This Water is as Hot as...
Everywhere, people are trying to save money, especially in government. In Redditch, Worchestershire, the council discovered it can save £14,500 annually in pool heating costs for Abbey Stadium by using a greener (and creepier) heat source. Ongoing discussion revolves around the crematorium next door and the heat wasted from incinerators which could do the job quite nicely. "I'd much rather use the energy rather than just see it going out of the chimney and heating the sky," council leader Carole Gandy told the Guardian. "It will make absolutely no difference to the people who are using the crematorium for services."
Next Time, Remove the Price Tag...
Welsh asbestos remover Neil Simons was sentenced to five years in jail following a string of robbery attempts in Llandaff, Cardiff. Simons first robbed a gas station brandishing an ax and wearing a Halloween mask. . . which he purchased from the same station three days prior. A second robbery attempt nearby was interrupted by a customer. Simons, 30, told the court he felt shameful for his actions, becoming desperate to pay off a £20,000 debt (including money demanded from a drug dealer who had sold him cocaine). Public defender Kieron Malloy told Wales Online “The fact his son bought the mask then returned to the same petrol station wearing it, shows it wasn’t a sophisticated crime.” Here's the CCTV footage:
Getting High on Death...
White powder isn't always snow, flour, or even cocaine. Yet three robbers in Silver Springs Shores, Florida, saw a couple urns and thought they discovered the latter, so much so that they snorted what turned out to be the cremated remains of a man and two Great Danes. 19-year-olds Waldo Soroa and Jose David Diaz Marrero, along with Matrix Andaluz (18), stole electronics and jewelery from the home along with the remains of the owner's pets and father. Realizing their mistake and fearful of fingerprints, they tossed the urns into a nearby lake.
The Blood-Bound Gang...
If you're on Team Edward, it's no surprise that vampires are a sexy, popular topic. From The Vampire Chronicles
to Twilight
, the increased popularity of blood suckers has evolved into its own subculture, says Sociologist D. J. Williams. The Idaho State scholar (interviewed by Reuters) was consulted for a vampire documentary and has been researching this and similar alternative lifestyles for many years. The important aspect Williams points out is that self-identified vampires are largely misunderstood. (That in itself almost sounds a little emo.) People like Jeffrey Dahlmer give the community a bad name. "They see themselves as normal, regular people in normal regular jobs: they are teachers, lawyers, accountants, they may be parents," Williams told Reuters. "They have normal lives but there is this aspect to needing to take energy from time to time and in certain ways."A Tale of Two Murderers...
A skull stolen from the allegedly-haunted Old Melbourne Gaol in the 1970s has surfaced again amid questions of its true identity. Originally said to be that of famed outlaw Ned Kelly who was hanged and buried at the gaol in 1880, others speculate that it could belong to murderer Frederick Bailey Deeming (alleged to be "Jack the Ripper") who was also hanged at the gaol 1892. The skull closely matched the death masks of both killers so researchers are pleading for descendants of Deeming to come forward and supply DNA for testing.
