Napping man run over by a combine
Napping man run over by a combine
Associated Press
BILLINGS, Mont. — A man napping in a Montana cornfield was startled out of his snooze when he was run over by a large harvesting machine — and Yellowstone County deputies say he’s lucky to be alive.
Sheriff’s Lt. Kent O’Donnell says the 57-year-old man had been traveling the country by bus and decided to take a rest three rows deep in a field on the outskirts of Billings, the state’s largest city. A farmer harvesting Wednesday felt his combine hit something.
When he turned the machine off, he heard screaming. Emergency responders found the man’s clothing had been sucked into the cutter, ensnaring him in the blades.
O’Donnell says the man, whose name was not released, suffered cuts requiring stitches and may need skin grafts, but given the circumstances is “incredibly lucky.”
Fraud? No, spider delays Mass. town’s vote count
REHOBOTH, Mass. (AP) — It wasn’t hanging chads or voter fraud that delayed the vote count in one Massachusetts town — it was a spider.
Rehoboth Town Clerk Kathleen Conti says one of the town’s aging voting machines malfunctioned Tuesday morning.
She called a technician, who said a spider web apparently prevented the machine’s scanner from counting ballots. Conti tells The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro all Rehoboth’s voting machines received preventive maintenance a month ago.
The vote count wasn’t completed until Wednesday afternoon.
Rehoboth voters favored Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney and incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, but went for Democratic U.S. House candidate Joseph Kennedy III.
Rehoboth, with about 12,000 residents, is about 50 miles southwest of Boston.
Conti says she has been pressing to have the machines replaced for several years.
Calif. mayoral candidate arrested on Election Day
PASO ROBLES, Calif. (AP) — A Central Coast candidate for mayor lost big this week.
Paso Robles, Calif., write-in candidate Jeff Rougeot was arrested on Election Day for investigation of crimes that include felonies for making criminal threats and brandishing a firearm.
The 45-year-old car audio business owner remained in the San Luis Obispo County jail Thursday with bail at $1.1 million.
Besides the felonies, the San Luis Obispo County Tribune (http://bit.ly/WFUWlx) says Rougeot was booked for investigation of four misdemeanors for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and four violations of a court order involving domestic violence.
Rougeot doesn’t have an attorney of record and a telephone call Thursday to his car stereo business rang unanswered.
Mayor Duane Picanco got 86 percent of the vote to easily defeat Rougeot and another candidate.