Grandmother’s Revenge Stings

--It could have been a script for TV--grandmother goes undercover to bust dealers after watching drug-abusing daughters ruin their lives. But the danger didn’t end at the conclusion of a day’s shooting and a 44-year-old Salem, Ore., woman identified only as Pat says she’s still terrified. Pat, a bartender whose two daughters were so broke from methamphetamine buys that they were living out of their cars, frequently wore a hidden microphone during the six weeks she aided police in an operation that resulted in five arrests and the breakup of a major methamphetamine ring. More than once she thought her life was in jeopardy, such as the time when a suspected dealer said to her: “I want the wire (listening device) you’re wearing.” A shaken Pat remembers: “I didn’t realize he was kidding. I was scared to death.” The grandmother of two earned praise from police. “Talk about being involved and making the sacrifice. She really did,” said Jim Harper, chief of police in nearby Dallas, where three of the arrests were made. Pat’s experiences convinced her that the use of methamphetamine, which she said sells for $16,000 a pound, is rampant. “I just can’t believe the chemicals that go into it (methamphetamine),” she said. “One of them is used to develop pictures. That tells you something.”

--Fifi will foul the footpaths of Parisian pedestrians no longer, vowed Mayor Jacques Chirac, who, in a crackdown on feckless pet owners who fail to clean up after their dogs, has threatened to impose fines. “Parisians have to be reminded that we have a regulation which provides for fines,” the former premier said. “Custom has it that this law is not applied but, if necessary, we can change that.” Last year Paris spent more than $5 million to beef up crews that clean up after the 20-ton-a-day pollution problem.

--While a drama was being played out in the Arctic Ocean over the fate of two whales trapped by ice, a group of Massachusetts students mustered their own leviathan adventure, staging a 21-hour reading of “Moby Dick” to raise funds for a whale-watching trip. Nineteen students at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington took turns reading the classic tale of man against whale while whaling music was played in the background and the film “Moby Dick” was screened (a total of 14 times through the night). “I’m going to bed for a little while . . . . “ said student Margo Hamilton after the marathon reading. “I don’t know if this helps to read the book, but it’s more fun.”