crate news abounds

There have been quite a few odd follow ups to the crate theft stories. They are all quite strange. It’s not really news that people steal milk crates, so this is what we get. From Iowa – a dairy claims they lose 50% of their crates every year, with losses of $250,000. From New Haven, CT – a very strange rambling story, scroll to the end for a few sentences about a racoon with a milkcrate stuck on it’s head. You don’t know how bad I wish there was a photo for that story. But, why is this news?

This crate stealing story has wings

I told you all about the milkcrate rustlers selling  milkcrates for plastic recycling money. This story is hitting all the news outlets. Yesterday it hit the LA Times, and also yesterday a radio piece on NPR’s Marketplace. just remember where you heard it first – Milkcrate Digest

So-Cal crate lovers watch out!

This article from a CBS news source says that southern california dairies are employing detectives and ex-cops to track down and bust milkcrate thieves. The article has some other interesting tid bits, some of which I think are way off. For example they claim that the dairy industry loses 20 million crates a year. That seems way too low! That means only 1 in 15 americans has a new crate each year. It’s gotta be more like 1 in 5, maybe 1 in 8. Anyway, there’s some funny stuff in there. The major thieves are not college kids as you would expect – the real enemy is people stealing crates to sell them in bulk, by weight, to underground recycling for money. The raw plastic that milkcrates are made of is now worth 22 cents a pound, up from 7 cents a pound in 2005. I’m not a fan of destroying milkcrates, so I denounce this kind of activity. Long live the crates – don’t get caught loving them, in so-cal at least.

Metal people in crates

Chi-town loves the street performers. This metal man style guy has a helper (ok, a mannequin) who is also painted in metal. Anyway, silly story about the whole scene – and of course, a milkcrate is involved. See full story here.

Milkcrate as weapon

This just in from the news desk: Inmate assaulted with a milkcrate.

“Platte had access to the milk crate because they are used in the cells for inmates to store their personal belongings. Milk crates are not considered life threatening devices by the jail.”

Read the full story here.