories of protein, 45.8 mg of iron, 1540 mg of calcium and vitamins A, B1, B2, E and C, which is more than most nuts, according to a 1975 study by a group of Harvard University professors.
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Police tell tourists not to rely on them
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Angry Brazilian police officers demanding higher pay staged a protest in Rio de Janeiro's international airport on Friday, warning tourists they cannot rely on the crime-ridden city's poorly paid cops.
"Perhaps you are in danger," a banner read in English as about 20 members of Rio state Civil Police Union distributed leaflets in various languages and spoke to tourists arriving in Rio two weeks before its Carnival celebrations.
"Police here are not inspired to do a good job and in this situation tourists run the risk of being robbed," said Fernando Bandeira, president of the union and a senior investigator with Civil Police, which handles investigations in Brazil.
Rio police chief Alvaro Lins suspended the participants.
"Such actions are not envisaged by the police statute. The participants were ordered to hand in their guns and badges," a Civil Police spokesman said.
Rio is already infamous as one of the world's most violent cities. Tourism officials complain this image does little to boost the number of tourists, even though many still come to enjoy the oceanside city's natural beauty.
"Maybe the sector's entrepreneurs will pressure the governor to resolve our wage situation," Bandeira said.
Detectives and other civil police agents are demanding a salary increase of 50 percent. The average wage is $550 per month. They say they have to resort to moonlighting or apply for jobs elsewhere to make ends meet.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Angry Brazilian police officers demanding higher pay staged a protest in Rio de Janeiro's international airport on Friday, warning tourists they cannot rely on the crime-ridden city's poorly paid cops.
"Perhaps you are in danger," a banner read in English as about 20 members of Rio state Civil Police Union distributed leaflets in various languages and spoke to tourists arriving in Rio two weeks before its Carnival celebrations.
"Police here are not inspired to do a good job and in this situation tourists run the risk of being robbed," said Fernando Bandeira, president of the union and a senior investigator with Civil Police, which handles investigations in Brazil.
Rio police chief Alvaro Lins suspended the participants.
"Such actions are not envisaged by the police statute. The participants were ordered to hand in their guns and badges," a Civil Police spokesman said.
Rio is already infamous as one of the world's most violent cities. Tourism officials complain this image does little to boost the number of tourists, even though many still come to enjoy the oceanside city's natural beauty.
"Maybe the sector's entrepreneurs will pressure the governor to resolve our wage situation," Bandeira said.
Detectives and other civil police agents are demanding a salary increase of 50 percent. The average wage is $550 per month. They say they have to resort to moonlighting or apply for jobs elsewhere to make ends meet.
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Woman who married 15-year-old gives birth
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- A Georgia teenager who married a woman accused of molesting him has become a father.
Thirty-seven year-old Lisa Clark gave birth to a boy Saturday night at an Atlanta-area hospital. A friend tells The Atlanta Journal Constitution the child is a "healthy baby boy with sandy blonde hair."
Clark and the 15-year-old were married in November. She was arrested last week for a second time because authorities found she had violated a court order and communicated with her husband, who had fled a state group home.
The woman was scheduled to be arraigned on the molestation charge Monday.
ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- A Georgia teenager who married a woman accused of molesting him has become a father.
Thirty-seven year-old Lisa Clark gave birth to a boy Saturday night at an Atlanta-area hospital. A friend tells The Atlanta Journal Constitution the child is a "healthy baby boy with sandy blonde hair."
Clark and the 15-year-old were married in November. She was arrested last week for a second time because authorities found she had violated a court order and communicated with her husband, who had fled a state group home.
The woman was scheduled to be arraigned on the molestation charge Monday.
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Couple Reunited After More Than 60 Years
ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) - Willard Mason and Ilah Ost are giving new meaning to the phrase: "Love is patient." More than 60 years ago, the couple were engaged to be married, but life's circumstances got in the way.
Now, after they each married others, raised families and their spouses died, the two are together again.
"Ilah was my first girlfriend," Mason told The Daily Telegram. "I first met her when I was a sophomore at Blissfield High School."
The two began dating and got engaged.
But in 1941, Mason moved to Ypsilanti to work at the Willow Run bomber plant. There, he met a woman named Helvi, and broke his engagement to Ost. He married Helvi in 1942.
Ost later married her husband, Marvin, and had three children before he died in 1974.
Mason's wife died in 2003, and by chance, he ran into Ost's brother in Blissfield in 2004, and he encouraged Mason to call Ost.
The two started dating, with Mason driving from his home near Houghton Lake to Adrian, where Ost lived.
