WhiteBoard News for Wednesday, February 19, 2003

Tauranga, New Zealand (Ananova):

A New Zealand man ended up in court after he was seen speeding semi-naked down a road on a motorised barstool with his backside on fire.

Neighbours reported John Sullivan to the police and he has now been sentenced to carry out 200 hours' community work.

Sullivan, of Tauranga, confessed to having "had a few" and said he shouldn't have been on the road on the motorised barstool, which he claimed could reach 50mph.

The flames come courtesy of one of Mr Sullivan's party tricks which involves a piece of rolled-up newspaper and a cigarette lighter.

Sullivan was upset taxpayers' money was spent prosecuting him, but conceded that driving a vehicle with no warrant and no registration was probably pushing the law a bit far.

"One cop wasn't too happy but the other two were laughing their heads off," he told the New Zealand Herald.
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Baia, Romania (Jurnalul):

A Romanian teenager who won the lottery jackpot couldn't collect his winnings for two weeks because he couldn't afford the train fare.

The unemployed 17-year-old, from Baia village in Suceava county, had to wait for his benefit money to arrive.

He told the Jurnalul newspaper he and his father tried to borrow some money from neighbours but nobody trusted them so they had to wait.

The boy needed less than $32 to buy his train ticket to Bucharest where he had to collect his prize of around $1,277,831.

The boy said he intends to help his parents with the money and also give some to the poor and to the church.
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Stuart, Florida (AP):

A woman who caused a fender-bender fled into a Kmart bathroom and tried to conceal her appearance with hair dye, makeup and a change of clothes stolen from the store, authorities said. 

Police said they found Melissa Anne Nunziato, 28, in the bathroom, along with empty boxes and price tags for the stolen items in the trash. 

Nunziato was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, theft, obstruction of justice by disguise and driving without a license. The driver of the car that was hit by Nunziato identified her, police said. 

At one point, police took her out of handcuffs and Nunziato tried to swallow the contents of a bottle of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, authorities said. She was treated at a hospital and ordered jailed Monday on $7,300 bail. 

It was not immediately known whether the Vero Beach woman had a lawyer. 
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Huddersfield, England (Ananova):

A man who revived his son after he stopped breathing repaired the ambulance when it broke down taking him to hospital.

Engineer Chris Wilkinson revived two-year-old Ian when he fell off a bed, hit his head and stopped breathing.

The toddler's face was turning blue, so Chris brought him round with the kiss of life and dialled 999.

But as an ambulance took Ian to hospital in Huddersfield, it slowed down and stopped.

Chris was following the ambulance which was also carrying his wife Tracy, reports The Sun.

He said: "Suddenly it slowed down and stopped. I was terrified Ian had a relapse.

"Then the ambulance men said they would have to wait for another vehicle because it wouldn't go. I said there was no need to wait as I've worked as a car mechanic and told them I'd take a look. I got out my pliers and torch and crawled under the ambulance."

He discovered the accelerator cable had snapped. So he grabbed some 1ft-long engineering cable ties from his van and repaired the break in under ten minutes.

The vehicle then carried on to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, West Yorkshire, where Ian had a series of tests before being allowed home after five hours. Ambulance chiefs say they are investigating.
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Hannibal, Missouri (AP):

A 24-year-old man fleeing police apparently wasn't satisfied with just one stolen car. Police said Mark D. O'Brien broke into a half-dozen cars and crashed or abandoned them before finally being taken into custody Friday. He was charged with violating his probation from a previous auto-theft offense. 

The chase began in Hannibal in northeastern Missouri and ended with O'Brien's arrest in neighboring Ralls County, when he lost control of the sixth stolen vehicle, Hannibal Police Lt. Michael Lawzano said. 

Police said the car thefts started about 1 p.m. Friday when a Ford Tempo was stolen and then abandoned. A GMC pickup truck was the next target, which was abandoned on an overpass. Next, a Chevrolet Lumina was swiped near a funeral home. 

Authorities said O'Brien next stole a Chevrolet Astro van and left the city of Hannibal. They said he drove it about 10 miles from Hannibal, where the vehicle became disabled. 

He left it and stole a Saturn car. As he was leaving, he ran into the same van that he had abandoned. The Saturn then got stuck and he abandoned it, too, authorities said. The suspect then allegedly stole a gray Dodge flatbed truck. 

Eventually the driver lost control and officers were able to take him into custody, police said. 
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Chow
SuperChef
www.joeha.com