YOUR 15 MINUTES: Front Page News In The Simple Life

If you've been an avid Celebhijinx reader, you'll know that every once in a while I feature the ridiculous things the newspaper in my hometown considers news, sometimes more specifically, front page news. Whether it's a "wife wanted" ad, a backfired gag picture of a police officer dressed up in a bib under his boss' desk or just some of the most hateful and/or hick-ish comments known to mankind (from the anonymous call-in and say anything you want and we'll print it section), the newspaper is more like an act from the Blue Collar Comedy tour than a legitimate news source.

Here's the latest front page news: A troubled boy I went to school with died in a motorcycle accident after a police chase. They interviewed the family who is a well-known trouble-making family in town. The purpose of the article was to try to make something good out of something bad but somehow it just became progressively worse and worse:

Kin: Father-to-be was changing life after 'wild' youth
Jason Potter charmed children, and would have made an excellent father to babies expected in January and July, relatives say. How does that happen? Two girlfriends are pregnant with Potter's children. OOooooh that’s how that happens! But he was killed Sunday afternoon when his dirt bike crashed just outside Nescopeck after a police chase.

When he found out his girlfriend, Kimm Wynings, was pregnant, he was ecstatic, says Potter's sister, Tasha Potter. Jason served several years in state prison for a robbery he was involved in as a teenager. But the recent prospect of becoming a father changed him, said stepmother Linda Potter. "He knew it was time for him to grow up," she said. Linda knew Jason for most of his life. As a child, she says, "He was a troublemaker. He was wild." Jason was known as a jokester. And he had a special rapport with children, Tasha says. Jason couldn't wait for his child with Kimm, Tasha says. They learned it would be a girl, but Jason wanted his own name to be part of his daughter's. At one point, Tasha says, he was seriously trying to sell Kimm on the name "Jasela." But not long after they learned Kimm was pregnant, she was sent to state prison. Jason hated to be alone, Tasha says, so he started dating Erin Campbell. Then Erin got pregnant. Now, Jason's second child is expected in July, six months after the first one is due. Tasha says both mothers-to-be know the whole situation.

On Sunday, Jason was heading out to ride with his nephew, Travis Potter, who also has a dirt bike. But his sisters warned him that both he and Travis would have to wear helmets. Jason stopped by Tasha's place on Sunday to show her the one he had just bought. " 'It was the cheapest one, but I got one,' “she remembers him saying. "He wasn't always the smartest guy, but he was so proud that he went out and got a helmet," she said. He was wearing the helmet when he was killed. He died from injuries to his abdomen.
Jason was protective of all three of his older sisters, but Linda says he was closest to Tasha, who is just a year older than him. "If he was in trouble, he'd call me," Tasha says. He and Tasha would hike together or go swimming at a creek near Shumantown. Or Jason would bring his white-and-black pit bull, "DeLuca," over to play with Tasha's rottweilers. She now plans to take care of his dog. Tasha recalls a morning a few months ago, just after she had received a $2,000 loan in $20 bills (..or as my father, a judge, pointed out -- the equivalent of 200 packets of heroin, maybe? Seriously $2000 in $20 bills...who does that???). Jason walked in to her house, flashed two $10 bills and announced he was taking his sister to breakfast. Tasha told him, "Oh yeah?" Then, she grabbed her wad of cash and fanned it out. Jason's jaw dropped, and he hollered for his girlfriend to come take a picture of them with their two sets of cash. Tasha has the picture, she with 100 bills and Jason with his pair of 10s. "I think he was more happy for me," she said. "When he came in, he thought he was going to take me out."

Jason served prison time for his part in snatching a purse from a woman's shopping cart in 1999, then using her credit cards. He didn't go to prison for that crime until 2002, and he got out about two years ago. Tasha says she saw a change in her brother when he was released. He respected people more, especially his elders. Though he still got in legal trouble, he would no longer steal, Tasha said. And he was even known to help women load their groceries into cars, she said.

RIP. We will always remember him as the wild, purse-snatching inseminator with a penchant for legal trouble, state prison and motorcycles. He would take his sister out for breakfast with his last two $10 bills, was smart enough to wear a helmet (even while being chased by police) and when he wasn't stealing women's purses from shopping carts, he would help women carry their groceries. [source]