Archive for the "Stories" Category

‘Thanks for the grow! You want them back? Call for the price … we’ll talk’

Christine and Steven Locasio

A marijuana grower thought his small crop was being held for ransom after a suspicious note was left in place of his plants, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.

“Thanks for the grow! You want them back? Call for the price … we’ll talk,” read the note left in place of the stash that was growing on a lot near his apartment.

Unfortunately for Steven Alan Locasio, 48, the ransom note was written by detectives, who arrested Locasio when he showed up with $200 in exchange for the safe return of the pot plants.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, a resident called to report that the plants were growing in a wooded lot off of Coco Plum Drive in Marathon. Police found six plants, took them for evidence and left behind the note. Locasio called the number to arrange the exchange.

He handed detectives the cash and they arrested him, the Sheriff’s Office said. A search of his apartment turned up 20 more marijuana plants, several Oxycontin pills and $1,380 in cash.

Locasio and his wife, Christine Locasio, 50, were both charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and sale of marijuana.
sun-sentinel.com


copytaste.com

Forget swine flu: The University of Florida is ready in case its employees become flesh-eating zombies.

A UF e-Learning Support Services Web site has a a zombie attack plan posted among similar disaster preparation exercises for a hurricane and disease pandemic. The apparent joke is played straight, including medical information on “zombieism” and a form allowing UF employees to explain why they killed infected co-workers.

“Some employees may prefer weapons such as chain saws, baseball bats, and explosives that have been shown to be effective against zombies,” the plan says. “Given the stress on staff to be anticipated during a zombie outbreak, employees should be given the flexibility to choose their own weaponry thereby diminishing anxiety.”

The story was first reported by Central Florida News 13. UF spokesman Steve Orlando said he’s looking into it.

The zombie attack plan includes footnotes referring to zombie movies such as “Night of the Living Dead” and “28 Days Later” as documentaries. It also has some helpful tips:

* Signs of a possible zombie include “Identification of difficult to kill, flesh-eating perpetrators” and “Documentation of lots of strange moaning.”

* Contrary to myth, “garlic will not stop true zombies, only vampires; and zombies do come out during the day, though they are most active a night because they typically do not like sunlight.”

The “infected co-worker dispatch form” is the best part, including a place to list the co-worker’s symptoms such as “references to wanting to eat brains” and “lack of rational thought (this can cause problems confusing zombies with managers).”

At the end, employees must note whether housekeeping was notified to clean up the dead zombie and human resources has been told to stop salary payments to the zombie and its victims.
chalkboard.blogs.gainsville.com and examiner.com