Bird watching to provide cover for neighbor watching, giant “water coaster” coming, and more
Daniel Norton
While spying on your neighbors, you might see one of these
Since sifting through dull newspapers, hyperbolic blogs, and overflowing RSS feeds for meaningful news can be an arduous process, News Net catches and compiles both the amusing and the significant reports that were overlooked throughout the weekend. Here are some things to think about as the workweek begins.
• Creeps who spy on their neighbors with binoculars under the guise of “bird watching” will gain some credibility in their alibi this weekend, as a national Great Backyard Bird Count is set to take place. It’d be good to at least grab a couple of snapshots of birds and report them to The National Aubudon Society website, so as not to test the limits of your restraining order any more than you have to. (Oh, and if you actually want to watch some birds, here’s a handy guide to places to do that around Denver.)
• Water World is moving forward with plans to build a $4.5 million hydromagnetic coaster that should be ready by this summer. The coaster is reportedly one of the first of its kind, and should easily become the hot thing to stand in line for hours waiting to ride this summer in Denver.
• A pharmacy in Denver is in trouble after un-shredded documents containing medical records, prescriptions, and addresses of more than 5,000 customers were found in plain sight in a Dumpster near the pharmacy. The recovered files could have been used to start up an awesome online database for addicts and burglars, full of detail about the locations to find the best prescription drugs in the area.
• The Arapahoe County Sheriff has apparently had enough, announcing recently that political campaigns in the county would be billed for “extraordinary security measures.” Hear that, candidates? The free ride is over, no matter how big a hit your ice-cream social turns out to be.
• A couple trying to keep their cat cozy with an electric blanket ended up killing it instead, as the chair, cat, and blanket ignited, sparking a fire that caused a great deal of damage to the property. Even if the cat had eight more lives to give, it would no doubt need counseling for its post-traumatic fear of powered blankets. Seriously, those warning labels aren't a joke—use your electric blanket according to the manufacturer's guidelines and keep those fuzzy electric death traps away from your children and small animals.
