Some Weird News

This is a little unusual here at Gravetapping, but I thought these news stories in my local newspaper were pretty interesting. The first is funny—the guy is really proving his street creds with the theft of a little girl's tricycle—and the second seems straight out of a novel. A few spoiled middle-class kids making crime a habit. I can see Ed Gorman writing this as a sub-plot in a Sam McCain story. And the tricycle thing? Maybe something out of an Elmore Leonard novel. Police: Gang member busted riding stolen tricycle The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 07/01/2008 03:03:30 PM MDT Posted: 2:58 PM- A 21-year-old gang member was busted Saturday riding a stolen tricycle, according to police. Orem police Lt. Doug Edwards said a mother and her young daughter went to a local store Saturday evening, the little girl riding her new tricycle. When they came out of the store a short time later they found the tricycle missing and called police to report the theft. While an officer was taking the report, two officers working with Orem's Gang Task Force spotted the suspect gliding down Orem Boulevard on the stolen tricycle and detained him, said Edwards. He was arrested for stealing the trike and providing false personal information to the police for giving the officers three different false names. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9755789?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com Five high school football players charged in northern Utah crime spree The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 07/03/2008 07:06:11 AM MDT Posted: 6:53 AM- SYRACUSE - Five Syracuse High School varsity football players have been charged with more than 50 counts relating to a northern Utah crime spree. 2News reports that on Wednesday the five boys were charged with offenses including burglary and theft involving 10 different businesses. Police say the boys have confessed to committing the crimes. And, in addition to burglarizing the businesses, they are accused of having vandalized homes and vehicles. "They started doing this, and they were successful at it," Deputy Davis County Attorney Rick Westmoreland told 2News. "They were getting money... they were getting a rush, so they just continued to do it." And, the five may not be alone in facing charges. Davis County prosecutors say more charges could be filed against more teen suspects.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9774857

Wyoming to Publish Buffalo Bill Papers

Wyoming has funded a new project to publish the papers--all of the papers--of Buffalo Bill Cody. Cody was best known for his Wild Wild West show, but he was a Pony Express rider, a Union scout during the Civil War and Buffalo hunter as the railroad made its way across the continent. The project is set to illuminate the life of Wyoming's most recognizable figure:

"This project is important because it — at long last, finally — provides funding for a level of research that's equal to its subject and the importance of that subject in Wyoming and its history," said Milward Simpson, director of the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, which is in charge of administering the state money for the project.*

Thanks to Russell Davis for the heads-up.

*To read the entire article at Yahoo! News click Here.