Saturday, August 09, 2014
Thief with a conscience sent $2 and handwritten letter of apology for taking extra piece of chicken
In his 39 years in the chicken business, it was a first for Rocky Rasmussen, owner of KFC in North Platte, Nebraska.
The letter in the envelope containing $2 mailed to his restaurant was unsigned.
“This $2 is for the piece of chicken I brought home with me on Tuesday,” the letter read. “That’s stealing. Sorry!”
“It seems as if her conscience got the best of her,” Rasmussen said. “There was no return address on the envelope. I really wish I knew who it was. I would buy them a few meals.” The handwriting is a bit spidery, perhaps indicating that the writer is older and probably female. “I took more on my plate than I could eat and I knew it would get thrown away there because it couldn’t get put back on the buffet, so I put it in my purse and brought it home,” the letter read.
“I do love your chicken!” Rasmussen is used to people trying to take advantage of the buffet. “People don’t pay for everyone in the family or will fill the last plate and it goes into a plastic bag in a purse,” he said. “It’s an ongoing problem.” To have someone own up to the theft demonstrated that there are good and honest people in the world, he said.
“It just makes your faith in people come back a little more,” Rasmussen said. “Whoever it was probably doesn’t have a lot of money. To send a couple bucks back to us is pretty remarkable. It’s very touching.” The writer admitted to a crisis of faith over the piece of chicken. “Anyway,” the letter reads. “God has forgiven me and I hope you will too. I will not be so quick to take so much next time.”
“It seems as if her conscience got the best of her,” Rasmussen said. “There was no return address on the envelope. I really wish I knew who it was. I would buy them a few meals.” The handwriting is a bit spidery, perhaps indicating that the writer is older and probably female. “I took more on my plate than I could eat and I knew it would get thrown away there because it couldn’t get put back on the buffet, so I put it in my purse and brought it home,” the letter read.
“I do love your chicken!” Rasmussen is used to people trying to take advantage of the buffet. “People don’t pay for everyone in the family or will fill the last plate and it goes into a plastic bag in a purse,” he said. “It’s an ongoing problem.” To have someone own up to the theft demonstrated that there are good and honest people in the world, he said.
“It just makes your faith in people come back a little more,” Rasmussen said. “Whoever it was probably doesn’t have a lot of money. To send a couple bucks back to us is pretty remarkable. It’s very touching.” The writer admitted to a crisis of faith over the piece of chicken. “Anyway,” the letter reads. “God has forgiven me and I hope you will too. I will not be so quick to take so much next time.”
Medical marijuana patients suing San Diego as driving to dispensaries will increase air pollution
Marijuana patients have claimed in court that San Diego and the California Coastal Commission will foul the air, snarl traffic and force people to grow marijuana indoors, wasting energy and increasing global warming, because of their wrongheaded decision to allow no more than 36 marijuana co-ops in the city.
The Union of Medical Marijuana Patients sued the Coastal Commission and San Diego on August 1, in San Diego County Court.
The rather technical complaint challenges the Coastal Commission's June 11 approval of a San Diego city ordinance of March 25, which authorized medical marijuana co-ops in the city. The zoning-oriented ordinance allows medical marijuana co-ops only in certain industrial and commercial zones, and requires buffer zones between co-ops and residential areas. "The ordinance caps the total number of cooperatives at 36 and places a limit of four per Council District," the Los Angeles-based Union of Medical Marijuana Patients says in the lawsuit.
But because of the zoning restrictions, the union says, only 30 pot stores are "even possible" under the law. This "extremely restrictive approach" will require "thousands of patients to drive across the City of San Diego to obtain their medicine because cooperatives are only allowed in certain limited places in the city, which will create traffic and air pollution," the lawsuit states. It claims that the Coastal Commission, which had to approve the City Council ordinance under the California Environmental Quality Act, "failed to analyze the reasonably foreseeable consequences of increased indoor cultivation of medical marijuana" because of the restrictive zoning.
