These are difficult economic times for many people and we don't have to look far in the news to see examples of the desperation.

The rash of burglaries in our area in recent weeks are a good sampling of the times we're living in. Some other recent cases around Pennsylvania have been downright bizarre.Last week in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, police charged a 58-year-old western Pennsylvania woman with stealing newspapers in bulk because she wanted the coupons in the papers.Linda Altman was charged with burglary, theft and related charges for allegedly stealing the papers from a storage shed where the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette drops off papers for a local carrier.This is not an isolated case. They believe she's stolen about $2,700 worth of newspapers in the last 17 months.Altman was nabbed by police after she grabbed two bundles of 100 newspapers each.Police Chief John Fontaine said he had heard of extreme couponing, "but not like this."Since last November, a town in Somerset County had been plagued by a thief who was stealing money from parking meters. Police said the repairs have cost the town about $5,000.Police aimed a security camera in the business district where the thefts were occurring. They also began applying a purple dye to the inside surfaces of some meters to mark the thief.Sure enough, 22-year-old Justin Hardesty was not only captured on video last Sunday, but had his hands stained with purple dye when he was found. Caught purple-handed, he quickly confessed to stealing about $250 from the meters.For those who feel they've been cheated in the past by a vending machine in their lunchroom, this story out of Illinois might hit home.Eight temporary employees were working the night shift at an unspecified business in the town of Bollingbrook when they got a craving for the munchies and decided to visit their local vending machine.Instead of inserting the coins or dollar bills, they shook the machine, which began dropping free snacks. According to town police, the machine coughed up 17 bags of chips, six Kit-Kats, eight Snickers bars, four packs of Reese's peanut butter cups, two packs of Starburst, and $62 worth of change.The workers may have strong-armed the vending machine but they couldn't escape the long arm of the law.They were all charged with theft.By Jim Zbickjzbick@tnonline.com