Customers get billion-dollar power bills

WEATHERFORD, Texas - Perhaps his $24 billion electric bill will teach Richard Redden not to leave the heat running.  (soft lead)

Thanks to a printing error, Redden and more than 1,300 Weatherford utility customers this week received billion-dollar electric bills marked as late notices. (nut graph)

Irving-bases DataProse, which prints customer bills for Weatherford Electric, said the company was embarrassed by the error.  (transition)

"Obviously, this is not something we are pleased about," said Curtis Nelson, DataProse vice president and general manager. (quote w/ attribution)

Weatherford Electric spokeswoman Pam Pearson said customers can expect their correct bills later this month. She said the company's records were correct and showed the right balances. (background information and transition)

"I know they raised the rates on kilowatt hours a little bit," Redden said. "I guess we shouldn't have run the heater quite so much this month." (quote with attribution in middle)

Cop who ticketed himself reaps praise

KEWASKUM, Wis. - A police chief who ticketed himself for a traffic violation says that he has received congratulatory e-mails from all over the globe and that he has even turned down money to cover the fine. (summary human interest lead; serves as nut graph too)

Chief Dick Knoebel drove past a stopped school bus with its lights flashing in September, then wrote himself a ticket for $235 and docked himself four points on his driving record. The story surfaced after it showed up in court records and media reports. (supporting information)

"Police officers do good things everyday, and that doesn't get reported," said Knoebel, who has been chief for 20 years in this town northwest of Milwaukee. "All you hear about in the news is when a police officer is in trouble." (quote interrupted by attribution, additional information)

Knoebel said he got more than 150 e-mails from such places as Thailand, New Zealand and Russia. Two people sent him $15.  (specific detail to support lead; transition to following quote)

"I tried to answer every e-mail," the chief said. "If they took the time to e-mail me, I at least thank them for their comments."  (cap quote)