Bus Stops - November 25

Ottawa transit head wants drivers protected (CBC) 

(The head of Ottawa's transit committee is calling on the federal government to better protect bus drivers at OC Transpo and other public transportation systems across Canada. The plea for a tougher stance on this type of crime comes a day after a bus driver was reportedly punched in the face on the No. 96 bus in Stittsville. Diane Deans said more bus drivers are reporting being physically and verbally abused across North America and the government needs to take notice.)

Buses remain quarantined (London Free Press) 

(The city's remaining two ARBOC Mobility-manufactured vehicles are still under quarantine while fire investigators continue to try to piece together the fire that gutted one of St. Thomas's newest fleet members on Oct. 26. "The other two buses are still in our garage. They're being used as part of the investigation as comparators and a bus that we had ordered, the fourth bus, is actually being withheld delivery until this issue is resolved," city operations and compliance manager Edward Soldo told city council during Monday's meeting.)

Ottawa exotic dancer convicted of assaulting bus driver/stripper husband (Ottawa Citizen) 

(An exotic dancer was found guilty Thursday of assault for kicking her estranged bus driver husband before a therapy session. During trial, Vanessa Hagel admitted kicking Eric Hagel on Jan. 24 after the couple started arguing while awaiting a meeting with their therapist. Hagel testified she inadvertently kicked her husband as she uncrossed her legs to flee the waiting room. But the counsellor, who witnessed the incident, said Vanessa Hagel stood up, “chambered” her leg, and deliberately kicked Eric Hagel as he sat in a chair.)

Emergency workers free man from beneath RTD bus tires on Colfax (Denver Post) 

(Emergency workers in Denver freed a man pinned beneath the back tires of an RTD bus this evening after he apparently fell as the bus was driving away from a stop, police said. The driver of the Regional Transportation District's Route 15 bus told police he had stopped to let on passengers near Colfax Avenue and High Street. A man that appeared to be sleeping on the bench stood up as the bus started to drive away.)

Parts of Einstein's brain on display for first time
(CBS) 

(If you've ever wondered what the brain of a genius looks like, make your way to Philadelphia. There, the public can view for the first time 46 slivers of the brain of Albert Einstein, the theoretical physicist who developed the Theory of General Relativity. The brain is on display at Philadelphia's Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library, in a whirlwind exhibit built in about nine working days, according to museum curator Anna Dhody. Visitors can view 45 of the brain slides as-is, and see one magnified under a lens.)

Students' Nazi gestures cause cancelation of zombie dress-up day (KIRO TV) 

(Parents of Reeves Middle School students got a bizarre warning Tuesday that students were caught doing "Heil Hitler" salutes during the pledge of allegiance, calling each other Nazis and drawing swastikas on their hands. The Olympia School District said the students’ behavior appears to be tied to the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops, in which players shoot zombies dressed as Nazis. The game is rated for players older than 17, and the owner of Game Freaks told KIRO 7’s Graham Johnson there’s a reason for that.)

Man Accused Of Theft Uses Paranormal Defense (10 TV) 

(A defendant said that it was not just his crimes coming back to haunt him on Wednesday. Former Mount Gilead police officer Joseph Hughes faced 21 charges against him, 10TV’s Glenn McEntyre reported. Prosecution exhibits showed the laundry list of stolen goods investigators said they found inside Hughes’ Morrow County home, much of which belonged to the county.)

Amish beard-cutting suspects arrested (STL Today) 

(Federal agents arrested the leader of a renegade Amish group and six others in eastern Ohio on Wednesday and charged them with hate crimes for a series of beard- and hair-cutting assaults against Amish men and women. In a case that drew wide attention because of the unusual nature of the attacks, five of the men were arrested last month on kidnapping and other state charges, and were out on bail. At the time of those arrests, officials said that the founder of the breakaway group, Sam Mullet, 66, had not taken part directly in the nighttime assaults against his perceived enemies, and he was not initially charged.)

Giant penis mystery baffles Stockholm suburb (The Local) 

(A wealthy Swedish businessman was surprised to learn on Wednesday that the grounds near his luxurious home appear to feature a giant penis visible only from the sky. “It may be distasteful, but it's not illegal,” Nicholas Rundbom, a spokesperson for Hitta.se, the Swedish directory and map website which published the phallus-filled aerial photograph, told The Local.)

Man with Samurai Sword Chops Off Relative's Hand (My Fox DC) 

(A 21-year-old northern Arizona man has been accused of attempted homicide with a samurai sword. Dustin Charles Banbury of Parks, Ariz. tried to kill a 33-year-old male relative, according to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. It happened Tuesday night. Deputies were called to a Parks home to find the 33-year-old victim suffering from numerous slash wounds, including a severed right hand, a deep laceration to the forehead, and severe lacerations to his upper and lower torso.)

