If you ever wondered how much difference just one letter can make when it comes to a message, ask the thousands of people who drove by a digital billboard near the intersection of Ironwood and State Road 23 between Thursday and Monday morning.
The ad urged people to go to the "southbendon.com" website for a look at the "15 best things about our pubic schools." That's right, the billboard said "pubic" instead of "public" schools. The letter "L" had been left out of the word public.
Lee MacMillan of South Bend said his wife spotted the error on Saturday while sitting in traffic.
"She got home and said, ‘I can't believe it said what I think it said,’" MacMillan recalls.
"So we were out driving around yesterday and sure enough, it had that typo in it. So we took a picture and the rest is history, as they say," MacMillan adds.
MacMillan posted the picture he took on Facebook. He also emailed it to his neighbor, South Bend School Superintendent Jim Kapsa.
Responsibility for the spelling error has been claimed by the Blue Waters Group. The company does work for the city of South Bend's redevelopment commission to promote the city.
"I feel terrible. It's a mistake we made and we're guilty of it, and responsible for it. and we take full responsibility for the error," said Patrick Strickler, president of the Blue Waters Group.
"Four people looked at it, eyeballed it and didn't see the mistake, and those people all work for me,” Strickler explained. “We take responsibility for it. We simply blew it. We did not see the missing "L."
He says he became aware of the problem Monday morning.
"We jumped on it and immediately had it taken down by Burkhart. They took it out of rotation and began to repair it," Strickler said.
"We're the ones who made the mistake, not the city or the school," Strickler emphasized.
As of late afternoon on Monday, a representative from the Blue Waters Group indicated the content of the billboard had been fixed and the digital message was up and running again.
A downtown pre-Labor Day party thrown by a student who plays Bucky Badger for the University of Wisconsin almost caused him to lose his head.
The student awoke Monday morning to find that his 28-pound Bucky head was missing from his Gilman Street apartment.
The student contacted school officials and Madison police saying that if the $4,000 mascot head was returned unscathed, he’d have no desire to pursue criminal charges.
Seven students earn the title of mascot at UW and only seven suits exist to meet this need, so students who don the red sweater are completely responsible for it. They’re advised to lock up the suit if they can, whether in their bedrooms or a secure area of their dorm rooms.
Whoever removed Bucky's head may have had second thoughts. Luckily for Bucky, the undamaged head was found outside the student’s apartment Tuesday morning.
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Andy, the missing six-foot water boa snake, is back home in his cage.
Jessie Soto, owner of the snake, said his father spotted Andy Tuesday evening inside the garage of Soto's Walnut Street residence in Fon du Lac.
"I'm glad he's back," Soto said about the green and yellow snake he had been searching for since it disappeared late last week.
The garage is slated for demolition so a new one can be built on the site. The snake was less than 10 feet from its cage.
"My dad found him, so he's the hero," Soto said of his father, Freddie Soto.
Andy appeared to be in "perfect health," but a "little cold," his owner said.
Soto said he is not sure how the snake got out of its large acrylic cage, but he intends to keep the cage locked from now on. He's owned the pet for seven years.
A friend sold Andy to him. He said the snake has never done anything wrong or bit anyone. Soto sometimes walks around with Andy hanging around his neck and shoulders.
Over the past seven years, Andy has grown from 3½ feet to six feet. Soto said in captivity, the snake could grow to as long as 20 feet!
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Man brings own wine to Tosa Denny's, causes ruckus
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
A 43-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for being drunk and disorderly inside the Denny's Restaurant on W. North Ave. last Saturday.
According to the Wauwatosa police report:
The man came into the Denny's about 8 p.m. and repeatedly filled a glass with wine that he had brought into the restaurant. He then became loud and obnoxious, throwing food and vomiting on the table in front of him.
When asked to leave, he refused but got up and threatened to hit another patron. His blood-alcohol content was 0.31, almost 4 times the leagal limit.
Sheboygan woman (allegedly) passed out drunk in McDonald's drive-thru
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
From The Sheboygan Press
A 27-year-old Sheboygan woman passed out drunk in her car while trying to place an order in a McDonald’s drive-thru earlier this month, according to court documents filed this week.
Police officers summoned by employees found Stacy L. Erickson slumped over and snoring inside her 1991 Ford Escort, according to a criminal complaint. The incident occurred about 3:40 a.m. July 30 at the McDonald’s at 2425 S. Business Drive.
Officers’ initial attempts to rouse Erickson were unsuccessful, but she woke up after they turned off the car and tried again.
Erickson had to grab the car to steady herself as she got out, and she failed field sobriety tests.
Erickson is charged with misdemeanor third-offense drunken driving and faces up to a year in jail, if convicted. She is scheduled to make an initial court appearance Aug. 30.
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Yelled expletive leads to arrest of wanted woman and (alleged) drunk driver
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Police arrested a drunken driver and a woman wanted on multiple warrants after the woman swore loudly out the window as the pair drove past Sheboygan police earlier this month, according to a criminal complaint.
Officers proceeded to pull over the car and arrest both occupants, one of whom was charged today with second-offense drunken driving. Bruce A. Wood could face up to six months in jail, if convicted.
According to the complaint: Several police officers were conducting a traffic stop on another vehicle in the 1300 block of North 14th Street on Aug. 6 when Andrea K. Utley, 34, leaned out the window and screamed an expletive as she and Wood drove past.
One of the officers left the initial scene to pull over Wood’s vehicle, and he noted Wood smelled strongly of intoxicants. He admitted consuming a large amount of alcohol and registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.12 on a preliminary breath test.
Utley, who initially gave a false name, was arrested after police discovered the multiple warrants. She is not facing any additional criminal charges from the incident.
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