The union claims that it is "reasonably foreseeable" that indoor pot gardens will increase due to the restrictive ordinance. This will increase wastewater, biowaste and electrical consumption, environmental impacts "which the Commission failed to appreciate." The union also claims the defendants failed to conduct an adequate environmental assessment of their plan, which is required by CEQA, and it wants the approval of the plan set aside until it complies with CEQA, and costs.
The rather technical complaint challenges the Coastal Commission's June 11 approval of a San Diego city ordinance of March 25, which authorized medical marijuana co-ops in the city. The zoning-oriented ordinance allows medical marijuana co-ops only in certain industrial and commercial zones, and requires buffer zones between co-ops and residential areas. "The ordinance caps the total number of cooperatives at 36 and places a limit of four per Council District," the Los Angeles-based Union of Medical Marijuana Patients says in the lawsuit.
But because of the zoning restrictions, the union says, only 30 pot stores are "even possible" under the law. This "extremely restrictive approach" will require "thousands of patients to drive across the City of San Diego to obtain their medicine because cooperatives are only allowed in certain limited places in the city, which will create traffic and air pollution," the lawsuit states. It claims that the Coastal Commission, which had to approve the City Council ordinance under the California Environmental Quality Act, "failed to analyze the reasonably foreseeable consequences of increased indoor cultivation of medical marijuana" because of the restrictive zoning.
The union claims that it is "reasonably foreseeable" that indoor pot gardens will increase due to the restrictive ordinance. This will increase wastewater, biowaste and electrical consumption, environmental impacts "which the Commission failed to appreciate." The union also claims the defendants failed to conduct an adequate environmental assessment of their plan, which is required by CEQA, and it wants the approval of the plan set aside until it complies with CEQA, and costs.
School teacher has been absent for 23 years of her 24-year career
An Indian state school says one of its teachers has been absent for 23 years of her 24-year career.
Sangeeta Kashyap was recruited as a biology teacher in the central state of
Madhya Pradesh in 1990. School authorities say they do not know when she was last paid a salary, but
she is still listed as an employee.
State education officials said the teacher would be removed her from the post. She is thought to have set an Indian record for staff absenteeism. Ms Kashyap spent her first year teaching in a school in the town of Dewas, after which she took three years of leave. In 1994, she was transferred to a school in the city of Indore but then applied for maternity leave and has never turned up for work.
Letters sent by the school to her address have remained unanswered, Sushma Vaishya, principal of the Government Ahilya Ashram School in Indore, said. An education department official said they had written to education authorities in the state capital, Bhopal, to have Ms Kashyap removed from her post. "I have no idea why nothing was done. We are writing to them again to remove her," Sanjay Goel said.
The school is allowed to have three biology teachers, but only two are filled - with the third held by the absentee teacher. Absenteeism is a pervasive problem in government-run schools in India. A World Bank study in 2004 found that 25% of teachers were absent from school, and only about half were present during unannounced visits to government primary schools. Ms Kashyap's whereabouts remain unknown. It is also not clear why she did not return to work or if she has been working elsewhere.
State education officials said the teacher would be removed her from the post. She is thought to have set an Indian record for staff absenteeism. Ms Kashyap spent her first year teaching in a school in the town of Dewas, after which she took three years of leave. In 1994, she was transferred to a school in the city of Indore but then applied for maternity leave and has never turned up for work.
Letters sent by the school to her address have remained unanswered, Sushma Vaishya, principal of the Government Ahilya Ashram School in Indore, said. An education department official said they had written to education authorities in the state capital, Bhopal, to have Ms Kashyap removed from her post. "I have no idea why nothing was done. We are writing to them again to remove her," Sanjay Goel said.
The school is allowed to have three biology teachers, but only two are filled - with the third held by the absentee teacher. Absenteeism is a pervasive problem in government-run schools in India. A World Bank study in 2004 found that 25% of teachers were absent from school, and only about half were present during unannounced visits to government primary schools. Ms Kashyap's whereabouts remain unknown. It is also not clear why she did not return to work or if she has been working elsewhere.
