 | PerspectiveVolume XLVIII | 
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Sunday July 6, 2003 |
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| Perspective is a weekly features of unorthodox news reports from around the globe. Some of the reports serve to prove the point that we as Nigerians are not as unique as we may think. To put any news report in Perspective please send a note to perpective@ekiti.com | ||
Headlines
Sleepwalker wakes unclothed in street The 37-year-old man called police in the southern town of Buchen at around 6 a.m. after discovering he had left his house keys at home. "The man waited naked for police at the phone booth, who gave him a raincoat to wear," said a police spokesman.
Marijuana found in bag of potato chips Lois Campbell, 42, of Des Moines, opened the small sack of Uncle Ray's garlic-flavored chips Saturday and found another bag inside. "We were eating a few of the chips, and I was about to give some to a 3-year-old child," Campbell said. "I thought it was a little bag of seasoning inside. When I saw what it was, I called the police." A police report sid the contents of the heat-sealed bag smelled like marijuana. The leafy substance -- and the chips -- were seized as evidence. The Git-N-Go store where Campbell bought the snacks has taken the rest of the Uncle Ray's chips off its shelves, said Mandi Lockridge. The chips were packaged in Detroit, Lockridge said. "To find out what was in there, they will have trace it back to Detroit," she said.
Monkey Visits German Pizzeria, Vandalizes Toilet Franco Praino was standing in front of the counter of his pizzeria in the northern town of Lehre when "Lala," a one and a half foot tall Rhesus monkey, entered through the front door on Wednesday. Praino and a cook used lettuce to lure Lala into the women's toilet, where they fed the monkey rolls to keep it calm. But Lala broke a vase on the window, then tossed all the paper towels into the sink and turned on the tap, flooding both toilets, the kitchen, and part of dining room. Lala had escaped from its cage five days earlier at circus near Braunschweig, 6 miles away. Praino was due to accept a 5,000 euro ($5,700) reward for the animal's return. ($1=.8719 Euro)
Couple Puts Son in Pigeon Coop They fitted their pigeon loft as a bedroom for their son, complete with bed, TV, video and DVD player. On Friday, the couple refused a request by local officials to pull down the loft, a wooden structure which was built without permission and which social workers say is unsafe for a child. Officials were alarmed to discover that 12-year-old Glen Jr. has been living in the loft for the past two years. Glen's stepbrother Xyron, also 12, had been living in a smaller shed adjoining the loft behind the Browns' public housing in Blyth, northeast England, but has now been persuaded by social workers to move back into the house. Blyth Valley Housing, which operates public housing in the town, is adamant that the unauthorized 27-foot (9-meter) by 7-foot (2-meter) pigeon loft has to come down, but the Browns - who also have two daughters Carlene, 9, and Zoi, 2 - say they need it because their house is overcrowded. Brown said Friday that council officials are the only ones to complain. "The neighbors think it is great and nobody has ever complained about it," he said. "The neighbors are disgusted (with the council) because the kids were not doing any harm." But Ian Conway, chief housing officer for Blyth Valley Housing, said the loft must go. "We are quite happy to offer them suitable accommodation within the immediate vicinity but they are quite happy living where they are and don't want to move and the kids are happy living in the sheds."
Man Cuts Wife in Half, Goes to Work Police spokesman Jorma Jantunen told Reuters the man, in his mid-30s, arrived at the police station and said his wife's body was in the trunk of their car at home. Jantunen said there was no clear motive for the crime, which the man committed after the couple had been drinking at home in Vaasa, 400 km (250 miles) northwest of the capital n2Helsinki.
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Denise Jones took home a porcelain urn with what she thought were her husband's ashes and put it on a dining room table so she could talk to him.
