Woman Thinks That Driving With 15-Foot Tall Tree Embedded In Front Bumper No Big Deal

The Roselle, Illinois police department took these
evidence photos of a car they stopped because
it was driving down the road with a tree embedded
in the vehicle's grille. 

I admit I'm not always the most attentive driver.

I'm good most of the time out on the road, but every once in awhile, I notice a little late that the light has turned red, or the car in front of me has stopped. I always notice in time, so there's been no mishaps.

However, I am an attentive enough driver, I'm sure, that I would notice if there were a 15 foot tall tree embedded in the front of my truck as I cruise down the road.

I mention this because apparently, a woman in Illinois this winter did NOT notice the 15 foot tall tree embedded in the front grill of her 2004 Lincoln as she cruised down the fine roadways of Roselle, Illinois back in January, says the Chicago Tribune. 

We all found out about this because the Roselle Police Department, in a pleasant, welcome fit of public outreach, decided to post the incident on their Facebook page recently.

I don't know if Roselle Police caught the emotion of the moment in their Facebook post, but you get the idea: "Stopped for driving with a large tree embedded in the front grille," the report said.

To be fair to Maryann Christy, of Schaumburg, Illlinois, who was driving the treed Lincoln, we don't know if the tree was actually 15 feet tall. "We didn't stand there and measure it, but it was a big tree," Roselle Deputy Chief Roman Tarchala told the Chicago Tribune.

OK, it might have only been 14 feet tall, for all we know. My bad.

A motorist who saw the car being driven with the tree attached called police. It's widely reported that Roselle Police did not have much trouble finding the car and the tree driving throught Roselle and quickly made the traffic stop.

You can see in the helpful Roselle Police dash cam video at the bottom of this post that the officer who stopped Christy and her tree looked rather nonplussed. You can almost see the thought bubble over his head: "I don't make enough money to deal with stuff like this."

I also noticed just before the police car came to a stop that the officer was playing Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" on the radio. Was that a tribute to the tree on the Lincoln?

Christy told police that she struck the tree somewhere in her hometown of Schaumburg, which is right next to Roselle, but didn't know exactly where, the Tribune reports.

I'll let the Tribune pick up the rest of the story. Boy, will you be surprised, or not:

"Officers said the woman smelled of alcohol and failed field sobriety tests. She was cited for driving under the influence, police said."

Really?!?

She's due in court April 15.

That would be the perfect time to go out to Illinois to enjoy Christy's court arraignment, and take advantage of the springtime warmth to plant a needed new tree in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Here's the dash cam video from Roselle Police:

A New Low: Teacher Bullies Kid In Classroom

This 15 year old kid was bullied by a substitute
teacher in an Illinois classroom. The kid was smart
enough to film it on his phone. We're hoping authorities
go after the teacher big time.  

You'll see the outrage meter building today.

Over the weekend, news was spreading about a bullying case in Illinois. It's exploding in the news as I write this early Monday morning.

This wasn't standard issue bullying, the kind we are simultaneously frustrated by and weary of. It wasn't student on student.

It was teacher on student, says the Daily Herald, a newspaper in suburban Chicago.  It was a substitute teacher, and what was this guy thinking?

The bullied student was smart enough to film the incident on his phone, so we have proof. Bullies are often victimized a second time when they are not believed by adult figures when they report the bullying.

This is all on film. The kid's parents uploaded it onto YouTube for the world to see.

In the Streamwood High School classroom in Illinois, a student bully drew a crude drawing on a computerized board of the kid, and labeled it "Stephen," but mispelled it.

The annoyed victim said it was spelled wrong.

The scummy substitute teacher, who hasn't been publicly named yet, wrote on the board "Stephen's ugly ass."

Stephen says he's been picked on by students for a long time, because he's a big dude. He tries to shrug that off.

But a teacher going after him is a new low. "He should not be allowed around children if he's going to do that to someone," Stephen told the Daily Herald.

The school said it is investigating and has suspended the substitute teacher. The evidence seems pretty obvious, so I don't know what there is to investigate. But I understand schools have to go by the rules, and the process takes time.

I also hope the substitute teacher is criminally prosecuted, too. This is child abuse. I can't wait for the teacher's explanation as to why he did this.

On the bright side, I do see there is a big wave of support for Steven. The Daily Herald's comment/Facebook page with the article is filled with messages supporting the kid.

That the kid is being so graceful and so resourceful over this incident tells me he's going to be a very successful adult.

That's a LOT more than I can say for the dufus substitute teacher.

Here's the horrible video Stephen took in the classroom: