People pay the price for doing dumb things

We get news across our desk sometimes that geographically doesn't fit our circulation area, but we figure it's just so darned interesting, it's got to get in.

Here's a couple of nuggets that we think are gold!

First, New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph A. Foster announced Thursday that the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed a trial court decision finding a Michigan man acted negligently while hiking the Franconia Ridge Trail in the White Mountains liable for the cost of his rescue by New Hampshire Fish and Game.

The Supreme Court noted that Edward Bacon had undergone multiple hip surgeries, had an artificial hip that had dislocated five times including twice in the past year, had trained in a city park that was nowhere near as challenging as the terrain in the White Mountains, had chosen to hike in high winds and heavy rains that had been forecast and had chosen to attempt to jump over a rock ledge despite his past hip dislocations.

The resulting rescue on Sept. 18 and 19, 2012, in dangerous weather conditions, required 15 Fish and Game officers and 35 volunteer rescuers, and took more than 14 hours to complete.

The Supreme Court upheld the award of $9,186.38 in costs to the Fish and Game Department.

The statement from the state AG also noted that the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department recently created the HikeSafe card program which exempts the holder of a HikeSafe card from liability for a rescue due to the hiker's negligence.

The holder of a HikeSafe card would only be liable for the cost of a rescue if the rescue was due to more serious reckless or intentional conduct than Bacon's, a press release stated.

While we would laud those who purchase a HikeSafe card, we would also call such a purchase sort of "being stupid insurance."

If you're not prepared to weather the elements of a White Mountain trek, don't go!

And while we are always thankful when Fish and Game officials are able to pull off these incredible rescues that they often do, too often the folks who require rescues put their rescuers in grave peril and cost taxpayers a bundle.

Therefore we laud the New Hampshire Attorney General and the state's Supreme Court for lowering the boom this time.

Let's hope a trend has begun that holds those responsible for dangerous rescues when common sense would have suggested the hike not be taken in the first place.

Our second item comes out of a federal court in Bangor where it was announced today that a Perry, Maine, woman was sentenced to four months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for fraudulently acquiring Hydrocodone and food stamp fraud.

Tonia Smith, 42, was also ordered to pay $3,933.88 in restitution. She pleaded guilty to the charges on Nov. 18.

According to court records, from July to November 2013, Smith used her position as a pharmacy technician at the Indian Health Service Center on Pleasant Point Reservation in Perry to steal the pain medication Hydrocodone from the pharmacy and then shredded records that the pharmacy was required to keep in order to conceal her thefts.

The investigation also revealed that from January to November 2013, Smith bought EBT cards from food stamp recipients for amounts less than the credit assigned to each card and then used the cards to make unauthorized purchases.

What it doesn't say in the release is whether Smith bought the EBT cards with varying amounts of Hydrocodone. But I think we get the picture!

People paying the price for doing dumb things. You gotta love it.

We just hope they go after the folks who sold the EBT cards, too.