oddly enough

oddly enough

Suspect charged with stealing sheriff’s newspaper

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa

Deputy sheriffs in Cedar Rapids didn’t have to go far to arrest a man charged with stealing the newspaper outside their office.

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said his deputies arrested 50-year-old David Dillon on Friday morning after he was seen stealing the Gazette newspaper from the steps of the office. Gardner sent a press release to announce his office had solved the “paper caper.”

Gardner says Dillon was seen on a security camera stealing the office’s newspaper last Wednesday and Thursday. He says deputies waited for Dillon and caught him in the act Friday.

Gardner says Dillon told deputies that he took the papers simply because he wanted to read them.

Dillon is charged with fifth-degree theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. A number for him isn’t listed.

Giant bill for fixing Rowan Atkinson’s McLaren

LONDON

Everyone who’s had a fender bender knows the cost of repairs is going up. But few cars can be as costly to fix as “Mr. Bean” actor Rowan Atkinson’s rare McLaren F1.

It took more than a year — and more than $1.4 million — to get his supercar up and running after a 2011 crash that left Atkinson with a badly damaged shoulder.

The high-performance car makes extensive use of carbon fiber and needed specialist care — it took weeks just to get a proper insurance estimate.

Ben Stagg, specialty insurer with RK Harrison, said the quality components used to make an F1 are one reason the repair costs were so high.

“All modern supercars are predominantly carbon fiber — most Lamborghinis, most Ferraris — and the smallest ding in carbon fiber is a big repair job,” he said. “And part of the engine bay is gold — that’s the best heat conductor. It’s the materials they used compared to everyday cars that make it so expensive.”

He said many owners baby their expensive cars, driving them only a few times a year in perfect weather conditions, but Atkinson actually drives his McLaren extensively.

The unusual repair job, thought to involve one of the largest car-insurance settlements in British history, is extensively documented in Classic & Sports Car magazine, with a picture of the burgundy McLaren on the cover.

Atkinson, last seen by many playing piano as Mr. Bean during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, told the magazine he believes supercars should be used, not sequestered in garages.

“It depresses me when great cars are hidden away,” he said. “It’s a crime not to use it.”

Associated Press