Word: coppers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...hard enough staying cool these days, what with heat indexes topping 100 degrees around the country. But it doesn't help that a growing number of petty thieves looking to capitalize on rising copper prices are stripping air conditioners to sell the cooling coils on the black market...
...Earl Dudley Associates in Birmingham, Ala., 10 fans do little to tame the 97-degree heat. Last weekend, four of the surveyor supply company's air conditioning units were mined for their copper coils. Six other businesses on their block languish with open doors, waiting for their air conditioner replacements. "I'd just like five minutes alone with the guys who did it," says sales manager Mike Smith, as he wiped sweat from his brow...
...While the copper coils that were stolen were worth about $1,200 in the scrap market, Smith's company will spend $29,000 on replacement ACs. The crime took 30 minutes; it will take a full week to fill out insurance forms, rent cranes and replace units...
...just ACs that are the targets of the metal thieves. Plumbing pipes, electrical wires, mail boxes and even copper urns decorating graves are all fair game. Even the Alabama Environmental Council's recycling center in downtown Birmingham was a victim of a recycling crime. The center's lone bathroom was stripped of copper pipe, spewing gallons of water out during drought restrictions on water usage. Fortunately, a homeless man cut off the water. Still, the $12 worth of copper mined from the sink cost the small non-profit $800 in repairs...
...penny away, that has a huge impact on how people view the economy and inflation." If you think Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's statements rock the markets, Weller says, wait till you see what happens if we lose the penny. Then Weller gets personal. "Kolbe is from the leading copper-producing state in the Union. And," he continues, "nickels are mostly made of copper." Kolbe counters that he's for de-copperizing the nickel, which also costs more than it's worth. Soon Kolbe may be coming for your dimes...