Hello, police? Someone stole my pot

Cannabis cops

Police arrest 'victim' of pot plant burglary

A man in Adelaide, Australia, found out the hard way that if someone steals your marijuana plants, you can call the police, and they will be interested, but not for the reasons he had probably hoped. The man told the police that six men had broken into the house and stolen parts of his plants. So the cops looked around and didn't see the intruders, but they had the foresight to bring with them a warrant to search the home for drugs. And they found the pot plants. Kind of looked like someone had stolen parts off them, but there they were. So they arrested the homeowner. And then released this public service announcement: "Members of the public are reminded that the growing of cannabis is not only illegal but can also attract other criminal activity such home break-ins and assaults."

Fun with fraud

Contest earns him a ticket to court

Garrett A. Dalton of Naugatuck, Conn., went to great lengths to get Hannah Montana tickets for a concert last year. He participated in a radio promotion, dressing in women's clothing, wearing high heels and running a 40-yard dash while carrying an egg on a spoon. All goofy, sure, but a lot of people did that, so why is Dalton singled out? Seems that when the contest happened, Dalton was collecting workers' comp for an injury he said made him unable to work. When Dalton, 41, was seen competing on TV, someone alerted authorities, who have alerted prosecutors. And he didn't even win the tickets.

Updates

Enviro-dispute

The California environmentalist couple with the trees ran out of money before their environmentalist neighbors with the solar panels. Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett of Sunnyvale, Calif., were prosecuted because redwood trees in their backyard cast a shadow over their neighbor's solar panels. In December, a judge ordered the trees trimmed, even thought they were there before the solar panels, and tree trimmers were scheduled to take them down Wednesday. "We're out of dollars. No more money for more lawyering," said Treanor, who has spent $37,000 in legal bills.

She's in the bee

Within hours of being predicted in this very space, the Scripps National Spelling Bee announced it would allow Morgan Brown, northwest Missouri's top speller, to participate in the national competition, despite being disqualified last week when school officials filled out her forms wrong.

Swans reunited

Petra, the black swan in Germany, did not fare well after being separated from her beloved swan boat. After two years as a constant companion to the oversized boat in a lake in Muenster, Petra took up with a normal swan last week and moved in to a zoo. Then the new beau just flew off, and Petra "appears to feel lonely," so the zoo is taking her back to the lake with the boat.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.