Three married couples having sex in back of van fined for not wearing seatbelts
Three married Swiss couples who were having sex in the back of a van when their driver was stopped by policemen in Ibiza have been fined for not wearing their seatbelts
A routine breathalyser test on the Spanish party island didn’t go quite as expected for officers who stopped the van in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The driver wasn’t speeding, nor had he drunk a single drop of alcohol; but he was carrying six half-naked people having sex in the back of the van. Rather than caution them for public indecency, officers decided to fine each of them for not wearing their seat belts.
The couples willingly accepted to pay the €200 (£160, $270) penalty there and then, which meant it was reduced by half. Officers said they’d previously apprehended people having sex in a car but never before had they come across anyone doing it in a moving vehicle.
A routine breathalyser test on the Spanish party island didn’t go quite as expected for officers who stopped the van in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The driver wasn’t speeding, nor had he drunk a single drop of alcohol; but he was carrying six half-naked people having sex in the back of the van. Rather than caution them for public indecency, officers decided to fine each of them for not wearing their seat belts.
The couples willingly accepted to pay the €200 (£160, $270) penalty there and then, which meant it was reduced by half. Officers said they’d previously apprehended people having sex in a car but never before had they come across anyone doing it in a moving vehicle.
Woman forced to move home seven times in two years because of underwear-stealing ghosts
When Hull woman Pauline Hickson's underwear started going missing, little did she know it would signal the start of two years of hell.
Because what could have been dismissed as a slight annoyance, was actually the work of forces beyond this world and one of many paranormal pranks that would ruin Pauline Hickson's life.
The 58-year-old says she was forced to move home seven times in two years because she has been followed around by two ghosts, who would steal her bras, take her jewellery and even use the shower.
But now, after a so-called "hypno-exorcism", a little-known ghost busting technique, she says she is free of the mischievous spirits and finally living her life.
"I thought I was going crazy," said Pauline, currently living in west Hull.
"I didn't know why it was happening to me, it was like living through hell and I had no one to turn to."
The spooky happenings started two years ago, after she moved into a bungalow in north Hull. Within a few weeks of living there, Pauline felt a presence she could not explain and strange things would happen while she was out of the house. Pictures started slipping off the walls, the shower room was being used and there were scratches left up and down the doors. She would come in from a day out and be greeted by the mess left behind by the ghosts, who she says would also rifle through her belongings, send the temperature either soaring or plummeting in her home and even leave her a cup and spoon out ready for a hot drink. Pauline, who was living with her nephew at the time, said: "One day me and my sister came back from the shops and the kitchen looked like someone had wiped it down with dirt and then freeze-dried it. There were scratches up the walls too."
It was the final straw for Pauline, who packed up her belongings and moved to Cambridge – but she was followed and the same spooky pranks started happening again. Within a few months she returned to Hull, this time to live with her niece, but it was not long before her clothes, including her bras, went missing again. Then, an old doctor's note in her name from when she lived in the bungalow was placed mysteriously on the table. Terrified, she moved into a hostel and then into another house, but there was no escaping the ghostly presence. "All the way through, the exact same things were happening. I ended up staying in hotels because I was too scared to go home," she said. "I thought my family were doing it to me. I didn't believe anyone and I started to lose people from my life. I would spend all day just wandering around the streets, trying to stay out of the house."
She moved into her current home, but when things started going awry again, she sought help from medium Anita Gordon, who led her to ghostbuster Steve Kneeshaw. He put her under hypnosis, which he combined with an exorcism, and the results were instant. He reported feeling a "blast of cold air" and then saw an old, large man and a 14-year-old boy, fly past him. Since then, Pauline has not experienced a hint of paranormal activity in her home. She suspects the ghosts are associated with an old dressing table she bought before she moved into the bungalow, in which she found a ruby wedding anniversary card and other personal items. Now she feels she has had a spiritual awakening and is looking to move out of Hull and start a ghost-free life. She said: "If Steve hadn't come along, I would have been gone. It was taking my soul and spirit away. It was like I was dead inside, but now, my eyes are sparkling, my spirit is back, I look around and all I see is colour."