On one of his trips to Adrian, Mason blacked out and struck a tree with his car. Tests showed he needed a new pacemaker, Mason said.
He then moved to near Adrian and invited Ost to move in with him.
"We get along perfectly," Mason said. "We've never had an argument. She's a great cook, and she takes care of me."
Mason and Ost spend much of their time with friends and family, and Mason marvels at how the two have gotten back together after so many years.
"You don't know how our lives might have turned out if we'd gotten married in 1941," Mason said. "But now, she has a wonderful family and so do I."
___
Information from: The Daily Telegram
ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) - Willard Mason and Ilah Ost are giving new meaning to the phrase: "Love is patient." More than 60 years ago, the couple were engaged to be married, but life's circumstances got in the way.
Now, after they each married others, raised families and their spouses died, the two are together again.
"Ilah was my first girlfriend," Mason told The Daily Telegram. "I first met her when I was a sophomore at Blissfield High School."
The two began dating and got engaged.
But in 1941, Mason moved to Ypsilanti to work at the Willow Run bomber plant. There, he met a woman named Helvi, and broke his engagement to Ost. He married Helvi in 1942.
Ost later married her husband, Marvin, and had three children before he died in 1974.
Mason's wife died in 2003, and by chance, he ran into Ost's brother in Blissfield in 2004, and he encouraged Mason to call Ost.
The two started dating, with Mason driving from his home near Houghton Lake to Adrian, where Ost lived.
On one of his trips to Adrian, Mason blacked out and struck a tree with his car. Tests showed he needed a new pacemaker, Mason said.
He then moved to near Adrian and invited Ost to move in with him.
"We get along perfectly," Mason said. "We've never had an argument. She's a great cook, and she takes care of me."
Mason and Ost spend much of their time with friends and family, and Mason marvels at how the two have gotten back together after so many years.
"You don't know how our lives might have turned out if we'd gotten married in 1941," Mason said. "But now, she has a wonderful family and so do I."
___
Information from: The Daily Telegram
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Man's Elbow, Mistaken for Squirrel, Shot
GOLDEN TOWNSHIP, Michigan (AP) - A man was shot and injured when his hunting partner mistook his elbow for a squirrel, authorities said.
Michigan State Police said George Arthur Sikkenga, 64, of Muskegon, Michigan was wounded Sunday morning in Golden Township, in Michigan's west-central Lower Peninsula.
Sikkenga was wearing camouflage clothing except for an orange hat, which he had covered with a hood after sitting down behind a tree, The Muskegon Chronicle reported.
His clothed elbow was all of him that was visible when his friend, Gregory Scott Wood approached from behind the tree and fired his weapon, which the Ludington Daily News described as a .17-caliber rifle.
Sikkenga was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.
Police were investigating the shooting.
GOLDEN TOWNSHIP, Michigan (AP) - A man was shot and injured when his hunting partner mistook his elbow for a squirrel, authorities said.
Michigan State Police said George Arthur Sikkenga, 64, of Muskegon, Michigan was wounded Sunday morning in Golden Township, in Michigan's west-central Lower Peninsula.
Sikkenga was wearing camouflage clothing except for an orange hat, which he had covered with a hood after sitting down behind a tree, The Muskegon Chronicle reported.
His clothed elbow was all of him that was visible when his friend, Gregory Scott Wood approached from behind the tree and fired his weapon, which the Ludington Daily News described as a .17-caliber rifle.
Sikkenga was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.
Police were investigating the shooting.
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rainstorm
TexasStooge wrote:Woman Carrying Human Head Arrested in Fla.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Airport baggage screeners found a human head with teeth, hair and skin in the luggage of a woman who said she intended to ward off evil spirits with it, authorities said Friday.
Myrlene Severe, 30, a Haitian-born permanent U.S. resident, was charged Friday with smuggling a human head into the U.S. without proper documentation.
Customs and Border Protection officials found the head Thursday, after Severe arrived at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on a Lynx International Airlines flight from Cap Haitien, Haiti, said Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Miami.
"It still had teeth, hair and bits of skin and lots of dirt," Gonzalez said.
Severe told authorities she had obtained the package in Haiti for "use as a part of her voodoo beliefs," ICE Special Agent Erick Hernandez wrote in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
"Severe also stated that the purpose of the package was to ward off evil spirits," Hernandez wrote.
Severe, who also was charged with failing to declare the head and transporting hazardous material in air commerce, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.
Severe remained held Friday in lieu of a $100,000 bond. She is due back in federal court March 2.
15 years sounds way to harsh to me. evil spirits are bad
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Grocery shopping? Take your rubber gloves!
