---

A Bank Error in Your Favor

   Jerry Mika received a check in the mail totaling over $2 million. Mika expected to see a $15 refund from the Utah Department of Commerce and instead received check for $2,245,342. The teller accidentally put the serial number not the actual amount of the check. Mika thought about what he could do with the check, but he returned the check to the bank instead of cashing it.

How Big?

   Truffle hunter Cristiano Savini found an unusual find on his truffle hunt.  He found a 3.3 pound (1.5 kg) truffle. Savini donated the find to the organizers of the Macau auction. A truffle found in Alba, Italy, the same size sold for 125,000 euros by a Hong Kong bidder last year. The 3.3 pound truffles have been the largest discovered since a 5.5 pound truffle was found in 1954. The truffle sold for a record $330,000.

Ready or Not 

   According to the Associate Press, a pregnant Minyon Brister began having contractions when she bent down to put the turkey out of the oven. Before Brister reached the hospital, Mykayla Jalyin Gaines arrived in the backseat of her stepfather’s truck. Lucy Brister, Mykayla’s grandmother, handled the delivery.  The baby’s early arrival surprised the family, because she was not due until Tuesday.

Stupidity at Its finest

   Time for yet another story-telling moment: A Georgia man walked into a bank and tried to deposit a fake $1 million bill. When the bank tellers didn’t open the account for Alexander D. Smith, he started cursing at bank workers. The tellers called the police, who arrested the man on two counts of forgery. The second count of forgery came after police discovered he bought cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check. The moral of the story: It’s always good to learn what not to do by the observation of others. 

Lost and Found 

   A crew picking up litter up on Interstate 4 in Tampa, Fla., found 60 pounds of fresh Marijuana stuffed in two big garbage bags. The Florida Highway Patrol said anyone missing two big bags of pot can call their Tampa area office.  This is one story I would like to have an update on.

Desperate

   Justin T. Veal robbed about a dozen businesses of $10,000 to get “gas money,” but he made sure he didn’t miss curfew or church. His mother set his curfew at 1:30 a.m., and he always made it home by curfew. He robbed the stores to get money to “fix his car, buy jewelry and keep up with everyone else.”

   "I had just got hired to two new jobs and really, I just needed some gas money," he said. "It was the easy way. Sometimes you never think you're going to get caught."

How Ironic

   In Sicily, police arrested a man suspected of being a Mafia mobster as he watched a television show about the arrest of a Mafia boss. Police arrested Michele Catalano as he watched the final chapter of a TV mini-series, “Bosses of Bosses,” recounting the arrest in 1993 of real-life Cosa Nostra leader Salvatore "Toto" Riina.  Police suspected Catalano of being senior commander serving under the latest "boss of bosses," Salvatore Lo Piccolo. Catalano faces charges of drug trafficking and extortion.

   Reuters contributed to this review.

This Week’s Read:

   “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. This simple novella portrays several themes of English society during the 1800s. Many characters are symbolic of people in society - Scrooge represents greed, Bob Cratchit represents those who suffer under the “Scrooges” of the world, the English poor and Fred serve to remind readers of the joy and good cheer of Christmas. Dickens divides the book into five staves or chapters. Four ghost, the ghost of Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Future visit Scrooge. Marley warns Scrooge of his upcoming visitors and the three ghost of Christmas show Scrooge the reality of his life.

.

   Have a comment? Please e-mail us.