Around the weird:news of the bizarre

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This happened last week here.

A 12-year-old male horse (don't know what is official name for those in English) killed his owner when they were running in the forest. Horse was a racehorse and been in same family whole life. The horse bit the man and he head died instantly.
 
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Shocking news: Squirrels and power lines don't mix.
These cute but pesky rodents are a leading cause of unplanned outages. They chew through power lines, fry themselves by completing electrical circuits and generally wreak havoc on power grids.
Utility companies, always on the hunt for new ways to combat animals, may have found an inexpensive solution to what has long been a vexing problem.
you can't beat 'em, zap 'em.
The ZAPshield is an $11 polymer disc that arrived on the market some three years ago and delivers a non-lethal, electrostatic jolt to any varmint touching it. In Pennsylvania, two large utilities have both deployed the ZAPshield.
The idea is to give the squirrels enough of a shock to keep them away from sensitive power equipment, but not enough of one to hurt them. Inventor Jim Rauckman compares the feeling of getting zapped by the ZAPshield to walking across a carpet on a dry day and then touching someone.
"It teaches them not to be up there," he said.


WALHALLA, S.C. - The humans were the only ones scurrying out of a county building after a work crew prematurely set off gas canisters meant to kill roaches.
The roach bombs were supposed to be set off at 5 p.m. Thursday, after everyone left the Oconee County Department of Social Services.
But the insect-killing fog started spreading through the offices about three hours early after a test of the devices went awry, County Administrator Tom Hendricks said.
"Apparently, they thought that once you turned them on, you could turn them off again. Oh no," Hendricks said.
The building was evacuated safely. One person sought medical help after the incident, but wasn't seriously injured, Hendricks said.
Hendricks said he had talked to the maintenance personnel involved and stressed the need for proper safety precautions to prevent such incidents from occurring again.


BASEL, Switzerland (AFP) - A leak of honey at a Swiss transport company has drawn a swarm of hungry bees and forced the emergency services to step in.
Hundreds of litres of honey flooded out of a damaged barrel which was part of a shipment from Mexico, and thousands of bees spread the word that the feast was on, said Basel police spokesman Klaus Mannhart.
Called in to end the feeding frenzy, local firefighters donned protective clothing and scooped up the honey with spades.
The unwanted guests headed off after the honey-covered floor had been hosed down.
No one was stung

.LANESVILLE, Ind. - A 14-foot pet python crushed its owner to death, authorities said Tuesday after finding the snake loose in a southern Indiana shed with the man's body.
Patrick Von Allmen, 23, was found Monday evening in the shed near Lanesville, about 15 miles west of Louisville, Ky. A medical examiner determined that the death was consistent with asphyxiation caused by compression of the neck and chest, said Conservation Officer Mark Farmer.
"When you're dealing with a wild animal species, you take on a certain amount of risk," he said.
Von Allmen had told family members he was going to treat the snake for a medical condition, farmer said. He was alone in the shed with the python for about three hours before his body was found.
Relatives said Von Allmen had 10 to 12 years of experience handling reptiles, according to authorities. The family got the snake as a pet five months ago, Farmer said.
Indiana law does not restrict ownership of snakes, and the python was returned to the family.


ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) - Talk about extra innings. A baseball game that began at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Alliance ended Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
That's 30 hours and five minutes between the first pitch and the final out. Game organizers are counting on the contest being long enough to break a world record.
Forty players, ranging in age from 18 to 44, rotated in and out of the 84-inning game in hopes of setting a new Guinness World Record for the longest baseball game.
The record stands at 25 hours, set in Canada nearly three years ago.
Alliance organizers tried for a record last year, but their 24-hour, 16-minute game fell short of the record by 44 minutes.
Far from a pitcher's duel, this year's game was won by the Alliance Times-Herald Dragons, which beat the WESTCO Knights, by a score of 120 to 114.


CHESHIRE, Ore. - A woman is accused of shooting her husband after he shot her pet chicken.
The Eugene-Register Guard reports Mary Kay Gray has been jailed on felony assault charges. Her husband, Stanley Gray, is recovering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder. The chicken died at the scene.
Lane County sheriff's Sergeant Clint Riley says the couple had been working around their yard and drinking on Labor Day. They got into an argument after Stanley Gray shot the chicken with a 44-caliber handgun.
Police don't know if the shooting was intentional or an accident. Riley says "it depends on who you ask."
But sheriff's deputies say Gray shot her husband with a 22-caliber rifle in an apparent act of retaliation.


CHICAGO - An Amtrak passenger traveling with her ailing father waited nearly 23 hours and about 1,000 miles to tell authorities he had died so she could avoid the cost of shipping the body home, police said.
The train had reached Chicago when Daniel Stepanovich's daughter told officials that he had died in a sleeper car on Sunday evening, about the time the train was pulling into Glenwood Springs, Colo., said Chicago Police spokeswoman Jo Ann Taylor.
The woman told police she couldn't afford to ship his body home. She said Stepanovich, 80, suffered from lung and brain cancer.
Stepanovich was pronounced dead of natural causes on Tuesday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He had lived in Hammond, Ind. His daughter, who was not identified, lives in the Chicago suburb of Grayslake.
Officials were not sure when the two boarded the cross-country train, the California Zephyr, which travels from Emeryville, Calif., to Chicago.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said he couldn't recall a situation in which a passenger's death went unreported for so long.


