Sweden's Ice Hotel told to get fire alarms..

The Ice Hotel, which is rebuilt every year in northern Sweden out of enormous chunks of ice from the Torne River in Jukkasjärvi, Kiruna, will this year come equipped with fire alarms - and the irony isn't lost on the staff.

 

"We were a little surprised when we found out," hotel spokeswoman Beatrice Karlsson told The Local.

 

"But we do understand. Safety is a primary concern for us. There are indeed things that can catch fire, like the reindeer skins, the mattresses, and the pillows."

 

While it might sound crazy that a building made of water needs to be equipped with fire alarms, the fact that the hotel is built from scratch every year means it needs to abide by the rules that apply to every new building, rules set by the National Housing Board (Boverket).

 

Karlsson at the hotel isn't concerned about the new changes, and admitted that it was just a matter of adaptation.

 

"Every hotel is brand new anyway, there is always something new to think about. And this year is..... Read more here....

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Pennsylvania man stole backhoe, drove miles to Philly

A Pennsylvania man has been jailed on charges he stole a $125,000 backhoe from a suburban construction site then drove it about 30 miles to a scrapyard in Philadelphia where he intended to sell it.

Police estimate it would have taken 33-year-old William Michael Pusey about 2 1/2 hours to make the trip to Philadelphia from Shainline Excavating of Phoenixville, where the backhoe was stolen Sunday.

State police say the backhoe's owner was able to locate it because of a global-positioning device in it. Police say Pusey was arrested in Philadelphia where he had heard someone wanted to buy a backhoe.

Court records don't list an attorney for Pusey, of Columbia, who has been returned to the Lancaster County Prison because he faces an outstanding unrelated arrest warrant for theft there.

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Father, son accused of kidnapping mom possessed by demons

STOCKTON, California – A California father and son are facing charges after they allegedly kidnapped a woman so priests could perform an exorcism.

Deputies said the man and his son took his ex-wife against her will from a Walmart parking lot Saturday morning after they said she had undergone some drastic changes recently. The pair said they believed demons were to blame for the changes.

Deputies said 42-year-old Jose Magana-Farias and 20-year-old Victor Farias arranged to meet up with the mother, saying they wanted to make the marriage work.

Not knowing what was about to happen the woman got into the car. Once they hit the road, the pair picked up a priest in south Stockton and another priest at a second location.  Full Article

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Man accused of impersonating cop to get Dunkin Donuts discounts

Florida – Authorities have arrested a man who they say was flashing a fake police badge and a firearm to get discounts at Dunkin Donuts.

Pasco County police say Charles Barry made two stops at a store in Trinity on Nov. 6 and 7  before he was busted, Fox 13 reports.

After the first stop, an employee told their manager about Barry and they were able to get his license plate number on surveillance video when he stopped the next day.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said Barry told him he got the badge from his father, who is a police officer in Morris County in New Jersey.  Full Article

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Judge orders man to pay $500 a month for 132 years for tree he killed..

AUBURN, Alabama – Harvey Updyke, the man who pleaded guilty to the 2010 poisoning the historic Toomer’s Oaks on the campus of Auburn University, now owes the school almost $800,000, the Opelika-Auburn News reported Saturday.

According to the report, Circuit Judge Jacob A. Walker III filed an order Friday that will require Updyke to pay Auburn $796,731.98 in restitution fees.

Walker said the money will offset the cost of removing and replacing the trees and affected soil as well as revenue lost because of their destruction.

In the language of the order, Walker said the restitution requests Auburn made were reasonable and the costs involved had been well documented.

In the order, Walker specified that Updyke must make monthly payments of $500 toward the restitution. That’s more than 132 years worth of $500 installments. Full Article

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Dog brings home human leg, man buries it in his back yard

NISQUALLY RESERVATION, Washington - The search is on for more human remains after a dog dragged a human leg home to her owner on Tuesday.

93-year-old Bill Flowers found the leg after his dog Liberty dragged it home, and was standing over it.

“I examined it,” Flowers said. “I picked it up, and looked at the toes and nothing.

None of the leg or foot was damaged – from the knee down it wasn’t damaged at all.”
He buried the leg in his backyard, and didn’t call police until four days later at the urging of his daughter.  Full Article

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