Man trapped in ATM slips notes to customers begging for help
Corpus Christi, Texas (AP) – A Texas man who became trapped inside an ATM slipped notes to customers via the receipt slot pleading for them to help him escape, police said Thursday. The contractor became stuck Wednesday when he was changing a lock to a Bank of America room that leads to the back of the ATM, Corpus Christi police Lt. Chris Hooper said. He couldn’t let himself out of the room because he didn’t have a keycard on him and was unable to notify bank employees for help. “Apparently he left his cellphone and the swipe card he needed to get out of the room outside in his truck,” Hooper said. When he realized customers were retrieving cash from the machine, he passed notes to them through the ATM receipt slot. One read, “Please help. I’m stuck in here and I don’t have my phone. Please call my boss …” Some customers appeared to dismiss the notes as a gag, Hooper said. But one called police, who detected a faint voice coming from inside the ATM. An officer kicked in the door to the room and freed the man, whose name has not been released. “Everyone is OK, but you will never see this in your life, that somebody was stuck in the ATM. It was just crazy,” Richard Olden, a police senior officer, told KRIS-TV.
‘Curious’ baboon knocks out power to Zambian tourist town
Johannesburg (AP) – A baboon in Zambia has interfered with machinery at a power station in a tourist town near Victoria Falls, knocking out power to tens of thousands of people for several hours. State broadcaster ZNBC says the blackout affected residents in Livingstone and surrounding areas Sunday and reports that it was caused by an accident involving “a curious animal.” ZNBC quotes power utility spokesman Henry Kapata as saying the baboon survived an electric shock and has been handed over to wildlife officials for care. People on social media joked about possible sabotage by the baboon, recalling that President Edgar Lungu has announced extra police powers to deal with alleged security challenges amid increasing political tension. One Twitter user says the baboon is “not believed to be politically inclined.”
No Whining: Pope’s humor intact despite rough few weeks
Vatican City (AP) – Pope Francis hasn’t lost his sense of humor despite a rough few weeks of clamorous exits of top Vatican officials and some other negative headlines. He has hung a sign on the door of his hotel suite reading: “No Whining.” In smaller print the sign continues: “Transgressors are subject to a syndrome of victimization and the ensuing reduction of a sense of humor and capacity to resolve problems. Sanctions are doubled when the violation is committed in the presence of children.” The online Vatican site of the La Stampa daily, Vatican Insider, published a photo of the sign Friday. In recent weeks, the Vatican’s auditor general resigned, its treasurer returned to Australia to face trial for sex abuse and its top doctrine official was dismissed.
Bees at center of swarm, attack moved from suburbia to farm
Ramsey, N.J. (AP) – Police say that the New Jersey beehive at the center of an attack on a beekeeper and his wife has been moved to a farm. Ramsey Police Chief Bryan Gurney told The Record on Sunday that professionals moved the hive from the town that is just a short distance from the New York state line to a farm. It’s unclear what angered the colony, but Gurney says that the beekeeper and his wife were hospitalized Saturday after the bees got aggressive and swarmed part of the town. It’s also unclear where exactly the hive has been moved. Srini Abbaraju, a New Jersey-based bee remover, told The Record it’s rare for managed colonies to attack and that they usually sting if disturbed.
