Lead Story
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In February Richard Paey, a 47-year-old lawyer confined to a wheelchair by a severe spinal injury, petitioned a Florida appeals court for a new trial on the drug charges that in 2004 landed him in prison–charges, several national columnists later pointed out, similar to those recently faced in Florida by Rush Limbaugh. Each was accused of illegally obtaining large quantities of prescription painkillers, apparently for his own use–in Paey’s case, to relieve him of the intense pain he’s endured since undergoing several unsuccessful back surgeries (he also has multiple sclerosis). But while Limbaugh struck a deal in May under which all charges will be dropped if he completes 18 months of drug treatment, Paey–who told 60 Minutes he turned down a plea bargain partly on principle and partly because it would have effectively denied him further access to pain medication–is currently serving 25 years.
Cultural Diversity
America’s latest flying-cow accident took place in March near Seguin, Texas, when five or six cows fell out of a cattle trailer on Interstate 10, causing several collisions and blocking the highway. According to the San Antonio Express-News, state troopers were trying to haul off the dead cows and round up the survivors when one officer directing traffic was nearly hit by a pickup truck, reported stolen in Houston, that sped through the accident scene. When the truck’s occupants got out and fled on foot, Seguin police in pursuit left their two squad cars along the highway and ran after them; having caught the suspects, officers returned to find both police cars destroyed by fire after the heat of their engines set the roadside grass ablaze.
