UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

FBI seeks 'Granddad Bandit'

ATLANTA, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The FBI said a bank robber dubbed the "Granddad Bandit" is wanted for holdups in at least seven states, including two in Atlanta.

FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett said robberies attributed to the man, who was described as between 50 and 60 years old and bald with short gray hair on the sides, include an April 29 theft at a SunTrust branch in Atlanta and an Oct. 2 heist at a different SunTrust branch in the same Georgia city, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Thursday.

Emmett said the man is also believed to be responsible for bank robberies in Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, New York, Florida and Texas.

"His robberies are described as being calm, with a deliberate attempt not to attract attention to himself," Emmett said. "The robber quietly presents a demand note to the victim teller and thereafter departs the bank without disruption to normal banking business going on around him."

Emmett said there is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the man's arrest.

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Open door leads deputy to 800 pot plants

ATLANTA, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in Georgia said a deputy who walked into the open front door of a home discovered more than $7.4 million worth of marijuana.

The Walton County Sheriff's Office said the deputy discovered 800 marijuana plants and several 1,000-watt lamps in the basement of the house. The renter, Quang Hung Le, 28, was arrested, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday.

The sheriff's office said power company workers were called in to ensure the wires in the basement were not a hazard after the lights were removed.

Le was taken to the Walton County Jail.

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Diaper-wearing woman awarded $150,000

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania woman was awarded $150,000 in a discrimination suit claiming she had to wear diapers to work due to a lack of toilets.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's lawsuit against Danella Construction Corp., of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., said Lisa Drozdowski, 37, had to wear adult diapers while she was working as a flagger for the company in 2005 because officials refused to provide portable toilets, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Thursday.

Drozdowski said her bathroom breaks, which involved walking a quarter mile to her car and driving several minutes to the nearest restroom, often came after she had already urinated on herself. She said the company stopped giving her work when she complained about the bathroom breaks and was denied a laborers position.

The commission and Danella entered into a consent decree filed in a court Wednesday. Danella agreed to pay $150,000 to Drozdowski and four other female employees who claimed they were also discriminated against by the company will split a $50,000 payout.

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Trivial Pursuit launches gender challenge

TORONTO, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- The distributor of the Trivial Pursuit board game has launched a North American online battle of the sexes to determine the more knowledgeable gender.

In a news release from Toronto, Hasbro Inc. announced the launch of the www.trivialpursuitexperiment.com site to determine who's smartest when it comes to minutiae.

Jane Ritson-Parsons, brand leader for the game, said players log in with their ages and gender and gain one point for their sides with each correct answer.

"We're not taking sides, just providing the platform to watch this battle play out," she said.

By Thursday afternoon, men had a slight lead over women by about 100,000 points.

The release said knowing that coconuts kill more people than sharks each year, that the best matadors in Peru used to be women or that every second 200 stars are born are examples of the types of questions to expect.

Regardless of the eventual score, the company quoted former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the gender issue.

"Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes. There's too much fraternizing with the enemy," he said.