SpongeBob image painted on historic Colo. cabin
MONUMENT, Colo. (AP) The U.S. Forest Service is looking for the "SpongeBob fanatics" who painted the cartoon character on the chimney of a historic building.
The 10-foot tall painting of Nickelodeon character SpongeBob SquarePants is on a cabin in the Pike National Forest that used to be the Forest Service's tree nursery until it was abandoned in the 1930s. Forest Service law enforcement officer Tom Healy says the incident is part of an increase in vandalism in the area.
Officials say whoever painted the cartoon on the chimney brought four colors of paint and that it was a time-consuming venture.
Healy says it will cost several thousand dollars to wipe the animated yellow sea sponge's image from the site.
'Funeral Day Burglar' found guilty of 10 counts in Mo.
PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) A burglar who authorities say used the obituary pages to select his targets was convicted of 10 counts Friday.
Prosecutors say Dane S. Johnson and a co-defendant who pleaded guilty burglarized more than 30 Kansas City-area homes, picking their victims by reading real estate listings and obituaries, hitting model homes, homes on real estate tours or homes where owners would be attending funerals.
In one of the five Platte County cases Johnson was convicted of, a man was at a funeral for his wife while Johnson burglarized his home.
"It's hard to imagine a more cruel and heartless burglary scheme than this one," Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd said. "Picking out a home to break into because the owner is at a funeral reveals a complete lack of any conscience whatsoever. Dane Johnson deserves every year he will spend in prison."
Johnson, 35, of Kansas City, Mo., was found guilty of burglary and stealing and faces up to 78 years in prison. Co-defendant Landon N. Prothro received 28 years in prison in October 2006 after pleading guilty.
Johnson and Prothro were arrested after a 2006 home burglary in which a resident confronted them.
Man finds woman's wallet that had been stolen in 1973
ALTON, Ill. (AP) Sandy Baumberger says she never expected to see her wallet again when it was stolen 35 years ago.
But it has been found by a 30-year-old dental student who tracked her down and returned it.
Eric Wherley says he found the wallet in a bathroom stall at school after a water pipe broke and loosened some ceiling tiles. The thief who stole the wallet apparently had hidden it in the drop ceiling.
The dark-blue patent leather wallet contained Baumberger's driver's license, library cards and Social Security card. It also had her student ID, a grocery list, and cloth swatches from her bridesmaids' dresses.
Baumberger says she and her husband are planning to give Wherley a gift for his efforts.