TORONTO - A 6-year-old child who kicked up a fuss on board an Air Canada flight on the weekend as the jet sat on the runway at Toronto's Pearson Airport was escorted off the plane.
The incident took place Sunday morning, according to a Sun Media report, as 62 travelers on an Airbus 320 waited to depart for Cancun, Mexico.
Air Canada spokesman John Reber said the child was traveling alone and had been escorted aboard the plane without incident by airline staff.
But Reber said the child became uncontrollable once the plane began to move and passengers were told to fasten their safety belts.
A decision was made to remove the child from the aircraft and return him to his family, who were still in the airport waiting for takeoff.
The flight's departure was delayed by about half-an-hour.


PEMBINE, Wis. - A man drove into oncoming traffic and struck his father's car, killing himself and seriously injuring his father in northeastern Wisconsin, the sheriff's department said Tuesday.
Cory Ehlert, 31, was driving east when he crossed the center line early Monday and hit a westbound vehicle driven by his 53-year-old father, Kerry Ehlert. Both were alone in their vehicles.
The son's girlfriend had called the father to the son's home to assist at a family disturbance, Marinette County Sheriff Mike Kessler said in a statement.
The son died on the scene and the father underwent surgery at a Green Bay hospital. He was listed in fair condition Tuesday, hospital spokesman Jim Reck said.
Alcohol and speed contributed to the accident, the sheriff said.


TUCSON - A woman who persuaded her daughter to mail methamphetamine to her while she was in jail has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Debra Lynn Barriga, 42, of Tonopah, pleaded guilty to facilitation to promote prison contraband.
According to court documents, Barriga was given 90 days in jail and three years probation in December 2005 after a deputy found 70 pounds of marijuana in some ice chests after pulling her over for a broken taillight.
While in jail, deputies monitoring inmate calls overheard Barriga telling her 23-year-old daughter, Kristina, how to send meth to her at the jail.
Barriga later received some letters from her daughter and a drug-detecting device discovered methamphetamine was coated onto four of the letters or their envelopes, authorities said.
Kristina Barriga, who was also arrested and charged, has entered a plea agreement. She's scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29.


MINNEAPOLIS - There's a lot of web activity at the new Guthrie Theater - no high-speed connection needed.
The webs are being spun by spiders a couple of stories in the air outside the dark blue playhouse along the Mississippi riverfront.
"We're very aware of the spiders," said Guthrie spokeswoman Melodie Bahan. "It's hard not to notice them."
On one recent visit, spiders were seen moving in the gentle breeze on the outside of windows, their silky webs stretching for stories.
Bahan said Guthrie employees first spotted the spiders about a month ago. She said most people don't seem to be bothered by their presence. But at least one staffer is keeping them out of sight by putting Post-it notes on the window looking out from her third-story office, Bahan said.
When the spiders move, so do the Post-its, Bahan said.
A local entomologist with the University of Minnesota said the Guthrie is in prime spider territory. Jeff Hahn said spiders are more plentiful near water because that's where their food source - insects - often start out life as aquatic larva.
 
MIRACLE SQUASH GROWS WITHOUT ROOTS OR WATER

Miracles come in all shapes and sizes and in Long Valley, N.J., they come in the form of a squash, says Heather Walters, who claims a wild gourd is growing in her garden, without any roots or water!!! Walters says this miracle gourd first appeared about a month ago, but she didn't examine it until her daughter accidently ran over it on her bike two weeks ago!!1 Walters isists there is no history of radioactive materials or nuclear illness in her family!!! Then again, she refuses to remove her mysterious Miracle Gourd because she suspects it "might be trying to communicate with the roots of the living gourd" YEAH, RIGHT LADY :eek: another freak show-

LVRJ
 
OCALA, Fla. (AP) - A 42-year-old woman was rushed to a hospital after being bitten by a rattlesnake while shopping for plants at a Lowe's Home Improvement store.
The customer was moving garden items around Tuesday when she noticed a stinging feeling in her leg, officials said. Medics discovered she had been bitten twice on the right shin, the Ocala Star-Banner reported Wednesday.
Employees killed the 1-foot-long dusky pygmy rattlesnake with a yard tool. The snake is one of six poisonous varieties native to Florida.
Lowe's spokeswoman Karen Cobb said it wasn't clear where the snake came from. She said store employees scoured the area but found no other snakes, and the company wasn't aware of anything similar happening in Lowe's before.
"This is certainly an isolated situation," she said. "Garden centers are located outdoors, and they do contain live plants that are watered frequently. We certainly monitor them for any unwanted guests like the snake."


MANCHESTER, England (AP) - His driving was too swift, but his thinking wasn't. A 28-year-old man who blew up a speed camera, hoping to destroy evidence of his speeding, was sentenced to four months in prison on Wednesday.
Craig Moore, 28, from Doncaster, said he had seen a flash of light from the camera, indicating that it had detected him speeding on Aug. 14, 2005.
He claimed he feared his drivers license would be suspended, making him unable to work to support his family.
So, he employed thermite, used in his work as a welder, to destroy the camera.
That backfired because images of his speeding survived the explosion, and so did images of him returning to attack the camera.
Moore earlier had pleaded guilty to a charge of damaging property.
"The defendant accepts that he has created a mountain out of a molehill by behaving stupidly. He finds himself in a great deal of trouble rather than the little deal of trouble he would have been in," said defense lawyer Andrew Bailey.
In fact, he would have been in no trouble.
Tameside Council confirmed that the Watchman camera was designed to deter speeders, not catch them, and that it flashed only as a warning.
However, the Watchman does contain cameras which monitor the area, and that's what caught Moore.


MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - Mobile police have found a new use for macadamia nuts that's not too tasty. Officers used chopped macadamia nuts to resemble rocks of crack cocaine during a drug sting Friday and Saturday on a street corner near downtown that has been the subject of repeated complaints about illegal drug activity.
"Our operation was two-sided to attack both the supply side and the demand side," Chief Phillip Garrett said.
As part of the sting, police searched two houses on State Street and arrested six people on charges of distribution of a controlled substance. Police seized crack cocaine, Lortabs, and more than $4,000 in cash at one location, Johnson said.
Then undercover officers posed as drug dealers at the corner of State and Kennedy streets. As they made deals, marked cars would swarm the person who made the buy. Once the street was quiet again, another person would approach the undercover officer without being aware of what had happened earlier.

"These are people from mainly outside the neighborhood," Lt. DeWayne Hill said. "You'd be surprised how many people come into the neighborhood like this to do their dirty work."
Police said the two-day crackdown resulted in a total of 21 arrests.


HARRIET, Ark. (AP) - For the fourth time, an Arkansas cow has given birth to triplets - and it's the ninth time she has given birth to more than one calf at a time.
The Charolais-mix cow named Faith has given birth to 22 calves in nine pregnancies - each of them multiples.
"Our vet says she belongs in the Guinness Book of World Records," owner Jenny Williams said. "She's amazing." Veterinarian Dr. G.C. Blair confirmed the 10-year-old's amazing fertility.
According to researchers at Oklahoma State University, beef cattle have triplets in 1 out of about 105,000 pregnancies, and have twins in 1 out of about 250.
Faith gave birth to her latest set on Friday. Of her previous 18, 15 grew to maturity - three died after birth, including one Friday, and one was carried off by a bear.
Faith lives at the Cedar Creek Ranch and Cattle Co., which is owned and managed by Bob and Jenny Williams, and Jenny's mother Laura Ewing. The farm purchased Faith and her mother from a neighbor a decade ago.
"She is a really sweet cow," she said. "We don't keep a cow unless she is."
Faith gave birth two twins in her first two pregancies and accidentally killed one of her first by rolling on the calf. The farm kept a heifer from the second set, Hope, and she has produced only single births.
Faith's triplets are almost the size of single birth calves, out of commercial cows bred to Limousin bulls. Jenny noted that Faith is a large cow, probably weighing 1,200 pounds while nursing a calf.
"She is huge before giving birth," she continued. "We can tell if she will gave twins or triplets by her size. In 2003 we said twins, and in 2004 we said triplets."


ST. LOUIS (AP) - A woman accused of pummeling a dog breeder over the head with a dead Chihuahua puppy was found guilty Wednesday of misdemeanor assault and trespassing.
Lisa Hopfer, 34, faces up to 18 months in jail and a $1,500 fine.
The trial featured X-rays and pictures of the dead dog, and testimony from Linda Hulsey, who said Hopfer assaulted her at least 30 times on June 7 with the corpse of the Chihuahua she sold to Hopfer.
Hopfer told police that after buying the puppy - which she said Hulsey told her was 6 weeks old - a veterinarian said it was only 4 weeks old and needed to be returned to its mother. The dog died before Hopfer could return it.
Police said Hopfer pushed her way inside Hulsey's home and confronted Hulsey, 33. Later, Hopfer took the dog out of a plastic bag and started hitting Hulsey over the head with it, police said.
Hopfer now has a new dog, she said, also a Chihuahua.
"She's doing great," she said.


MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Police said Gaetan Roy had just lost his job, so he came up with a plan: Rob a bank, hang around, then get taken to jail to be "supported."
Roy has been charged with robbing a St. Mary's Bank. Police said he walked into the bank Friday and handed a note to the teller that said: "This is a robbery. Put all the cash into the plastic bag. No hassles, no problems."
Roy left the bank with about $1,300. When officers arrived, they found Roy in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot next to the bank, drinking an iced coffee. Police said he had the note and cash stuffed in his pockets.
"It appears he didn't make any furtive gestures," Sgt. Lloyd Doughty said.


SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) - Cellular telephones were found inside four prisoners in El Salvador's maximum-security prison, authorities said Wednesday.
The discovery was made Tuesday at the prison in Zacatecoluca, in central El Salvador, after suspicious officials took X-rays of each of the inmates, federal corrections chief Jaime Villanova said.
The names of the prisoners, all members of the dangerous Mara Salvatrucha gang, were not released in order to avoid jeopardizing an ongoing investigation that began a month ago, he said.
Capt. Juan Ramon Arevalo, director of the prison known as Zacatras, said the gang members had introduced the cell phones, wrapped in plastic bags, into their bodies through their anuses. Authorities also found nine cell phone chips and one charger.
"Each one had a cellular with a number of chips," Arevalo said, adding that one also had hidden a charger in his anal cavity.
The inmates allegedly used cell phones to direct criminal activities on the street from inside the prison, Arevalo said. The smuggled phones were found during an investigation at prisons throughout the country amid complaints from business owners of extortion by gang members.
Prisoners change phone chips frequently to avoid being traced, Arevalo said.
The police have doubled their security levels to combat the criminals.


EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) - Groundskeepers at Forest Hill Cemetery thought it was kids who were stealing dozens of American flags. That is, until one found a giant squirrel's nest.
"I was mowing, looked up out into the distance, and something caught my eye," said Dave Ender, a groundskeeper employed by the Eau Claire Parks and Recreation Department.
He drove his riding lawnmower to a nearby street intersection and looked up a tree.
"Low and behold, I found the missing flags," Ender said.
They were ripped and serving as the foundation of a giant squirrel nest.
"I never seen anything like that before," he said.
No one at the cemetery had ever seen a squirrel with a flag in its mouth, either.
"They must have done it at night, or very early in the morning," Ender said.
"Those little rascals, they're just amazing," he said.
 
needmorecsi said:



MANCHESTER, England (AP) - His driving was too swift, but his thinking wasn't. A 28-year-old man who blew up a speed camera, hoping to destroy evidence of his speeding, was sentenced to four months in prison on Wednesday.
Craig Moore, 28, from Doncaster, said he had seen a flash of light from the camera, indicating that it had detected him speeding on Aug. 14, 2005.
He claimed he feared his drivers license would be suspended, making him unable to work to support his family.
So, he employed thermite, used in his work as a welder, to destroy the camera.
That backfired because images of his speeding survived the explosion, and so did images of him returning to attack the camera.
Moore earlier had pleaded guilty to a charge of damaging property.
"The defendant accepts that he has created a mountain out of a molehill by behaving stupidly. He finds himself in a great deal of trouble rather than the little deal of trouble he would have been in," said defense lawyer Andrew Bailey.
In fact, he would have been in no trouble.
Tameside Council confirmed that the Watchman camera was designed to deter speeders, not catch them, and that it flashed only as a warning.
However, the Watchman does contain cameras which monitor the area, and that's what caught Moore.
Click to expand...


I read about this in the newspaper yesterday. The things people do :rolleyes:
 
SARCASTIC PERSONALS CAN HELP FIND LOVE

Pure sarcasm works better than pure romance when it comes to placing a personal ad, says Michael Beaumier, a former personas editor for a Chicago newspaper!! he says sarcastic personal ads, such as 'Immature, insensitive , single white male, seeks dumb, good-looking girl for a meningless relationship" it actually got more responses than ads with a heart -on-the-sleeve approach. Beaumier says people, especially women, will assume the sarcastic ad is a joke and want to meet the person who wrote it!!! however, he warns to take a "buyer beware" approach before answering the ad!! because "there's always the posssibility the person is telling the truth" MORE LOSERS :(

The Buzz- Ken White LVRJ
 
BIZZARE NEWS BRIEFS

A woman in Hohhot, China crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson!! the woman claims that her dog was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive, so she decided to let him have a go at it!! the two didn't make it too far before they crashed into an oncoming car!!! real bright- talk about a few dog biscuits short

The Buzz- Ken White-LVRJ
 
HUDSON, N.H. (AP) - A Nashua man faces a felony reckless conduct charge after his gun discharged in a Wal-Mart bathroom, striking the ceiling and scaring an employee in the next stall.
Charles Masterson, 36, said he pointed his gun toward the ceiling because he had been taught that was the safest thing to do when it wasn't being used.
The precaution backfired when the gun discharged Tuesday night while Masterson was in the bathroom.
Police charged him for putting the teenage employee in danger. Masterson's 13-year-old son also was in the bathroom.
Masterson was jailed overnight, but released on personal recognizance Wednesday after his arraignment in Nashua District Court.
Masterson said he had been carrying the Glock 9mm pistol in his waistband.
The Wal-Mart employee, Adam Carew, 17, of Dracut, Mass., told police he was in the handicapped accessible stall when he heard the gunshot. Carew said he ran out and saw Masterson's son covering his ears.
Carew told police Masterson walked out of his stall, put the gun in his pants and just walked right out of the bathroom like nothing happened.
Wal-Mart employees called police.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - City workers planned to remove signs in a neighborhood warning drivers to slow down for kudzu-eating goats in the area, after the public works department said they were posted illegally.
The goats were released recently in part of the Missionary Ridge area to hellp control rampant kudzu growth.
But orange signs reading "goats working" and warning of a $250 "goats fine" were not posted by the city, said Lee Norris, deputy administrator of public works.
"It's coming down," Norris said. "It's just somebody's idea of a joke."
The signs were good enough to fool some residents, said Bob Graham, vice president of the Missionary Ridge Neighborhood Association.
"Some people took it seriously and thought it was something Public Works had put up there," he said. "Someone went to a lot of trouble for it."
Graham said he thought it was a good idea to let area residents know the animals are authorized to be in the area, but no signs have been approved.
Resident Betsy Bramlett thought the signs were funny, but thought a different warning may be needed for the electric fence keeping the goats confined to the kudzu-covered area.
"As a safety matter, they should have some kind of sign saying, 'electric fence, don't touch,'" she said.

CHICAGO (AP) - A 79-year-old South Side woman bearing a toy gun and a visor that read "Princess" has been charged with trying to rob a downtown bank.
Melvena Cooke was charged Wednesday with attempted bank robbery. She is free on $4,500 bond and was released into her daughter's custody.
Cooke walked into the Bank of America branch Tuesday morning and told a teller that she'd just come from the dentist and could only speak quietly, according to an FBI affidavit.
As the teller leaned in, Cooke whispered a demand for $30,000 and brandished a gun that turned out to be a toy, the affidavit says. Instead of handing over any money, however, the teller triggered a silent alarm and walked away.
Cooke left empty-handed after several minutes and then ducked into a nearby store, where she was arrested.
Officials said Cooke was dressed for the attempted heist in a black trench coat, sunglasses and a white "Princess" visor.
She faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the U.S. attorney's office.


