CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio - A stuntman has revived his tradition of lighting himself on fire and diving into the Chagrin Falls in northeast Ohio.
Ted Batchelor took the flaming plunge Saturday, the 30th anniversary of his first jump. A crowd of about 1,000 cheered as he burned in a flame-retardant suit.
Batchelor performed the stunt annually for 10 years beginning in 1976 and often was arrested afterward. The last time he did it, he was fined $1,000 and given two years' probation with the threat of a 90-day jail term if he did it again. It was not known if authorities followed through with the threat.
Batchelor was a high school student when he first made the jump on a bet to win money for the prom. He went on to be a professional stuntman and holds the world record for the longest full-body burn without oxygen, earning a spot in the Guinness Book of Records.
Cheap gas goes fast
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HAMMOND, Ind. - When a pump at a gas station malfunctioned, opportunistic motorists were able to buy a gallon of gas for less than the price of a stamp.
A Marathon gas station sold fuel for 29 cents a gallon for about 90 minutes before the mistake was detected and the price was corrected to $2.79.
Clerk Nida Tayyab said more than 50 people crowded the store, likely thinking the mishap was a price promotion, and received the bargain. Normally, the station serves about 10 people per hour.
Cat snatch fever
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Christopher Cortes, 33, and wife, Iris Zuckerman, 33, were sentenced Thursday to 100 hours and 50 hours of community service, respectively, for snatching their neighbor's black cat, Mr. Kibbles, and leaving him in the Everglades in February 2005.
Police said Cortes was upset the cat used the back of his pickup as a litter box.
Cortes, a firefighter, and his wife had pleaded no contest to petty theft and declined comment after the hearing.
"That's what they get for taking an innocent cat," said the cat's owner, 12-year-old Maggie Leonard.
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The cat made his way back home two weeks after the abduction. Leonard said she's disappointed in the couple, who were family friends, adding that firefighters should be saving cats from trees, not stealing them.
If there's something you want to see in The Rail, e-mail Features Editor John Lamb at jlamb@forumcomm.com
