Watercooler Stories

Graffiti artists paint the town

CALTRANS, Calif., June 12 (UPI) -- Artists in Caltrans, Calif., held the "First Annual West Coast Graffiti Party" in a town usually opposed to graffiti, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Event organizer Raul Gamboa, a prolific graffiti artist himself, was granted a permit to hold the event, which drew a crowd of mostly young artists, designers and musicians.

Participants traveled from as far as New York City to attend the event, which was an exhibition of the talents of some of Los Angeles' most talented graffiti artists, the newspaper said.

The artists worked on large donated canvasses, not buildings.

"(Graffiti) is a horrific problem," Caltrans spokeswoman Judy Gish told the newspaper. Still, the city granted the permit because, "Mr. Gamboa said he will be presenting graffiti alternatives."

The purpose of the festival was to increase recognition of graffiti as art, not vandalism. Large canvasses of were available for sale at the festival.

Caltrans spends about $1.5 million annually to remove graffiti, the Times reported.

Indiana girls are academic triple threat

GARY, Ind., June 12 (UPI) -- Indiana triplets have made their mother triply proud by graduating at the top of their high school class.

Melinda Rosado is the valedictorian at Calumet High School, her sister Maritza is salutatorian, and Maricell, the fraternal triplet, will graduate at No. 6, the Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune reported.

Parents Gaspar and Christina Rosado were strict about the girls starting their homework immediately after school and did not allow the triplets to get after-school jobs.

"(Our mother) made sure we knew school and learning were important," Maritza told the newspaper.

Even though the sisters didn't study together, it was common for them to make the same mistakes on an exam or for the first paragraphs of their essays to resemble one another, the Post-Tribune reported.

"They think alike," their mother said.

Fugitive busted at FBI construction site

SAN ANTONIO, June 12 (UPI) -- A man wanted by police discovered the hard way that working on the construction of a new FBI headquarters in San Antonio was a bad idea.

An agent tried to detain Michael King after a routine background check disclosed the warrant, WAOI-TV reported. He tried to escape, running through some undergrowth to a parking lot at a nearby church.

King tried to get help from construction workers hanging out there. But instead, they flagged down a helicopter and pointed him out.

In addition to drug charges he already faces in Nueces County, King could be charged with assaulting a federal officer.

Man faces DWI for golf cart crash

COTTAGE GROVE, Minn., June 12 (UPI) -- A Minnesota man who allegedly hit his golfing partner with a golf car during a boozy round faces felony charges.

Adam Thompson of White Bear Lake has been charged with criminal vehicular operation and driving while impaired, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported.

Thompson and his friend, Anthony Savage of Minnetonka, had both been drinking heavily, investigators said. The two men allegedly had beer with them in a cooler and also took advantage of the Mississippi Dunes Golf Links roving waitress service.

Savage was cut and bruised and suffered an injured eye after being pinned under the golf cart, officials said.

H. Alan Kantrud, Thompson's lawyer, did not dispute the police account of the incident, saying that it "underscores the fact that drunken driving can be anytime, anywhere." But he argued that his client should not become a felon when Savage "doesn't even blame him."

Kantrud also argued that the club shares responsibility since a waitress continued to serve the two men after they were visibly intoxicated, something the club disputes.