odd true news

Pigs Spark House Fire, Owner Dies

~HumpDay Issue~
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Five pigs searching for food ran into their owner's house in Cambodia, knocked over a container of gasoline and started a fire that killed the sleeping owner and seriously injured his wife, a newspaper reported Monday.
Phan Sophal, 37, died from burn injuries in hospital after the incident last Thursday in Kampong Speu province, 45 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh, the Koh Santepheap (Island of Peace) newspaper said.
The victim's 32-year-old wife, Ly Rany, was burned and remains hospitalized in critical condition, the report said.
The pigs ran into the kitchen to look for food after the couple forgot to lock them in their pen at the end of the day, the report said. They knocked over a container holding about 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of gasoline, which splashed onto the stove where Ly Rany was cooking and started "a raging fire," the newspaper said.
Phan Sophal ran from his bed after catching fire and plunged into a nearby pond to extinguish the flames, according to the report.
The couple have three children who were not home at the time of the fire.

Wonder if the brain damage caused from fumes made them forget to lock the pigpen?

Twelve Cuban migrants were caught attempting to get to the US in a truck they had turned into a boat.

They converted a 1951 Chevy pickup and used empty 55-gallon drums to keep it afloat.

They attached a propeller to the drive shaft, giving the craft a top speed of just 8mph.

A US Customs aircraft spotted the truck as the Cubans crossed the Florida Straits.

The dozen migrants were just 40 miles from their destination when they were taken off and returned to the island Coast Guard, said Petty Officer Ryan Doss.

Migrants have been found on rafts or small boats made out of fridges, bathtubs, surfboards and inner tubes, but the truck was believed to be a first.

"We haven't come across any vehicles like that before," Doss said.

The Cubans were returned to Cuba. Under US law, Cubans who reach American shores are allowed to stay while those caught at sea are usually sent home

:: shakes head, suppresses laughter :: its creative to say the least...

Hearing reveals alcohol abuse, pornography in public defender's office
By GREG TUTTLE
Of The Gazette Staff

A District Court judge said Wednesday that Chief Deputy Public Defender Roberta Drew lost credibility when she twice failed to show up for sentencing in a drug case. Drew called in sick the second time, Judge Susan Watters said, and was seen hours later drinking beer with her boss at a downtown bar.

Watters' testimony came during the second day of a hearing into Drew's complaint to the state Human Rights Bureau against Yellowstone County. The hearing began Tuesday and is expected to last through the week.

Drew filed her complaint in December 2002 at about the same time she was fired from her public defender job. She was fired by Interim Chief Public Defender Curtis Bevolden, who was hired just weeks before. Bevolden replaced Sandy Selvey, who was forced to resign from the office when a female investigator in the office said she was harassed by Selvey after ending a three-year romance.


The investigator left the office and later settled a complaint against the county for $26,000. Bevolden served about five months before he was replaced by Penny Strong.

A county grievance committee found that Drew had been wrongfully fired and ordered her reinstated with back pay. She returned to the Public Defender Office on Jan. 1. She also has a federal lawsuit pending against the county.

At the hearing Wednesday on her discrimination complaint, a wide range of topics surfaced, including testimony from Selvey and Bevolden that was read at the hearing. Selvey and Bevolden were not present, but their testimony was taken at a previous deposition.

Selvey described the antics and foibles of several male attorneys in the Public Defender Office during his 10-year tenure as head of the department. Bevolden worked for Selvey about a decade ago, and was caught putting pornographic pictures in the case files of another office attorney, Selvey said.

"I told him privately that, you know, if I was not the one who opened the file it could be objected to," Selvey said when describing how Bevolden was reprimanded for the incidents.

In a separate statement, Bevolden described the pictures of naked women as "locker house horseplay between us guys." Bevolden said he didn't remember being reprimanded by Selvey.

"Did you find that funny?" Tim Kelly, Drew's attorney, asked Bevolden in the deposition.

"Well, that's why we did it," Bevolden said.

Another male attorney in the office, who was not identified, was not working on his cases and in one instance was preparing to have a woman who was charged with felony drunken driving plead guilty, even though the offense was rightfully a misdemeanor. After a string of similar complaints, the attorney was asked to resign, Selvey said.

"We handled this crisis internally," he said.

Another unidentified male attorney had personal problems that affected his work, Selvey said. The attorney was eventually advised to "stay sober," Selvey said, and later resigned. Another male attorney in the office got into legal trouble for writing bad checks, Selvey said.

Sue Moss, a former supervisor in the Public Defender Office who retired at the end of 2002, said Bevolden received a cold reception from the other attorneys when he replaced Selvey.

Before he was hired to replace Selvey, Bevolden most recently worked as a deputy prosecutor in Big Horn County. Moss said all the attorneys in the Public Defender Office, including Drew, didn't believe Bevolden could switch from being a prosecutor to a defense attorney.

"He had the mindset of a prosecutor," Moss said. "That's what people were thinking."

Of the nearly 20 employees in the office, only Bevolden's secretary supported his efforts to lead the group, she said.

District Judge Russell Fagg testified Wednesday that he considered Bevolden one of the "top three" criminal attorneys in Yellowstone County.

After describing how Drew lost credibility when she called in sick and was seen at a bar that day, Watters admitted on cross-examination that she did not know the reason for Drew's illness. Kelly, Drew's attorney, asked if the judge knew that Drew's mother was fighting cancer at that time. Watters said she did not know about the illness.

Drew wiped away tears as her attorney questioned the judge.

Kelly said he expects to finish his case today. Calvin Stacey, an attorney representing the county, then will present the county's side. Hearings examiner Terry Spear, a former Billings attorney, is presiding and will issue a written ruling sometime after the hearing concludes.

Drew testified briefly Wednesday, and she is expected to resume her testimony today. The hearing at the C'mon Inn starts at 8:30 a.m.