SAN ANTONIO —
Watch your mail in Boerne
A woman is accused of stealing mail from the Boerne Post Office.
Kendall County Criminal District Attorney's Office posted on their Facebook page that Andrea Renee Barickman, 48, is wanted by the Boerne Police Department.
*WANTED PERSON* The Kendall County Criminal District Attorney's Office and Boerne Police Department need your assistance...
Barickman is wanted for allegedly stealing mail from more than 30 addresses, theft of more than $2,500 but less than $30,000 and abuse of official capacity.
Theives going to new heights for this one thing
According to CBS News thieves appearing to be in official reflective clothing, in broad daylight are working their way up electric poles to steal copper.
"Don't be fooled. They're not official," warns Garland police in a public service announcement.
A recent surge in copper thefts has led the North Texas police department to issue an alert and release startling video of the criminals at work.
The thieves aren't opposed to climbing poles and using ladders, fences, or even cars to carry out their efforts, according to Garland police, while the vehicles "they are using are regular and unmarked cars, trucks, and vans."
You can read more on this here.
Lightning and water
A recent Verify found that water does not attract lightning.
Water itself does not attract lightning, but it does conduct electricity, meteorologist Mike Linden explains. This makes it unsafe to be in water during a storm.
“Lightning typically follows the fastest path of least resistance to the ground, which is more often a tall object or the surface of a body of water,” Linden says. Dissolved salts and minerals in water also make it a strong conductor of electricity, he added.
RELATED: No, water does not attract lightning
Salts are compounds that consist of positively and negatively charged ions, or groups of atoms. In a solution, they become electrically neutral. But “when water contains these ions it will conduct electricity,” a United States Geological Survey article explains. Electricity from lightning can then seek out “oppositely-charged ions in the water,” according to the United States Geological Survey.
It's not extremely common for lightning to strike in large bodies of water, like oceans, compared to land, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says. But “when it does, it spreads out over the water,” the administration adds. When this happens, anyone in the water is at risk of electrocution, even if they are on a boat.