"That's what I thought, anyway," she said. "We'd say things like 'Hi Vern, bye Vernon. I'm going to work, Vernon." However, the contents of the urn are unknown. It turns out her husband's body was one of eight left decomposing at the Sherrill-Harden Funeral Home, an old house next to a vacant lot in this Lake Erie city. Some bodies had been partly eaten by rodents. Two left in a garage likely were there for years. They haven't been identified and it may take months to do so. Investigators told Jones that the body of her husband, who died in January, was in bad shape and they didn't let her see it. State regulators on Thursday suspended the funeral home's license. Owner Henry Harden had been warned in the past about sloppy record keeping and in September he came close to losing his business after falling behind on paying property taxes. He also was $12,750 in debt to two casket makers, court records show. Harden, 62, has not been charged and repeatedly has declined to comment. His attorney, John Potts, said Harden let his heart govern his business, reducing rates or providing free services until he no longer could cover bills. "This was not an evil man," he said. "This was a man who couldn't say no to a family in need and things got out of control." Renzie Williams, who delivered and picked up bodies at Sherrill-Harden, said Harden often charged little for services provided to families with financial problems. "He didn't charge a lot of people anything," Williams said. "I don't know why." Cleveland Richardson, 89, said Harden agreed to cremate his son's remains for less than $1,000 after his son died Oct. 19. He said he paid Harden $300 and an aunt chipped in $500. Richardson learned on June 22 that his son's uncremated remains were among those found. "I've never been hurt so bad in my life," he said. "I've lost my wife, my mother, aunts and best friends, but I've never been hurt like this." Investigators acting on anonymous tips found six bodies in a back room about a week ago and two more in the garage. Most of the bodies were in cardboard boxes used for cremations. One was in a casket. Some were not embalmed; Harden didn't have an embalmer's license and had to hire others to do that work, state records show. The case pales in comparison with the 334 bodies found last year in Georgia at Tri-State Crematory. Operator Brent Marsh, 29, faces 334 felony criminal charges. But that comparison makes no difference to Harden's clients. "I'm angry because I trusted this man to do the right thing. I paid him $1,000 out of my pocket," Jones said. "When I gave him that $1,000, he was so happy. He said, 'You're a blessing in the sky."'
Man Gets Life in Prison for Spitting Creek County Associate District Judge April Sellers White followed the recommendation of a jury for the maximum sentence against John C. Marquez under a law that makes it a felony to place bodily fluids on law enforcement officers. White rejected a prosecution request for a 25-year prison term and a defense request for a four-year term. Following sentencing Monday, Marquez's attorney, Jason Serner, promised an appeal to the state Court of Criminal Appeals. No appeal had been filed by Thursday. Marquez, 35, was convicted of hurling body fluids on Sapulpa Officer Charles Gadd while Gadd was taking Marquez to jail following a domestic disturbance in which a woman's arm was broken. The 1996 state law that makes it a felony to place bodily fluids on law enforcement officers was enacted amid concerns that deadly diseases, such as AIDS, could be transmitted this way. Gadd told the jury that Marquez spit on him despite being warned and then bit him when Gadd was trying to prevent Marquez from spitting again. Gadd and Marquez tested negative for any communicable diseases. The jury took 15 minutes on May 14 to recommend the life sentence. Marquez's prior felony convictions, including rape and burglary, were taken into consideration in determining the sentence. In addition to the life term, Marquez received one year in jail and a $3,000 fine for his conviction for domestic assault and a $500 fine for resisting a peace officer. Telephone calls to the judge, the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney were not returned Thursday.
Blunder Leaves Woman Awake for Surgery The woman was temporarily paralyzed because she had been given a muscle relaxant, and her ordeal ended only after a replacement doctor who came into the operating room saw tears in her eyes and noticed the machine was not connected properly. The woman, who was undergoing abdominal surgery, is suing for 70,000 euro ($79,970) in damages, the hospital in the Austrian province of Carinthia confirmed.
Man Lies Dead in Bed for Nearly Three Years "We're assuming he was murdered in September 2000," said Christiane Leven, police spokeswoman in the northern city of Hamburg. Police have arrested a 30-year-old careworker who used to look after the wheelchair-bound man. Police discovered the remains of the corpse Thursday after breaking into the man's apartment when neighbors complained of a strange smell. Germany often reports cases of people lying dead in their homes for months or years before discovery, a phenomenon sociologists attribute to mounting social isolation and the disintegration of the family. The efficient banking system also means people's bills and pensions can continue to be paid long after they die.
