WhiteBoard News for Monday, December 16, 2002
Paris, France (Reuters):
A British couple who moved to a cottage in the south of France 16 years ago have been reading by candlelight and cooking with firewood ever since, all because their home is a few paces out of reach of electricity.
A pylon stands nearby their hideaway, nestled in the Cevennes hills, but it would cost the retired couple 15,000 euros to install a transformer to connect the cottage, French media reported on Monday.
"Without television, I have never read so much. After five years you start forgetting books so you can re-read them. It's quite practical," said Adrian Talbot, who has lost hope that Electricite de France will ever offer to connect them.
Opticians have reassured the Talbots their children's eyes will not have been damaged by 16 years of doing homework by candlelight. "The opticians told us there was no problem. On the contrary, it's a less aggressive form of light," Talbot said.
The former art teacher and his wife fell in love with the cottage during a holiday to the region in the south-central area of France but never imagined they would spend their retirement collecting firewood to heat the place.
The couple, who would have had the cost of installing electricity subsidized if they had chosen a house in a village a few yards down the road, recently invested in a generator which enables them to run a washing-machine for two hours a day.
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Winnipeg, Canada (Reuters):
It took an airport metal detector to give a Canadian woman a clue to why she was suffering from persistent stomach aches four months after having abdominal surgery.
Despite the detector's beep, airport security guards in Regina, Saskatchewan, were unable to find any metal on her body before the woman's October flight to Calgary, Alberta.
Several days later the woman had an X-ray.
It showed a 30-centimeter (11.7-inch) long, 5 cm wide surgical retractor, used to hold incisions open, had been left in her abdomen after surgery four months earlier at the Regina General Hospital.
The woman now wants compensation from the surgeon and the hospital, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported on Monday.
"I would think that it would be an understatement to say surprise, probably more like horror, that this surgical device was left inside her abdominal cavity," the woman's lawyer, Jeff Scott, told the CBC.
After surgery, medical staff are required to account for each piece of equipment used, said an official from the Regina health authority, which oversees the hospital.
"Systems are never perfect and, as always, we strive to do the best we can," Brian Laursen, the senior vice-president of the health authority, told the CBC.
"But inevitably, in any system, there tends to be the occasional failure," he said.
The woman had surgery to remove the retractor a day after her X-ray. She told the CBC she is still in pain.
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Cherry Hill, New Jersey (AP):
A police officer called in sick and then drove his police cruiser to a nearby town and tried to buy cocaine, authorities said Monday.
Washington Township police Officer Amalio Steven Gurcsik was charged Sunday night with official misconduct and attempting to buy drugs from an undercover officer in the parking lot of a Cherry Hill pizzeria.
If convicted of both charges, Gurcsik, 25, could face up to 20 years in prison.
The Sewell resident was suspended with pay Monday from the Gloucester County police force where he has worked for three years.
Washington Township police also suspended a second officer in connection with the purchase. They did not give the name of the other officer, who has not been charged with a crime.
Gurcsik, who was released on his own recognizance, did not immediately return messages left by The Associated Press on Monday.
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Madrid, Spain (Ananova):
A woman discovered the husband she believed to be a successful businessman was a Catholic priest when she filed for divorce.
Sandra Vega Martínez, who lives in Madrid, made the discovery seven years after meeting Jorge Barange and five years after marrying him.
When she thought her spouse was on business trips he was usually taking mass.
The pair met in Colombia and later moved to Spain with their son, Jorge Manuel, who was born in Bogotá in 1997.
She filed for divorce after he abandoned her and their son earlier this year and sold the family home.
Martínez, 33, located her in-laws in Barcelona, who had not seen their son for years but confirmed that he was an ordained priest.
"It turns out when he told me he was going away on business he was actually going about his ministry," Martínez told El Mundo. "Apparently he has celebrated mass in Rome, Aruba, Benidorm and Barcelona."
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Auckland, New Zealand (Ananova):
Two workers who fell 25 feet on a New Zealand building site escaped with their lives when they landed on concrete.
Luckily for them, it had just been poured and was still wet.
"They picked something which was soft," said fire service spokesman Paul Cowen. "It was wet enough to cushion their fall."
Both men were taken to hospital with chest and back injuries after their falls on a construction site in the northern city of Auckland.
Health and safety inspectors are investigating the accident.
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Munich, Germany (ABC News):
A would-be robber has been arrested by German police, after Christmas glitter spray gave him away.
He attempted to hold up a lottery ticket shop, threatening the owner with an air pistol.
But the owner's wife sprayed the assailant with the nearest form of defence - a can of glitter spray.
The robber was so stunned he fled the store, leaving his wallet on the counter.
Still covered in glitter, he reported the "theft" of his wallet to police and was immediately arrested, reports ABC News.
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Chow
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