Wednesday Weisblog: That’s how he rolls

Not exactly the "Mystery Machine," but still cool in its own unique way ... I guess.

“I wrecked my bar stool.” These are the words of Kile Wygle, who was arrested March 4 in Newark, OH.

Wygle himself called 911 after crashing his motorized bar stool (more on that in a moment) not far from his home. Isn’t this an awesome machine?!

For your reading enjoyment, here are a few snippets of the police report:

The vehicle was a standard type metal bar stool with round seat. The stool was welded to a small frame that had a five horsepower Briggs and Stratton lawn mower motor attached to the frame. The unit had four wheels, connected to a gear box, which was connected via a chain to the motor. There was a steering wheel from a Craftsman lawn mower, and there were what appeared to be two hand controls.

… I stopped for a moment and asked Mr. Wygle how much alcohol he had to drink and he again said, “a lot.” … I asked him what he was drinking and he said beer. I asked him if he thought he had six beers and he said more. I asked him if he thought he had twelve beers and he said, “more like fifteen.”

Seems that Mr. Wygle, 28, did not even consider that he might receive a DUI because he was not driving a car. But the officer pointed out to him that since his bar stool had four wheels and a motor, it could be considered a motor vehicle.

Wygle told police his bar stool could reach speeds of as much as 38 mph, but he was only going about 20 mph at the time of the accident.

He faces charges of DUI and driving with a suspended license. He was treated for minor injuries at the hospital and released – and his mean machine was not impounded.

I am so glad this guy isn’t from Florida … we have enough wingnuts wandering the streets down here, and many of them have been well-documented. Thanks, Ohio!

Tuesday Weisblog: Grand theft auto dealership

I’ve worked for two separate publishing companies that, as a major source of income, produced newsletters for auto dealerships across the country.

As the years went by, the number of clients became smaller and smaller as dealerships thought they could cut some of their advertising budgets to save money. That’s a bad move, but that’s another story for another day.

The bottom line is, everywhere you look troubles are worse than ever in the automotive industry. According to the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA), 1,200 dealerships will close this year. Combine them with the 760 that closed last year, and you can see just how fast the bottom has fallen out.

General Motors and Chrysler may soon go bankrupt if they don’t get an infusion of cash, and GM just lost their CEO, Rick Wagoner. In addition, they’ll announce soon whether or not they’re phasing out the Hummer brand. (The decision was supposed to come today – Tuesday – but it’s been delayed in hopes of finding a buyer … so if you’re interested, it’s not too late.)

Dealerships are in deep trouble.. Automakers are being more than gently persuaded to get rid of them. In addition, profits are smaller and there are fewer customers – and those who do show up are having a more difficult time getting financing.

At first glance, you might think the closing of auto dealerships is just a “survival of the fittest” thing, and that it’s no big deal. But upon closer examination, the trickle-down effect will take its toll. Not only will the dealership employees be out of work, but the dealership has vendors (like publishing companies … lol) and does business with a host of local companies for various reasons. These companies then lose a percentage of their business, and so do their vendors, and so on and so forth.

When you look at it that way, the consequences are tremendous.

Monday Weisblog: So this bobcat walks into a bar, and …

Ain't he cute? Uh ... not exactly.

Imagine being a patron last Monday at the Chapparal Bar in Cottonwood, Arizona … hanging out with friends, maybe throwing back a couple cold ones. You know, “the usual.”

Then “the unusual” happens. That’s when a rabid bobcat enters the establishment and goes on a wild rampage, biting three patrons before exiting. Police later found the animal in the Chapparal’s parking lot, where they shot it.

Of course, the bobcat is not the only one now requiring shots … rabies shots, to be specific.

The attack in the Chapparal was the bobcat’s third known disturbance. First, he scratched a woman who got out of her car to check on it, thinking she’d struck it with her car. Then, there was a report of a bobcat acting aggressively in a local Pizza Hut parking lot.

Bartender Scott Hughes says he told a few patrons goodnight at about 10:30 p.m. “Next thing I know, they are running back in, followed by the bobcat. One (patron) jumped on to the pool table, and two jumped onto the bar.”

During the mayhem, the bobcat began charging for two ladies. That’s when Derek Oliver sprung into action. “I pushed them out of the way. That’s when the bobcat got me. It wrapped itself around my leg.”

Guess chivalry isn’t dead, after all! Nice job, Derek.

I think Sergeant Gary Eisenga of the Cottonwood Police Department sums it up perfectly: “We’ve had calls to that bar before, but never for a bobcat.”

Video of the incident can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4mneZZpF0k

Friday Weisblog: An episode of COPS all too real for this NFL player

Ryan Moats is a backup running back for the NFL’s Houston Texas. Never confused as a star, he’s still carved out a decent enough career with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Texans.

