Stick with 'er Wiener! On March 9, 1987, a well-known derailment occurred here when a runaway CN train journeyed from Brunswick Mines to just short of the wye. There was a mixup in communications and engineer Wesley MacDonald ended up with more cars on his train than he thought, and the brakes on the engine alone were unable to hold the consist on the grade in the Brunswick Mines yard. Great radio show about the accident that we previously discussed here.
posted by srboisvert on Oct 21, 2009 - 7 comments

One in 8 Million "New York is a city of characters. On the subway and in its streets, from the intensity of Midtown to the intimacy of neighborhood blocks, is a 305-square-mile parade of people with something to say. This is a collection of a few of their passions and problems, relationships and routines, vocations and obsessions. A new story will be added weekly." A photo and audio series from the New York Times. [more inside]
posted by ocherdraco on Aug 22, 2009 - 53 comments

First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press Monday that her husband [South Carolina governor and presidential hopeful Mark Sanford] has been gone for several days and she did not know where. She said she was not concerned. [more inside]
posted by msalt on Jun 22, 2009 - 1050 comments

In 1963 Willard Scott pulled on a pair of striped yellow pants, put a food tray on his head, and became one of the world's most recognizable clowns. [more inside]
posted by JDHarper on Apr 29, 2008 - 32 comments

'Runaway': Alice's Wonderland Knockout of a book review by wonderful writer about a marvelous author: "JONATHAN FRANZEN I want to circle around Alice Munro's latest marvel, "Runaway," by taking some guesses at why her excellence so dismayingly exceeds her fame."
posted by Postroad on Nov 13, 2004 - 11 comments

This story of a whiz kid who vanished raises all kinds of questions. Sufiah, a 15-year-old student at Oxford University, disappears; then, her father receives an e-mail, supposedly from her. The e-mail claims that she ran away from her father's abusive high-pressure learning techniques; the father claims that she must have been kidnapped and brainwashed. The police aren't sure how to handle this situation, as there's no way to prove that the mail is really from the daughter. Finally, the father has called in the media to present his side of the story, since Sufiah has threatened to go to the media with hers.
posted by harmful on Jul 6, 2000 - 11 comments