Watercooler Stories

Police attacked by fleas

SOUTH BEND, Ind., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Seven South Bend, Ind., police officers had to cut their shifts short after they were attacked by a merciless foe -- fleas.

The officers were called to a vacant house to investigate a neighbor's report of a burglar carrying items out of the home, the South Bend Tribune reported Monday. The police searched the house but didn't notice the tiny fleas until they were preparing to leave.

"They were all over the place -- in our socks and even in our shorts," Cpl. Ken Stuart said. "It was disgusting."

Patrolman Paul Strabavy told the Tribune this was the third time he has caught fleas from a vacant house this year.

The officers went through a "flea decontamination process" that involved quarantined transport, showers with flea/lice shampoo and spare clothing delivered by the wife of one of the officers.

"That killed the whole shift," Sgt. Chuck Stokes, who was the supervisor on scene, said to the newspaper. "It takes several hours to take care of the problem.

"The guys were very angry. The last thing they wanted to deal with was fleas."

Man catches plane after being shot

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A Florida man determined to catch a plane dressed his wounds and boarded a flight after being shot in a domestic dispute.

William J. Notaro, 37, of Clearwater, Fla., said a woman shot him three times in the torso Saturday with a small-caliber handgun during an argument in a card game, The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune reported Monday.

Notaro dressed his wounds and boarded a US Airways flight to Albany, N.Y., without revealing to airport officials he had been shot earlier that day, Tampa International Airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said Sunday.

Once in the air, Notaro asked the flight attendant for a Band-Aid for a gunshot wound, the Tribune reported.

When Notaro landed in Charlotte, N.C., to change planes for Albany, his bleeding became noticeable and he was treated at a local hospital before resuming his flight.

Police are investigating the shooting, though Notaro has said he doesn't want to press charges, the Tribune reported.

N.Y. woman to sue for lottery win

NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A New York woman who said a lottery machine cut her winning ticket in half will ask a court to force New York Lottery officials to pay her.

Patricia Manzitto, 64, of Long Island, said her $25,000 winner isn't a fake and came from a lottery machine that actually spit it out in two halves, The New York Post reported Monday.

Lottery spokesman John Charlson said mismatched pink and blue colored lines on Manzitto's ticket clearly show it to be torn halves of two different tickets.

Manzitto's lawyer, Rosemarie Arnold, doesn't dispute that the colored lines don't match but argues that is how the ticket was sold.

Manzitto says she put $6 in a lottery ticket-dispensing machine Oct. 5 and received three Blue Moon Bucks tickets. The bottom half of one ticket, she told the Post, was spit out unattached to the top half.

When Manzitto and her husband scratched off the damaged ticket, they saw it had two matching numbers on either end for a $25,000 prize.

Firefighters banned from using ladders

AMPTHILL, England, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Ampthill, England, have been banned from using their ladders in non-emergency situations.

For many years firefighters have helped remove decorations after festivals, but now they have been told it is too risky for them to help, The Daily Mail reported Monday.

The crews were not allowed to help clean up after the city's Gala Day, which took place in early July. Now, nearly four months later the decorations are still up and the city must decide how to take care of them.

Council member Mark Smith, the former mayor, said: "The reason the festival bunting is still up arises from the fact that due to local health and safety advice the local fire brigade is unable to take the bunting down."

The town's Web site, where locals can post ideas and opinions, has been flooded by complaints that the decorations are starting to look bad.