Story Archive

Get the Message?

Early this year, Daren Young and his girlfriend broke up. In February, she got a protective order against him. One night in May, he tried to reach out to her, calling, texting, and trying to call — 144 times — which violated the court order. Police arrested the 30-year-old at his Kahului, Hawaii, home, and he spent 157 days in jail before he was sentenced. “I don’t know whether I should cut off your fingers or take away your phone to get you to stop texting,” said Judge Rhonda Loo. “I hope she changed her number.” Whether he had her current number or not, Young promised not to repeat his offense. But he will write about his ex, no matter how (if at all) the messages reach her: “For every nasty thing you said about her, you’re going to say a nice thing,” ordered Judge Loo as part of his sentence. That’s 144 compliments — with “no repeating words.” (AC/Maui News) ...Are there 144 ways to say “you are”?