The spooky happenings started two years ago, after she moved into a bungalow in north Hull. Within a few weeks of living there, Pauline felt a presence she could not explain and strange things would happen while she was out of the house. Pictures started slipping off the walls, the shower room was being used and there were scratches left up and down the doors. She would come in from a day out and be greeted by the mess left behind by the ghosts, who she says would also rifle through her belongings, send the temperature either soaring or plummeting in her home and even leave her a cup and spoon out ready for a hot drink. Pauline, who was living with her nephew at the time, said: "One day me and my sister came back from the shops and the kitchen looked like someone had wiped it down with dirt and then freeze-dried it. There were scratches up the walls too."
It was the final straw for Pauline, who packed up her belongings and moved to Cambridge – but she was followed and the same spooky pranks started happening again. Within a few months she returned to Hull, this time to live with her niece, but it was not long before her clothes, including her bras, went missing again. Then, an old doctor's note in her name from when she lived in the bungalow was placed mysteriously on the table. Terrified, she moved into a hostel and then into another house, but there was no escaping the ghostly presence. "All the way through, the exact same things were happening. I ended up staying in hotels because I was too scared to go home," she said. "I thought my family were doing it to me. I didn't believe anyone and I started to lose people from my life. I would spend all day just wandering around the streets, trying to stay out of the house."
She moved into her current home, but when things started going awry again, she sought help from medium Anita Gordon, who led her to ghostbuster Steve Kneeshaw. He put her under hypnosis, which he combined with an exorcism, and the results were instant. He reported feeling a "blast of cold air" and then saw an old, large man and a 14-year-old boy, fly past him. Since then, Pauline has not experienced a hint of paranormal activity in her home. She suspects the ghosts are associated with an old dressing table she bought before she moved into the bungalow, in which she found a ruby wedding anniversary card and other personal items. Now she feels she has had a spiritual awakening and is looking to move out of Hull and start a ghost-free life. She said: "If Steve hadn't come along, I would have been gone. It was taking my soul and spirit away. It was like I was dead inside, but now, my eyes are sparkling, my spirit is back, I look around and all I see is colour."
Park rangers baffled by mystery appearance of piles of carrots
Rangers at Draycote Water park near Rugby in Warwickshire say they are baffled by the mystery appearance of piles of carrots.
The mounds have been left in random places at the Severn Trent Water visitor attraction on a number of occasions. The first set was left on March 31 and the second on May 12, before a flurry on July 16 and 25 and on Friday August 1.
Ranger Thomas Crawford said: “We’re really puzzled by this one. The carrots don’t get eaten by wild animals like rabbits – they simply remain in little piles, so we’re picking them up. At first we thought it was just a one off, but then more kept arriving.
“So we’ve been taking them to Ollie’s Yard, a sanctuary for horses and ponies, nearby. We’d like them to be used by a good cause, but we’re also keen to understand why they’re being left at Draycote Water.”
The mounds have been left in random places at the Severn Trent Water visitor attraction on a number of occasions. The first set was left on March 31 and the second on May 12, before a flurry on July 16 and 25 and on Friday August 1.
Ranger Thomas Crawford said: “We’re really puzzled by this one. The carrots don’t get eaten by wild animals like rabbits – they simply remain in little piles, so we’re picking them up. At first we thought it was just a one off, but then more kept arriving.
“So we’ve been taking them to Ollie’s Yard, a sanctuary for horses and ponies, nearby. We’d like them to be used by a good cause, but we’re also keen to understand why they’re being left at Draycote Water.”
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