Bernie Madoff Associate Found Dead in Pool

PALM BEACH, Florida - Jeffry Picower, a philanthropist accused of profiting more than $7 billion from the investment schemes of his longtime friend Bernard Madoff, was found at the bottom of the pool at his oceanside mansion. Police said. He was 67. Picower’s wife discovered his body and pulled him from the water with help from a housekeeper, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Medical Center. Palm Beach police are investigating the death as a drowning, but have not ruled out anything on the cause of death....More

Odd News-Man ordering food called a zombie, punched twice

Iowa City, Iowa - Iowa City police are investigating an early morning assault in which a man accused another of being a zombie, then punched him twice. Police said the assault occurred at an Iowa City restaurant south of the University of Iowa campus. A man was ordering food when he was approached by another man who called him a zombie, then hit him in the eye. When the victim tried to call police on his cell phone, the man punched him again, breaking his nose....More

Polygamy club draws criticism

Indonesia - Plans to open branches of a Malaysian “Polygamy Club” in Indonesia have upset women’s groups and religious leaders in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, who say the search for multiple wives should be handled privately - not by a matchmaking service. Under Islamic law, Muslim men are permitted four wives. The club claims a noble aim of helping single mothers, reformed prostitutes and women who feel they are past marrying age meet spouses. It also offers counseling to people facing problems in polygamous households.....More

SC man drives 80 miles to give explosives to cops

UNION, S.C. (AP) -- Authorities say a South Carolina man's good intentions almost caused an explosive situation.

After the man's uncle died, he discovered that his relative had collected potentially explosive materials including grenades, dynamite and black powder...more

Man pleads guilty to DWI in motorized La-Z-Boy

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) -- A Minnesota man has pleaded guilty to driving his motorized La-Z-Boy chair while drunk. A criminal complaint says 62-year-old Dennis LeRoy Anderson told police he left a bar in the northern Minnesota town of Proctor on his chair after drinking eight or nine beers....More

Ice-skating bear fed up with ice-skating

Kyrgyzstan - An ice-skating bear with a visiting Russian circus turned on its trainers killing the circus director and seriously wounding another man during a rehearsal in the Central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan. Kurmangazy Isanayev, the director of the arena in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, said workers with the visiting Russian troupe managed to drag the two men away from the bear and closed the exits until rescue workers arrived....More

Chicken head horrified shopper

UK - A stunned shopper bought a chicken from Preston’s Asda store only to find its head still attached. Helen Kirby, 27, of Thistlecroft in Ingol, was horrified to discover it tucked under the body of the bird. She brought the ‘whole chicken’ from the Asda store at Fulwood and immediately froze it. Bosses at Asda have apologised to Miss Kirby and confirmed they have given her 100 pounds and a new vacuum cleaner in compensation....More

New black Barbies get mixed reviews

Grace, Kara and Trichelle were created to fill a void for young black girls who for so long have been playing with dolls that don’t look like them. The new black Barbies released by Mattel have fuller lips, curlier hair and other features that the company says more accurately represent African-American women. Some have cheered the new dolls. Others jeered them, saying they’re not black enough....More

Boy, 5, sleepwalked to his school at night

St. Charles, Illinois - A 5-year-old Illinois boy who apparently sleepwalked to his elementary school was safely returned to his family. Kane County sheriff’s deputies said the boy was discovered unharmed but disoriented at Anderson Elementary School 1:30 a.m. Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Gengler said the boy was having trouble remembering his address and told officers he was at the school to watch a movie with his mother....More

Fla. burglar caught sleeping in pub's freezer

RIDGE MANOR, Fla. (AP) -- A Gulf Coast man was arrested after falling asleep in the freezer of a shuttered pub he was trying to rob. Investigators said the man hopped a fence in Ridge Manor and pried open a locked storage shed. He allegedly ate a can of tomatoes, entered the walk-in freezer and took a nap....More

980-Pound Man Needs Life-Saving Operation

UK - Doctors blame a British man’s 20,000-calorie a day diet for causing him to balloon up to a whopping 980-pounds and leaving him in need of a life-saving operation. Paul Mason, 48, needs a nearly $33,000 life-saving operation after a compulsive eating disorder left him “super-obese.” Mason scoffs three family-sized takeout meals a night and wolfs down roasts like snacks. He has spent much of the past eight years in bed at his home in Ipswich in Suffolk, England....More

Man on police ride-along stomps opossum to death

DANVILLE, Va. (AP) -- A Virginia man on a police ride-along was found guilty of animal cruelty after he jumped out of the police car and stomped an opossum to death. The Danville Register & Bee reported Tuesday that 23-year-old Evan Bryce Schuler saw the opossum run along a fence. A police officer testified that Schuler ran up to the fence, grabbed the links and "started stomping."...More

Calif toddler OK after 30-foot fall onto rocks

ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) -- Talk about a tough kid: A California toddler is alive after falling 30 feet from an apartment window and landing on concrete and rocks. Contra Costa County Fire Capt. Charles Thomas said the 22-month-old boy was alert and crying after the three-story plunge Sunday in Antioch that left him with just a cut on his abdomen, a bruised lung and a bump on his head....More

