WhiteBoard News for Wednesday, October 1, 2003

London, England (AP):

Adventurer David Hempleman-Adams became the first person to cross the Atlantic solo in an open wicker basket balloon on Monday, landing in England after surviving hail, snow and a Concorde's sonic boom.

Enduring more than 84 hours of cold and sleep deprivation in a 5-by-7-foot wicker basket, Hempleman-Adams landed just before 6 p.m. in a field near Blackpool, northwestern England, his ground team said.

The 46-year-old British balloonist and polar explorer - who has also climbed the highest mountains on all seven continents and was the first to pilot a balloon over the North Pole - notched up the record on his third attempt at the Atlantic crossing, which began on Friday when he lifted off from Sussex in New Brunswick, Canada.

The first balloon voyage across the Atlantic was made in 1978 by Americans Maxie Leroy Anderson, Ben Abruzzo and Larry Newman. The first solo voyage was completed in 1984 by American Joseph Kittinger. Neither used the traditional open wicker basket.

In the final few hours of his journey, Hempleman-Adams endured hail and snow storms as he flew the balloon at 14,000 feet over the Irish Sea in thick clouds after reaching the Irish coast earlier this morning.

Part way across the Atlantic the adventurer had a scare.

"He just heard two huge bangs and the balloon shuddered and fell," Nicky Webster, a spokesman for Hempleman-Adams, said. "It was the sonic boom from Concorde passing by."

Webster said that even though the supersonic jet was several thousand feet above him the sonic booms carried down to him.

On Monday morning, he passed over Ireland and the Irish Sea, losing contact with his control team in western England for several hours.

Before taking off, Hempleman-Adams said in a statement that he "really wanted to attempt to cross the Atlantic in a low-budget, low-tech old world spirit of the Jules Verne era."

His balloon uses a combination of helium and hot air, first devised and used in an attempt to cross the English Channel in 1785. That trip failed, killing everyone on board when the balloon caught fire.

His third attempt comes after a lack of winds in June forced him to land in Massachusetts. Last year, technical problems brought him down in Connecticut. 
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Syracuse, New York (AP):

A 22-year-old man was charged with impersonating a sheriff's deputy after he pulled over a pickup truck and then called for assistance when the occupants fled. 

It appeared that Jeremy Lepianka of Syracuse had been posing as a Onondaga County Sheriff's deputy for about two years and had stopped motorists _ and lectured them _ on other occasions, police said. 

"He told investigators he had been working as a volunteer deputy for about two years. He said traffic violations were his main thing. Hopefully, it didn't go beyond that," Lt. Joe Cecile, a Syracuse police spokesman, said Monday. 

Lepianka was arraigned Sunday on charges of impersonating a police officer, a felony, and two misdemeanors: criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a noxious substance, pepper spray. He was being held Monday on $5,000 bail or bond. 

City and county authorities were investigating the case to determine how extensive Lepianka's masquerade was. Cecile said authorities had circulated a photograph of Lepianka and expected calls from motorists who had been pulled over by him. 

"We've never seen anything to this extent. It's one thing to pretend ... but when you call for backup. He had to know he was going to get caught," Cecile said. 
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Spanish Fort, Alabama (AP):

A man saved his friend from drowning Monday, then was thrown in jail for public intoxication. 

Kenneth Hood, 47, said he and his friends were sitting on the western bank of the Blakeley River when one of them accidentally backed a sport-utility vehicle into the water. 

Hood waded into the water and pulled friend Obie Jordan from the vehicle, taking him to the river bank and calling police. 

Jordan and the driver, who was not identified, were taken to the University of South Alabama Medical Center, police said. Jordan was listed in fair condition. 

Hood refused to be called a hero. 

"He's my friend," he said. "He'd have done it for me." 

He certainly wasn't treated like one. Authorities arrested Hood and two others at the scene _ Kathleen Margaret Smithart, 36, and 44-year old Ronald Eugene Briggs _ for public intoxication. 

"I guess it does seem a little harsh," said Spanish Fort Police Chief David Edgar. "But if he and his friends wouldn't have been drunk, his friend wouldn't have been in the water." 

Edgar said police had no choice because the three could barely walk. 

"If we left them sitting right there and they fell into the water again and drowned, we're responsible," Edgar said. 
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Kassel, Germany (Ananova):

A German man is in trouble after he drove to a police station to answer charges of driving while disqualified.

The 63-year-old had twice been caught driving after losing his licence for repeated traffic offences.

After the hearing in Kassel, police decided to keep an eye on the man and secretly followed him as he left.

He went straight to his wife's car, which he had parked nearby, and drove off.

Faced with the police officers who had followed him, he admitted to also using the car on his way to the station.

He is now being charged with two more counts of driving without a licence.
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London, England (Ananova):

Identical twin sisters have married the same man - 23 years apart.

Madelaine Jones wed Roy Littlejohns in 1980, and her sister Michele was the first person she invited to the ceremony.

When Madelaine went into hospital after a series of epileptic fits, Michelle moved in to be Roy's housekeeper in 1988. In 1995, after her marriage to Roy ended, Madelaine moved out with her daughter.

Madelaine said: "After I moved out Roy visited me one day and said he and Michelle were having a relationship and she was moving in permanently. I was so shocked. I felt angry and betrayed. I felt Michelle had taken something of mine. The thought of them sleeping together was hurtful and I was heartbroken."

The Sun quotes Closer magazine saying the sisters had a furious row after Madelaine found out Michelle and Roy had married in Las Vegas earlier this year. But they have since made up and often get together.

Michelle, of Northampton, said: "Roy became a good friend while Madelaine was ill. We became fond of each other and a relationship was a natural progression."

Roy, 56, said: "The twins aren't that different but Michelle is more worldly and wise and we have more in common. My relationship with Michelle is more romantic. It's also easier and happier."
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Chow
SuperChef
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