trouble

CHICAGO - U.S. citizens are far more knowledgeable about the cast of "The Simpsons" television show than they are about their First Amendment Freedoms, a poll shows. The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum in Chicago found 28 percent of people are able to name more than one of the five fundamental freedoms granted to them by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But 52 percent were able to name at least two members of the cartoon family. More jarring is that 22 percent of those polled can name all five characters -- Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie -- but just 1-in-1,000 people surveyed -- 0.01 percent -- were able to name all five freedoms.

 

DES MOINES, Iowa - Here's one way to get out of paying traffic charges: fake your own death. It almost worked for Kimberly Du - until she got stopped for speeding after she faked her death in December! Someone claiming to be Du's mother used a pair of forged documents, including a death notice printed on a newspaper Web site and a letter allegedly signed by her mother, to convince court officials that Du had died. However, after she was pulled over, police discovered that Du's supposed obituary had never run, and a funeral was never held. Du was arrested and charged with forging her mother's name on a letter to the court.

 

CHICAGO - A young man from Romania who was deserted by his prospective bride was found living penniless at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. In a striking similarity to the 2004 Tom Hanks movie, "The Terminal," the Chicago Aviation Department told WBBM-AM, Chicago, the man, who is about 25 years old, has been living in the international terminal for as long as four weeks. Karol Sobolewski was one of the baggage handlers who noticed the nervous man and took up a collection to buy him some food from McDonald's. "He was supposed to get married over here, and supposedly something went wrong, and the girl kicked him out or something," Sobolewski said. "So he got left over here... living in the international terminal."

 

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. - A 75-year-old woman has been put in jail after trying to rob a bank with a gun on Monday morning. Wearing a Steelers ski mask, Marilyn Devine attempted to holdup a National City Bank inside a Shop 'n Save grocery store. She made her getaway in a tan Ford Escort, but was caught after leading police on a five-mile pursuit at speeds of 40 to 45 mph. Devine confessed to the crime, saying she stole her husband's handgun, put on the mask and pointed the gun at tellers. "I'm shocked. It's unreal. You seen the lady here -- she's probably anybody's grandmother. It's unreal," said West Mifflin Police Chief Joe Popovich. Police say that the black handgun she brandished was not loaded.