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - He's no Dumbo the Flying Elephant but with his ability to "speak," perhaps as close to the Disney cartoon character as a real life elephant can get.
The Everland amusement park said Friday its 16-year-old male Asian elephant, named Kosik, can make sounds imitating up to eight Korean words, including "sit,""no,""yes," and "lie down."
The pachyderm produces humanlike sounds by putting his trunk in his mouth and shaking it while exhaling - similar to how people whistle with their fingers. But the park said it's unclear if Kosik knows the meaning of the sounds he makes.
Kim Jong-gap, who has been Kosik's keeper for 10 years, said he first heard the elephant speak two years ago.
"It was hard to believe myself at first," Kim said in a statement. "As I watched Kosik say something after that, I realized he was mimicking my words."
There have been studies that suggest elephants can mimic sounds, but the park claims that Kosik displays the ability to imitate a human voice.
Spectrograms show Kosik's voice frequency when he makes human sounds are similar to his keeper's, Everland said.
"We are speculating that Kosik learned to speak as he spent a long time with his keeper," said Kwon Su-wan, head of the park's zoo. "We plan to conduct further studies with keepers, veterinarians and scientists on whether Kosik understands the meaning of these words as he speaks them."
Kosik will showcase his ability to the public starting Saturday at the park in Yongin, some 30 miles south of Seoul.
In a study published in the journal Nature last year, researchers found that elephants can learn to imitate sounds, according to Everland. The study featured the case of an elephant mimicking truck noises.


A diver whose disappearance sparked a major three-day search off Guernsey had actually been on a ferry trip to the UK, police have revealed.
Matthew Harvey, 35, went missing from Fermain Bay on Saturday and was picked up by a yacht nearby on Monday.
His claim to have been knocked unconscious and stranded on rocks for two nights was widely reported.
Police said he had possibly been in the Dorset area while he was missing. Mr Harvey was unavailable for comment.
Chief Inspector Ruari Hardy of Guernsey Police told the BBC that Mr Harvey got on a ferry on Saturday lunchtime and returned on Monday evening, about an hour and a half before he was found by a yacht crew in the sea off Fermain Bay.

He said: "A member of the public contacted us and we were then able to establish that he had been in the UK and we were able to track his movements."
Guernsey Museum worker Mr Harvey has been interviewed by police, but no decision has been taken on whether any action will be taken against him.
It is understood that the search operation to rescue Mr Harvey cost at least £10,000.
Search co-ordinator, Guernsey harbourmaster Capt Peter Gill, said: "Criticisms in the media of our ability to conduct a search properly have proved to be unfounded.
"But whatever annoyance I might have is tempered with sympathy for his family."
At the time of the incident there were several hundred people searching for Mr Harvey, including teams from the RNLI and coastguards as well as friends and family.
Capt Gill said: "The most important thing is that no life was lost. That's the most important thing.
"We would not want this sort of story to prevent anyone being involved in search and rescue in the future."
Staff at a self-storage centre in Poole, Dorset, have been helping Guernsey Police with enquiries after they claimed to have seen Mr Harvey on Sunday and again on Monday.
They said he came into Poole Lock and Store and left diving equipment which had not been retrieved.
Mr Harvey's family have also been unavailable for comment.

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Three people were arrested by campus police after about 15 students at the University of California, Berkeley got sick from eating what apparently were marijuana-laced cookies.
The three, two of whom are Berkeley students, allegedly helped make and distribute the cookies, university officials said in a statement released Thursday.
UC police learned about the problem when they got a call Wednesday evening from a student who said she was feeling ill and anxious after eating the cookies, served at an independent student-run housing co-op near campus.
Police responded and found that about 15 others were experiencing similar symptoms including shortness of breath and minor hallucinations. Twelve students were briefly hospitalized.
Police planned to test the cookies to determine the ingredients. The cookies were eaten during a welcome dinner at the house, police said.
"What happened tonight was an isolated incident where adults didn't know their limits," said Nathan Danielsen, a house manager. "We do not officially condone any of their actions."
UC police later arrested Michael Tobias, 24, Carmen Anderson, 21, both UC Berkeley students, and 23-year-old Christopher Portka.
Campus officials said Tobias was arrested on suspicion of furnishing marijuana and possession of marijuana for sale; Anderson was arrested for possession of more than an ounce of marijuana and possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms, and Portka was arrested for possession of more than an ounce of marijuana and possession of mushrooms. The three were taken to the Berkeley city jail where they were in custody Thursday afternoon.


BRAINERD, Minn. (AP) - A cook for the Brainerd School District spent more than two hours trapped inside a school walk-in freezer after its door latch malfunctioned, said Brainerd Superintendent Jerry Walseth.
The cook, who was not identified, entered the freezer around 7:30 a.m. and it wasn't until 9:40 a.m., when another employee heard her pounding on the door, that she was freed, Walseth said Thursday.
"What could have been a harrowing event turned into a celebration that she was OK," Walseth said. "We're fortunate she's OK."
The cook had gone into the freezer wearing a heavy coat and gloves to clean up and take inventory, said Denise Sundquist, the district's health and safety coordinator.
Sundquist said the freezer door at Washington Educational Services Building in Brainerd has been padlocked shut and a new door has been ordered.
Sundquist said the cook returned to work Wednesday after the ordeal.


MIAMI (AP) - The name of the game is the Swipe and Win progressive jackpot, but to Freddy Howard it feels more like the win and swipe.
Officials at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood paraded Howard around after telling him he had won nearly $260,000, even presenting him a giant cardboard check, but told him nearly 15 hours later he had won nothing.
Howard said he was showered with attention Aug. 29 after he swiped his Players Club card and was told he had won the free promotional game. But he spent hours waiting anxiously for the $259,945.75 before managers called him into an empty room.
"They just said, 'You know the jackpot that you won? We're not going to pay it,'" said Howard, 53, of Sunny Isles Beach. "It was like I was in a movie. I couldn't believe it."
The casino acknowledges the mistake but says a verification process showed that Howard did not actually win.
As part of the Seminole reservation, the casino is not governed by state or local laws. The Seminole Tribal Gaming Commission is investigating Howard's complaint, and he has hired attorney Keith Herbert.
"Nobody appears to be accountable for what goes on over there," Herbert said. "If it is a mistake, well, then, bite the bullet and pay up."


