WhiteBoard News for Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Bottighofen, Switzerland (Blick):
A prank by three ten-year-old boys caused $141,700 damage and left their village without power.
They had been throwing burning sticks into a canal when one of them melted the insulation on a 16,000 volt power line.
Shortly after the main fuses to blow at the Swiss village of Bottighofen.
Blick newspaper reports it took electricity workers three-and-half hours to restore power to the village which is home to 1,800 people.
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London, England (Independent Online):
An English machine operator lost part of his thumb in a workplace accident, then lost a chunk of a finger on his other hand, while trying to demonstrate to bosses how the first accident happened, his company said on Thursday.
The tip of Keith Sanderson's right thumb was sliced off by a guillotine machine as he worked at a kitchen worktop factory, Paul Nelson, director of Macy Panel Products said.
As Sanderson tried to show what had happened he lost part of the index finger on his left hand, in a second accident five months ago, Nelson added.
The company, based near Newcastle in north-eastern England, was sentenced to pay a fine and costs of $3,890.
The company admitted a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, when the case was heard in North Tyneside magistrates court on Tuesday.
"It was a regrettable and unfortunate incident. Keith has not yet returned to work but he has the option of coming back to work with the company," Nelson said.
Sanderson, who is in his 20s, was unavailable for comment.
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Hamburg, Germany (Ananova):
A German restaurant is selling pizzas with a topping that includes 22-carat gold.
The Petit Delice restaurant in Hamburg, Germany, charges £20 for a small slice of the pizza.
Chef Ernst-Wilhelm Klevinghaus says it also features creme fraiche and pate and is "pizza fit for a king".
He added: "Some people are worried that the gold will make you ill but it is perfectly harmless and doesn't taste of anything."
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Pavlov-Posad, Russia (Ananova):
A Russian man is to sue a seed firm after he was knocked unconscious by a giant pumpkin he grew on his balcony.
Nikolay Salakhov, from Pavlov-Posad, near Moscow, claims instructions on the seed packet told him to expect "decorative vegetables the size of a pear" on six foot-high plants.
But instead the plants produced pumpkins weighing almost 40lbs, one of which fell on his head and knocked him out as he sat on his balcony, reports Pravda.
Andrey Tumanov, chairman of the Moscow Union of Gardeners, says almost half of all seeds available on the Russian market "did not meet gardening norms".
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Scotia, New York (AP):
Police said a 20-year-old woman falsely reported her car stolen, and pleaded for the return of her infant son in the back seat, after she burglarized her relatives' home and forgot where she parked her idling vehicle.
Melinda Kelly left her 3-month-old son inside her car Saturday while she broke into her aunt and uncle's home in the town of Glenville, 20 miles northwest of Albany, police said.
"She came out and when she couldn't find the car, she knew she needed to make up a story fast," said Scotia village police Chief John Pytlovany.
Kelly, of Malta, called 911 at 6:45 p.m., claiming she left her car idling while she went into a convenient store and came out to discover the car and her son stolen, police said.
Police found Joseph Paul Wasson Jr. about 90 minutes later in the car three blocks from the convenient store. Officers initially thought whoever stole the vehicle abandoned it after seeing the sleeping infant.
After noticing inconsistencies in her story, officers determined Sunday the car had never moved from where Kelly left it, halfway between the store and her relatives' home.
Kelly could face misdemeanor charges of falsely reporting a crime and giving a false written statement in Scotia and felony burglary and child endangerment charges in Glenville.
Police declined to say Tuesday whether any charges were filed.
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