Watercooler Stories

MySpace query leads to family reunion

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The Internet site MySpace is known as a place for teens to meet teens -- and now, for reuniting siblings living in St. Petersburg and Sarasota, Fla.

When St. Petersburg teen Christina Lynch, 16, accessed her MySpace account in August, an e-mail from "Jake" awaited her, the St. Petersburg Times reported Wednesday.

They established a thread. Jake asked questions, Lynch supplied answers. Then, the newspaper said, came THE exchange:

"i am pretty sure that i know u. do u know if you have any brothers or sisters. I might know them," Jake wrote.

"are u my brother? i have a brother named jacob and he should be 19 this is kinda weird," Lynch replied.

Lynch was separated from her brothers, Jake and Josh Melancon, for 12 years, the newspaper said. The brothers, adopted by the same family, tried to locate her without success -- until Jake searched MySpace and remembered the last name of his sister's adoptive mother.

They met in St. Petersburg seven hours after Jake Melacon clicked on Lynch's MySpace page. Before the brothers reached to their Sarasota home, Lynch had posted photos of the reunion.

Michigan man plagiarizes penalty paper

BRIGHTON, Mich., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A Michigan scofflaw ordered by a judge to write a paper on the history of jury duty found himself in more trouble for allegedly plagiarizing the paper.

Brandon Keith Dickens had been ordered to sit in Livingston County court for three days and then write the five pages on the jury system as penance for ditching jury duty.

The Lansing (Mich.) State Journal reported that Dickens was given another day as a court watcher, after court personnel recognized the writing as having been lifted from another paper produced by a Seattle writer that was available on the Internet.

Although the judge was ticked off, he declined to sentence the 20-year-old Dickens to observe the inner workings of the county jail.

Anchorage strippers sue for back pay

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Three Alaskan strippers are suing their employers for back pay, claiming the club owners are not following state laws.

Shanna Thornton and two other dancers are suing the Anchorage strip clubs Fantasies on 5th Avenue and Crazy Horse. They say they are owed back pay related to minimum wage, overtime and fees they had to pay the clubs, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The two clubs deny the allegations.

The newspaper said a two-week paycheck dated from June shows Thornton worked 23 hours, but after deductions earned $7.41 at the club.

"I'm sorry, I'm not in this business for any other purpose than to make money," Thornton told the newspaper. "And, I'm not going to go dance and perform for McDonald's wages."

Thornton says she was forced to tip the bartenders, bouncers and other club employees from her earnings. The head of Alaska's division of labor standards and safety says it is against state law to require workers to tip their colleagues, the newspaper said.

Jogger lost for 4 days on Orlando's fringe

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A 62-year-old Orlando, Fla., jogger who spent four days lost in the wilderness on the city's edge was recovering from kidney failure Wednesday.

Eddie Meadows got lost Thursday afternoon after taking an unfamiliar trail in a swampy area near the University of Central Florida, and wasn't found by searchers until Sunday, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday.

"I'm just an old runner who went out and made a really dumb mistake," Meadows told the newspaper.

He said he became frustrated that he could hear the university band practicing, and each time he tried to head for the sound, the band stopped. He also heard dump trucks and car horns, but they didn't last long enough to give him his bearings.

"The most frustrating thing was that I could hear civilization around me the whole time -- you are so close to civilization, but you can't communicate with it," he said.

Meanwhile, he is recovering at home with badly lacerated hands from tearing through underbrush, and has made himself and his wife a solemn vow about his marathon training.

"I'll never go running again without a cell phone," he told the Sentinel.