Vladimir Mulder via VK
VORONEZH STAR PAINTED AS SPONGEBOB’S PATRICK
The historical residential building at 48 October 25 Street in Voronezh, Russia, has an old Soviet star atop its spire. Somehow, the star has been painted to resemble the starfish Patrick from the TV show Spongebob Squarepants! No one knows how long ago the vandalism was, but the paint is already chipped, so it may have been there for months. OTRV, the local union of roofing companies, denies any involvement in the vandalism. Voronezh administrators say the star will be repainted, but so far no action has been taken. Photographer Vladimir Muldar wrote that the vandalism was a disgrace and that maybe the paint could just be washed off.
CAT RESCUED FROM FLOOR DRAIN
Curiosity can kill a cat, but not this time. Chris Threadgate’s cat Kiba tried to check out the floor drain in the family’s bathroom and stuck his head in a little too far. Then he couldn’t pull his head out. The Cessnock District Rescue Squad in Cessnock, New South Wales, was summoned to help. They tried to extract the cat, and ended up removing the collar around the floor drain, and then removing the collar from the cat. They used the same tools they normally use to remove rings stuck on fingers. Kiba survived the incident wet and uninjured.
MEN ROLL DEAD DEER INTO SHORT PUMP WALMART
Two unnamed men in Short Pump, Virginia, picked up a dead deer off the road after it was hit by a car Tuesday night, but couldn’t transport it. They called a friend to come pick the carcass up. To stay warm, the two men went into a Walmart store. They took the deer, too, in a shopping cart. They only got as far as the store’s vestibule because shoppers became alarmed. Management asked the men to leave the store, and take the deer with them.
In other news, there’s a town in Virginia named Short Pump.
ID THIEF BLAMES ELVIS IMPERSONATOR
Rick Thompson of Seattle was an upstanding man who supported his wife and children as a builder. Then his wife left him for an Elvis impersonator. Thompson turned to drugs and alcohol. To fund his activities, he organized an identification theft ring. He and three accomplices were arrested in 2014. Thompson was charged with identity theft and bank fraud.
“He knows now how stupid that was, just as he knew it before he plunged into severe addiction. But in the middle of that horrible time, he was just a failed entrepreneur who (lost) his 20-year marriage to a casino-dwelling Elvis impersonator.”
Writing in court papers, a U.S. Secret Service special agent described a multi-jurisdictional investigation into the crime ring. The effort grew to involve seven police departments and several federal task forces.
Thompson was sentenced this week to five years in federal prison.
VANDALS HOLD STREET SWEEPER RACE
A break-in at the council house in Kendal, Cumbria, UK, left quite a bit of of damage. A group of unknown persons entered the equipment storage area Sunday night and took out four mini-sweepers. They apparently raced them around, which left one sweeper turned over on its side, and a van badly damaged by a collision. No equipment was found to be missing. The overturned sweeper sustained £8,000 in damage. Police are interested in speaking to anyone with information on the perpetrators.
November 18, 2016 – 12:45pm