Lost Bracelet Found in a Chicken After 25 Years

FAIRMONT, Minn. (AP) - More than two decades after Aaron Giles lost his identity bracelet, he's finding how it was discovered tough to swallow. A meat cutter at Olson Locker in Fairmont came across the shiny object in a chicken gizzard and saw a name, address and phone number engraved on it.

"I've heard of livestock swallowing unusual objects, but this situation stands out," Mark Olson, who owns the meat locker, told the Sentinel of Fairmont.

Giles had lived in Fairmont as a child and played hide-and-seek and other games with his brothers in their grandfather's barn near Sherburn.

"I would spend most of my time out at his farm, and that's the only place I can think of that I would have lost it," Giles said about his bracelet on Thursday. The 31-year-old said he thinks the bracelet was lost when he was 4 or 5.

The barn was dismantled a few years ago, and Giles thinks his bracelet was imbedded in materials used to construct another barn in Elmore, about 45 miles away.

The bracelet was found in a chicken that came from an Elmore farm.

Olson was able to track down Giles' father, who had moved to Arizona. Giles, who now lives in Gloucester, Mass., said he received his old bracelet in September.

"It was in pretty immaculate shape. Everything was working on it, and all the engravings on it were still legible," Giles said. "It was quite the surprise."

Giles said he expects the bracelet to stay in his family for many years to come. "I have no plans on trying to lose it again," he said.

New Twist on Old Vote-Buying Practice
Nov 29, 7:01 PM (ET)

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Vote-buying is an old practice in Thai politics, but one candidate for December's Thai election has reportedly come up with a new tactic - handing out Viagra instead of cash.

The allegation, made Thursday by a campaign worker against a rival party, comes as rules about handing out favors to voters have become stricter than ever, barring even the distribution of free T-shirts and soft drinks.

Sayan Nopcha, a campaigner for the People's Power Party in Pathum Thai province just north of Bangkok, said the drug used to treat sexual dysfunction in men was being distributed to elderly male voters at social functions.

Viagra is supposed to be used only on a doctor's advice, but is generally available over the counter in Thailand.

"The politician is giving out Viagra to gain popularity and votes," said Sayan, a local government official whose older brother is the PPP candidate. "I think this is a very bad way of vote-buying."

He would not identify the candidate who allegedly handed out the pills.

Under a tough new law, both the supplier and recipient of vote-buying can face criminal charges. Candidates can be disqualified and their party disbanded, as was the case with the old law, while voters who accept money or gifts can now face from one to 10 years in prison.
More than 4,200 candidates from 41 parties are competing for 480 seats in the lower house of parliament in the Dec. 23 polls - the first to be held after a bloodless military coup ousted elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September last year.

Londoners Offered New Toilet Locating Service

LONDON (AP) - A new service promises Londoners they'll never have to spend much time looking for the loo. Westminster City Council, which covers London's bustling Oxford Street, the West End, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, on Thursday launched "SatLav" - a toilet-finding service for cell phone users.

Tourists, theatergoers, shoppers and pub patrons in London's West End can now text the word "toilet" - and receive a text back with the address of the nearest public facility.
The system, which covers 40 public toilets, pinpoints the caller's position by measuring the strength of the phone signal. The texts cost about 50 cents, and most of Westminster's toilets are free.

Companies such as Vindigo Inc. in the U.S. offers similar cell phone searches but SatLav is being touted as the first text-based toilet-finder in Britain.

Lottery Winner May Lose Winnings and Go to Jail

BOSTON (AP) - The winner of a $1 million lottery scratch ticket may not be so lucky after all: He's a convicted bank robber who isn't supposed to gamble. Timothy Elliott faces a Dec. 7 court hearing over whether he violated his probation when he bought the $10 ticket for the $800 Million Spectacular game at a supermarket in Hyannis.

Elliott was placed on five years' probation after pleading guilty in October 2006 to unarmed robbery for a January 2006 heist at a bank on Cape Cod. Under terms of his probation, he "may not gamble, purchase lottery tickets or visit an establishment where gaming is conducted, including restaurants where Keno may be played."