NEW YORK (AP) - Snake's alive! A boa constrictor was recovering Friday at a Manhattan animal shelter, one day after it was injured by a man who was waving the six-foot snake at passers-by on a Brooklyn street, authorities said.
"The boa is resting, healing, and our medical technicians are keeping an eye on it," said Richard Gentles, spokesman for the Manhattan Animal Care Center. The snake was brought to the facility on Thursday with an injury to its lower jaw, reportedly when the man stabbed the boa with scissors.
Center authorities planned to transfer the snake to a permanent home outside of New York City, where the creatures are illegal, Gentles said. A licensed wildlife rehabilitator will take custody of the wounded snake.
"Sometimes they go to zoos, sometimes to sanctuaries, and sometimes they're used for educational purposes," he said.


ST. ALBANS, Vt. (AP) - Rabbits are taking over some roads in northwestern Vermont and it's got people talking. Outlines of rabbits, spray-painted in white, have been stenciled onto city streets and rural roads in St. Albans, Georgia, Fairfield, Swanton and other communities in Franklin County and no one is quite sure what to make of it.
"What is up with the bunnies?" L.B. Clark wrote in a letter to the editor of the St. Albans Messenger.
The newspaper didn't have an answer but took up the good-natured lookout for the hares by posting a feature on its Web site called "Road Rabbits." An interactive map allows area residents to report where they've seen one of the stealth bunnies.
No one is sure if the paintings are random art, graffiti, a game or a prank.
"They're all over the place," said Mike Juaire, a senior dispatcher for the St. Albans City Police. "I've heard that they're in Essex, South Burlington, and they're in my development in Swanton, but I've asked around and no one seems to know what they are."
There haven't been any complaints, authorities say.
"Just curious," as Clark wrote to the newspaper.


NEW YORK (AP) - Margaret Johnson's wheelchair might have made her look like an easy target. But when a mugger tried to grab a chain off her neck Friday, the 56-year-old pulled out her licensed .357 pistol and shot him, police said.
Johnson said she was in Harlem on her way to a shooting range when the man, identified by police as 45-year-old Deron Johnson, came up from behind and went for the chain.
"There's not much to it," she said in a brief interview. "Somebody tried to mug me, and I shot him."
Deron Johnson was taken to Harlem Hospital with a single bullet wound in the elbow, police said. He faces a robbery charge, said Lt. John Grimpel, a police spokesman.
Margaret Johnson, who lives in Harlem, has a permit for the weapon and does not face charges, Grimpel said. She also was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and later released.

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - All eight diners who came down with a rare lung infection after eating raw shellfish consumed live sawagani crabs on a dare, health officials said Friday.
Health investigators said the crabs, which are usually served fried, were eaten at various restaurants including Riptide Rockin' Sushi & Teppan Grill in Mission Viejo and Chomp Rockin' Sushi & Teppan Grill in Fullerton.
Both restaurants are owned by Dan Lauriano who has said some diners apparently started a tradition where they would reach into a jar of live crabs and devour them raw as their friends cheered them on.
"It was kind of like 'Fear Factor,'" said Adrian Guerrero, manager at the Mission Viejo restaurant, referring to the television show.
"I never saw anyone just come in and say they wanted them raw," Guerrero said. "But after having a few beers or cocktails or sake" they would rise to the challenge.
The results were not pretty, and after some of his patrons became sick the owner stopped ordering the crabs from the distributor.
Six to 10 weeks after they downed the crabs, participants ended up with a parasite carried by the crab that migrates from the intestines to the lungs and causes lung fluke infection.
Symptoms, which can take as long as 10 weeks to surface, include coughing, diarrhea, breathing problems, abdominal pain, fever and hives.
If left untreated "it can turn into a very serious lung infection or, in fact, impact the brain," said Deanne Thompson, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency. Thompson said the crab distributor has voluntarily attached warning on his shipments.
No other cases have been reported in the state.
"Most restaurants serve them flash fried but occasionally I guess people get it into their heads to eat them raw or live and that's a bad idea," Thompson said.

VERGENNES, Vt. (AP) - A woman who learned six weeks before her wedding that her fiance was cheating on her is turning her would-be reception into a charity benefit.
"I'm really just trying to turn it around and make something positive out of it," said Kyle Paxman.
Paxman, 29, had planned to celebrate her nuptials at the Basin Harbor Club on Lake Champlain on Saturday. When she found out about her fiance, she called off the 180-guest wedding and the four-year relationship.
She and her mother canceled the band, photographer and florist, but learned they would not be reimbursed for the reception and block of rooms they had reserved. So they turned the reception into a benefit for the Vermont Children's Aid Society and CARE USA, an international relief organization that aims to combat poverty by empowering women.
They sent out invitations to 125 women for drinks and a gourmet four-course dinner. In exchange, they hope the guests will make donations to the charities.

LONDON (AP) - The famously large underpants worn by film character Bridget Jones are to be auctioned off to raise cash for some of London's most famous green spaces.
The large, white underwear was worn by Renee Zellweger in her role in "Bridget Jones's Diary" and prompted the comment, "Hello, mummy!" from Hugh Grant, who played her suitor, Daniel Cleaver.
The underwear, signed by Grant, will be auctioned off at a charity dinner next week for Britain's Royal Parks Foundation, it was announced Friday.
Organizers hope the dinner will raise $185,000 for the Royal Parks, which provided the setting for scenes in the second film in the series, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason." One scene in the movie took place in a fountain at Kensington Gardens; another was shot at Regent's Park.
The Royal Parks are some of London's most popular, and also include Hyde Park, St. James's Park and Green Park.

