By Steve Rhodes
The news is weird today, my friends.
1. “Transport Canada says a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, was diverted to Toronto Monday after the pilot dumped a cup of coffee on the plane’s communication’s equipment.”
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The pilot has not yet commented.
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Also in Chicago flight news:
“A problem with a weight on wheels (WOW) switch is being eyed in the American Airlines Boeing 757-200 that ran off the end of snow contaminated Runway 19 at Jackson Hole, Wyo., on December 29. The flight from Chicago with 181 aboard ended up in the snow 658 feet beyond the end of the 6,300-foot-long runway.”
And:
“An American Eagle flight from Buffalo to Chicago landed with a flat tire at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.”
2. “Butt Dialing Mistake Sends SWAT Team To Winnetka Middle School.
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“Worried wife calls police after she thinks her husband is being held hostage.”
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The Tribune explains:
“In the popular vernacular, it was a butt dial, the bane of many a chagrined cell phone user.”
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Okay . . . but how in the world did this woman think her husband was being held hostage?
“He was listening to music and he had, I don’t know, hip-hop . . . or music like that, where there were lyrics that were gangster-like,” explained Mark Friedman, interim co-superintendent of District 36. “So there were lyrics on the radio as he was driving home, and she listened to it and became concerned.”
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Still makes no sense.
3. “[Mark] DeVries, the maintenance superintendent for the McHenry County Division of Transportation, is widely recognized as an expert in tackling snow and ice on the pavement,” the Tribune reports. “Area transportation officials say he pioneered an anti-icing solution that many communities now use to keep ice from sticking to the roads.”
4. “A McHenry County judge has handed down a three-year prison sentence to a Chicago Cubs fan who cost his former brother-in-law an eye when he kicked him in the face during a quarrel over baseball teams,” the Tribune reports.
5. “The family of a woman killed in a car crash has filed a lawsuit, claiming Cook County Sheriff’s police removed her clothing and photographed shots of her in the nude,” Fox Chicago News reports.
6. “A Level 2 hazardous materials team was sent to O’Hare Airport after a ‘crushed’ container believed to be radioactive was found in the shipping area early this morning,” the Northwest Herald reports.
7. “A woman from Chicago’s Northwest Side desperately wanted to start 2011 with a marriage proposal, and decided that she needed a little help from the police,” CBS/WBBM/AP reports.
“911, can you convince my boyfriend to marry me?
“According to CBS affiliate WBBM, 40-year-old Ana Perez called 911 around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, claiming her boyfriend was attacking her.
“When police arrived, the alleged victim changed her story, and her tune, admitting that really she was just trying to scare her boyfriend into marrying her.”
8. “Some nonprofit groups that operate urban gardens and farms are worried that their efforts might be plowed under if Chicago enacts new rules governing agricultural activities in the city. According to Chicago Breaking News Center, Mayor Richard Daley last month proposed an ordinance developed by the Department of Zoning and Land Use Planning that would set requirements for fencing, processing, landscaping and zoning,” the Nonprofit Quarterly reports.
“‘If this passes, our work would be over,’ said Erika Allen, of Growing Power, which runs four nonprofit gardens and farms in Chicago. ‘We couldn’t do any of our projects.'”
9. “A Chicago man faces felony charges for allegedly impersonating a police officer and stealing from a high school principal,” NBCChicago reports.
“Police say security video shows 20-year-old Clarence George walking into Foreman High School wearing a fake police uniform and carrying hand cuffs and a pellet gun last month.
“George allegedly identified himself as an officer, walked into the principal’s office and made off with several items including a laptop, a digital camera and an iPod.”
10. “[C]hefs (notably Grant Achatz, chef of Alinea in Chicago) have recently begun reintroducing ash into dishes, such as apple cider gel in walnut milk and vegetable ash,” the Toronto Globe and Mail reports.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Ashen.
Posted on January 5, 2011