star-telegram.com: Weird News

Man says JetBlue made him sit on toilet

Tue, 13 May 2008 07:30 CDT

By SAMUEL MAULL

A New York City man is suing JetBlue Airways Corp. for more than $2 million because he says a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendant and sit on the toilet for more than three hours on a flight from California.

Gokhan Mutlu, of Manhattan's Inwood section, says in court papers the pilot told him to "go 'hang out' in the bathroom" about 90 minutes into the San Diego to New York flight because the flight attendant complained that the "jump seat" she was assigned was uncomfortable, the lawsuit said.

Mutlu was traveling on a a "buddy pass," a standby travel voucher that JetBlue employees give to friends, from New York to San Diego on Feb. 16, and returned to New York on Feb. 23, the lawsuit said.

Initially, Mutlu was told a flight attendant had taken the last seat on the plane, but then he was advised she would sit in the employee "jump seat," meaning he could have the last seat, the lawsuit said.

The pilot told him 1 1/2 hours into the five-hour flight that he would have to relinquish the seat to the flight attendant, court papers say. But the pilot said that Mutlu could not sit in the jump seat because only JetBlue employees were permitted to sit there, the lawsuit said.

When Mutlu expressed reluctance to go sit in the bathroom, the pilot, who was not named in the lawsuit, told him that "he was the pilot, that this was his plane, under his command that (Mutlu) should be grateful for being on board," the lawsuit said.

When the aircraft hit turbulence and passengers were directed to return to their seats, but "the plaintiff had no seat to return to, sitting on a toilet stool with no seat belts," court papers say.

Some time later, a male flight attendant knocked on the restroom door and told Mutlu he could return to his original seat, court papers say.

Mutlu's lawsuit, filed Friday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, says JetBlue negligently endangered him by not providing him with a seat with a safety belt or harness, in violation of federal law.

A JetBlue spokesman declined comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Illinois man reclaims stationary bike world record

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:43 CDT

A suburban Chicago man has reclaimed the Guinness world record for time spent on a stationary bicycle.

George Hood's time isn't official yet, but organizers say he spent about 177 hours over eight days riding a spinning bike at a suburban YMCA.

He rode the equivalent of 2,016 miles, burned more than 46,000 calories and never slept for more than 12 minutes at a time.

The retired Drug Enforcement Agency investigator from Aurora began his ride on May 5 and finished early Monday. He was taken to an area hospital as a precaution.

He had held the record until last summer after spending 111 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds on a bike. That record was broken by another cyclist from Tasmania.

Police: Drunk tuxedo-clad man took mower for ride

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:16 CDT

Police say a tuxedo-clad western New York man was drunk when he took a riding lawn mower out for an early morning spin.

Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace said deputies got a report of an intoxicated person at a home in Irving around 1 a.m. Monday. When they arrived, the man was spotted riding away on his mower.

Deputies who stopped the Irving resident charged him with felony driving while intoxicated and aggravated unlicensed operation.

They say the charge is a felony because the man had a previous DWI conviction.

Iowa man charged with throwing candy at police

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:16 CDT

A college student whose friend was being questioned in a hit and run found himself charged with assaulting an officer with a curious choice of weapons: M&Ms.

Sean McGuire was arrested early Sunday at a convenience store after Drake University security guards noticed the colored candies falling on the ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M&M hit his shoulder, according to a police report.

McGuire claimed he threw the candy because he was "sticking up for his friend," who apparently was the man suspected in the accident, the report states.

McGuire, of Glenview, Ill., was released from jail Sunday after posting $1,000 bond. A telephone call to his cell phone Monday wasn't immediately returned.

Southwest passenger cited for cell phone chatter

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:58 CDT

A Southwest Airlines passenger who refused to get off his cell phone during a flight found Dallas police waiting for him Monday.

Southwest officials had summoned police, who met the jet when it arrived at Love Field from Austin. Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said flight attendants had repeatedly asked the man to get off the phone while airborne.

Police said Joe David Jones, 50, of Austin, was cited for disorderly conduct. Jones did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration bars use of mobile phones when planes are flying due to concerns about interference with navigation systems.

King said airlines can be fined up to $25,000 for allowing cell phone use, and passengers also can be fined.

Utah father and son graduate law school together

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:45 CDT

Tom McLelland was both proud papa and happy grad during commencement at an Ohio law school.

