WhiteBoard News for Thursday, May 8, 2003

Dublin, Georgia (AP):

A school bus driver who reported an apparent burglary at his home, also told police someone took his marijuana. 

John Randolph, 29, made the call Monday, according to a Dublin police department report. When officers arrived, Randolph said a thief took four "dime bags" of marijuana, along with a .22-caliber pistol, a gold necklace and $30 in change. 

Officer Michael Milton reported that he asked Randolph about the marijuana again to make sure he heard him correctly. 

The bus driver repeated what he said and then showed Milton a small box on a bedroom dresser where he said he kept the marijuana. 

Randolph told the officer he was "saving the marijuana to smoke when school was out," according to the police report. 

Dublin police Capt. Zeke Hobbs said Randolph was not charged with a crime. No one was arrested in the burglary. 

Dublin schools operations director Sam Barrs, who oversees the bus system, said Wednesday he was investigating the incident. 

"We are not going to condone this at all, by any means," he said. 

Randolph, who is not an employee with the school system, works for McLendon & Sons Bus Service. Harold McLendon, one of the family owners, said he also was checking into it. 

Detective Sgt. Tommy Cobb, who also went to Randolph's home, said it was the first time he ever heard of anyone reporting a marijuana theft. 

"I asked him, 'Why are you telling us you had marijuana?' " Cobb said. "He said he was always told to tell the truth." 

Randolph declined to comment. 
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Northmoor, Missouri (AP):

Jennifer Wells' new home didn't make it through a tornado that devastated this Kansas City suburb just three days before her wedding. But her wedding dress did. 

So on Wednesday, Dan and Jennifer Wells were married in a small ceremony at Pilgrim Chapel in Kansas City. Bride and groom cried. 

"They felt extremely grateful to be here," the Rev. Roger Coleman said. 

The couple were in their apartment on Sunday when the twister leveled the 1950s-era house near City Hall that they had been remodeling. 

Dan Wells raced to the scene and found the house and trees were gone, but the workshop, where the wedding dress was hanging, remained intact. He called his fiancee. 

"Your dress is here," he told her, "so I guess it was meant to be." 

After the wedding ceremony, the couple returned to Northmoor. Standing in a tuxedo and wedding dress amid tornado debris, they drew a crowd that included the mayor and city clerk. 

Asked what they planned for the rest of their wedding day, the newlyweds said they would eat lunch, change their clothes and get to work cleaning up the debris. 

"No, you're not!" City Clerk Beverly Baker exclaimed. 

Neighbors told them they would remove the debris. A Northmoor police officer even threatened to arrest the Wells if they returned to work. 

"It's a wonderful community," Dan Wells said later. "We are very blessed to have neighbors like that." 
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Dallas, Texas (Reuters):

A speedy bandit has blazed through Dallas during the morning rush hour, robbing nine businesses in about two hours. 

The bandit, armed with a gun, drove a Cadillac through town and robbed businesses at a rate of one about every 13 minutes along a path covering about 20 miles (32 km), police said. No one was injured in the robberies. 

The bandit would hit about two or three places in a certain area on Thursday and then drive on. He had a penchant for doughnut shops, robbing three of them during his robbery spree. 

"It could be drug related. There could be any number of reasons for these crimes," said Steve Walthall, a Dallas police spokesman. 

Police said they have a description of the man as well as license plate number from the car he was driving. 

But haste makes waste, even for a stick-up man. 

The robberies apparently did not net the man a great deal of money as he stole between $30 to $150 per stick-up, police said. 
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Oslo, Norway (Aftenposten):

Norwegian officials have accused a three-year-old of causing a road accident nine months before he was born.

The Traffic Insurance Federation told Erik Solhaug Kristiansen he caused the accident on July 9, 1999.

That's despite the fact Erik wasn't born until April 5, 2000.

The accident in question involved a female cyclist, and according to records the person responsible - Solhaug Kristiansen - left the scene, the injured woman and her damaged bike behind.

Erik's father, Tom, said: "The complainant has waited a whole year before pressing charges. How can the witnesses be so sure of what they saw, so long after the event?

"The other big question in the case is naturally that my son, the accused, cannot have been present at the scene of the accident. He was born on April 5, 2000."

The authorities have accepted the argument, and say Erik is no longer under suspicion, reports the Aftenposten quoting the Oppland Arbeiderbladet.
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