Ryan Moats

Moats and his wife, Tamishia, were racing to the hospital with their hazard lights on in a frantic attempt to see Tamishia’s dying mother, Johnetta Collinsworth, before she drew her final breath. As they pulled into the hospital parking lot, they were stopped by Dallas Police Officer Robert Powell for running a red light just prior to reaching the hospital.

See what happens next: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Q49VztpLI    (This is “part one;” the second one can be found right after it … but most of the exciting stuff is here on the first part).

Hospital staff members twice came down to try and impress upon Powell how vital it was that he come right away, because of the extreme distress his mother-in-law was in.

Eventually, it was too late. “I went up after she passed and held her hand, but she was already gone,” Moats told a Texas radio station.

Moats says he’s appreciative of Kunkle’s kind words, but he also feels sadness that he missed a moment in time that he’ll never be able to get back.

Because of Officer Powell’s questionable behavior, the ticket has been dropped and the police department has apologized. So did he learn something from this?

“My understanding is that Officer Powell — even after he saw the videotape — believed he had not acted inappropriately,” Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said.

Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson echoed Kunkle’s thoughts. “His belief was simply that he was doing his job,” Chief Simpson said. “It did concern me that it just seemed that the compassion was not there.”

Sounds like somebody’s been watching to many “tough cop” movies on television to me.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

Thursday Weisblog: Arrested development for Mrs. Laster

Delores Laster (photo courtesy Orange County, FL jail)

I am 42 years old. When I was a young kid, I went to Orlo Vista Elementary School in Orlando for kindergarten and first grade. While I was there, so was a teacher named Delores Laster.

The truth is, I don’t remember Mrs. Laster at all; in fact,  I don’t even know for sure that her last name was Laster during that time span. I only know that our time at Orlo Vista overlapped based on the chronology of the articles I’ve read about her.

Tonight, Mrs. Laster sits in jail for murdering her husband 21 years ago. The arrest happened last week, and she’s about to lose her job.

That’s right, as of this moment she is still employed – because she has not been found guilty. Innocent until proven guilty … I get that. But because she’s jailed, she is considered to be abandoning her position, and she has only one more personal day – tomorrow – before proceedings can begin to remove her from her job.

This, by the way, is not Mrs. Laster’s first brush with the law. In 1994, she was arrested in Altamonte Springs, FL for strong-arm robbery at a local Kmart store. Seems she was caught shoplifting cosmetics and children’s toys – and she opted to attack the store security guard when he attempted to apprehend her.

She was fired from her position then, but she pleaded no contest to attempted robbery and received only probation, and because the judge withheld adjudication of guilt she was not considered a convicted felon – and thus had to be hired back.

The school system then transferred her from Orlo Vista to Dillard Street Elementary, the school where she worked until being arrested.

Back to the murder arrest … detectives say she shot her husband, Clarence, in the head more than two decades ago. Police have recently re-interviewed people close to the investigation, including the couple’s three adopted children. They would not reveal why they’ve decided to go ahead with the arrest after all these years.

On March 20, 1988, Mrs. Laster called 911 to report that she’d come home from a trip to Gainesville to find her husband shot to death. They found him in the garage, but also found blood in the master bedroom. They also saw no evidence of any break-in.

It looks bad for Mrs. Laster, but she is, as I said before, innocent until proven guilty. For her sake, though, I hope she has a really good defense attorney.

The only thing I see that she has going for her is that there must be some sort of doubt; otherwise, why would they have taken this long to make the arrest.

No matter what you think, it’s a real shame that such a long and seemingly distinguished career has gone down the toilet like this.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that courtroom …

Wednesday Weisblog: The Geico lizard this ain’t!

Smile for the camera!

A fisherman from Indonesia was just taking a leisurely break, harmlessly searching for sugar-apples in a park on a remote Indonesian island.

As you might expect, there’s more to the story. The fisherman, 32-year-old Muhamad Amwar, wandered into an area that that was restricted. Signs warned of “wild dragons” that prowled the territory.

The simple fact that the area is called “Komodo National Park” should have been another clue.

Sadly, before Anwar found the apples, the Komodo dragons found him. Anwar’s fellow fisherman found him bleeding and unconscious, and he bled to death on the way to a nearby clinic.

Komodo dragons can grow to 10 feet long and can weigh as much as 300 pounds. They possess a bite that is “toxic,”
allowing it to take down prey as large as buffalo. They are voracious eaters who will devour nearly anything. They can kill small animals with one swipe of their powerful tails.

Attacks on humans are rare, but this is the second recorded incident in the last two months.

Next time you see a “Komodo dragon crossing” sign, don’t walk the other way … run!

Before I close today’s blog, I want to tell everyone about a computer virus that is sweeping the country and is scheduled to hit full force on April Fool’s Day (no, this is not a joke). CNN has a nice article on it, and here is the link to it:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/24/conficker.computer.worm/index.html