Feelgood News, March 09

[Bungleau]

Variol asked me to link in this video. It's feelgood, for sure... although, depending on your beliefs and preferences, it may toe the moratorium line. So for those who fall on the non-Christian side of that line, you may want to skip this.

Those who take a listen will hear a young boy relating some powerful thoughts.



I ask that if anyone wishes to discuss elements of the video, they do it in another thread. This is, after all, a "feel good" thread...

[Bungleau]

Tough-talking Texas woman chases down thief

FORT WORTH, Texas – Unholstering her cell phone from her bra, a tough-talking Texas woman chased down a purse snatcher in her car while calling 911. "Put it on the hood, now!" Val Renfro is heard yelling on the 911 recording after she got her man. "You give me my purse, right now."

Renfro, 65, from Arlington, had finished shopping Sunday at a Fort Worth office supply store and was getting into her car when a man shoved her twice, grabbed her purse and ran, according to a police report.

That's when she reached for her phone, which she always keeps tucked into her bra, and called 911.

While talking to the operator, Renfro drove after the fleeing man.

At one point, she apparently nudges the man with her car. The man tells her if she rolls down her window, he'll return the purse. "Like hell I will," she yells.

Onlookers eventually cornered the man near a movie theater.

Renfro said she later ran into the suspect at the police station, where he apologized to her. She said she accepted his apology.

"I don't have any animosity toward him," Renfro said. "Who am I to be the judge of him?"

Police identified the suspect as Ricky Lee Sample, 47. He remained in the Tarrant County Jail on Wednesday on a charge of aggravated robbery as well as a parole violation. His bail was set at $20,000.
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Information from:
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com/
The Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/
=========================

You don't mess with a Texas granny...

[VulcanRider]

Not sure if this is "news" but watching will make you feel good...
Lola does the smarty pants dance

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Originally Posted by VulcanRider Not sure if this is "news" but watching will make you feel good... Lola does the smarty pants dance

That was super cute!

[Bungleau]

Woman buys used couch and finds cat living inside

SPOKANE, Wash. – The mysterious mewing in Vickie Mendenhall's home started about the time she bought a used couch for $27. After days of searching for the source of the noise, she found a very hungry calico cat living in her sofa.

Her boyfriend, Chris Lund, was watching TV on Tuesday night and felt something move inside the couch. He pulled it away from the wall, lifted it up and there was the cat, which apparently crawled through a small hole on the underside.

Mendenhall contacted Value Village, where she bought the couch, but the store had no information on who donated it. So she took the cat to SpokAnimal CARE, the animal shelter where she works, so it could recover, and contacted media outlets in hopes of finding the owner.

Sure enough, Bob Killion of Spokane showed up to claim the cat on Thursday after an acquaintance alerted him to a TV story about it. Killion had donated a couch on Feb. 19, and his 9-year-old cat, Callie, disappeared at about the same time.
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Information from: The Spokesman-Review, http://www.spokesman.com
========================

All's well that ends well... betcha the cat enjoyed a nice dinner or seven!

[Bungleau]

Man, 71, fends off young robber with ice scraper

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Police said a 71-year-old man, armed only with an ice scraper, frustrated a 20-year-old would-be robber who approached him with a knife. Police said the man was scraping ice off his car Friday when the 20-year-old pulled out a knife and demanded money.

Police Sgt. Pete Ragnone said the man used his ice scraper to fend off the attacker — who then ran to his girlfriend's home nearby.

That's when a fight broke out between the 20-year-old and his girlfriend.

The would-be attacker surrendered to police and faces charges of attempted first-degree robbery and aggravated assault-domestic violence.
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Information from: KOTA-TV, http://www.kotatv.com
=======================

A double loser... first beaten by a 71-year-old guy with an ice scraper, then by his girlfriend... I'm sure his new boyfriend in the joint will lend him a comforting... shoulder....

