Birthday card fails to cheer Topeka mayor

TOPEKA, Kan. – Don’t send Topeka Mayor Bill Bunten this birthday card. He won’t be amused.

The birthday card produced by Hallmark bears the title “CSI: Topeka” and features a cartoon of two people standing over a corpse, with one saying, “Looks like he was bored to death.”

Inside the card is the message, “Hope your birthday is anything but dull.”

Though a company spokeswoman says Hallmark didn’t intend to offend anyone, the mayor wasn’t laughing when he learned about it.

“I find it offensive,” Bunten told The Topeka Capital-Journal. “It’s probably drawn up by somebody from West Virginia who hasn’t been here.”

Hallmark spokeswoman Kristi Ernsting said the author, whom she declined to identify, grew up in Kansas. The card refers to popular television dramas about forensics experts who investigate crimes, set in Las Vegas, Miami and New York.

“We hope that the people of Topeka can take it in good humor,” Ernsting said. “That’s how it was intended.”

Richard Forester, president of the Topeka Convention and Visitors Bureau, expressed disappointment with the Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark, noting that it has a plant in Topeka.

But he added, “It’s not the first time we’ve been poked fun at, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

Freeze! Police find man hiding in chest freezer

PAINESVILLE, Ohio – Maybe he misunderstood when police said, “Freeze!”

Officers found the man hiding inside a chest freezer with three bags of ice and a turkey after he led police on a car chase Wednesday, police Capt. Rick Kline said.

The 28-year-old man took off when an officer tried to arrest him on a warrant for contempt of court and a probation violation. He was cornered when he ran into a stranger’s house in this town 30 miles northeast of Cleveland, and a woman ran out the back door.

Malcolm Curry was charged Thursday with felony counts of failure to comply and vandalism, along with misdemeanor traffic violations. He was held on $1,500 bond.

From Herald news services