RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today

A MOTHER has warned about dangerous Bunnings trolleys after her son risked having his finger cut off by a razor blade.

Mother issues warning about razor blade sticking out of Bunnings trolley. Picture: Facebook

Rush Hour

Good morning, welcome to Rush Hour! A receipt from a Pizza Hut restaurant led police to find a murder suspect and the family of Brisbane terror victim Sara Zelenak will farewell her in a private service today.

9am

Family tormented by alarm for 13 years

It’s bad enough hearing your alarm clock go off for a minute every morning.

Can you imagine having to listen to it for 13 years?

One family was tormented by their alarm clock for decades and couldn’t find it to stop it.

It turned out, Jerry Lynn had the clock stuck in his living room wall and it had been ringing every 10 minutes since 2004.

The clock got wedged in the wall when Mr Lynn drilled a whole in the wall of his Pennsylvania home for a TV cable.

According to CBS Pittsburgh, he did not know where to drill so tied a clock to some string and dropped it down a second-story air vent and planned to drill where he could hear the sound.

He set the alarm for every 10 minutes so he could keep listening to the alarm and drill.

But it ended up being a massive fail when the clock came loose from the string and fell into wall oblivion. All these years Mr Lynn hoped the battery life would drain, but 13 years later, the family now say they are used to the ringing.

8.30am

4-year-old drowns in bathtub

A four-year-old girl has drowned in a bathtub at a western Sydney home in what police say is a “tragic accident”.

The girl was found unresponsive in the bath at the Bellerive Close property in West Hoxton about 6.15pm on Tuesday.

She had been submerged in water for some time, an NSW Ambulance told AAP.

Paramedics performed CPR before taking her to Liverpool Hospital in a critical condition, but she died shortly afterwards.

A NSW Police spokesman on Wednesday told AAP the death is not suspicious and is being treated as a tragic accident.

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.

Officers had overnight established a crime scene at the home to investigate the circumstances surrounding the girl’s death.

Relatives have been arriving at the home throughout the night to comfort the parents, according to Network Seven.

— AAP

8am

Bunnings’ razor blade trolley

A Perth mother issued a warning on Facebook after a Bunnings trolley injured her son.

Rachael Maitland was shopping at the Bunnings Mindarie store on the weekend, collecting supplies for their veggie patch, when her five-year-old son was injured.

“Corey’s finger got sliced by a razor blade that some absolute low life had planted on the side of the handle,” she wrote.

Her other 15-month-old son was sitting in the baby seat in the trolley and the blade was in reach of him but Ms Maitland was thankful he did not touch it.

She reported the razor to Bunnings and posted a picture of it on social media.

“It could have taken one of the kid’s fingers off if they had grabbed it,” Ms Maitland told Fairfax Media.

“It was a huge shock.

“The staff were in shock as well, we were all just standing there silently thinking ‘what is this’?

“The staff handled it very well. Hopefully it just makes people a little more vigilant.”

Bunnings’ WA operations manager Ryan Baker told Fairfax Media it was investigating the incident.

“We were concerned to hear of a customer receiving a cut from a blade positioned in a trolley at our Mindarie warehouse over the weekend,” Mr Baker said.

“As soon as the customer reported the incident, the team offered first aid and checked all trolleys.

“No other trolleys were affected. This is an isolated incident and the matter is being investigated.”

7.30am

Carrie Bickmore’s fiery exchange

The Project’s Carrie Bickmore had a heated exchange on Tuesday night with opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King regarding the tampon tax.

The Greens launched a bid to scrap GST on tampons but it was blocked by the Coalition and Labor. Bickmore opened the interview with Ms King, guns blazing and said “I can only assume you and your colleagues think tampons and pads are luxuries”.

Ms King said they wanted to see the GST removed but it had to happen the right way.

Bickmore didn’t back down and shot back “get it done, it is 2017”.

“It seems ridiculous that we are having this conversation. Today I was reading incontinence pads are GST-free but sanitary pads aren’t. Is it the size or what they are collecting, how, they are the same product?” Bickmore said.

Ms King blamed states and territories dependence on the revenue.

“They have funding for public hospitals, all the things they are funding so we have to find a replacement for it. That will be the challenge. It is really important that we do it and the more we talk about it, let’s hopefully we can get it done this time,” she said.

But Bickmore still was not satisfied.

“It feels like that is a shame that is where the conversation ends,” she said.

“People aren’t wanting hospitals defunded. Do you know what I mean? It is like (you’re saying) that or that?”

7am

US considering travel ban to North Korea

The Trump administration is considering banning travel by U.S.

citizens to North Korea, officials said Tuesday, as outrage grew over the death of American student Otto Warmbier and President Donald Trump declared it a “total disgrace.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has the authority to cut off travel to North Korea with the stroke of the pen, has been weighing such a move since late April, when American teacher Tony Kim was detained in Pyongyang, a senior State Department official said.