McLelland, 58, and his son, Ryan, graduated together Sunday with law degrees from Ohio Northern University in Ada and may open a practice together at home in Utah.

"It's something we've talked about for the last five years," the elder McLelland, a former human resources manager for the state Department of Corrections, said before the ceremony.

Ryan McLelland said he and his dad took almost every class together. "We could help each other a lot better," he said.

Tom, who lived in West Jordan before going back to school, is interested in labor and employment law and Ryan, a father of three, is interested in family law.

"I'm a little nervous," Tom said. "I'm looking forward to a new challenge in life."

Chicago students seek Obama's haircut, speedy spud, Weird Al

Sun, 11 May 2008 22:06 CDT

Dozens of students from the University of Chicago returned Sunday from a four-day multistate trek dubbed the world's largest scavenger hunt after trying to find Barack Obama's haircut and a car horn that plays "La Cucaracha," among other things.

The list of 269 items includes having "a Nobel Prize winner or 'Weird Al' Yankovic witness your organ donor registration" and trying to get "Obama's haircut at Obama's barbershop."

Teams get points for the items they bring back to campus, tasks they complete or questions they answer correctly. The scavenger hunt, in its 22nd year, includes a road trip as far as 1,000 miles from Chicago.

"This allows us to take another kind of brain power and put it into frivolous, trivial but completely enjoyable tasks," said senior David Pisano, 21.

Winners had not been posted as of late Sunday for this year's challenges, which included having "a potato break the sound barrier" and finding "a disgruntled beekeeper."

Some participants headed to Las Vegas in search of celebrities to photograph, while others contemplated weaving a basket underwater, building a working light bulb from scratch, or locating or constructing a bust of Abraham Lincoln made out of pennies.

In 2000, the list called for a live elephant, which students were able to procure for judging.

Mother-son NJ Guard sergeants heading to Iraq together

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:34 CDT

A 46-year-old combat medic and a 29-year-old man will be serving together in the same National Guard unit in Iraq. Nothing unusual - except they're mother and son.

Sgt. Carmen Villegas, a 46-year-old combat medic, was transferred two weeks ago to the same Teaneck-based unit as her son, Sgt. Felipe Diaz.

Diaz, a Paterson police officer, said he was given the task of introducing the newest sergeant at the 250th Brigade Support Battalion's Foxtrot Company.

The two will be among more than 2,800 soldiers of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who are heading to Iraq in September.

Villegas worked for eight years as an oncology nurse at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson. She said she had planned to retire from the Guard in June but changed her mind when she heard about the Iraq deployment.

"It's like a family to me," Villegas said of the Guard, which she joined in 1979, when Diaz was an infant.

Villegas said it was difficult to think about her son going with her: "God forbid something happens to him. I keep running that through my mind."

Besides her son, she'll have to worry about a husband. Villegas plans to get married on Wednesday to Victor Hernandez, a sergeant in a National Guard helicopter unit based near Trenton. He is scheduled to go to Iraq in January.

Woman pays off 1976 parking ticket issued in Mich.

Sun, 11 May 2008 02:52 CDT

Police in this Upper Peninsula town had forgotten about the $1 parking ticket written on Sept. 1, 1976. But the woman who had found it on her windshield hadn't.

The ticket, a $20 bill and a note arrived at police headquarters last month in a plain white envelope with no return address.

The note read: "I always had good intentions of paying it. I put it aside and every once in a while I would come across it and said 'someday I'm going to pay it.' Now I think it's time."

The fine for an unpaid meter violation increased to $5 after 72 hours, said Police Chief David Outinen, but it hadn't increased beyond that. He told The Daily Mining Gazette of Houghton that he couldn't remember someone making good on an unpaid ticket after so much time.

The woman apparently hopes her payment closes the matter. "Please don't try and track me down. I am a respectable lady," she wrote.

Michigan youngster collects a million pennies for his school

Sat, 10 May 2008 20:11 CDT

A Michigan school has a million thanks to give to a fourth-grader.

Ten-year-old Andrew Niemi of Carleton has been collecting pennies since a day after Christmas in 2006. He held fundraisers to reach his goal of 1 million. Niemi finally picked up his last cent in March.

Last week, Niemi presented a $10,000 check to St. Patrick Catholic School.

His mother, Connie Niemi, says the money will go toward equipment, including audiovisual hardware, two large classroom maps and a concrete bench for the peace garden.