CHARLESTOWN, Ind. – An inmate escaped from a work-release crew after he created a distraction with an overflowing toilet, authorities said.

Wayne Mitchell, 24, was in the Clark County Jail for a probation-violation warrant, but had been working with a crew clearing roadside trash.

When the crew stopped at the Clark County Fraternal Order of Police lodge to eat lunch, Mitchell went into a restroom and clogged a toilet, causing it to overflow, police said. He then came out saying he needed some towels from the jail’s van to sop up the mess.

“The toilet overflowed and the rest of the inmates were trying to clean it up,” said Maj. Chuck Adams of the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.

Instead of going to the van, Mitchell walked to nearby G&R; Auto Sales, where an employee gave him the keys to a car he said he wanted to look over, police said. Police said he then stole a red 1995 Chevrolet Camaro convertible.

Small Christmas tree sits next to towering menorah

LONG BEACH, N.Y. – Residents didn’t want to have themselves a merry little Christmas tree. They wanted a big one.

When city officials planted a 7-foot-tall Christmas tree next to a 20-foot-tall menorah in the plaza in front of City Hall, some residents barked. They telephoned City Hall, wrote letters and testified at a public hearing that the tiny tree in the shadow of the huge Hanukkah symbol was an insult to Christians.

“What’s up with the giant menorah and the Charlie Brown Christmas tree?” resident Rick Hoffman asked.

City Manager Edwin Eaton said he had looked far and wide – all the way to Canada – for a bigger tree but couldn’t find one.

“This year is going to be kind of a ‘bah, humbug,’ Christmas,” Eaton had said.

But on Wednesday the city found a tree to match the 20-foot menorah: a 20-foot blue spruce.

From Associated Press reports