Elliott, 55, has collected the first of 20 annual $50,000 checks from the Massachusetts lottery commission. A picture of Elliott, holding his first check, was posted on the lottery's Web site Monday, though it was removed by Wednesday.

As part of his sentence, Elliott was put under the care of the state Mental Health Department and sent to a hospital for treatment, and state officials refused Wednesday to say whether he was still being treated.

A telephone number for Elliott could not immediately be located Wednesday, and it was not clear whether he had a lawyer.

The lottery routinely cross references the names of winners with the state Revenue Department to see if they owe back taxes or child support, lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld said. In those cases, winnings go straight to the Revenue Department.

But in this case, it will be up to the court to determine what will happen with Elliott's winnings.
"This is kind of new territory," he said.

Why Do You Think They Call it Dope?
Nov 28, 6:05 PM (ET)

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) - A Montana man was arrested in Oregon's Klamath County after a state trooper found nearly two pounds of marijuana wrapped as a Christmas present in the man's car.

Oregon State Police said the trooper found about three pounds of marijuana and four firearms in Jimmie Cumbee's car after a traffic stop Monday night on U.S. 97 about 10 miles south of Klamath Falls.

Cumbee, 42, was stopped for driving 75 mph in a 55 mph speed zone. He was traveling with his 17-year-old son, who also was arrested. Both are from Highwood, Mont., east of Great Falls.

Trooper Dave Chambers also found a marijuana pipe, and said that one of the four weapons was loaded and concealed in a box next to the driver's seat.

Jimmie Cumbee is accused of unlawful manufacture, delivery and possession of a controlled substance, and carrying a concealed weapon.

His son was taken to Klamath County Juvenile Detention Center.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/512/police_drug_corruption

Bad cops cost cases in one Georgia county, a bad cop gets popped in another Georgia county, a bad cop gets several breaks from his colleagues in Michigan, and a bad cop goes to prison in Texas. Let's get to it:

In Aiken County, Georgia, prosecutors are expected to begin dismissing drug cases this week in the wake of the firing of the four officers who made up the Aiken County Sheriff's Office drug squad. The four were fired after they got jacked up on booze and went on a bar-to-bar joyride in a county vehicle with a woman who engaged in sex acts with them. Aiken County Solicitor Barbara Morgan said some 300 drug cases are now in jeopardy.

In Marietta, Georgia, a Marietta Police officer was arrested Tuesday as Gwinnett County authorities swept up 31 people indicted in an international ecstasy distribution bust. Officer Isaac Saleumsy, a two-year veteran of the force, was reported to be currently sitting in the Gwinnett County Jail and will presumably face ecstasy possession and distribution conspiracy charges. Saleumsy has been suspended pending his upcoming termination.
In Detroit, a previously indicted Flat Rock police officer was jailed by a federal judge after several traffic incidents where fellow law enforcement officers provided him with the "professional courtesy" of not ticketing him for alcohol or drug-impaired driving. Former Flat Rock Officer David Dewitt, 37, had been indicted for his role in an illegal prescription drug ring in which two people died, but had been free on bail pending trial. In court papers filed Monday, the FBI said police in Woodhaven and Flat Rock had looked the other way as Dewitt accumulated six traffic stops that appeared to be drug or alcohol related. In one case, where Dewitt hit another vehicle while driving the wrong way on an I-75 exit ramp, officers failed to conduct a sobriety test, didn't write him a ticket, and gave him a ride home. Things came to a head for Dewitt Saturday, when he got nailed twice in one day for driving under the influence of drugs. Dewitt was a threat to public safety, the judge said in revoking his bail.

In McAllen, Texas, a former Elsa police officer was sentenced November 21 to seven years in federal prison after being caught in an undercover bribery and drug string. Herman Carr, 46, had earlier pleaded guilty to taking $5,000 in August 2006 to provide protection for a vehicle he believed was carrying 11 pounds of cocaine. The drug dealers were actually FBI agents. Carr is the second former Elsa officer to go down in the sting: In May, Ismael Gomez, 27, got an eight-year sentence for taking $2,500 to protect a supposed 22 pound coke shipment.

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