Watercooler Stories

Collector buys card from nuns

HADDONFIELD, N.J., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A New Jersey collector said he bought a rare Honus Wagner baseball card from an order of Baltimore nuns after an auction winner reneged on a $220,000 bid.

Nicholas DePace, 57, a Haddonfield cardiologist who owns one of the most valuable sports memorabilia collections in the country, said he was contacted by auction officials Monday after the original high bidder backed out of paying the School Sisters of Notre Dame for the card, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

DePace, who said he originally stopped bidding on the card when the price became too high, said he changed his mind when he heard proceeds from the sale were destined for the order's ministries in 30 countries.

"This is the most famous Honus Wagner card now because it's going to help thousands of people, and that's more than any other Honus Wagner card has ever done," DePace said.

'Robin Hood' offers reward in casino case

LAS VEGAS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A professional gambler who uses the name "Robin Hood 702" is offering a $50,000 reward for the return of $1.5 million in chips stolen from a Las Vegas casino.

The high stakes blackjack player, who operates anonymously under the "Robin Hood 702" moniker to use his winnings to help families with debt, said he is offering the reward for the return of the chips to the Bellagio and the arrest and conviction of the helmeted motorcyclist who produced a gun in the robbery at the casino Dec. 14. The thief fled on a motorcycle with chips from a craps table in denominations as high as $25,000, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

"I'm just trying to find this guy and stop any copycats," Robin Hood said. "If the Bellagio was hit, the Palazzo could be hit, the Venetian, the MGM Grand ... it could be every casino. This guy has to be apprehended quickly."

Police said the same suspect is also believed to be behind the Dec. 9 robbery of less than $20,000 from the Suncoast casino.

N.J. township owes $17,000 for $5 fee

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A New Jersey township is responsible for more than $17,000 in legal fees after trying to defend a $5 fee to the state Government Records Council.

The council ruled Bridgewater Township, which spent $14,000 in legal fees on the case, is responsible for the $3,500 in legal fees spent by resident Tom Coulter as well as a $4.04 refund for the $5 he paid for an audio recording of the Feb. 4, 2008, Township Council regular session meeting, The (Bridgewater) Courier-News reported.

Coulter argued he should only have to pay 96 cents, the actual cost of the CD, rather than the $5 stipulated by the township records fee ordinance.

"This David and Goliath saga is about much more than litigation over a $5 CD which cost the township well over $17,000," Coulter said in a Dec. 17 e-mail. "It's about lack of common sense in government. It's about the culture at Town Hall. It's about the kind of unmitigated dysfunction that pervades the township government."

WTF: WikiLeaks Task Force

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- The CIA task force assessing damage from leaked U.S. diplomatic documents, the WikiLeaks Task Force, has the same abbreviation as a popular online saying, WTF.

The group, which is tasked with assessing the impact of 250,000 diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks, bears the same abbreviated name as the popular Internet and text message shorthand for extreme disbelief, The Guardian reported.

The WTF is analyzing the fallout from the leaks of documents including the U.S. State Department's "wish list" of information sought on key United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior diplomats.