Offbeat

Funeral subject turns out to be alive and
jailed NEW ORLEANS “”mdash; When mourners showed up in
north Alabama for Finley Christopher Farley’s funeral, they
were told that the dearly departed had not departed. He was being
detained in a New Orleans jail cell. Farley’s parents, Eugene
and Marion, made funeral arrangements in Decatur, Ala., for their
son after the Orleans Parish coroner told them their son had died
in a hotel room. A death notice was put in their local newspaper
and a service was set for Thursday. But as the death notice rolled
off the presses, Farley was sitting in jail after being booked on
charges of cocaine possession and public drunkenness. New Orleans
police had arrested Farley early Monday in the French Quarter,
authorities said. Exactly how his name got connected with another
man’s corpse remains a mystery, as does the identity of the
dead man. A manager for the New Orleans funeral home that handled
the body said it came tagged with Farley’s name from the
Orleans Parish coroner. John Gagliano, chief coroner’s
investigator, said the office would not comment. Farley’s
parents could not be reached, but a lawyer they have consulted
described them as quite shaken by the whole affair.
“I’m not sure at this point who is at fault, but there
are multiple entities in Louisiana that bear some blame,”
said attorney Brian Oakes. Farley’s arrest sparked the chain
of events that finally confirmed to his grieving parents that he
was still alive. On Tuesday morning, the day after he was booked, a
defense lawyer trawling for clients picked up Farley’s name
from a list at the jail and mailed him a letter offering to
represent him, funeral director Michael Coffee said. His parents
got the letter Wednesday and called the lawyer, who told them their
son was alive and in jail. Coffee said the coroner’s office
told him the dead man was discovered with Farley’s
identification in a hotel room rented by Farley. The office did not
say how the man died, Coffee said. Coffee said he did not intend to
bill Farley’s parents for the funeral. “It’s not
their fault,” he said.

Radio hacker wreaks havoc on drive-through voice
box TROY, Mich. “”mdash; Some drive-through customers at a
Burger King are getting more with their meals than they expected.
Police in the north Detroit suburb are looking for someone who is
using a device to broadcast on the same frequency as a Burger King
drive-through speaker, The Detroit News reported Thursday. The
person has interrupted business transactions three times, most
recently Tuesday, with obscene remarks to startled customers. When
the 41-year-old manager went outside to apologize to customers and
look for the source of the mischief, a voice boomed out of the
outdoor speaker: “There’s nothing you or the police can
do about this, so get … back inside and take your goons with
you,” Troy Police Lt. Gerry Scherlinck said. Police suspect
the calls are being made by a radio transmitter or walkie-talkie
near the restaurant. The person could be charged with a misdemeanor
if caught. Kevin Barnes, a spokesman for Michigan Multi King, which
owns the restaurant, said his company wants to keep the incidents
low-key. “It’s rare, but I’ve heard this has
happened at other businesses,” he said.

Apparent glue prank alleged to have racial ties
WAUSAU, Wis. “”mdash; Some junior high students claim they were
injured and targeted for a racially motivated prank when they ate
wood glue that had been “camouflaged” as mayonnaise by
other students at a school cafeteria, according to court records.
In a lawsuit filed in Marathon County Circuit Court, parents of the
six Hmong children who ate the glue after it was put on sandwiches
seek punitive damages for physical and emotional injuries. Five
students of D.C. Everest Junior High, their parents and the school
district were named as defendants in the lawsuit, which stems from
the April 16 incident at the school. The students who ate the glue
received medical treatment after the incident, and some continue to
be treated, Spencer Davczyk, the attorney for the plaintiffs, said
Friday. Last spring, police and school officials investigated the
incident and concluded it had nothing to do with race. The school
suspended two white students and one minority student for three
days, and police cited the three for disorderly conduct. The
lawsuit, filed Dec. 29, alleges the defendants put the glue on the
food table to target Hmong children in the prank. The suit accuses
the school district of negligently failing to supervise students
and of allowing racial discrimination to occur. According to
Davczyk, the defendants took a bottle of wood glue from a
classroom, swapped the label on it to identify it as mayonnaise and
then offered it to the group of Hmong students. “It was a
complete disregard for the health of these students,” Davczyk
said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages. D.C. Everest
School Superintendent Kristine Gilmore said the district’s
insurance company is handling the lawsuit. She declined further
comment. The mother of one of the defendants told the Wausau Daily
Herald for a story in Friday’s edition that the incident was
“absolutely, positively” not racially motivated.
“It was a practical joke that has been blown out of
proportion.” The newspaper did not name the mother to protect
the identify of her juvenile child.

Drug lab thwarted when powerful scent tips cops
COSTA MESA “”mdash; Officers in Southern California didn’t
need a crime dog to sniff out a pot farm ““ they just followed
their own noses. Police found more than a thousand marijuana plants
and a sophisticated growing operation Tuesday in a warehouse in the
Costa Mesa area. During the raid, officers confiscated about
$75,000 worth of water pumps, electric valves and giant lights used
in cultivating the illegal weed. Police say people in the area
complained they could smell the pot blocks away. Police arrested
Paul Marriman and booked him for investigation of cultivating
marijuana. He’s also suspected of stealing the electricity to
power all the grow lights.

With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.