NEW YORK (AP) - A woman who won $1 million from a state lottery game four years ago has improbably hit the jackpot again.
Valerie Wilson, who works at a Long Island deli, said she won another $1 million on a lottery scratch-off game last month.
"The first time I couldn't believe it," Wilson told Newsday. "This time I said, 'God's on my side.'"
Wilson, 56, beat some long odds to pull off her double victory.
In 2002, her winning ticket in the Cool Million scratch-off game, which has since been discontinued, was a shot of 1 in 5.2 million, according to the New York State Lottery. Last month, she beat odds of 1 in 705,600 when she got the $1 million prize in the New York lottery's Jubilee scratch-off game.
Overall, her chances of winning both games were a slim 1 in 3,669,120,000,000.
A lottery spokeswoman verified Wilson was a Cool Million winner in 2002, but declined to confirm her latest win until a planned news conference. There have been only two previous repeat million-dollar-plus winners in the lottery's history, according to the state.
Wilson still hasn't quit her job at Emma's Deli and Catering. Despite her unexpected bonus, Wilson plans to keep working until at least December, making sandwiches and ringing up sales.
The prize will be paid out in $50,000 installments over 20 years. Wilson said she used her first winnings to help buy homes for her three children.
"This one is going to be for me," she said. "I'm going to live a little bit."

LOS ANGELES - Phony signs promoting Donald Trump's new golf course have cropped up along Los Angeles freeways, stumping transportation officials and Trump executives alike.
Commuters first spotted the fake signs for the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes a week ago. Since then, California Department of Transportation workers have pulled down at least four of them.
Most mimic the green freeway directional signs common throughout California.
Mike van der Goes, the golf club's general manager, said Trump has denied any involvement.
"We have no idea who put them up," van der Goes said Wednesday. "I spoke with Mr. Trump and he knows nothing about them."
Nor do leaders of a guerrilla artist group that some suspected as the likely culprit.
The group, known as Heavy Trash, attracted attention six years ago with mock transportation signs it erected heralding a fictitious subway route called "the Aqua Line."
"We would never support something as wasteful as a new golf course within the Los Angeles Basin," the group said in an e-mail.
The illicit signs have been seen along the Harbor Freeway, near Pacific Coast Highway and next to 405 Freeway ramps.
"If more signs are brought to our attention," said Caltrans spokeswoman Judy Gish, "we will remove them immediately."

RIGA (Reuters) - Hundreds of Latvians knitting 4,500 pairs of woolen mittens as gifts for the November NATO summit have been told to avoid a folk symbol said to ward off evil since it looks like a Nazi swastika.
A spokeswoman for the NATO leaders' summit said the Latvian Thunder Cross, or Fire Cross, will not figure in the design of any of the thousands of unique pairs of mittens some 300 Latvians are producing for NATO delegates lest it be misinterpreted.
The Thunder Cross is a folklore symbol used as a charm against evil for Latvians. It quite commonly features on such mittens and other folk items in Latvian shops
The mittens will join a bottle of traditional Latvian spirits -- Black Balzam -- a CD of local folk music, a jar of honey and some Latvian tea in a gift bag for delegates.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga is expected to personally hand over the gift bag to the 26 heads of NATO member states, including President Bush, who plans to visit Estonia as well during his Baltic stay.
The November summit, NATO's 19th such gathering, will be the first hosted by Latvia which joined NATO and the EU in 2004.
Among other themes, leaders are expected to discuss expansion of the alliance to incorporate other former Soviet states, along with the defense alliance's evolving role.


MADRID (Reuters) - A Basque separatist prisoner on trial for threatening to kill a judge on Thursday told the presiding judge that he would shoot him and "skin him alive," risking yet another jail sentence.
Ignacio Javier Bilbao Goikoetxea, a convicted murderer and member of armed separatist group ETA, kicked the dock's bullet-proof screen and launched a torrent of abuse at judge Alfonso Guevara and Baltasar Garzon, the judge he had threatened at a previous trial who was appearing as a witness.
"If you're a man, come here ... I'm going to skin you alive. Come here if you've got the balls... I look forward to shooting you seven times when I get my hands on you," the shaven-headed Bilbao Goikoetxea told Guevara in the Madrid courtroom.
It is the second time he has been tried for threatening Garzon after being jailed for two years at a previous trial.
Several violent court appearances by ETA defendants have outraged mainstream Spanish opinion over recent months just as the government prepares peace talks aiming to end 38 years of ETA violence following its ceasefire declaration in March.
Bilbao Goikoetxea is serving a 45-year sentence for killing a local government councilor in 2002. The state prosecutor has also requested another two years' jail for threats made at his last trial and may ask for more after his outbursts on Thursday.
"I believe in the armed struggle. I will continue with the armed fight until I die or I'm killed, until we have won an independent Basque homeland," he shouted at the judges

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Look who's talking! People in Miami and Los Angeles chat on their cell phones more than any other Americans, according to a survey of cell phone use in major cities.
People in Miami make and receive an average of 298 calls a month -- an average of 9-10 calls daily -- while Angelenos talk second most, averaging 260 calls per month, a survey of Verizon Wireless users found.
Rounding out the top 5 were Detroit, El Paso, Texas, and Las Vegas.
"Our study offers an interesting snapshot of how Americans have come to rely on their wireless service every day at home, and on the road," said Dick Lynch, chief technology officer for Verizon Wireless.
The East Coast -- particularly New York and Washington -- came out surprisingly low on the list -- possibly in part because hand-held cell phones have been banned while driving there for some years.
New Yorkers were 11th and Washington failed to find a place in the top 30.
California is also about to pass a ban on hand-held cell phones while driving that would likely cut cell-phone use by car-bound Angelenos dramatically when it takes effect in 2008.

