Even before it opened last year, Apple’s spaceship building in Cupertino, Calif., presented a transparency problem: its glass walls couldn’t be distinguished from its glass doors. Since they moved in, several workers have been injured after walking into them. Three people suffered head injuries severe enough to require the summoning of emergency responders. Apple’s vice president of real estate and development, Dan Whisenhunt, said there hadn’t been any problems with birds flying into the glass. “Now the humans on the inside, that’s a different story,” he said. “That’s a problem we are working on right now.” Architects have added black rectangular stickers to the glass panes; they seem to be helping.
Of Course I Play Baseball On The Roof
A man playing with a baseball on the roof of a parking structure in Honolulu had to be rescued by firefighters after he fell into the space between two buildings and got stuck. Security guard Ray Rodrigues was dispatched to the roof to run the 55-year-old off. But he found the man had fallen into a 7- to 9-inch-wide space between the cement walls. When an effort to pull him out with a rope failed, firefighters resorted to using drills and saws to cut through the concrete to free him. He was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
Nude Modeling In The Mall
Shoppers at the Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Monroeville, Penn., got more than they bargained for as model Chelsea Guerra, 22, of Indiana Borough, and photographer Michael Warnock, 64, of Point Breeze, conducted a nude photo shoot around 11 am. As Warnock took photos and families looked on, Guerra walked around and posed wearing only thigh-high black stockings and high-heeled shoes. Guerra and Warnock pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct after other charges were dropped, and paid a $300 fine. “My nude modeling is honest work,” Guerra said, “and I use it mostly to fund my college career.”
People Who Love Their Dorms
A co-ed dormitory at Hunter College in New York City has become the site of a dispute between the college and 32-year-old Lisa S. Palmer, who won’t vacate her dorm room despite having discontinued her classes in 2016. Palmer, who works for an architecture firm, has “racked up a staggering $94,000 in unpaid residence hall charges,” a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court noted. The New York Post reported that in June, 2016, and fall, 2017, Palmer received eviction notices. But she won’t budge. Palmer admitted that dorm life is “really lonely. I feel very isolated.” Palmer was moved into a wing of the dorm that’s occupied only by a middle-aged nurse, whom the college is also trying to evict. In fact, Hunter is working on removing nine nurses, who were given rooms in the building when it was owned by Bellevue Hospital.
Oops
— Kenny Bachman, 21, had a rude awakening when he racked up a $1,636 Uber fare on Feb. 23 following a night of partying with high school friends in Morgantown, W.V. The Charlotte Observer reported that Bachman and the friend he planned on staying with stopped at a convenience store during the evening. The friend told Bachman to wait outside as he went into the store, but Bachman was gone when the friend emerged. He had summoned an Uber to take him home — to Gloucester County, N.J. Bachman was passed out drunk for most of the nearly 300-mile trip, which was subject to surge pricing, doubling the fare. Bachman challenged the charge but ended up paying it; “I feel like there’s very little I could have done to reverse it,” he said.
— Miami resident Luce Rameau didn’t know what hit her as she lay in bed, talking on the phone. She thought a bomb had gone off, as wood and debris fell on her bed. “I kept screaming, ‘What happened? What happened?’” Rameau told the Miami Herald. It wasn’t a bomb; an 80-pound inflatable raft had crashed through her roof after becoming untethered from a Royal Canadian Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter that had been conducting an offshore training exercise nearby. David Lavallee, a spokesman for the RCAF, said the accident is being investigated, and the air force intends to help “the resident with accommodations and other support.”
Least Competent Criminals
Peoria Police Dept. officers were called to a gas station in response to a shoplifting. When they arrived, suspects Marwan Al Ebadi, 28, and Salma Hourieh, 29, set off on foot before hopping over a fence … and landing directly in a secured parking lot of the Peoria Police Dept. Hourieh tried to hide beneath a bench outside the station, while Al Ebadi jumped back over the fence and was stopped in the street. Both were arrested and charged with shoplifting. “You should never run from the police,” said police spokesman Brandon Sheffert. “And if you do, do not run into a secure parking lot of a police station.”
