Saturday Overnight Open Thread (1/8/22)

In 2021 we covered the start of this story. Too much government, not enough or just right?

The Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against the owner of an auto repair shop in Georgia for paying one of his employees in pennies. Last year, Andreas Flaten quit his job at A OK Walker Autoworks but never received his final paycheck.

Flaten was not happy he wasn't going to be paid and contacted the Department of Labor to file a complaint against the owner, Miles Walker.

The Labor Department began an investigation into the matter and reached out to Walker, who said he had no intention of giving Flaten his final paycheck.

Walker quickly changed his mind and decided to pay Flaten in pennies. He put over 91,000 pennies in a wheelbarrow and left them in Flaten's driveway along with a copy of his final paystub that had an expletive written on it.

"Within hours of learning that Mr. Flaten had complained to [the Wage and Hour Division] about not receiving his last paycheck, defendants decided to pay Mr. Flaten in pennies," the lawsuit says.

The agency claims that Walker retaliated against Flaten for filing a complaint against him, which is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition, investigators accused Walker of failing to keep detailed employment records and not paying his employees overtime.

I do not downhill ski. Reason #43 why I don't.

Skiers in chairlifts at Beech Mountain Ski Resort in North Carolina were hospitalized yesterday after a broken pipe blasted them with freezing cold water. Some were shot out of their chair by the water pressure while other lift passengers could be seen (in video below) jumping out of their seats before reaching the nightmarish spray.

Rather than apologize and take full responsibility, the resort blamed the catastrophe on a guest, according to WCNC, claiming the skier broke a hydrant by running into it (and therefore caused the disaster, rather than admitting that the resort should have stopped the ski lift to prevent people from getting stuck in the water blast).

The resort crafted a statement that minimizes the disaster, describing the skiers as merely getting "wet."

Good Samaritans to the rescue. A rare Saturday Night Feel Good Story of The Day.

MISSOULA, Mont. — Granite County sheriff’s deputies raced from wreck to wreck Wednesday. But a call about a truck in the river near Drummond made the sheriff’s heart skip a beat.

Scott Dunkerson said, “We were patrolling. The undersheriff and I had met up between Drummond and Phillipsburg. And we just parted ways and got the call and report of pickup in the river at mile marker 144. And we dispatched Missoula County has a swiftwater rescue team pretty much immediately to the scene.”

What happened in the minutes in between made all the difference.

“We learned that there was some good Samaritans on scene. They basically formed a human chain out to the pickup and had gotten the two children and mother and father out of the pickup,” said Dunkerson.

I enjoy venison. Fresh venison is tasty. This was a little too fresh.

Police in York County made an unexpected discovery Thursday night when they pulled over a hostaback under suspicion of DUI.

A 19-year-old woman, pulled over around midnight in the area of Old Trail and Old York roads, had a deer in the back of her car, according to Newberry Township police.

After hitting the deer, the 19-year-old and her passengers loaded it into the car while it was still alive, police said in a Friday news release.

Born on this day: 8 Jan 1935
American singer, musician and actor Elvis Aaron Presley, the King of rock 'n' roll. He had his first No.1 in 1956 with the US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Heartbreak Hotel'. His first UK No.1 single was in 1957, with 'All Shook Up'. Presley went on to have over 100 US and UK Top 40 singles from 1956 - 2006. Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century, with estimated record sales of around 600 million units worldwide. Elvis Presley died on August 16th 1977. via thisdayinmusic.com

Born on this day: 8 Jan 1947
David Bowie English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, painter and actor. His first UK Top 40 single was the 1969 'Space Oddity' which became a UK No.1 in 1975, plus over 50 other UK Top 40 hits including five No.1's. Bowie has also scored two US No.1 singles, the 1975 'Fame' and 1983 'Let's Dance'. His music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music and during his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the world's best-selling music artists. Bowie died from liver cancer at his New York home on 10 January 2016. via thisdayinmusic.com

Sometimes 1 meth pipe just isn't enough. Genius Award Winner.

A Newnan man man showed up on a stranger’s doorstep Tuesday night demanding his go-kart back.

But the woman who answered the door had no idea who he was. When she told the man she didn’t know what he was talking about, he put a gun to her head and took her on a wild ride, Cowetta County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Toby Nix confirmed.

Randy Lee Moreland, 56, now faces several serious felonies in connection with the alleged abduction. He was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, obstruction of officer and multiple drug-related offenses.

Deputies say Moreland knocked on the front door of the woman’s New Street residence in unincorporated Cowetta around 9 p.m. He insisted that she return a go-kart, but the woman told investigators she’d never met Moreland before and didn’t have his go-kart.

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posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 09:00 PM

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