No ban is imminent, but deliberations gained new urgency after Warmbier’s death, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal diplomatic discussions.

Three other U.S. citizens, including Kim, are still being held in North Korea.

“It’s a total disgrace what happened to Otto. That should never ever be allowed to happen,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

Suggesting former President Barack Obama bears some blame, Trump said “the result would have been a lot different” had Warmbier been brought home sooner. Obama’s office had no reaction, but his former aides have said he worked tirelessly to try to get Warmbier and other Americans released from North Korea. Warmbier, 22, died Monday in his home state of Ohio, his family said, just days after being released in a coma by North Korea. The former University of Virginia student had been visiting North Korea on a tour group when he was detained, sentenced to 15 years hard labour for subversion, and held for more than 17 months. The circumstances of his coma and death remain unclear. Barring Americans from stepping foot in North Korea would mark the latest U.S. step to isolate the furtive, nuclear-armed nation, and protect U.S. citizens who may be allured by the prospect of travelling there. Nearly all Americans who have gone to North Korea have left without incident. But some have been seized and given draconian sentences for seemingly minor offences.

The U.S. government strongly warns Americans against travelling to North Korea, but doesn’t prohibit it, despite other sanctions targeting the country. It’s unclear exactly how many Americans go to North Korea every year. Those who typically do travel from China, where tour groups market trips to adventure- seekers.

— AP

6.30am

Studio concludes no sexual misconduct on ‘Bachelor’ set

The studio behind “Bachelor in Paradise” has concluded no sexual misconduct took place between contestants, Warner Bros. addressed in a statement Tuesday.

“As we previously stated, we recently became aware of allegations regarding an incident on the set of ‘Bachelor in Paradise’ in Mexico,” the statement read.

“We take all such allegations seriously.”

Warner Bros. originally shut down production of the fourth season of the ABC reality series amid allegations of a sexual encounter between contestants DeMario Jackson, 30, and Corinne Olympios, 24. After launching an internal investigation with the assistance of an outside law firm, the studio confirmed the footage did not support claims of sexual misconduct by a cast member.

“Out of respect for the privacy interests of those involved, we do not intend to release the videotape of the incident,” the statement said.

“We can say, however, that the tape does not support any charge of misconduct by a cast member,” the statement continued. “Nor does the tape show, contrary to many press reports, that the safety of any cast member was ever in jeopardy.”

“Bachelor in Paradise” will resume filming, though changes will be made to the show’s policies and protocols to enhance the safety and security of those involved.

—New York Post

Corinne Olympios. Picture: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

6am

Pizza Hut receipt leads to murder suspect

A receipt from Pizza Hut led police to find a murder suspect.

On November 22, Kevin Thomas was found dead in Las Vegas.

There was no evidence except for a receipt from Pizza Hut that was found under the body.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports there were some personal details written on the receipt, including the name “Betty”, a phone number and store location.

Whoever dined at Pizza Hut that evening ordered chicken wings and a large stuffed-crust sausage pizza. The phone number on the receipt ended up leading the police to Bettie Ann Marshay Pires who had been dating the victim for about three months.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported police then visited the Pizza Hut restaurant written on the receipt to comb CCTV footage from the evening of November 22. The footage showed Pires and Thomas dining together with her two children. It was only 30 minutes before Thomas was found dead.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Pires allegedly said she was not with her partner on the night he was killed but after she was told about the receipt and CCTV footage, she said she had got her days wrong.

She said Thomas was arguing with the manager at the Pizza Hut restaurant, upsetting Pires, so she called her mother. But footage showed a different story and detectives saw her driving her partner and her daughters from the restaurant.

Police arrested Pires on June 14 and she is held at the Clark County Detention Centre on suspicion of open murder, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

A receipt from a Pizza Hut store led police to arrest a woman in relation to man’s death.

5.45am

Brisbane terror victim farewelled

The family of Sara Zelenak are preparing to privately farewell the young Brisbane woman who was killed in this month’s London terror attacks.

A funeral will be held at her old school, Moreton Bay College, on Friday morning, almost three weeks after the she was killed, along with fellow Australian Kirsty Boden, 28.

“At the request of Sara’s family, this will be a private funeral for family and friends only,” the school said in a statement.

Days after the 21-year-old was killed, about 40 students who graduated in 2013 with Ms Zelenak held a tribute.

She and Adelaide nurse Ms Boden died when three terrorists ploughed into pedestrians with a van on London Bridge before stabbing revellers in London’s Borough Market.

— AAP