Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: Fisherman catches the Big One!

Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.

SALT LAKE CITY — James Kane lost his job during the pandemic. To make ends meet he tied a magnet to the end of some fishing line and cast it into a stream that runs through New York City. He posted about his boring adventures on YouTube, finding hard drives, gun parts, and even a live grenade. This and that.

 

Until last week, when he and his partner finally caught the big one. He reeled in a safe.

Because those wrapped stacks of 100s added up to 100,000 cash. James Kane called the cops.

He tells the New York Times that after the NYPD released it, they gave it back to him. Finders keepers right?

But there’s a problem. Put a hundred at the bottom of a creek for 10 years and it’ll turn into slop. The cash was disintegrating quickly so there was only one thing to do — James put on his cowboy hat and boarded a bus for his first-ever trip to Washington DC.

Clutching what he calls “the most significant find in poor people treasure hunting history,” he set out to the Bureau of Engraving in Washington where he apologized for the foul smell of the decay wafting from his bag and told his story. Right there in the lobby, Treasury employees took the money out of his backpack and said give us nine months to count it and we’ll give you crisp hundred dollar bills. Tax free.

So James Kane has circled next March on his calendar. Meanwhile, he’ll be back fishing at his stream in Queens tomorrow morning.

Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on Facebook and X. 

Other Minutes of News:

• Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: Hot enough for ya, cowboy?
• Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: The Miss AI Pageant