[Bungleau]

Nigerian student gets 19 years' jail for love scam

LAGOS (Reuters) – A Nigerian undergraduate has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for obtaining $47,000 (33,382 pounds) from an Australian woman by convincing her over the Internet that he was 57 years old, white, and madly in love with her.

Lawal Adekunle Nurudeen met his victim on the Internet in 2007 and convinced her that he was a British widower called Benson Lawson. He said he was an engineer working in Lagos whose wife and only child had been killed in a car accident.

"The victim, a 56-year-old woman from Australia, told the convict that she wanted a husband and all the men she had met always disappointed her," said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria's anti-corruption police.

"The convict, who is married with three children, instantly replied and told the victim she had met her Mr Right ... He sent the picture of a white man to foreclose any suspicions."

The woman sent Nurudeen money for medical treatment and travel costs to visit Australia. He spent the funds on two plots of land and a Honda Prelude car.

Nigerian confidence tricksters have a long history of extorting money via the Internet through "419" scams, named after the clause that outlaws them in Nigeria's penal code. Many are never caught.

The EFCC said Nurudeen was ordered to pay around $10,000 immediately and a further $250 a month to his victim until the full amount stolen was returned. She would also receive the proceeds of the sale of his land and car.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/ )

(Reporting by Nick Tattersall)
========================

Let's see... that makes one caught, 346,313,803,302 that have escaped justice so far.

At $250 a month paying back, he'd better hope that she gets a lot from the land and car...

[Bungleau]

Legally blind Mo. man saves woman from attacker

FENTON, Mo. – A legally blind man was credited with saving a woman after authorities said a 45-year-old man broke into her apartment on Saturday night. Authorities said the man, a convicted rapist, was waiting for the woman to return home from work.

A neighbor who asked to be identified only as Jerry heard noises coming from the apartment. Jerry is blind in his left eye and has about 25 percent vision in his right eye.

Jerry told KTVI-TV that he went to the apartment and kicked open the door, surprising the would-be attacker, who locked the door. The woman came home and confirmed she didn't know the man in her apartment, and police took the suspect away.

The man was charged with burglary. The investigation is continuing.
___
Information from: KTVI-TV, http://www.fox2now.com.
==========================

Another good prison conversation...

You got taken down by a blind guy? C'mere, sugarcakes....

Good on Jerry!

[Bungleau]

Paraplegic Man Suffers Spider Bite, Walks Again

He has been confined to a wheelchair for 20 years. Now a paraplegic man is walking again, and his doctors call it a miracle. CBS13 went to Manteca to find out how a spider bite helped get him back on his feet.

"I closed my eyes and then I was spinning like a flying saucer," explains David Blancarte.

A motorcycle accident almost killed David 21 years ago. At the time he might have wished he was dead.

"I asked my doctor, 'Sir what happened? I can't feel my legs'," said David.

Ever since, David's been relying on his wheelchair to get around. Then the spider bite. A Brown Recluse sent him to the hospital, then to rehab for eight months.

"I'm here for a spider bite. I didn't know I would end up walking," says David.

A nurse noticed David's leg spasm and ran a test on him.

"When they zapped my legs, I felt the current, I was like 'whoa' and I yelled," he says.

He felt the current and the rush of a renewed sense of hope.

"She says,'your nerves are alive. They're just asleep'," explained David.

Five days later David was walking.

"I was walking on the bar back and forth," he said.

Now David is out of the hospital and on his feet and walking.

David basks in his glory and gives a ray of hope to other hoping to walk again. The 48-year-old former boxer and dancer is taking it in stride, knowing his best days are still ahead.

David's dream is to see his 14-year-old twin daughters grow up and get married so he can walk them down the aisle and have that first dance.

Blancarte's dreams may have to wait. He was arrested Friday (3/13) on an outstanding warrant stemming from a domestic abuse case.
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Amazing.... truly.

[Firestormalpha]

Wow, that last part kinda sucks though.