July 24, 2014

Man Starts Fire Using ‘Blowtorch’ To Kill Spider

Seattle (AP) A man who used a can of spray paint and a lighter as a makeshift blowtorch to kill a spider in his laundry room started a blaze that caused $60,000 worth of damage, Seattle fire officials said Wednesday.

The man and his mother got out of the house, and no injuries were reported in the fire that broke out in the West Seattle home Tuesday night, said Kyle Moore, a spokesman for the Seattle Fire Department.

Moore said the man used the spray paint and lighter as “a self-made blowtorch to kill a spider in the laundry room” of a rental house. “I don’t want to encourage people to do this, but that’s what he did,” Moore said Wednesday. “The spider tried to get into the wall. He sprayed flames on the wall, lit the wall on fire, and that extended up to the ceiling.”

Fire crews were called to the home in the home just south of Seattle just before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The man initially tried to put water on the fire, but he wasn’t able to put it out and the blaze quickly spread into the attic. On Wednesday, portions of the house were boarded up with plywood, and a blue tarp covered part of the roof.

The Red Cross is providing temporary shelter for the home’s two residents, whom authorities have not identified.

200 Pairs Of Panties Stolen At East Georgia Mall

Augusta, GA (AP) Authorities are investigating after a thief at an east Georgia shopping mall made off with a bagful of women’s unmentionables.

Richmond County sheriff’s officials say a thief stole 200 pairs of panties from Victoria’s Secret in Augusta Mall shortly before noon Saturday.

The Augusta Chronicle reports that security video shows a male entering the store and stuffing the underwear into a large shopping bag.

Authorities say he left without paying for the merchandise, valued at $1,900.

Black & White Stripes Are The New Orange

Saginaw, MI (AP) A Michigan sheriff says he’s trading his inmates’ orange jumpsuits for black-and-white stripes, in part due to pop culture.

Saginaw County Sheriff William Federspiel tells The Saginaw News that all-orange jumpsuits are increasingly viewed as fashionable, especially because they’re seen on popular TV shows such as the Netflix smash hit “Orange Is the New Black.”

Federspiel says “some people think it’s cool to look like an inmate of the Saginaw County Jail ... wearing all orange jumpsuits out at the mall or in public.” He says inmates sometimes work in public, and he doesn’t want there to be any confusion.

The jailhouse fashions come relatively cheap.

The sheriff says the jumpsuits, which last for about two to three years, cost $11.73 apiece.

Robber Who Hit Same Bank & Teller Twice Sentenced

Bremerton, WA (AP) A 24-year-old man who a month after being released from prison for a bank robbery held up the same bank and teller has been sentenced to more than 10 years behind bars.

Joshua James Driskell was arrested for robbing a Key Bank branch in Bremerton, Washington in October. He had just completed his prison sentence for the 2010 robbery.

The Kitsap Sun says court documents show Driskell went into the bank on Oct. 23 and gave the teller a note demanding $10,000.

A detective recognized him from security footage, and the teller gave police a partial license plate number of the getaway vehicle.

Driskell told police he spent some of the $2,000 he got from the robbery on marijuana. He was sentenced last week to 129 months in prison.

170-Foot Ketchup Bottle For Sale In Illinois

Belleville, IL (AP) Would you relish having a towering ketchup bottle? That emblem of roadside Americana could be yours if you fork over enough money.

A “For Sale” sign is in front of what’s billed as the “World’s Largest Bottle of Catsup,” the landmark that once served as a water tower in the city of Collinsville, east of St. Louis, the Belleville News-Democrat reported Tuesday.

The asking price for the 65-year-old, 170-foot-tall landmark is $200,000, with the warehouse adjacent to it listed at $300,000.

The landmark replicates a bottle of Brooks Old Original Rich and Tangy Catsup, which was produced in the buildings beneath the tower. The 100,000-gallon tower held water never ketchup and it hasn’t been used since Brooks moved out in the early 1960s.

The plant later became a warehouse used for shipping and trucking operations of Bethel-Eckert, which for four decades serviced military commissaries before losing its contracts.

Hunt For Giant Anaconda In New Jersey Lake

Jefferson, NJ (AP) Reports of a 16-foot-long exotic snake possibly an anaconda slithering through New Jersey’s largest lake have stoked fears among residents and led to searches and questions about what exactly is in the water.

Traps have been set in Lake Hopatcong, while animal control officers and a private reptile expert have been hunting for the snake, first spotted earlier this month.

A spokesman for the state’s Department of Environmental Protection said there have been no confirmed sightings of the snake and no evidence that it’s acutally there.

Gerald Andrejcak said that he has.

Andrejcak, assistant director of New Jersey’s Common Sense for Animals, says that he spotted the head and part of a body of what he estimated as a 16-foot-long anaconda last week. He said he cornered it before it escaped by slithering between his legs.

“You can’t miss an anaconda head. If you’ve ever dealt with any kind of snakes, any type of anaconda, you can never forget that head,” Andrejcak said.