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Odds & Ends
By Devin D. O'Leary
MARCH 30, 1998:
Dateline: Iran--American news media take note: An Iranian
court last week fined magazine director Reza Ghanilu 1 million
rials ($330) and banned him from his job for six months for publishing
photos of U.S. President Bill Clinton's alleged lovers. Ghanilu,
director of Tehran's Fakour Weekly, was found guilty of
publishing "obscene pictures" after his magazine ran
front-page snapshots of Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones and other
alleged Clinton lovers on its front page. Those photos apparently
violated Iran's strict Muslim dress codes for women and were ruled
pornographic.
Dateline: New York--As further proof of New York City's
slipping hold as crime central, police in the borough of Brooklyn
announced last week that they had gone an entire week without
a single reported murder. Long known as the murder capital of
the United States, the violence-ridden neighborhood in East New
York recorded not a single homicide during the seven-day period
ending at midnight on Sunday, March 15. This is the longest murder-free
period in recent memory. Police Commissioner Howard Safir credited
anti-drug trafficking initiatives which he says have taken more
guns off the streets. If the current trend continues, 1998's murder
rate could plunge as low as 510--the lowest since 1962 when only
506 people were killed in Brooklyn. The historic high water mark
came in 1990 with 2,245 murders.
Dateline: New York--A man buying an abandoned car at a
New York City junkyard got more than his money's worth when he
discovered a dead body in the trunk. Apparently, the car had been
purchased for scrap at a sheriff's auction in NYC's Brooklyn borough
one week previous. The buyer returned to the junkyard to claim
the car last Monday and noticed a foul odor. He unlocked the trunk
and found a body wrapped in garbage bags and a blanket. The body
was tied up with rope and handcuffs. Ah, Brooklyn.
Dateline: Washington--A Toledo, Wash., construction tycoon
by the name of Ray Wallace is offering a $1 million reward to
the first person who can bring him a live Bigfoot baby. The 79-year-old
Wallace has spent more than 40 years tracking down the elusive
Northwestern creature known as Sasquatch. If anyone does respond
to Wallace's offer, he plans to raise baby Bigfoot with "care
and respect" and would like to train the creature to ride
around with him in his pickup truck and help out with chores around
his ranch.
Dateline: California--The Oakland Police Review Board determined
last Thursday that officers who handcuffed an alleged cookie thief
and forced him to listen to "Escape: The Piña Colada
Song" were not guilty of racial bias and excessive force.
Last June, Julian Aldarondo was accused of swiping a $2.25 ginger
pecan cookie from an area cafe. Police followed Aldarondo into
a nearby movie theater and handcuffed him. Upon learning the suspect
was a singer, officer Anthony Toribio began serenading Aldarondo
with the 1970s pop hit "The Piña Colada Song."
Aldarondo--who denies stealing the cookie--called his treatment
by police "the most degrading and humiliating experience
of my life" and accused police of making fun of his Hispanic
heritage. Officer Toribio, who initiated the torturous crooning,
was born in Spain. According to several reports, the "cookie
incident" hearing cost Oakland taxpayers some $20,000.
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