Blue Christmases

Author of nasty letters from Santa sought Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:39am ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's post office and police are trying to track down a "rogue elf" who wrote obscene letters to children on behalf of Santa Claus, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The Ottawa Citizen said at least 10 nasty letters had been delivered to little girls and boys in Ottawa who wrote to Santa this year care of the North Pole, which has a special H0H 0H0 Canadian postal code. Return letters from Santa are in fact written by an 11,000-strong army of Canada Post employees and volunteers.

"We firmly believe there is just one rogue elf out there," a Canada Post spokeswoman told the paper. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway)

Cocaine Christmas Cards ABC News Netcast 12/14/07 A man in Philadelphia won't be having a white Christmas after all. Police busted him after someone sent him four cards filled with cocaine. Police say each card had about 40 grams of coke inside.

The cards were first discovered as they were inbound from Peru. Agents using infrared scanners found the drugs inside the card. A police officer pretending to be a good neighbor delivered one card to the man in Philadelphia, saying it was been dropped off at his house.

Instead of delivering the drug filled card the officer delivered the man his Miranda Rights.

Thieves steal 17 tons of Christmas ham Mon Dec 3, 9:53 AM ET SYDNEY, Australia - Thieves stole 17.6 tons of ham and bacon from a warehouse and left behind a message busting the owners' chops, police said Monday. "Thanks," the crooks daubed on a wall of the Zammit Ham and Bacon curers warehouse in suburban Sydney. "Merry Christmas." Police said the robbery occurred some time between late afternoon Saturday and dawn Sunday.

Owner Anthony Zammit said that when he arrived for work Monday he found a hole in a wall of the building where the thieves appeared to have entered. The stolen meat was worth up to $88,000, he said.

Bah-humbug! Tennessee Christmas tree farm finds tops chopped off large firs Dec 4 03:38 PM US/Eastern
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FLAG POND, Tenn. - Tennessee cops are on the lookout for a Grinch who stole the tops off more than two dozen Christmas trees from a local farm.
The thief or thieves raided the farm in eastern Tennessee and cut the top off the Fraser firs that were up to four metres tall.

Sheriff Kent Harris says it's like the Grinch stealing Christmas trees. Tree farm owner Danny Tipton grows the taller trees for use in businesses, churches and homes with high ceilings and they usually sell for about $100 each.

The culprit saws the top two metres off about 28 trees and hauls them away, probably to sell for use in smaller homes. Tipton estimates they would get about $15 to $20 each.

Tipton still has about 6,000 trees growing on his farm near the North Carolina border, but they're in various stages of maturity. The pilfered firs were ready for sale when they were taken sometime last week.

Police have a description of a vehicle, but a lack of evidence may hinder catching the Grinch.

3 Shot as Rival Biker Gangs Clash at Toy Drive in Norco December 5, 2005 Three people, including a firefighter collecting donated presents for children, were wounded Sunday when gunfire erupted between rival motorcycle gangs gathered for a Christmas toy drive at a Riverside County saloon, authorities said.

The shootings occurred about 3:30 p.m. outside Maverick Steakhouse in Norco, where participants in the Spark of Love toy drive - most of them bikers - delivered toys to be distributed to needy children.

Authorities said none of the injuries was life-threatening. About 100 bikers were being detained late Sunday for questioning, sheriff's officials said.

The incident left toy drive organizers demoralized. Jeanette Seay, 39, of Brea said local law enforcement had been wary of the event because it involved so many bikers.

"They didn't want us in their town, and this is why," she said.

(Lance Pugmire Times Staff Writer, Times staff writer Scott Glover contributed to this report).

It's Santa Brawls! Updated:10:57, Friday December 10, 2004 The world's biggest gathering of Santa Clauses has ended in a mass brawl.
CS spray and batons had to be used to break up the fighting Santas.

All I want for Xmas is . . . bail. Some 4,200 people dressed as Father Christmas gathered in a small Welsh town for a charity festive fun run.

But it turned into festive fisticuffs after some of the Santas headed to the pub for a seasonal tipple.

The goodwill evaporated, to be replaced with around 30 Santas swapping punches.

Five St Nicks were nicked by police.

A Dyfed Powys Police spokeswoman said: "A very successful Santa Run day was spoilt by the drunken behaviour of a number of local individuals who managed to consume too much alcohol and became involved in a serious public order incident.