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - Shopping cart handles are the most bacteria-infested items among some commonly used objects while doorknobs on public bathrooms are not as bad as might be expected, according to a survey conducted in South Korea.
The Korea Consumer Protection Board tested six items that are commonly handled by the public and ran tests for their bacteria content.
Shopping cart handles led the way with 1,100 colony forming units of bacteria per 10 sq cm (1.55 sq inches) followed by a mouse used on computers in Internet cafes, which had an average of 690 colony forming units.
"The reason that shopping cart handles had so much bacteria is because the area is larger than the others and people have more space to place their hands," Kwon Young-il, an official at the consumer body, said by telephone.
Hand straps on buses were next with 380 units, followed by bathroom doorknobs at 340.
Rounding out the list were elevator buttons at 130 colony forming units and hand straps on subways at 86.
The report released this week said washing hands with soap removes almost all of the bacteria.
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - Shopping cart handles are the most bacteria-infested items among some commonly used objects while doorknobs on public bathrooms are not as bad as might be expected, according to a survey conducted in South Korea.
The Korea Consumer Protection Board tested six items that are commonly handled by the public and ran tests for their bacteria content.
Shopping cart handles led the way with 1,100 colony forming units of bacteria per 10 sq cm (1.55 sq inches) followed by a mouse used on computers in Internet cafes, which had an average of 690 colony forming units.
"The reason that shopping cart handles had so much bacteria is because the area is larger than the others and people have more space to place their hands," Kwon Young-il, an official at the consumer body, said by telephone.
Hand straps on buses were next with 380 units, followed by bathroom doorknobs at 340.
Rounding out the list were elevator buttons at 130 colony forming units and hand straps on subways at 86.
The report released this week said washing hands with soap removes almost all of the bacteria.
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Lunchbox full of minty-fresh coins
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - An Australian man has been charged with stealing more than A$6,000 ($4,400) from the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra by hiding new A$2 coins in his work boots and lunchbox, Australian Federal Police said Tuesday.
"It is alleged he stole between A$500 to A$700 per week by concealing minted A$2 coins in his work boots and lunch box," police said in a statement.
Following the man's arrest in the regional Victoria state town of Bendigo Monday night, police then searched a home on Tuesday in the New South Wales town of Queanbeyan, which neighbors Canberra and seized more than A$100,000 in coins.
The man has been remanded in custody and will reappear in Bendigo Local Court on February 15.
CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - An Australian man has been charged with stealing more than A$6,000 ($4,400) from the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra by hiding new A$2 coins in his work boots and lunchbox, Australian Federal Police said Tuesday.
"It is alleged he stole between A$500 to A$700 per week by concealing minted A$2 coins in his work boots and lunch box," police said in a statement.
Following the man's arrest in the regional Victoria state town of Bendigo Monday night, police then searched a home on Tuesday in the New South Wales town of Queanbeyan, which neighbors Canberra and seized more than A$100,000 in coins.
The man has been remanded in custody and will reappear in Bendigo Local Court on February 15.
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TexasStooge
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Still in Love After 77 Valentine's Days
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Fred Landis has a Valentine's Day ritual. Sometime, somewhere, he'll lean over to his wife, Gwen, and say, "I love you." They say he's been doing that on Valentine's Days since 1928, when they were married.
In October, Fred, 102, and Gwen, 101, celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary, and they are not far shy of a record. The longest current marriage, according to the 2006 edition of Guinness World Records, is 78 years, 296 days.
On Valentine's Day 2006, Fred will say "I love you" a bit louder than he used to because Gwen is hard of hearing. Fred has macular degeneration, which has kept him from writing poetry for her.
Gwen says Fred wrote poems to her during their courtship, a gesture that may have won her heart.
"I think that had something to do with it," she said with a shy smile.
They met in 1924 as college students, he at Albany College and she at Simpson Bible College in Seattle. Fred attended a church where Gwen's father was the pastor. When they were married, Gwen's father performed the ceremony.
Gwen remembers receiving $800 for a wedding gift, then losing it all in the stock-market crash the following year.
The Landises spent the next four decades working in ministry and raising four children. Fred was the pastor at several small churches in the Northwest. Gwen played the piano and organ and taught Sunday school.
He retired in 1970, and they have lived in Salem since then. They moved to a retirement center in 1994.
"They're just wonderful people. You couldn't find any better," says a friend, Dorothea McAuley. "They're setting an example for everybody. They're always happy. I've never seen one of them angry. They're God's example."
Commitment is the word Gwen uses to describe their marriage success. Fred agrees.
