One group of tourists in Chicago got a little too up close and personal with another touring group — with the second group's bodily fluids, at least.
Chicago's First Lady, a sightseeing boat, was taking over 100 people on a tour of the city's world-famous architectural landmarks Sunday afternoon, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.
The captain warned passengers not to look up with open mouths while passing underneath the grated bridges over the Chicago River, reports the Chicago Tribune, or else they might get a "taste of Chicago."
At 1:20 p.m., the boat paused underneath the Kinzie Street bridge (search). That's when one, or maybe two, tour buses passed overhead — and emptied their sewage tanks onto the boat below.
"It went onto people, into eyes and mouths," Lynn Osmond, president and CEO of the Chicago Architecture Foundation (search), told the newspaper.
Chicago's First Lady immediately went back to its dock, Osmond said. Some passengers became nauseous and ran below decks to the bathrooms.
Clothes were so soiled they had to be thrown out, and five people went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital (search) for tests and treatment, police said.
A Chicago police officer said there have been calls in the past about diesel or oil being dumped into the river, but that reports of human waste are uncommon.
"It might happen more often than we think," he told the Sun-Times, conceding that this time, "it happened to hit a boat."
The pooped-on passengers got the license numbers of the large, black tour buses, and police were trying to track down their operators.
The Sun-Times said Tuesday that a touring rock band, which authorities would not name, may have chartered the buses.
However, the Tribune said a bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band, which played a show at a nearby amphitheater Sunday night, had been fingered in the smelly mishap.
The band's main driver said he was parked at a hotel at the time.
"There is no way I could be responsible for that," Jerry Fitzpatrick told the Tribune. "I haven't emptied the tank for days. Besides, we are very cautious about how we do that sort of thing."
Osmond said some passengers were still awaiting some hospital test results — and that all aboard had gotten their $25 ticket cost back.
Angry Citizen Takes Call of Nature to City Hall
NAUGATUCK, Conn. (AP) — A man who believes the town crushed his sewer line says he'll use the bathroom in Town Hall every morning until the problem is solved.
Robert Antidormi has accused the town of recently laying a storm pipe over his sewer line, causing backups that prevent his family from using their bathroom.
While his wife, Lisa, and three young sons have opted to stay with family out of town, Antidormi is staying put.
"It's not my fault," he told the Republican-American of Waterbury. "It's the town's place to make good on their mistake."
Mayor Ron San Angelo disagrees, saying town residents are responsible for their sewer lines.
Antidormi, who was digging in his front yard trying to fix the problem Saturday, said he uses the bathroom closest to the mayor's office.
"They laugh, but what are they going to do," Antidormi said. "I just go in, say good morning to the secretaries. If he's there I say hello."
Rock Musician's Microphone Causes Airport Scare
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The next time Brian Teasley gets on a plane, he promises he'll ship his custom-made microphone. That same device shut down five gates at Dallas Fort Worth-International Airport last week.
Teasley, a member of Dallas-based pop-rock band Polyphonic Spree (search), had been in Austin where the group taped an episode of "Austin City Limits." He was taking a flight to his home in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday.
The percussionist for the 25-member band had planned to do some recording at home, so he put the microphone in his suitcase, he said in Saturday editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
When his suitcase didn't show up on the baggage carousel in Birmingham, he filled out the missing-luggage paperwork and went home. He didn't know the suitcase wasn't there because it was under scrutiny at the Texas airport.
A terminal area and several gates were closed briefly after a routine baggage screening detected the device, which raised concerns because of the wires and threading caps running through it. A bomb disposal robot removed it.
By the time Teasley arrived home, he had quite a reception.
"I had Taco Bell in my hand, and all of a sudden, these cars block me in my driveway. They've all got tinted windows, 'X-Files' style," he said. "Then here comes one guy with a bulletproof vest on, another with a gun showing. It was a very harrowing day."
— Thanks to Out There reader Elliot M.
Gas-Station Employee Tries to Fix Pump, Causes Blast
FRISCO, Colo. (AP) — Investigators believe a clerk who was trying to fix a slow gas pump triggered a gas leak that likely led to last Wednesday's explosion at a gas station.
It's not known yet what caused the fuel to ignite, injuring seven people and destroying an RV and two other vehicles parked at the Loaf 'N Jug (search) on busy Main Street.
The employee was among five people who were admitted to hospitals but his condition wasn't known.
Brian Brassfield said he helped an unidentified station employee who was engulfed in flames.
Brassfield, who was running out of the station's convenience store after the explosion, said he pushed the man to ground, took off his shirt and used it to put out the flames.
"At this point, we believe there were some problems with one of the pumps. He was working right there," said Jeff Berino, assistant chief for the Lake Dillon Fire Rescue Authority. "As a result of that maintenance, that fuel was able to escape from the pump."
Katie Williams, 11, one of the RV's passengers, said she saw gasoline squirt from a gas pump that an employee was tinkering with. Both she and her aunt managed to escape the vehicle when the fire started.
Station clerks do not normally do repairs on gas pumps. Instead the oil companies that own them are responsible for such work.
Employees had received complaints as early as Tuesday that the pump was slow, said Rachel Flood, a fire authority spokeswoman.
Bull Runs for Its Life Into Emergency Room
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A bull escaped from a butcher's knife and took refuge in a hospital emergency ward, interrupting medical procedures for nearly 45 minutes, a news report said Sunday.
The big white bull tore away from a butcher as it was about to be slaughtered on a busy city street, and charged up a ramp into the emergency ward of nearby Dhaka Medical College Hospital (search), the daily Ittefaq newspaper reported.
"The bull was running around like crazy, and we were all scared," Shahin Mollah, a witness, was quoted as saying.
As patients, doctors and nurses screamed and ran in panic, guards chased the animal out of the building and into the hospital's morgue.
The frightened animal was then caught and returned to the butcher.
Job Applicant Accused of Stealing Sex Toy
DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — A sex shop planned to file an arrest warrant for a woman who allegedly left the store without paying for a toy but who left a good lead on how to find her: She had just filled out a job application.
"I thought, that is a classic case of dumb-crook news," said Jamie Hudgins, a sales clerk at Pleasures.
She said the 22-year-old Decatur woman entered the store with two friends at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 2, completed a job application and browsed the store before leaving. The anti-theft alarm at the exit sounded as she left. She then pulled the $22.12 worth of merchandise from her purse, tossed it on the floor and fled, Hudgins said.
Hudgins said an attachment for the sex toy remained in the woman's purse.
Hudgins told The Decatur Daily in a story Wednesday that the woman's mother offered to pay for the items but the store would not be lenient. She said the store also plans to seek harassment charges against another woman who called the store in connection with the alleged shoplifting.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Paul Wagenseil.
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