Alleged peeping Tom hid cam in shoe "It's kind of like a modern version of the guy with a mirror on his shoe," Palo Alto detective Jim Coffman said on Wednesday. "It was a pinhole camera -- it is something that we use for surveillance purposes." Police said James Rich, 56, was nabbed at a classic car show on Sunday when someone noticed that he had little interest in cars and a particular focus on skirted woman attending the event. A camera lens the size of a pinhead was discovered placed on his shoe laces and linked via a wire in his pants to a video camera, police said. Rich was arrested and then released on misdemeanor charges for taking photographs of skin or underwear when there is an expectation of privacy, Coffman said.
Mummified Toronto Infant a Mystery in Life, Death Police were able to identify the girl's father, now living in Manchester, England, but said he was unaware he had a child until contacted by investigators probing the infant's death. The mystery began June 16, 2001, when the infant's remains were found in the storage locker of a luxury lakeside Toronto condominium owned by Joanne Patterson, a 45-year-old businesswoman who had died of cancer earlier that month. DNA testing confirmed Patterson was the mother, but it took an exhaustive investigation -- including a historical analysis of the style of diaper worn by the infant -- before investigators realized the child had been dead since 1985. The dead infant's body was clothed in a diaper and shirt and had been carefully wrapped in blankets, a double garbage bag and tape, indicating Patterson wanted to preserve it, investigators said. "We can only speculate but we thought perhaps that she just couldn't let go... while else would you keep the body of a baby in among the Christmas decorations in your locker," said Det. Mike Stoker, of the Ontario Ministry of Public Safety. An autopsy was unable to "provide a conclusive cause of death due to the state of mummification," but Ontario deputy coroner Jim Cairns said he thinks the child likely died of natural causes less than 24 hours after birth. "If was a birth at home, she would have lacked proper medical care, but I don't have any hard facts," Cairns said. Cairns said Patterson had no history of mental illness and was well known as a businesswoman, but apparently kept her private life very secret. "You'd ask people if they knew anything (about a child) and they'd look at you as if you were crazy and say: 'What are you talking about?'," Cairns said. Patterson never sought medical treatment during or after the pregnancy, he said. Stoker said the father was "extremely cooperative" and provided investigators with a DNA sample, but said he knew nothing of Patterson having had the child. The father's name was not released. Cairns said while teenagers will occasionally try to hide pregnancies by giving birth at home alone, it was very unusual for a woman of Patterson's age. She would have been about 30 when the child was born.
Number of Stinky Feet on the rise The number of athlete's foot fungal infections seen at the National Skin Center has nearly tripled to more than 1,000 last year from 350 in 1995, said Dr. Seow Chew Swee, the center's senior consultant dermatologist. "We get very offensive ones. Some people are very apologetic and don't want to take off their shoes in front of us," Seow said. The increase has prompted the National Skin Center to hold a seminar on athlete's foot and other related skin problems as part of a public education campaign. Seow attributed the growing problem to changing lifestyles on this wealthy, tropical island. More people are walking barefoot around swimming pools where the fungus can spread, he said. Behavior modification campaigns are common in tightly controlled Singapore, which has in the past held drives to make people more polite, reduce spitting in public and clean up public toilets.
Man Entraps Neighbor's Dog with Taped Barks "The man evidently didn't like the dog and wanted to make it bark more so he could report it," a police spokesman in the northern town of Harrislee said. After the man complained to police about the German shepherd, the neighbor discovered a speaker hidden in his garden hedge attached to a cable leading to the man's house. He alerted police, who found the system was rigged up to play dog barks and sounds of tongue clicks meant to attract canines. "The whole story is so ludicrous, we really can't imagine what he thought he would achieve," the spokesman said. "There's no way the man would have had his dog taken away just because it barked sometimes."
Sex While Speeding Down the Highway? No Problem! A Cologne court fined a man who admitted he was having sex with a blonde hitchhiker sitting astride him when he drove his car into a road sign. But only because he fled the scene of the accident with his naked accomplice. "The man was convicted of hit-and-run and sentenced to a fine of 600 euros," court spokesman Juergen Mannebeck said on Tuesday. "It's hard to believe but in fact no law was broken with the intercourse on the motorway. It's a situation lawmakers never thought about." The 23-year-old man, who was tracked down through the car's registration, was also ordered to pay 400 euros to repair the sign. He did not know the name of the woman who left her clothes behind in the car.
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