WhiteBoard News for Tuesday, May 6, 2003
Knoxville, Tennessee (AP):
A bank robbery suspect, apparently confused by a labyrinth of routes near Cedar Bluff Road in Knoxville, was arrested about 45 minutes after the heist right behind the bank.
David A. Hughes, 27, of Johnson City was charged with one count of aggravated robbery, Knoxville police said.
A branch of First Tennessee Bank was robbed about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Police officers nabbed Hughes' car about 10:15 a.m. as it circled the bank's back parking lot.
Hughes apparently had driven around the area but found himself back at the bank as he attempted to flee, police said.
Officers Cynthia J. Chandler and Jason Krumenacker handcuffed Hughes 247 feet from the bank's front door, police said. Inside his car they found a yellow plastic bag containing stacks of money and a BB pistol.
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San Francisco, California (Reuters):
More than 100 men and women gathered in famously liberal San Francisco this past weekend for what organizers said was the city's second annual public "Masturbate-a-Thon."
Organizers said they have taken the event "from the sheets to the streets," offering volunteers -- 18 years or older -- the opportunity to overcome their inhibitions in "a safe environment" and raise money for charity.
Horace Santry, 55, said the Friday night event was his first. "I have a lot of anxiety, but doing this among a group of like-minded people does make it easier," he said.
Men and women ranging in age from the early 20s to the 50s, mingled at a local performing arts center in San Francisco's South of Market district, known for artists, galleries and nightclubs, before getting down to business.
To the strains of soothing new-age music, the men and women -- a number of them couples -- were shown into rooms for men, women or both.
"This is an effort to counter centuries of censure, to make masturbation more fun and to make it more accessible," said Thomas W. Laqueur, a professor of history at the University of California at Berkeley and author of the recent "Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation," in a telephone interview before the event.
The event is a fund-raiser for the local Center for Sex and Culture, a non-profit organization that provides sex education.
San Francisco Masturbate-a-Thons have raised more than $25,000 over the past five years, said Center co-founder Robert Lawrence.
The event has inspired others in several U.S. states and countries, from Alaska to Germany, in which participants raise money in the privacy of their homes.
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Tokyo, Japan (Reuters):
Defying critics who called it "indecent," a Japanese wrestler-turned-politician turned up for his first day at work on Tuesday sporting a vividly patterned mask.
Formerly a wrestler known as "The Great Sasuke," Masanori Murakawa won fame -- and a seat in a local assembly in northern Japan -- wearing a similar mask.
"I have absolutely no intention of taking it off, no matter how much opposition there is," the otherwise conservatively dressed Murakawa told journalists before taking his place in the council chamber in Iwate, 290 miles north of Tokyo.
He had attempted to defuse criticism by choosing a mask that revealed more of his face than before -- and which featured the emblem of the region picked out in gold on the side.
Not all local voters were impressed.
"Before you know it prefectural civil servants will all be wearing masks too," one Iwate council employee grumbled.
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New Orleans, Louisiana (Ananova):
A man who urinated behind his apartment as it burned, has been arrested for lewd conduct.
Jeff Theisen ducked behind a large oak tree in the back yard of his New Orleans home after he awoke to find his bathroom on fire.
He'd run outside in his bedclothes and stocking feet as firefighters and police arrived on the scene.
But before he could finish his call of nature, one of the police officers declared he was under arrest for lewd conduct, reports theNola.com website.
"I tried to tell him, 'Sir, my bathroom is burning. It's on fire.' But he didn't seem to care. As soon as I zipped up, he put handcuffs on me," Theisen said.
Lt. Gary Gremillion was called in to assess the situation and sided with the officer. What he saw was a guy exposing himself in front of a sizable crowd that had gathered to watch the fire.
"There were women out there, kids out there. There were plenty of places we could have taken him if he really needed to go," Gremillion said.
Theisen, 41, was taken to Orleans Parish Prison before being released to return home to assess the damage. The cause of the fire wasn't known.
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Jesi, Italy (Ananova):
A lovesick Italian man stole an ambulance so he could serenade his girlfriend with its siren.
The 38-year-old man, who has not been named by police, jumped into the empty ambulance after he spotted the keys in the ignition.
He drove to his girlfriend's flat in Jesi, near Ancona, switched on the siren and began singing romantic love songs.
Police were called by neighbours complaining about the noise and arrested the man.
A police spokesman said: "This has to be one of the most bizarre cases we have ever had to deal with.
"When we asked him why he had taken the ambulance he was quite open and said he wanted to serenade his girlfriend.
"He said he couldn't play any instrument, and he wanted a memorable way to romance the girl.
"Unfortunately his idea didn't go down well with the neighbours or the hospital, who wanted their ambulance back immediately."
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Chow
SuperChef
www.joeha.com