Wasted Daily News

A man charged with dialing 911 to chat with dispatchers nearly 300 times in the last month remained in jail Wednesday. Cheveon Alonzo Ford, 21, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with making obscene and harassing telephone calls.

He told authorities he began calling 911 because “I have no minutes on my phone and 911 is a free call,” the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Ford was being held on a $50,000 bond Wednesday afternoon. Read the rest of this entry →

A Cape Cod man who claimed he was homophobic, racist and a habitual liar to avoid jury duty earned an angry rebuke from a judge on Monday, who referred the case to prosecutors for possible charges.

“In 32 years of service in courtrooms, as a prosecutor, as a defense attorney and now as a judge, I have quite frankly never confronted such a brazen situation of an individual attempting to avoid juror service,” Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson told Daniel Ellis, according to a preliminary court transcript of the exchange.

Ellis, of Falmouth, had been called to court with about 60 other potential jurors for possible service on a 23-member grand jury.

On a questionnaire that all potential jurors fill out, Ellis wrote that he didn’t like homosexuals and blacks. He then echoed those sentiments in an interview with Nickerson.

“You say on your form that you’re not a fan of homosexuals,” Nickerson said.

“That I’m a racist,” Ellis interrupted.

“I’m frequently found to be a liar, too. I can’t really help it,” Ellis added.

“I’m sorry?” Nickerson said.

“I said I’m frequently found to be a liar,” Ellis replied.

“So, are you lying to me now?” Nickerson asked.

“Well, I don’t know. I might be,” was the response.

Ellis then admitted he really didn’t want to serve on a jury.

“I have the distinct impression that you’re intentionally trying to avoid jury service,” Nickerson said.

“That’s true,” Ellis answered.

Nickerson ordered Ellis taken into custody. He was released later Monday morning.

Ellis could face perjury and other charges.

A woman arrested for shoplifting has blamed the crime on irritable bowel syndrome, authorities said. Helen Gallo, 61, of Clearwater, was arrested Sunday after allegedly shoplifting from a Cape Coral grocery store, The Daily Breeze of Cape Coral reported.  Gallo reportedly told authorities that she could not wait in line because she has irritable bowel syndrome, according to the newspaper.  Gallo was charged with petit larceny and released Sunday from the Lee County jail on $500 bond.  Gallo did not answer a telephone call placed to her home by The Associated Press. It was not known if she had an attorney.

A gunman robbing a convenience store allowed the clerk to call 911 and apologized after the woman said she might be having a heart attack. But he still took $30 and cigarettes, authorities said.

The masked man entered the Kangaroo Express store early Saturday in this Orlando suburb and pointed what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun at 60-year-old clerk Mary Parker, according to surveillance audio/video released Thursday. He demanded access to the safe, but she said she didn’t have the keys. Read the rest of this entry →

Two fans have asked Florida to pardon rock bad-boy Jim Morrison, the late lead singer for The Doors, who was convicted of exposing himself during a Miami concert nearly 40 years ago.

The two men, Kerry Humpherys of Utah and David Diamond of Ohio, sent a letter to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last month asking him to issue a full pardon to Morrison on two misdemeanor charges of indecent exposure and using profanity.

“I’m a big Doors fan. There are thousands of Doors fans out there who look up to Jim Morrison. It was all trumped up and he shouldn’t have this hanging over him,” said Humpherys, who runs a Doors fan magazine. Read the rest of this entry →

A marine mammal rehabilitation facility opened a dolphin “chat line” of sorts Saturday, hoping to teach a deaf dolphin’s unborn calf to communicate.

Castaway, as the stranded Atlantic bottlenose dolphin is named, has been recovering at the Marine Mammal Conservancy since Jan. 30. A battery of tests has confirmed she is deaf.

Dolphins need to hear echoes of sounds they produce to find food, socialize and defend themselves against predators.

“We asked ourselves `How do we get the calf to speak when we have a deaf mother?’” said Robert Lingenfelser, the conservancy’s president. Read the rest of this entry →

Astronaut Lisa Nowak carried copies of steamy e-mails that her NASA lover had written to his new girlfriend the night she raced cross-country in a diaper to confront her rival, according to documents released on Tuesday.

Florida prosecutors released copies of the e-mails, police statements and other evidence in the case against Nowak, 43.

Nowak has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, burglary and battery after confronting her rival at the Orlando International Airport last month. Read the rest of this entry →