"Sure, we've had squabbles and disagreements galore," he said. "But there's a commitment to marriage because we have a reverence to it."
They have eight grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
Son John, 67, says he continues to be amazed by his parents, their relationship and their lives.
"I think — I know — they would not have lived this long singly," John says. "They keep each other going."
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Fred Landis has a Valentine's Day ritual. Sometime, somewhere, he'll lean over to his wife, Gwen, and say, "I love you." They say he's been doing that on Valentine's Days since 1928, when they were married.
In October, Fred, 102, and Gwen, 101, celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary, and they are not far shy of a record. The longest current marriage, according to the 2006 edition of Guinness World Records, is 78 years, 296 days.
On Valentine's Day 2006, Fred will say "I love you" a bit louder than he used to because Gwen is hard of hearing. Fred has macular degeneration, which has kept him from writing poetry for her.
Gwen says Fred wrote poems to her during their courtship, a gesture that may have won her heart.
"I think that had something to do with it," she said with a shy smile.
They met in 1924 as college students, he at Albany College and she at Simpson Bible College in Seattle. Fred attended a church where Gwen's father was the pastor. When they were married, Gwen's father performed the ceremony.
Gwen remembers receiving $800 for a wedding gift, then losing it all in the stock-market crash the following year.
The Landises spent the next four decades working in ministry and raising four children. Fred was the pastor at several small churches in the Northwest. Gwen played the piano and organ and taught Sunday school.
He retired in 1970, and they have lived in Salem since then. They moved to a retirement center in 1994.
"They're just wonderful people. You couldn't find any better," says a friend, Dorothea McAuley. "They're setting an example for everybody. They're always happy. I've never seen one of them angry. They're God's example."
Commitment is the word Gwen uses to describe their marriage success. Fred agrees.
"Sure, we've had squabbles and disagreements galore," he said. "But there's a commitment to marriage because we have a reverence to it."
They have eight grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
Son John, 67, says he continues to be amazed by his parents, their relationship and their lives.
"I think — I know — they would not have lived this long singly," John says. "They keep each other going."
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TexasStooge
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Prison Overrun by More Than 100 Cats
AVENAL, Calif. (AP) - Administrators at Avenal State Prison said they will have to kill more than 100 cats that have sneaked in and reproduced inside the facility.
The felines have become a health nuisance for the prison. The state has cited the prison for unsafe working conditions because of cat urine and feces.
Prison officials said they do not know how the animals got in.
Over the weekend, volunteers removed about 50 cats, taking most to a Central Valley ranch. Volunteers spayed and neutered and the animals, and gave some veterinary care.
There are still about 100 more roaming the facility, prison officials said.
Prison workers are trying to trap the animals.
AVENAL, Calif. (AP) - Administrators at Avenal State Prison said they will have to kill more than 100 cats that have sneaked in and reproduced inside the facility.
The felines have become a health nuisance for the prison. The state has cited the prison for unsafe working conditions because of cat urine and feces.
Prison officials said they do not know how the animals got in.
Over the weekend, volunteers removed about 50 cats, taking most to a Central Valley ranch. Volunteers spayed and neutered and the animals, and gave some veterinary care.
There are still about 100 more roaming the facility, prison officials said.
Prison workers are trying to trap the animals.
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TexasStooge
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First Grader Finds Pot Bags in Locker
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Police said a first-grader found more than 20 bags of marijuana in her locker.
The 6-year-old Franklin Magnet School student "took her hat out of the locker to go home from school ... and when she went to put it on, the bags fell out," said school district spokesman Neil Driscoll on Monday.
The student made the discovery Thursday and immediately reported it to a teacher, Driscoll said.
It's unclear where the drugs came from, but they appear to have been in her locker throughout the school day, said police spokesman, Sgt. Tom Connellan. She apparently did not wear the hat to school that day.
Principal Frank Fiello said the locker is really more like a cubby space with a hook and a door. The lockers don't lock, he said.
"This is absolutely, no question, in all the years I've been in education, the most unusual thing I've seen," Fiello said.
---
Information from: The Syracuse Post-Standard
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Police said a first-grader found more than 20 bags of marijuana in her locker.
The 6-year-old Franklin Magnet School student "took her hat out of the locker to go home from school ... and when she went to put it on, the bags fell out," said school district spokesman Neil Driscoll on Monday.
The student made the discovery Thursday and immediately reported it to a teacher, Driscoll said.
It's unclear where the drugs came from, but they appear to have been in her locker throughout the school day, said police spokesman, Sgt. Tom Connellan. She apparently did not wear the hat to school that day.
