WhiteBoard News for Monday, January 22, 2001
Aurora, Colorado (Ananova.com):
A man who's car was stolen has been prosecuted after telling police he left it unlocked.
Hector Hernandez-Graza also left the engine of his Honda running when he went into a shop in the city of Aurora, Colorado.
He said he was only gone for three minutes when the 1988 Accord was taken.
But after he explained to a police officer that he had left the engine running and the doors unlocked, the cop gave him a $15 (£10) fine.
Graza said he had no complaint about the summons and said he learned a lesson from the incident.
The city's assistant Attorney George Zierk, said the law had been on their books for years and is aimed at preventing car thefts and conserving the resources of police departments that have to devote time to solving them.
However, there was a happy ending for the victim when police recovered his car the following day, reports the Rocky Mountain News.
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New Delhi, India (Ananova.com)
A 70-year-old Indian civil servant will be replaced by 20 younger men when he retires.
Sachidanand Maitra, described by bosses as a human dynamo, should have retired in 1989 but was deemed irreplaceable.
He was granted 12 extensions while he trained 20 men to take over the job he has done alone for nearly 50 years.
He joined the administrative headquarters of the state Government as a clerk but made himself so indispensable, the post of Special Joint Secretary was created specially for him.
Nobody else in Writers' Buildings has been re-employed beyond three or four years, reports South China Morning Post.
Chief Secretary Manish Gupta said Mr Maitra had an unmatched knowledge of the laws and by-laws of countless state government departments.
"He possessed a computer-like memory with a great knack for cross-checking details and the ability to keep on working endlessly to complete official tasks," Mr Gupta said. "His mastery over legal jargon, so essential for drafting law documents, could put barristers to shame."
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Durban, South Africa (Ananova.com):
A gang of professional female shoplifters stripped off when police tried to arrest them in a South African shop.
One woman from the gang, known as the A Team, was arrested for stealing clothes from the Durban shop.
But, before the others could be caught, they dropped their loot, removed their clothes, and streaked off in different directions.
Ronnie Winter, station commissioner of Durban Central Police Station, says the surprised policemen let them go.
"He knew what the consequences might have been if he had carried on arresting naked women," he said.
A special plain-clothes task team has been formed in a bid to catch the gang - including a woman who will arrest any suspects who may run naked down the street again, reports the Internation Online News.
The women of the A Team are known for being impeccably groomed so they don't draw attention to themselves. They always choose shops with little or no security and with just a couple of assistants. While one woman chats to an assistant to distract her, the others move around stealing clothing.
More than 120 businesses in Durban say they have been hit by the gang, which boasts up to 25 members.
A 27-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of stealing R1,000 (£87) worth of clothing from the Durban shop. She will appear before a magistrate on Wednesday.
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Dunstable, England (Ananova.com)
A woman who chose the wrong age for her husband to use as a National Lottery number is celebrating her mistake after winning £2.3 million.
Jane Clark picked 47 instead of 46 for the age of her husband Richard, as one of the six winning numbers in the weekend draw.
The couple from Dunstable, Bedfordshire, won £2,357,785 and were one of three ticketholders who shared the jackpot.
Mrs Clark, a new business analyst with BT, chose the winning numbers from the ages of her two sons James, 13, and Andrew 17, along with the length of her marriage to her husband - 22 years - her own age 41, her brother-in-law's age 43, as well as her husband's mistaken age.
She told a press conference at the Meridien Waldorf hotel in central London that her "jaw had dropped" when she saw the winning numbers appear on television.
"I'm finding it very difficult to believe. I don't think I'll ever regret making a mistake in Richard's age. I have known him for 28 years and I should know it by now. Fortunately I put the wrong number."
Mr Clark, an engineer with Alstom in Bedfordshire, bought the winning ticket in Edlesborough Post Office, after his wife jotted down the winning numbers for him.
He said the family were hoping to buy a new car with the winnings - a Lotus Elise - and build their own environmentally friendly new home to replace their three bedroom house.
He said: "I've forgiven Jane for thinking I'm a year older than I am. Our good fortune hasn't sunk in yet. We must have checked out numbers 10 times on Saturday and we are still in total disbelief."
Mrs Clark, who selected the winning numbers while travelling back from a business trip in Manchester, said she would also continue to work.
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Texarkana, Arkansas (Ananova.com):
A contractor hired to demolish a house accidentally knocked down the wrong one.
The house was one of two covered by trees and city officials mixed them up.
Authorities in Texarkana, Arkansas are expecting a compensation claim from the Californian house owner.
Johnny Mack Richardson, of Richardson Environmental and Excavating Services, told the Texarkana Gazette: "We were sitting on the street and we made a call to City Hall. We asked them if we were at the right house.
"They asked us if there were trees covering it up, and we said yes. They said: "Then you're at the right place."
"Evidently there were two houses that were covered by trees."
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