Chris

National

Summary - Police are rewarding good drivers with free coffee, says a cbsnews.com article. If motorists see red lights and are pulled over in Sacramento, California for no apparent reason, they might be getting a nice reward. Police are stopping law-abiding motorists and rewarding their good driving with $5 Starbucks gift cards. The purpose of this act is to "promote the holiday spirit and enhance goodwill between the traffic unit and the motoring public," said police Sgt. Tim Curran. "They raised a substantial amount of money," Curran said. "They'll be pulling over a lot of people."

Opinion - This seems like a nice act the police are doing in Sacramento. Although I don't believe drivers should be given anything for doing something they are somewhat expected to already be doing, but it is still a nice act. I'm sure this "goodwill between the traffic unit and the motoring public" will increase after doing this. Should the good drivers really be given free coffee though? I could see all of the good drivers edgy from caffiene and cursing at the supposed bad drivers who stare blankly at them. :P

National

Summary - A Wisconsin man graduated from college at the age of 87, according to an article from cbsnews.com. Garrett completed course work at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee after returning to college in spring of 2006 as a full-time student and in the end was awarded his bachelor's degree at commencement ceremonies Sunday at the age of 87. "We are not sure if Clarence Garrett is the oldest to ever graduate from UWM, but we do know that there had not been a graduate for some time who was born when the president was Woodrow Wilson," said Chancellor Carlos Santiago. The Baltimore native served as a civilian at a U.S. Navy facility in Virginia before World War II. Once the war began, Garrett, who is black, served with the segregated Army in Europe. He later settled in Milwaukee and took courses at the college that later became UWM, but he gave up college to raise a family. "After all my children went to college ... I said, 'Why shouldn't I?'" Garrett said. "And I have loved it ever since."

Opinion - Well, good for him. He's a bit late on getting the education but that's okay. If he did this because this is an important goal in his life, which it most likely is, then I'm all for it. If he did this for practical reasons and getting a better job, which I seriously doubt that, then he wasted his time. If doing this was just to get paid more then it was somewhat pointless, but I don't believe this man did it for any money. He probably just wanted to achieve some major goals in his life, before he couldn't do so anymore.

National

Summary - A man Thursday escaped from a work-release crew in Charlestown, Indiana, according to a cbsnews.com article. The inmate Wayne Mitchell had been working to clear roadside trash. The man was doing this for the Clark County Jail for a probation-violation warrant. The group went to eat at the Clark County Fraternal Order of Police lodge, where Mitchell went to the restroom and purposely clogged a toilet. He headed towards the jail's van outside saying he needed some paper towels. While the other inmates tried cleaning the mess up, Mitchell went to G&R Auto Sales. There he was given keys by an employee for a car Mitchell said he wanted to try out. The car stolen was a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro convertible.

Opinion - I think the person to blame is the person or persons in charge of watching this group of inmates. How could whoever's watching them just let one of the inmates walk outside and get away? This doesn't seem like someone's not doing their job correctly. There is something in this story, though, that I wasn't too sure of. How could an inmate so easily test drive a car and end up stealing it. You would think his jump-suit as a dead give away for people.

National

Summary - An article from cbsnews.com writes of a man who carjacked a Minnesota Department of Transportation snowplow truck Tuesday night on state Highway 210 near Battle Lake. The plow operator of the truck stopped by the highway to see if the man needed help. The man then climbed into the truck and told the driver of the plow to get out. The man later left the truck and the plow operator drove off. A pickup driver saw the same man in the highway and stopped to help him. The man then also tried to steal the driver's truck but was unsuccessful. The man was actually dragged for twenty hards because he had a hold of the driver's jacket when the driver took off. The man was later arrested and remains in jail.

Opinion - What's this guy's problem? He tries to steal two different trucks from two people who are trying to help him out. This guy seems like a real jerk. I'm not sure what the man's purpose was in trying to steal these vehicles. The article didn't really explain this. It didn't even mention the man's name so I guess the police are keeping the information on this case under wraps for now.

International

Summary - Citing "Christmas spirit," Dutch police allows man with prostitute to pay ticket in cash, according to a cbsnews.com article. The Dutch cop, in the Netherlands, pulled a car over for having a broken headlight and noticed the driver was accompanied by a prostitute. They gave him a brake and the man could pay right there in cash. The man didn't want to the ticket sent to his home where his wife would find out. In the spirit of Christmas ... the man was allowed to leave the police station euro50 ($75) poorer but with an easy heart," a statement said by Utrecht police Friday. Instead of sending the ticket, the police officer decided to let the man pay upfront. The officer then wrote the man a ticket for the headlight and said it would arrive in an official police envelope to his home. Utrecht police spokeswoman Ellen de Heer said the statement was intended to show that police aren't the unbending rule-followers they are often made out to be."We have some feeling for people's individual situations," she said.

Opinion - It's nice to see that the police aren't so uptight and unbending in all cases. It's just that I wonder if that wife would like what the police man did here. He basically helped cover up the man's infidelity. I'm sure she wouldn't like it one bit. Wouldn't broadcasting what happened here in newspapers and articles kind of defeat the purpose of the act though? It says that he'll still get a ticket for the broken light in the mail soon. If the wife read this article too and saw the ticket she might put them together, and what do you get? A divorce. Oh well.

International

Summary - According to an article from cbsnews.com, people in Norway were surprised and shocked to have paid parking tickets up to $143,000. At least 26 motorists were left baffled and broke when they used their bank debit cards to pay for street parking in the central Norwegian city of Trondheim last week. Because of a computer glitch, the machine dispensing windshield parking permits multiplied the amount of time they bought by 10,000, and automatically deducted it from their bank accounts, said the city-owned parking company Friday. The costs paid were between $37,000 and $148,000. For many, the withdrawal of the vast sums on Wednesday left their bank accounts greatly overdrawn, and their debit cards frozen in the middle of an already hectic Christmas shopping. The banks were racing to correct the erroneous transaction, and the parking company said it wanted to compensate the motorists.

Opinion - This must have been horrible for those people who greatly rely on credit cards. Maybe this could teach those people to not use credit cards so much. These cards really shouldn't be used how and as much as they are used today. People just go and buy anything they want, even if they don't have the actual cash to back up the credit card bills they'll be given. It's really quite sad and I hope I don't end up in debt like many people are now-a-days.

International

Summary - According to an article from cbsnews.com, a new gift offered this year for Christmas is rhino poop. The International Rhino Foundation is auctioning on eBay four pieces of dung separately from the endangered species and will use the proceeds to fund conservation efforts. Each of the four pieces come from four of the five types of rhino. These are white, black, Indian, and Sumatran. The only type not being sold is the Javan rhino, which is too rare to even find samples. Each piece is dried and mounted in a clear trophy case with the name of the type of rhino poop it is on the case. The auction ends Sunday. The foundation, which is based at the White Oak Conservation Center, says only about 17,500 rhinos remain in the wild with another 1,200 living in captivity.

Opinion - Well... this certainly is an interesting gift idea. It sure is unique. I'm not too sure I would want a gift like this for Christmas, but I can definitely understand the reason behind doing this auction. The real purpose of selling these "gifts" on eBay is to help the foundation and its goal of keeping the rhinos alive. I would think of something like this auction as more of a donation then an actual purchase of something. Though I would never take part in this auction, I see the good in it.