Principal Frank Fiello said the locker is really more like a cubby space with a hook and a door. The lockers don't lock, he said.
"This is absolutely, no question, in all the years I've been in education, the most unusual thing I've seen," Fiello said.
---
Information from: The Syracuse Post-Standard
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TexasStooge
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Okay, tell me once more how this happened?
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - A German youth who tied himself to a foldaway bed because he was bored was rescued by police after becoming trapped in its mechanism, officials said on Tuesday.
Neighbors alerted the police in the western German town of Schwelm after hearing the 16-year-old's cries for help late on Monday night.
When police entered the apartment, they found the bed had folded itself away and the red-faced youth was tied upside down to it with a tow-rope and wire and unable to free himself.
"He said he did it because he was bored," said Dietmar Trust, a spokesman for the local police. "He was visibly embarrassed but it was also a pretty amusing situation."
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - A German youth who tied himself to a foldaway bed because he was bored was rescued by police after becoming trapped in its mechanism, officials said on Tuesday.
Neighbors alerted the police in the western German town of Schwelm after hearing the 16-year-old's cries for help late on Monday night.
When police entered the apartment, they found the bed had folded itself away and the red-faced youth was tied upside down to it with a tow-rope and wire and unable to free himself.
"He said he did it because he was bored," said Dietmar Trust, a spokesman for the local police. "He was visibly embarrassed but it was also a pretty amusing situation."
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TexasStooge
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Forgive me, Father, for I have guns...
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - A priest in Germany got more than he bargained for during confession when a man not only declared his sins, but also handed over a machine gun and a hand grenade, police in Bavaria said Tuesday.
"He also gave the priest a cardboard box with a clown's face and the words 'Red Nose Day March 26, 2004' on it containing 34 cartridges of 7.65 mm caliber," police said in a statement.
The priest from the southern town of Pfarrkirchen turned in the weapons to police but told them church rules governing confession prevented him from revealing the man's identity.
"It's unclear as to whether the church has forgiven the sinner, but specialists in Bavaria's regional crime agency who are bound to earthly laws are now investigating the matter in accordance with gun control laws," police said.
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - A priest in Germany got more than he bargained for during confession when a man not only declared his sins, but also handed over a machine gun and a hand grenade, police in Bavaria said Tuesday.
"He also gave the priest a cardboard box with a clown's face and the words 'Red Nose Day March 26, 2004' on it containing 34 cartridges of 7.65 mm caliber," police said in a statement.
The priest from the southern town of Pfarrkirchen turned in the weapons to police but told them church rules governing confession prevented him from revealing the man's identity.
"It's unclear as to whether the church has forgiven the sinner, but specialists in Bavaria's regional crime agency who are bound to earthly laws are now investigating the matter in accordance with gun control laws," police said.
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TexasStooge
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Dodgy digital box sparks big search
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Lifeboats and a helicopter scoured the sea to track down an electronic distress signal -- only for coastguards to discover it came from a British retiree's faulty digital television box on dry land.
The coastguards were scrambled after a rescue coordination center in Scotland picked up what it believed to be a distress signal coming from the sea off southern England.
But communications experts later traced the signal to the digital television set-top box in the home of 67-year-old Mary Donaldson in the western town of Plymouth.
"We sent a helicopter out and two lifeboats before we discovered that the signal was in fact coming from inland," a spokesman for the coastguards said Wednesday.
Donaldson was at the cinema when the experts tracked down the signal. "We sent two officers there to investigate and they were still there when the lady came home," the spokesman said.
The incident late last month was the second time this year a set-top box in Britain has been blamed for a distress signal. Communications regulator Ofcom said both boxes were being analyzed but stressed such cases were extremely rare.
LONDON, England (Reuters) - Lifeboats and a helicopter scoured the sea to track down an electronic distress signal -- only for coastguards to discover it came from a British retiree's faulty digital television box on dry land.
The coastguards were scrambled after a rescue coordination center in Scotland picked up what it believed to be a distress signal coming from the sea off southern England.
But communications experts later traced the signal to the digital television set-top box in the home of 67-year-old Mary Donaldson in the western town of Plymouth.
"We sent a helicopter out and two lifeboats before we discovered that the signal was in fact coming from inland," a spokesman for the coastguards said Wednesday.
Donaldson was at the cinema when the experts tracked down the signal. "We sent two officers there to investigate and they were still there when the lady came home," the spokesman said.
The incident late last month was the second time this year a set-top box in Britain has been blamed for a distress signal. Communications regulator Ofcom said both boxes were being analyzed but stressed such cases were extremely rare.
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