Kevin Smith: Live From Behind to Be Broadcast From the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto to Participating Movie Theatres Across North America (Market Watch) 

(AK27 Productions and Cineplex Entertainment, via their Front Row Centre Events, present Kevin Smith: Live From Behind featuring Jay & Silent Bob Grow Old, an interactive event hosted by Kevin Smith on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 9.30 p.m. EST. Live from the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto, the event will be broadcast via satellite to more than 70 movie theatres in Canada and 500 movie theatres in the United States.)

Tom Hardy 'intimidated' by Batman (Sky News) 

(Actor Tom Hardy says he was 'intimidated' by Batman in 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The British actor admitted Batman - played by Christian Bale - cuts an imposing figure in the last film in the series; but that didn't stop his character, arch villain Bane, from hitting him back 'twice as hard,' as he hit him. Speaking in the special Batman/Bane January issue of EMPIRE magazine, he said: 'He looks really intimidating! There's a three-year-old in me that's going, 'Oh my God that's Batman! That's Batman and he's going to hit me! But I love Batman!' Then I look in the mirror. And I hit him back. Twice as hard.')

Gary Oldman discusses Batman filming (Sky News) 

(Gary Oldman has revealed most 'The Dark Knight Rises' has been shot in IMAX. However, the British actor - who reprises his role as Lt. Gordon in the new instalment of Christopher Nolan's 'Batman' franchise - admitted the high resolution cameras did cause some problems on set as all dialogue had to be re-recorded after shooting because they are so loud. He explained: 'We used it a fair bit actually. The IMAX camera, it's a strange thing. There's only so much film that you can put through the gate. You get two takes from a roll, I guess.)

Staring at naked women makes you smarter (Canoe) 

(It’s high time the SUNshine Girl went topless. I say this not for prurient reasons or to make the circulation manager hysterical or to curry favour with my naturalist friends. No, this is a public service. A boon to mental health. Yours. I’m happy to report what I’ve always suspected is true. The SUNshine Girl makes you smarter. It’s now a scientific fact.)

Study Looks At Bargain Hunting Stress (My Fox NY) 

(With crowds of shoppers waking predawn and jockeying for limited bargains, how stressful is "Black Friday" on consumers? A market-research agency hopes to find out, scientifically. In an unusual study, about 50 shoppers in Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta will wear a biometric-tracking sensor on their wrists when they hit stores this Friday.)

Pakistan scraps plan to ban ‘Jesus’ text messages (Rian) 

(Pakistani authorities have dropped plans to forbid the sending of text messages featuring the words “Jesus” and “Christ,” the Vatican Insider website said.The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) ordered operators to block texts featuring any of a list of 1,500 words in a document issued earlier this month.)

FDA Approves First Middle-of-the-Night Insomnia Pill (Time) 

(Federal health regulators say they have approved the first insomnia pill designed for people who wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble getting back to sleep. Transcept Pharmaceuticals' Intermezzo pill is a lower dose of the key ingredient in Ambien, the popular sleep medication first approved in 1992. FDA officials say the new pill offers a safer option than taking a second dose of zolpidem tartrate, the ingredient in Sanofi's Ambien, to get back to sleep.)

26 bodies found in western Mexico (CNN) 

(Authorities found 26 bodies Thursday inside three abandoned vehicles in Guadalajara, Mexico, an official said. All the victims were men, said Ulises Enríquez, a spokesman for the Jalisco delegation of the Attorney General's Office. The vehicles were discovered near a monument on one of the city's main avenues, the state-run Notimex news agency reported, citing police sources.)

6 killed when plane crashes into Arizona mountain (CNN) 

(Six people, including three children, were killed when their plane crashed into rugged mountains east of Phoenix on a Thanksgiving eve trip, authorities said Thursday. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu identified the dead as a father and his three children, plus two other men. All were Arizona residents and knew each other well, he said. The twin-engine Rockwell 690A airplane slammed into a virtual cliff near the top of the Superstition Mountains at 6:31 p.m. on Wednesday, strewing debris for hundreds of yards down the 80-degree incline, Babeu told reporters.)

Man dressed as Gumby pleads guilty to burglary (AP) 

(A man accused of trying to rob a San Diego 7-Eleven while dressed as Gumby has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor burglary. A lawyer for 19-year-old Jacob Kiss entered the plea Wednesday. Kiss' accomplice, 20-year-old Jason Giramma, also pleaded to the same charge. Both men were placed on three years of probation.)

J.K. Rowling and Sienna Miller Testify Before Phone Hacking Inquiry (Time) 

(A glamorous government inquiry? Under normal circumstances, it would be an oxymoron. But with J.K. Rowling, Sienna Miller and former F1 boss Max Mosley taking the stand today, the U.K. Leveson inquiry into phone hacking is an exception. Harry Potter author Rowling headlined the day with revelations that a reporter had slipped a note into her 5-year-old daughter’s schoolbag during the early days of her fame. “She was in her first year at primary school and I unzipped her schoolbag in the evening,” she said. “I found a letter addressed to me and the letter was from a journalist…I can only say that I felt such a sense of invasion.”)