The wildly popular smartphone game Pokemon Go has spread quickly, capturing children and adults alike. The game uses GPS and augmented-reality (AR) to track user's movements in real time, and show Pokemon lurking around in real life.
But the game has accomplished more than just catching little digital monsters; it requires players to walk around rather than sit still, which has resulted in a few unintended consequences.
Gotta Catch 'Em All (Even Sex Offenders)
Authorities arrested an Indiana sex offender after they say a probation officer spotted him playing Pokemon Go with a 16-year-old boy on the county courthouse lawn.
The Greenfield Daily Reporter reports that probation officer Nick Layman saw 42-year-old Randy Zuick playing the popular cellphone game with the teen Wednesday. Wayne Addison, the chief probation officer, says a colleague who was with Layman ran into the courthouse to alert a security officer, who took Zuick into custody.
Records show that Zuick pleaded guilty in April to fondling a child under the age of 14 and has been on sex-offender probation, which prohibits the Greenfield man from interacting with children.
A judge will decide whether to revoke his probation.
Muncie Dogs Get More Exercise...Some Even Get A New Home
An animal shelter is asking Pokemon Go players to walk an adoptable dog as they wander the streets of an eastern Indiana city doing battle with digital monsters on their smartphones.
The idea is the brainchild of Phil Peckinpaugh, the superintendent of Muncie Animal Shelter. He noticed people shuffling along as they played the addictive game and thought "it would be awesome" if they each had a dog to walk.
Peckinpaugh posted the idea on Facebook and it was widely shared.
He says he bought 20 new leashes to cope with the increase in demand, which is fortunate because 73 Pokemon Go players heeded the call the first day and turned up to exercise hounds.
Peckinpaugh says he hopes it's not just a passing fad. At least two dogs have been adopted by Pokemon Go players.
Registering Voters In Ohio
A political group in swing-state Ohio is using Pokemon Go for a purpose beyond catching cute Pikachu: registering voters.
NextGen Climate Ohio, a group drawing attention to climate change, says the rollout is just one of the creative ways it's trying to engage millennial voters. It comes just days before the two political conventions get under way.
State director Joanne Pickrell is dropping rare "lures," which draw the cartoon monsters hunted by Pokemon Go players, at game locations in parks and on campuses in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo. Its representatives will be on site at the locations to talk to players about the importance of voting and how to get registered.
