Off the wall news.

[Old-Navy]

Kimberly Baker, 22, sought child support in Warrensburg, Va., in October from the father of her daughter.

However, when officials realized that the father, now 16, would have been 13 when the child was conceived, that made him a rape victim under state law, and thus, they arrested Baker

[Old-Navy]

Ricardo Meana, 81, was charged with attempted murder in November in Sun City, Fla., when his 82-year-old wife, who has Alzheimer's, was found inside a van in a store's parking lot struggling with the plastic bag over her head.

Police were called, but Meana seemed unconcerned and even nonchalantly resumed shopping, saying that he often put the bags on when his wife felt sick, so that she would not vomit on herself.

[Old-Navy]

With dozens of puzzled beachcombers witnessing, a cow marched into the surf off the coast of Queensland in Australia in November and swam out as far as 300 yards for four hours (returning to shore twice but venturing out again) before drowning from swallowing water.

[Old-Navy]

In October in Vancouver, Wash., a Doberman pinscher named Victoria jumped on an electric stove and accidentally nudged a switch that started a fire in her apartment, resulting in about $100,000 damage.
It was the second time this year that Victoria had jumped on the stove and started a fire, but the first one did much less damage.

[Old-Navy]

In yet another case of a person practicing what is allegedly acceptable in another country but illegal in the United States, a 28-year-old woman from Cambodia was arrested in Las Vegas, Nev., in October for kissing her 6-year-old son's penis, which she said was simply an expression of motherly love.
An official in California's Cambodian Association of America confirmed the custom to the Las Vegas Review-Journal but said it never extends past age 2.

[Old-Navy]

Noel Methot, 24, was cited for inattentive driving after her car wound up half-submerged in a pond near downtown Orlando, Fla., in November.

She was driving down a street but apparently missed the signs warning of the end of the road, and according to witnesses, the most likely reason for that was that she was arguing loudly with her boyfriend over her cell phone.

The car went airborne about 20 or 30 feet before splashdown, but Methot was not seriously hurt. [WFTV (Orlando), 11-2-06]

[Old-Navy]

Pleading guilty to manslaughter in Pierre, S.D., in August was Mr. Austin First In Trouble, 19.

And in Providence, R.I., in November, the teenager sentenced to life in prison for murder (where his life might rot away) is Mr. Phearin Rot.

On the brighter side, a linebacker for South Sumter High School in Bushnell, Fla., had a good year: Yourhighness Morgan (whose brother Handsome Morgan and cousin Gorgeous Morgan were undoubtedly proud of him). [Sioux Falls Argus Leader-AP, 8-24-06] [Providence Journal, 11-7-06] [Orlando Sentinel, 8-18-06]

[Old-Navy]

In 2002, Jeffrey Klein and Brett Birdwell, both 17 at the time, trespassed onto a railroad yard in Lancaster, Pa., and climbed atop a boxcar to see what the view was like, but were severely burned by a 12,500-volt line on the roof and thus sued Amtrak and Norfolk Southern railroads for not having done enough to prevent them from trespassing. In October, a federal jury awarded the two men a total of about $12 million in compensatory damages plus $12 million in punitive damages.

[Old-Navy]

After shooting video undercover in 10 Army recruiting offices in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, ABC News released in November an episode of recruiters telling a prospect that no one is going to Iraq anymore.

"No, we're bringing people back," he said, and his partner followed with, "We're not at war. War ended a long time ago."

In a separate on-camera interview, Col. Robert Manning, who is in charge of Army recruiting in the Northeast, generously told ABC News that he disagreed with the recruiters. "We are a nation and Army at war still." [AOL.com-ABC News, 11-4-06]

[docbyers]

Man sold step-daughter's pet for beer
From correspondents in Berlin
December 29, 2006

A THIRSTY German sold his 6-year-old step-daughter's pet beagle to the owner of a bar to pay for beer, the Bild newspaper reported today.

The unemployed man offered to take the dog for a walk and then stopped at a bar where he convinced the owner to buy the 3-year-old dog for 40 euros ($66.75).

The man spent the proceeds quenching his thirst for beer. The bar owner has now returned the dog to its owner.

[Old-Navy]

Nick Fennelly, 31, was rushing his in-labor girlfriend, Sharon Taylor, into the parking lot at Calderdale Royal Hospital in West Yorkshire, England, just as their baby's head started to appear, and, in a corridor inside, little Ashleigh shot out of her mother so quickly that Fennelly couldn't grab her in time.

She hit the floor, skidded, and then came back on the umbilical cord, according to a December report in the Halifax Courier. Except for a bruise, Ashleigh is fine. [Halifax Courier, 12-15-06]

[Old-Navy]

New York City has more than 400 soup kitchens but nothing else like the Broadway Presbyterian Church's, where master chef Michael Ennes presides three days a week, turning leftover restaurant ingredients into gourmet meals.

In fact, one pre-Christmas meal included octopus, as well as day-old bread from Le Bernardin restaurant.

Ennes told London's Independent that he is motivated by the chance to help troubled people get "real nutrition," but he also likes serving "famous" homeless people, such as diners who claim to be, among others, George Bush, George Washington and Jesus Christ. [The Independent (London), 12-21-06]

[Old-Navy]

Buddy, a 6-year-old German shepherd mix, wandered into the emergency room at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Bellflower, Calif., in October after having just been hit by a car, and he resisted efforts to remove him, apparently waiting until someone attended to his injured hind leg (which turned out to be broken), according to local animal control officials interviewed by the Whittier Daily News. Owner Fabian Ortega was called (by virtue of Buddy's implanted microchip), and a vet fixed him up. [KNBC-TV (Los Angeles), 10-5-06

[Old-Navy]

In October, in front of other people, town manager Bonilyn Wilbanks-Free of the upscale village of Golden Beach, Fla., referred casually to her black female assistant as "Mammy" (which is not her name) and then, when the assistant took offense, tried to soften the gaffe by telling her how much she "loved Aunt Jemima."

(A subsequent investigation suggested that someone besides Wilbanks-Free might have made the latter comment, but Wilbanks-Free nonetheless resigned in December.) [Miami Herald, 11-24-06]

[Old-Navy]

Condoms are proving such an attractive target for shoplifters, according to Phoenix's Arizona Republic, that some stores are putting them in locked display cases that require a customer to call a clerk for help.

However, as an official of the Arizona Public Health Association pointed out, condoms are a purchase that consumers choose to make in low profile.

A spokesperson for a condom maker mentioned a recent incident in a CVS pharmacy in which a clerk, assisting a customer, shouted several times, "Who's got the key to the condoms?" [Arizona Republic, 12-20-06]