Awesome!
Name recognition won’t be a problem for the Libertarian Party challenger for eastern Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District seat: Elvis Presley. The Associated Press reported that the King impersonator from Star City, Ark., who legally changed his name to match the rock ‘n’ roll icon’s, filed campaign paperwork on Feb. 26. Presley works as an auto refinish technician at Camp’s Custom Paint in Star City. But his political ambitions aren’t new: He’s also run for governor, land commissioner and state legislator.
If It Ain’t Broke …
Republican State Sen. John Ruckelshaus, of Indianapolis, is the proud sponsor of a new measure in Indiana that bans eyeball tattooing. According to the proposed law, passed by both the Senate and the House, tattooists would be prohibited from coloring the whites of a customer’s eyes, with a fine of up to $10,000 per violation. The Associated Press reported that Sen. Ruckelshaus admitted he’s not aware of any problems with eyeball-tattooing in Indiana. The legislation was on Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk for his signature on March 1.
Risking It All For The Meatball
Leahman G.R. Potter, 48, neglected to conceal the evidence after he stole a pot of meatballs from a neighbor’s garage in Hazle Township in Pennsylvania. The meatball owner returned home to find Potter outside his garage, covered in red sauce and his pot of meatballs missing. When Pennsylvania State Police arrived shortly afterward, they found the pot in the street and Potter at his home, where he was charged with burglary, trespass and theft.
Last Chapter
Houston detectives were finally able to close a case in January that had been vexing them for 30 months. Mary Stewart Cerruti, 61, the last holdout in a neighborhood being bought up for redevelopment, was reported missing by a friend, who described her as shy and frail. Police had no leads, and her home was foreclosed on after payments stopped. Eventually, the home was cleaned out and sold, and new renters moved in. On March 4, 2017, a 911 call reported a human skeleton “between two of the walls” in the home. When police arrived, they found a hole in the attic floorboards; down below were the bones, clothing and shoes that had been discovered. An investigation found no evidence of foul play. On Jan. 23, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences confirmed the remains were those of Cerruti.
Whole Lotta Freezin’ And Shakin’ Goin’ On
A dairy truck driver lost his job after being caught on a surveillance camera urinating near dairy cows in a barn at Tremblay Farm in Highgate, Vt. While no charges were filed, Monica Massey of the Dairy Farmers of America said the driver’s behavior was unacceptable. “We saw the videos. What we saw was deplorable,” Massey said told WCAX TV. Darleen Tremblay said she was “shattered” by what she saw on the video. “I couldn’t move. I froze and I shook,” she added.
Public Service Announcement
Police in Sheboygan, Wisc., appealed to the public for help in tracking down an unusual perpetrator. “Over the past year and a half,” the department said on its Facebook page, “someone has been clogging the women’s toilet [at the Deland Community Center] with a 20-ounce soda bottle. This is very strange … and gross.” The Sheboygan Press reported that the string of more than 25 incidents began in 2016. Joe Kerlin, the city’s parks and forestry superintendent, says the suspect is likely an adult male, based on security camera footage from outside the restroom. The city’s resulting plumbing bills have totaled $3,000.
Full Disclosure
Linda Fein and her husband thought they had found their dream home in Paradise Valley, near Phoenix. They offered $1.8 million for the house and 1.3-acre lot, but then found out the house belonged to Kevin and Sandra Otterson, and was the setting for their pornography website, Wifey’s World, founded in 1998. “I just can’t make Thanksgiving dinner on counters where a porn star has been lounging around,” Fein told the Arizona Republic. In late February, the couple rescinded their offer on the four-bedroom home. “I certainly believe there are people out there who wouldn’t care about the house being used for those purposes,” Fein explained. “I’m just not one of them.”
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