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Diamond ring put in Salvation Army kettle

MIAMI, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A mystery woman put a $2,000 diamond and sapphire ring, plus $50 for good measure, in a Salvation Army kettle in Miami, a spokeswoman for the charity said.

Salvation Army Capt. Linda Payton told Miami's WTVJ-TV her office got a call from the anonymous woman about 1 p.m. Friday.

"She said that she had just left something in the kettle in front of Kmart and that it was something special," Payton said.

So off to Kmart, Payton went, and she brought the kettle back to the office.

"Inside the kettle was, wrapped in a rubber band, a $50 bill and inside the $50 bill was a note, and inside the note was a ring," Payton said.

The note said: "They need more than I. Do good! A Friend."

The ring, which features two diamonds ad a sapphire, was immediately appraised at $2,000, Payton said.

Last Christmas holiday season, someone deposited a gold nugget in a Miami kettle with a note expressing a similar sentiment. The nugget sold for $4,000 at auction.

"It's just wonderful for the community, we're just the conduit, they're the ones who will receive it," Payton said.

N.Y. rules being buried with pet is OK

HARTSDALE, N.Y., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- New York state's Cemetery Board has decided people can have their ashes buried in pet cemeteries alongside their non-human companions after all.

"I feel great," said Rhona Levy of New York City's Bronx borough, who wants to be buried with her dog and cats in Westchester's Hartsdale Pet Cemetery. "It was sort of like an early Christmas present."

Earlier this year, the Cemetery Board had ruled human remains could not be buried in pet cemeteries, even though about 700 people have been buried at Hartsdale Pet Cemetery over the years, the New York Post reported Sunday.

However, this past week, the board reversed itself and said the pet cemetery could continue to bury human remains on its property as long as the service is not advertised and there is no charged for it.

"It's just unfortunate that so many people had to go through this emotional torture these many months while this was being worked out," Levy said.

The board also proposed similar regulations for all pet cemeteries in the state.

Thieves steal from suspected shoplifters

OGDEN, Utah, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Two people cited for allegedly shoplifting in Ogden, Utah, in turn discovered just minutes later they were victims of theft, police said.

Korin Vanhouten, 47 and Eldon Alexander, 36, were stopped shortly after leaving a WinCo by a police officer who suspected they left without paying for cotton swabs, makeup and batteries, the Ogden Standard-Examiner reported Friday.

The officer cited them for shoplifting.

When the pair returned to Alexander's pickup truck in the store's parking lot, they noticed someone had entered the unlocked truck and stole a stereo amplifier, a drum machine and cigarettes.

Police Lt. Tony Fox said he had never seen anything like it in his entire career.

The items the two were suspected of shoplifting were worth $26, while the worth of their stolen possessions was about $60, Fox estimated.

Police were investigating.

Florida seniors caught in sex sting

FORT MYERS, Fla., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Police in Florida say they arrested three seniors during a sting operation after receiving complaints of men participating in public acts of lewdness.

Members of the Lee County Sheriff's Office Narcotics/Vice Unit conducted the sting at Bunche Beach, near Fort Meyers.

Three men allegedly approached the undercover male detectives at separate times Friday and engaged in conversations indicating they were looking for sexual activity while exposing themselves to the detectives, a release from the Sheriff's Office said.

Larry Dean Richardson, 62, of Deerfield, Ill.; Martin Schasel, 73, of Holland, N.Y., and James Tobin, 81, of Fort Myers, were all charged with engaging in, committing or offering lewdness, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.