Breaking through the bubble

Dead man gets parking ticket

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities have apologized to the family of an elderly man who was given a parking ticket while he lay dead in his car in a suburban shopping center. The 71-year-old man, known to be seriously ill, went missing nine days ago and his body was found in his car in a shopping mall car park in a Melbourne suburb, police said. A parking ticket had been placed on the car the day before his body was found. "It's just tragic. It must be so sad for the family and we extend our sincere sympathies to them," mayor Paul Denham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. "The circumstances surrounding the location of this poor fellow must make it all the harder for the family. It is simply a case of the parking officer not noticing."

Landing in Alaska? Fear moose collisions no more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Pilots flying into and out of a small airport north of Anchorage, Ala. no longer have to keep an eye out for stray moose on the runway. The municipal airport at Wasilla, a town about 40 miles north of Anchorage, has installed an electric anti-moose mat around the airfield. The barrier, similar to grated cattle guards on ranches, aims to prevent collisions between aircraft and the area's large moose population. "They'd feel a shock and they'd also hear a snap. Those two things would cause the moose to not go in there," said Archie Giddings, public works director for Wasilla.

Airfield workers regularly had to chase the large ungulates away and moose have proved adept at getting through the gates of the airport's conventional fence, Giddings said. A bull moose can weigh 1,000 pounds and stand 6 feet high. "If they ever did come to the runway and have a collision with an aircraft, that could be disastrous to the pilot," Giddings said. "An airplane could disintegrate if it hits a moose."

Something you don't see too often.

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - A motorcyclist with a helmet-wearing corpse strapped to his back crashed in this Mexican city on the U.S. border on Friday and fled on foot, setting off a police murder hunt.

The unidentified driver was trying to ride with the body through the center of Tijuana, south of San Diego, Calif., when he lost control rounding a curve. He fled the scene, leaving the dead passenger on the curb. Police said the corpse, which had head injuries and bore strangulation marks, had died at least six hours earlier. "When the police arrived they took the helmet off the corpse, believing at first that he had died in the crash," said Francisco Castro, a spokesman for the Baja California state police's homicide division. "But he had adhesive tape stuck to his face, a knife wound to his forehead, and showed signs of strangulation," he added. Castro said the dead man had wraps of methamphetamine in his pocket and an unkempt appearance, which led investigators to believe the killing was drug-related. "We think the killer was trying to take the body to a more deserted area to dispose of it," he said.

– Compiled by Brittany Smith from http://www.excite.com