The Lighter Side of News (BLOG)

While some of you enjoyed a work-free weekend, our friends in law enforcement were hard at work fighting crime and responding to all types of police calls.

Some police calls are stranger than others, but all of them are important to respond to because of the potential ramifications of an alleged incident and people involved. In that vein, I thought I’d share some items from the lighter side of news that our fine deputies in Cassia County responded to on Friday and Saturday – from strange traffic calls and an assault at a local grocer to a complaint about how someone was recently treated on Facebook.

These calls, added to the more serious ones they respond to almost daily, are just a sampling of what our law enforcement officers deal with in an effort to protect and serve our communities:

4:30 a.m. Feb. 26: A Burley woman called dispatch saying that “a few hours ago” she saw a local business truck on the highway passing on a double-yellow line. As if that wasn’t dangerous enough, the vehicle’s back door was open and items were falling out. The Cassia County blotter listed it as a “suspicious incident” and said it later was “resolved.”

10:05 a.m. Feb 26: Watch out for scammers. Not only will they defraud you, if they can, but they like to play dishonest games with honest citizens. A Cassia County woman called to let the Sheriff’s Office know her name had been changed in a local phonebook without her consent, but that her address and phone number remained listed in the book. The woman now is receiving mail for someone that doesn’t live at her address. The county listed the incident as “Fraud/Con Games.”

4:12 p.m. Feb. 26: Ever lost something in a restroom? Someone did. It was reported to the Cassia County Sheriff’s Office on Friday that a handgun was found in a men’s restroom at a location off Highway 77. Wasting no time, authorities arrived and retrieved the weapon.

7:44 p.m. Feb. 26: Someone has too much time on his hands. A person in a red Suburban parked in a lot off Overland Avenue was seen shooting an air-soft gun at cars Friday evening. Afterward, the driver was seen leaving the scene and heading toward Heyburn. No one was reported injured.

9:08 p.m. Feb 26: Apparently, it’s not just the holidays when shoppers go a little nuts. A woman visited the courthouse Friday, where she filed a complaint saying she had been punched in the stomach at Walmart the night before. The blotter did not say if the woman knew the suspect or what caused the incident.

11:20 p.m. Feb. 26: Just because night has fallen doesn’t mean it’s OK to turn a park or low-traffic area into a speedway. But that’s just what some speed demons did late Friday night in Burley. A caller told police that multiple vehicles were speeding in the area of Storybook Park. Our vigilant deputies responded, even though the caller said it was too dark to report the license plate numbers.

12:45 a.m. Feb 27: How would you feel if you found out your favorite snack wouldn’t be part of your lunch menu? One young Cassia County resident didn’t like that at all. When a juvenile who was staying with dad during his custodial time with the child found out what the snack was to be the next day, the child promptly made a phone call to mother. Posthaste, the mother came and took the child back to her home (no doubt where the child would be served the favorite snack). The father called police to report that the mother’s arrival was in violation of his time with the child.

3:54 p.m. Feb. 27: A Burley woman reported that her ex was harassing her via Facebook. OK people, it’s called social media for a reason. Let’s be sociable and considerate, shall we?