Teenagers At It Again on Nice on the ‘Net Saturday

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 23091 – 1128

Greetings, Salutations, and Hi there!

Here’s the haps:

There are two stories today, and the one might not seem as serious if you’ve never experienced a dust devil before. I used to think they were limited to the American Southwest deserts but I have since learned they can occur anywhere the conditions are right. I experienced one when I was stationed at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas. It’s like a micro cyclone that just pops up without warning when the conditions are right. They come in varying strengths and the winds can reach up to 80 mph.

Story 1

If you’ve ever been suddenly caught in any kind of a strong wind like that you know it takes your breath away and you feel like you are being sandblasted. So if you’re a 7-year-old little leaguer and one pops up on home base, right where you are standing, it might freak you out, especially if it starts to pick you up a little bit.

If you’re a 17-year-old umpire, you might be a little freaked out, too. (If you’ve never had the experience it may be difficult to imagine a mini-tornado.) But if you see the boy trapped in it you will rush out and snatch him up. It was the second of three games and Dad just poured water on his face to get the sand out of his eyes and the game went on. No, I don’t know who won but apparently, the boy had a couple of good plays. Umpire rescues catcher from dust devil during youth baseball game

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Story 2

You’re 13 and in your room messing around and you hear your 8-year-old sister scream once. You think, fine, sometimes she’s fooling around but then, before you finish the thought, she screams again. You look out the window and see someone trying to kidnap her. Time to freak out or time to open the window, grab your slingshot and a rock and shoot the guy in the head. He drops her and she runs and you get him a second time in the chest with a marble. By this time the guy is running away into the woods behind your house and you guys are calling your parents and the police. The police found him later in the day hiding in a gas station. They identified him from the description and the wounds he had.

The suspect is 17-years-old and his name has not been released though he has been charged as an adult with one count of attempted kidnapping/child enticement, one count of attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and one count of assault and battery.