Lead Story
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In July, Joseph Manuel Augusto, 37, and Andres Diaz, 52, chased each other around a Burger King in Stratford, Connecticut, after Augusto confronted Diaz for taking too long in the men’s room; Augusto was swiping at Diaz with a small pocketknife, while Diaz tried to hit back with a straw dispenser. No one was injured. And the city of Monte Sereno, California (population 3,800), said in October that it would proceed with civil and criminal cases against former residents Joe and Darla Padgett. The Padgetts, who feuded with neighbors and authorities before moving out of state, are charged with building a fence taller than permitted by code and illegally chopping down a tree; so far the battle has cost the city $170,000 in legal fees.
America’s Gun Problem
In September a group calling itself the Arabian Peninsula Women’s Information Bureau (and believed by many to be operated by Al Qaeda) announced the first issue of Al Khansaa, an Internet magazine designed to recruit Muslim women as “female jihad warriors.” Among the inspirational words: “The blood of our husbands and the body parts of our children are the sacrifice by means of which we draw closer to Allah.”
People With Issues
Gary Arthur Medrow, 60, has been in News of the Weird several times (most recently 1998) for his signature weird behavior: he calls women on the phone, claiming to be a police officer or other official, and convinces them to pick up another woman and carry her around the room. He’s been arrested for this dozens of times over the last 30 years, leading to jail terms and institutionalization, and in September he was charged with doing it again, this time allegedly calling a woman in New Berlin, Wisconsin.
