News of the Absurd

Indecent Proposal

An Ottawa firefighter will likely face disciplinary action for faking a marriage proposal during an Olympic hockey game, in hopes of getting on television.

Rob Wytham was in Salt Lake City at the Canada-Czech hockey game Feb. 18 when he was pictured in newspapers hoisting up a sign asking Sue Wynne of Ottawa to marry him.

During the game, Wytham told the Toronto Star that Wynne had been bugging him for some time to get hitched and he had continually resisted her pleas.

Later, after returning from the Olympics, Wytham admitted to coworkers he had lied, saying he was egged on by a buddy.

Wynne is a real-estate banker he has known for about five years. There's no romance between them, besides being teammates in ultimate frisbee league games.

Suspect Sound

A CBS-affiliate in Las Vegas raised eyebrows last month when it showed footage of a casino robbery--with dubbed-in sound.

"Ninety-nine times out of 100 we only use natural sound," explains John Gilbert, who reported the story for the CBS affiliate station.

"But in this particular case, there was no natural sound, so we provided the same sound that would've been heard during the time that the shooting took place. In my opinion, we just brought [the footage] closer to reality."

The added sounds included muffled laughter, the clanging of slot machines and two gunshots. The affiliate, KLAS Channel 8, aired the clip during its 11 p.m. newscast.

The piece was put together to illustarate a fatal shooting that occurred at Harrah's casino during 2000. During the robbery, a guest was killed and a security guard injured.

Canine Custody

A woman vowed to go to jail before surrendering her lap dog to her husband in a Gloucester County divorce case last month.

"She's my baby," Katherine Smith testified of the pure white Maltese. Giving up Princess Ann Leigh would be "just like asking somebody else to take care of my child," Smith said.

Smith appeared in court to answer husband Clinton Smith's motion and to explain why she shouldn't be fined or jailed for repeatedly ignoring a court order to give up the dog.

Other items in dispute include a Dale Earnhardt, Jr.., suede coat Katherine Smith has allegedly failed to give her husband along with a 2.5-karat diamond ring and a partly filled jar of change.

The Smiths had been married for nine years before splitting up. They have no real estate or children.

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