Editorials

Smoking the good book 

MEDFORD, Ore. — Some prisoners at the Jackson County Jail haven’t exactly found religion in the Bible. 

They’ve discovered that pages ripped from the Bible make excellent rolling paper for smoking tobacco products and anything else they can get their hands on, jail officials said. 

Homemade cigarettes and tobacco are the most common form of contraband that correctional deputies find. But sauerkraut, lettuce leaves, coffee grounds and orange peels have also been smuggled out of the cafeteria, dried and substituted for tobacco. 

“It’s much more of a problem than drugs, although they still try that, too,” said jail Sgt. Dan Penland. “They do everything they can to find something to smoke.” 

The screening process for inmates’ mail has reduced the amount of contraband smuggled in over the years but the inmates can be creative. 

Holding it to catch ‘em in the act 

HERMOSA BEACH — To catch an alleged quarter thief at his coin-operated laundry, the owner of Espresso Wash staked out his business for hours, hardly eating or drinking so he wouldn’t have to go to the bathroom. And the plan paid off. 

Peter Buccoleri, a retired policeman, sat on a stool in a cramped space by a water heater for 14 hours last Thursday peering at his change machine and waiting to nab the alleged thief. 

Buccoleri said on Tuesday he saw a man slip a $20 bill into the change machine, then yank it back while the quarters poured out. 

“I snuck out and I told him, ’You are under arrest. Get your hands up against that wall,”’ Buccoleri recalled. 

“He said, ’I’ll give you your money back. I’ll give you your money back.”’ 

Police identified the alleged thief as XXX, a transient from Bulgaria. 

He was booked for investigation of burglary, and officers said they found about $325 worth of quarters in his car. 

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police have recovered 15 tons of microwaveable popcorn, worth $50,000, that was stacked from floor to ceiling in a two-car garage. 

The 1,920 cases of popcorn were stolen a month ago along with an unmarked trailer from ConAgra Foods, the plant in Marion, Ohio, where it was produced, company officials said. 

James Conway Jr., 48, and his daughter, Jennifer, 22, both of Columbus, each were charged with one felony count of receiving stolen property. They were scheduled to appear Wednesday in Franklin County Municipal Court. 

ConAgra sent a tractor-trailer Tuesday to pick up the popcorn. The original white trailer is still missing, plant manager Tony Jones said. 

Police said they found the food while searching Jennifer Conway’s home because the elder Conway’s son has been charged in the Jan. 19 shooting death of an Ohio State University student. 

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BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Diane McCarthy has discovered how much it pays to clean up debris from her back yard. 

McCarthy found a box containing $1,300 stolen two weeks earlier from a Colchester High School hockey game. 

The Colchester High School Hockey Boosters had reported the theft to police, believing that the money was gone forever, Booster member Cheryl King said. 

McCarthy turned the treasure over to Burlington police, who returned the cash to the Booster club. 

“To get $1,300 back is absolutely amazing,” King said Monday. “It’s nice to know that there are some pretty honest people in the world.” 

King was working the Saturday night game Feb. 16 when a teen-ager approached the door, she said. The cashier told the boy it would cost $3 to get in to the game, King said. The boy grabbed the cash box and fled, according to police. 

When McCarthy first saw the gray metal box, it looked like cardboard, she said. Then she moved closer. 

“I saw it was more like a cash box, and I could hear some change, some coins, in there, and opened it up,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of money in here; I better call somebody.”’ 

Police have not arrested anyone for the theft.