It's no bull.....

"My client did step over the line here, but one can certainly understand his frustration, given that the victim was carrying on an affair with my client's wife," stated Hiles.

It seems that Jason Michael Fife, 31, of Hunker PA has discovered that in a civilized society, his method of "warning off" his wife's lover wasn't the best of choices. He began with threatening words and pictures but his action in June 2006 was what sent police to his doorstep.

Authorities in Lower Pottsgrove PA state that Fife had been sending threatening messages and pictures to his wife's lover from May through September 2006. In June 2006, he found a bloody package on his doorstep and police traced it back to Fife.

He had purchased a cow's head at a butcher shop, telling them that he wanted to dry the skull and use it as a decoration. Instead, he froze it to hide the packages contents from the delivery company and sent it out as a much bolder threat to the man. The package arrived on his doorstep frozen but a day in the warm sun left it a bloody mess.

Police tracked both the package and e-mails to Fife and he was arrested on charges of terroristic threats, disorderly conduct, harrasment and stalking. This past Friday he was sentenced to a first time offenders program in which he must serve two years probation and do 50 hours of community service. If he is successful, his record will be cleared of the charges.

The message evidently must have worked in some way..... Fife realizes he went a bit too far in warning off his competitor and he and his wife have also reconciled. No word was said as to where that leaves the former lover in this love triangle, although I bet he is glad the package had been sitting on the porch and not in his bed.

Sticky fingers of the law

It seems that one officer is going to pay more than a few dollars for his execution of a warrent in 2003. He did though add his name to the never-ending list of police who manage to think that they are above the law.

In February 2003, officers of the Monmouth NJ Prosecutor's Office and the Asbury Park Police Department executed an arrest warrent on a fugitive in an Asbury Park apartment. They raided the home where the fugitive's mother lived and while it wasn't reported if they found the fugitive there, the mother reported that a diamond watch valued at over $2,500 was now missing.

On Monday, U S District Chief Judge Garrett E Brown sentenced former Asbury Park officer Phillip Montgomery, 45, of Ocean Township, to two years in jail and as well as pay a $6,000 fine. It seems that Montgomery had been the one who helped the missing watch leave the raided apartment.

While it isn't any mother's wish I would think to have a child a fugitive, I don't think many of us would expect a police officer to steal valuables from us while they are executing a warrent. At least Montgomery will have a bit of time to think about how dumb he had to be to think that no one would notice the watch was missing.

They'll never notice....

When it came to a recent arrest made by the Lakehurst NJ police this past Saturday, the officers didn't have to travel all that far it seems. It began with the sharp nose of an officer who was leaving work to head home early.

Sargent Ronald Heinzman asked some other officers to come outside and take a whiff according to authorities. He had thought that he smelled the distinct odor of marijuana while outside in the police parking lot. Police state that they not only smelled the offending smoke but they overheard a conversation that mentioned the irony of smoking pot next door to a police station.

Officers then proceeded to the house on the other side of the chain-link fence and knocked on the door. At that point it seems, Benjamin Gordon, 18, of Farmville VA was arrested.......for being a bit too blatent in his pot smoking that night. The irony may be that Gordon's friends wouldn't have to go too far to bail him out that night either.

and the golden potato goes to.......

This past week, one more of our nation's important competitions took place in New York City, NY. The ESPN Zone Ultimate Couch Potato Competition was held at the ESPN Zone restaraunt in Times Square and the victor was crowned after a mere 29 hours.

Stan Friedman, a Manhattan librarian outlasted his three rivals to take home the coveted prize. All four of them were seated in recliners in front of dozens of televisions to watch continuous sports programs and allowed to order anything to eat or drink. They weren't allowed to sleep or run to the potty except during their allotted breaks every eight hours.

Friedman won after Nate Lopez dashed off to the bathroom before their break and for that, he was awarded a $5,000 prize package that included a recliner, a huge TV and a trophy with a potato on it. Since he only has a 350 square foot apartment, he is going to have a tough time fitting the TV in but he stated that he would make certain he would find the space for the recliner.

I am not sure that I would call 29 hours of non-stop TV grueling............. I bet there are a few mothers who would find that a rather easy thing to pull off in comparison to their grueling daily scheduales.

Mighty expensive bacon.....

Wednesday night brought cold temperatures to much of the state of Florida and residents were warned to care for their plants and pets. A resident of St Augustine FL took the warning seriously and made what seemed to be a good plan to keep his pet warm during the night.

The St Johns County Fire-Rescue department was called to his Francis Ave home at around 10:20 pm though with the report of a house fire in progress. Firefighters state that the fire destroyed the home's back porch and gazebo and it had spread to the eave and attic before they were able to get it under control.

They later discovered that the homeowner had brought his pig onto the back porch and set a space heater out there to keep it warm in the below freezing temperatures that were reported to be due. The pig evidently knocked over the heater and started the fire. They added that everyone managed to escape the home unharmed......... except for the pig, who died in the fire.

The fire caused an estimated $50,000 in damage to the home and just guessing that the pig may have weighed 100 pounds......... that would work out to approximately $500 a pound.

Hot pants

"Clearly it depends on what size you are - but I don't want to go there," stated a spokesman for the Cleveland Fire Brigade.

Last Sunday it seems that larger was certainly better in the case of a kitchen fire. John Marsey and his cousin Darren Lines were frying bread in Jenny Marsey's Hartlepool England kitchen when the pan caught fire. Darren's quick actions saved the kitchen but definately put his aunt in the news.

Lines grabbed the first thing he found in his aunt's laundry basket and ran it under the faucet to wet it. He then tossed it onto the fire to smother it on the stove. An official from the fire department stated that it is sound thinking to smother a grease fire whenever possible with a large wet cloth.

Marsay agreed as well, stating that she was thankful for the boys quick thinking. The small grease fire could certainly led to a much greater fire and danger to them all. As for the wet cloth, nothing was stated about the condition of Marsay's powder blue, size XL underpants that saved the day.

That does leave me a bit curious as to how large XL really is and what may have happened if they had been thongs he grabbed first.

It's a whole new year.......

It would seem that a few people wanted to send off 2007 with a moment to really remember, although, they may not want to really remember it in the coming months. In fact, both of the recent participants in the news-worthy exploits are unidentified.

On a ranch just north of Phoenix AZ, Monday evening, a 75 year-old man decided to saddle up and possibly ride into the new year on his family pet. He did get to ride, just not around the acreage. He was flown to a Scottsdale hospital after the "incident" in rural Cave Creek with non-life threatening injuries.

Authorities state that he saddled up his pet buffalo for a ride but was bucked off and then mauled. They added that people do have buffalos on their property but it is rather rare and more rare to be called to a riding accident involving one. They didn't state though, whether he had made it to the 10 second buzzer on his ride.

The other, "creative" rider was out in Paw Paw Township MI on Monday night. She evidently ran a stop sign and hit a cable supporting a utility pole with her truck. That seems to have caused the pole to become unsupported and it fell along with the wires attached to it.

That wasn't enough to stop the driver, as she was reported to have backed up into the roadway again and continued driving. It is easy enough to understand that if it were just a minor scratch and dent kind of accident. This wasn't the case though, according to Trooper Rick Carlson. She didn't stop until she was forced to stop........ by the flames that had engulfed the truck.

Carlson reported that an ambulence did manage to catch up to her and she was taken to the hospital for burns to her hands and head. Her pug also was burned in the accident but will survive. No word had been released as to how far she drove as a flaming beacon in the night but I am betting that it was easier to spot for the ambulence crew.