TALKEETNA, Alaska (AP) -- The owner of a remote Alaska lodge died of exposure after his lawnmower overturned and trapped him, authorities said Friday.
A neighbor found the body of Andrew Piekarski, 61, on Thursday. He had last been seen on Sunday.
Investigators determined that Piekarski drove off a small hill, and the lawnmower landed on his legs. When Piekarski could not free himself, he unsuccessfully tried to take the lawnmower apart using a multipurpose tool, authorities said.
"He couldn't get if off his legs and he couldn't get out from under it and he died from exposure, from hypothermia," Alaska State Troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson said.
Overnight low temperatures at Talkeetna, about 80 miles north of Anchorage, have been dipping into the 30s.
 
BUZZ BRIEFS

Police in Volusia County, FLA. are on the hunt for a man they've nicknamed the "Naked Tickler". The search was launched when a woman called police after she awoke and found a naked man tickling her feet :eek:

A 4-foot-tall ex-con is suing a Georgia prison because he fell off the bathroom sink while shaving!!!! Byron Rhodan claims guards forced him to shave, but did not give him anything to stand on, so he could see the mirror, causing him to fall and hurt himself-!!! AWW POOR SHORTY :(

The Buzz- Ken White- LVRJ
 
Puurs, Belgium

A nice sunny afternoon suddenly turned cold for a young couple enjoying drinks on a terrace in Puurs, Belgium

Their afternoon was disturbed when a giant block of ice hit their table. The block broke into pieces, and destroyed the small bistro table. It is not yet known where the iceblock came from, but it is assumed that it came from a plane.

No one was injured.

-Het Laatste Nieuws, 11-09-2006

Talk about a real life crapsicle :D
 
Not exactly like the ninjas in the movies...
Sep 13, 7:53 AM (ET)

ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek bank robber armed with ninja throwing stars finally ran out of moves Tuesday when police arrested him after an Athens bank robbery.

Petros Onen, 49, had held up 11 small suburban bank branches making away with 50,000 euros ($63,590) in recent months, threatening to throw his razor-sharp, palm-size stars -- made famous by the Japanese ninja warriors -- at cashiers, police said.

His luck ran out when undercover policemen at the last bank he robbed followed him home and arrested him with his loot, his throwing stars, a fake gun and a list of other bank branches.


Farmer over the moon after cow gets jump start
Sep 13, 7:54 AM (ET)

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A prized cow that lost a leg in a farm accident in Australia may soon be walking back on all four hooves after medical experts offered to help its owner find an artificial leg.

Farmer Geoff Heazlewood began the search for a new leg for his breeding Jersey Theresa two months ago after the cow fell down a river bank and broke its leg, forcing vets to amputate the limb between the knee and ankle.

Theresa is a prized breeding cow at Heazlewood's stud farm in the southern island state of Tasmania, with genetic lines from Canada, and the farmer said he was determined to get the animal back on four hooves.

"I just want to try and do the best I can for the animal," Heazlewood told Reuters Wednesday. He said prosthetic legs were common for dogs and cats and were worth trying for a cow.

"The cow is perfectly well," he said, adding that Theresa was able to hobble around her paddock despite losing the limb.

He said four prosthetic limb makers and experts had offered to help make and fit an artificial lower leg.

Heazlewood said an artificial leg might be unusual for a cow, but most stud farmers and breeders would go to extraordinary lengths to look after their animals.


Grapes of wrath for thief...
Sep 13, 7:52 AM (ET)

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court sentenced a pensioner to four months in prison for repeatedly stealing grapes and raisins, authorities said Wednesday.

"At some point you have to say, enough is enough," said Christian Kropp, presiding judge in the eastern town of Sondershausen. "You can't go on granting probation forever."

The 63-year-old grandfather had just begun his second consecutive period of probation for theft when he was caught stealing two bags of raisins worth 3.90 euros ($4.95).

The man told the court he had been unable to help himself because he wanted to nibble on something sweet, Kropp said.
 
Anybody heard anything about a dude in a chicken suit in Arkansas getting shot by a bottle rocket? I've heard bits and pieces of it through the grapevine but I wanna make sure it wasn't someone pulling a joke on me.
 
araSgerG, that's old news. Here is the item from the Associated Press from July 28:

Bottle Rockets Ruffle Chicken's Feathers
Friday, July 28, 2006
SEARCY, Ark. — A man accused of shooting bottle rockets at another man in a chicken suit was arrested on Wednesday and charged with assault in the second degree and with discharging fireworks in the city limits.

Police said Joseph R. Craig, 20, shot bottle rockets at Steven Turnage, who wears the suit to attract business to a local fast food restaurant, on July 19.

Turnage said that in the first two weeks he wore the chicken suit, people threw smokeless tobacco cans at him and tossed frozen drinks. After the bottle rocket attack, he called police.

Turnage said that one rocket nearly hit him in the eye and another burned part of his suit. Because he was wearing a mask, Turnage could not get a clear view of the suspect but gave police a description of the vehicle that Craig allegedly shot from.

Turnage said he was grateful that police had made an arrest in the case.

"They did a good job,"Turnage said."I'd like for this guy to have to wear the chicken suit for a day out in this heat to see what its like."

Dynamo1 at the reference desk
 
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