The book returned to the New Bedford Public Library in Massachusetts this week wasn't overdue by a week, a month or even a year. It was nearly a century overdue, and the fine came to $361.35. "Facts I Ought to Know about the Government of My Country" was supposed to have been returned by May 10, 1910. Stanley Dudek told the Standard Times newspaper in New Bedford he came across the book while going through things that had belonged to his mother, who died about 10 years ago. He decided that returning the book to the city was the right thing to do. The overdue book fine was a penny a day in 1910. But Dudek wasn't asked to pay it.The library plans to display the book in its special collection.
Someone mailed an envelope filled with money to a western Pennsylvania bank that was robbed earlier this month, and the FBI suspects it was either the repentant robber or an acquaintance of his. Special Agent Jeff Killeen says the returned money doesn't cancel out the crime that was committed Dec. 9 at the PNC Bank in West Newton, a tiny borough about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The FBI won't say how much the robber took, but say the money in the envelope was about 80 percent of the amount stolen. It was separated into stacks of $5s, $10s, $20s and $100s. The FBI announced the mailing on Tuesday and says it is checking the package for fingerprints and other clues. They believe the robber is local because he was wearing a yellow Pittsburgh Steelers T-shirt.
This Hayward, Calif., dad made a mistake by adding his son to a cell phone plan. The 13-year-old teen was probably in hot water with his father after running up a cell phone bill of nearly $22,000. Ted Estarija said he was expecting his bill to be higher this month after adding his son to the plan, but wasn't expecting a bill of $21,917 in data usage charges. The Hayward man said his Verizon Wireless bill soared after his son apparently downloaded about 1.4 million kilobytes of data last month. His plan didn't cover data usage, so he was charged by the megabyte. Estarija said after the first media reports, Verizon said they would credit his account for the entire amount. He has also suspended his son's account. A spokeswoman for Verizon said the company investigates cases with exceptionally large bills.
A man, who broke into an 89-year-old woman's Knoxville, Tenn., home and awakened her, was scared off when a monitoring company answered her medical alert call. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported the woman told police she was awakened before dawn Tuesday by a loud noise. She said a man stood over her bed, shaking her by the arms and asking if she were all right. The woman activated a medical alert device on her neck and the voice of an operator responded over the intercom.She told police the intruder ripped the device off her, causing a slight abrasion and a cut finger, but he fled taking nothing.
