UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Police: Suspect fled into police station

RIVERTON, Wyo., Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Police in Wyoming said a shoplifting suspect chose the wrong building for his impromptu hiding place -- a nearby police station.

Riverton police said Jason Antelope, 26, fled the Riverton Safeway store Wednesday with a bottle of schnapps and a package of cough drops, KVOW-KTAK Radio, Riverton, Wyo., reported Monday.

However, investigators said the nearest building Antelope found to duck into turned out to be the local police station.

The suspect tried to turn around and run back outside, but he was recognized by a dispatcher and subsequently tackled by police officers.

Antelope was charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest and running from officers. Police said he was intoxicated.

Class ring found after nearly 20 years

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 8 (UPI) -- A Florida graduate who lost his 1989 class ring when it fell from a cruise ship 21 years ago said an Ohio woman called to say she found the ring.

Tom Whitney of Orlando, who accidentally dropped the 1989 West Orange High ring from a Port Canaveral-based cruise ship the year of his graduation, said he received an e-mail last Monday from a woman who said she believed the ring had been found, The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported Monday.

"It was just this Monday, and I got a message from a woman who said she has my ring," Whitney said.

The message said the ring was found by the woman's metal detector-wielding father along Florida's Daytona Beach.

New pint glasses aimed at curbing violence

LONDON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A British official is praising a pair of prototype shatterproof pint glasses being tested for their durability to reduce injuries from bar violence.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said the glasses, created by the company Design Bridge, are aimed at curbing the estimated 87,000 broken-glass attacks in Britain each year, The Independent reported Friday.

"Having that weapon in your hand is an enormous part of why these injuries take place in the first instance," Johnson said.

Johnson said the first prototype, dubbed "Glass Plus," is a single layer of glass with a resin coating on the inside, and the second, "Thin Wall," features two layers of glass held together by resin. He said the designs were based on the windshields of cars.

"All being well, we'll find either one of these two projects, or even both of them, to be the kind of glasses you'll get in pubs and clubs not just in this country but around the world," he said.

Site picks 'Unusual Places for Romance'

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A U.S. tourism Web site's list of "Unusual Places for Romance" includes cities with amorous names and an island shaped like a heart.

Topping VirtualTourist.com's list was Heart Island, N.Y., a heart-shaped island home to Boldt Castle, a century-old structure that now hosts weddings.

The Manhattan Beach, Calif., based Web site said Kissing, Germany, was chosen due solely to its name, while Oregon's Hug Point State Park boasted a name evocative of affection as well as romantic views for lovers of nature.

Fourth on the list were the Chocolate Hills of Bohol, Philippines, which VirtualTourist said resemble "something out of a Tim Burton movie," despite being natural formations.

Finishing off the list was Valentine, Neb., chosen not only for sharing its name with the most romantic day of the year, but for the scenic splendor of the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge.