One shoplifting suspect in Batavia, New York, took an unusual escape route that ended up requiring a rescue by police and fire crews.

Wayne Rinker, 30, and Michael Delvalle, 21, allegedly stole items from a Kmart store. While Delvalle was taken into custody quickly, Rinker tried his luck with an escape route down a 300-foot manhole and into a drainpipe, according to a CNY Central report. 

After attempting to make contact and feeding a camera down the line to try to spot him to no avail, two deputies crawled in to grab the suspect, who had been in the drainpipe for four hours. Deputies report that Rinker was barely conscious, covered in mud and had suffered hypothermia.

“Not in our area have I seen this,” says Sgt. John Szumigala. “But you know when they’re trying to flee from an alleged crime … they’ll become inventive in what they’ll try to do to escape.

Rinker was charged with petit larceny and conspiracy.

Source: CNY Central

Water Agencies Consider Buying Islands in Search of Water
Two of California’s largest water agencies, Westlands Water District and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, are considering a land purchase of a collection of islands — the Delta Wetlands Properties — to enhance water supplies.

Buying the islands would not automatically grant the owners control of the associated water rights; however, they could apply to the state for that right in wet years.

According to the Sacramento Bee, in normal years, enough water is pumped out of the Delta to serve 3 million acres of farmland and 25 million urban Southern Californians.

Source: Sacramento Bee

Texas Water Board Moves to Resolve Reservoir Conflict
After years of avoiding choosing sides, the Texas Water Development Board moves to resolve a years-long conflict over a yet-to-be-built reservoir in the region’s 50-year water plan, according to the Texas Tribune.

In a unanimous vote, the water-planning agency agreed that the disagreement between the water-planning regions in North and Northeast Texas is an “interregional conflict,” setting into motion a third-party mediation that must begin by Oct. 5.

The Region D Water Planning Group in Northeast Texas opposes the proposed $3 billion-plus reservoir that the Dallas-Fort Worth region wants to build in Red River and Titus counties, a project that requires flooding 70,000-plus acres in the area.

Source: Texas Tribune