Man Stabbed Son Over Clogged Toilet

VERSHIRE, Vermont - A Vermont man is behind bars after police say he stabbed his son with a corkscrew over a clogged toilet. Nazeih Hammouri, 53, of Vershire, faces a first-degree assault charge in connection with the stabbing. Vermont State Police said they were called to Hammouri’s home on Parker Road just after midnight and their investigation revealed Hammouri had stabbed his 19-year-old son in the stomach after an argument over a clogged toilet....More

H1N1 Vaccine Too Late, Won’t Help Most

USA - The H1N1 vaccine will arrive too late to help most Americans who will be infected during this flu season, according to a study conducted by scholars at Purdue University. The study also estimates that the virus, commonly referred to as the swine flu bug, will infect about 60 percent of the U.S. population, although only about 25 percent of Americans will fall ill....More

BBC changes the ending of nursery rhyme

UK - The BBC has defended a decision to change the ending of nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. A version used on the CBeebies channel was altered so rather than “couldn’t put Humpty together again” all the King’s horses “made Humpty happy again”. Labour MP Tom Harris told the Independent: “For goodness sake. Obviously children will find it far too violent, distressing and horrific that Humpty should not be put back together again.....More

Football Player Killed After On-Campus Stabbing

University of Connecticut - The starting cornerback for the University of Connecticut football team died after an on-campus stabbing just hours after the team’s victory over Louisville. Jasper Howard, 20, was airlifted to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Howard was reportedly stabbed near the university’s student union at the center of campus at about 12:30 a.m....More

Bear Run! Black bear chills in Wis. beer cooler

HAYWARD, Wis. (AP) -- Shoppers in a Wisconsin grocery store got an unexpected surprise when a 125-pound black bear wandered inside and headed straight for the beer cooler....More

Accused animal hoarder allegedly Tasers trooper

FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) -- A 65-year-old Maine woman was jailed for allegedly assaulting a state trooper with a stun gun during an investigation into whether she was hoarding animals at her house. The woman pleaded not guilty to multiple charges Thursday in Superior Court in Farmington. The woman was under a court order barring her from keeping animals after nearly 70 animals were found at her home in 2004 and she was convicted of animal cruelty....More

Neighbors Thought Dead Man Was Halloween Display

LOS ANGELES, California - Residents of a Southern California apartment complex say they saw a lifeless body slumped on a neighbor’s patio, but didn’t call police because they thought it was part of a Halloween display. Cameraman Austin Raishbrook said he was at the scene in Marina del Rey when authorities arrived. The 75-year-old Zayed was slumped over a chair on the third-floor balcony of his apartment with a single gunshot wound to the eye....More

Dad, 83, accused of opening fire on drumming son

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- San Antonio police are investigating the wounding of a man after his elderly father allegedly opened fire when the victim refused to stop drumming. Police said the son, in his 50s, suffered a non-life threatening head wound early Friday while at the home the men share. Police said his 83-year-old father was detained on an aggravated assault charge...More

Sheriff Joe Thumbs Nose at Feds

PHOENIX, Arizona - An Arizona sheriff known for cracking down on people who are in the country illegally launched a crime and immigration sweep in northwestern metro Phoenix, a half day after officials in Washington limited his powers to make federal immigration arrests. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose sweeps have led to allegations of racial profiling, said the rebuff from Washington won’t stop him. He said he can still arrest immigrants under a state smuggling law and a federal law that gives all local police agencies more limited power to detain suspected illegal immigrants....More

3 new convictions give Mass. man a total of 72

WAREHAM, Mass. (AP) -- A Taunton man who has pleaded guilty to three charges relating to spitting in a woman's face now has 72 criminal convictions as an adult. Derek Lindsay pleaded guilty Thursday in Wareham District Court to assault and battery, disorderly conduct and threats to commit a crime. Police said the 36-year-old Lindsay spat in a woman's face in downtown Middleborough in June. A sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 17..More

Texas man finds a rocket launcher on his property

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A man who found a green metallic tube while cutting trees on his Comal County property thought it had a military look, like a rocket launcher. He was right. He was wrong to pick it up, take it home and display it on his dining room table. A decal on the equipment discovered by Jarrette Schule said: "Guided Missile and Launcher, Surface Attack.....More

Sheboygan inmates scuffle over 'The Office'

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) -- Apparently one Sheboygan County Jail inmate isn't a fan of "The Office." Prosecutors said an argument over the NBC sitcom led to a scuffle that resulted in a fresh felony charge against one inmate. The criminal complaint filed this week says two inmates were watching the show last week when 18-year-old Shacoya S. Crawley told them she wanted to watch something else...More

Paramedic suspended for death pronouncement

Baltimore, Maryland - A Baltimore City paramedic has been suspended without pay after an investigation into an incident in which a man shot by city police was mistakenly pronounced dead and left on a convenience store floor for 30 minutes. Michael Richard Quarles, 51, was shot in the head by a police officer. Fire officials said Quarles’ body was awaiting transport to the medical examiner’s office when police observed the man either moving or making sounds, and requested the same medics return to the scene....More

Boy Believed to Have Been in Runaway Balloon Found

Colorado - A massive hunt for a 6-year-old boy who was believed to have been trapped inside a flying balloon that crashed without him inside was found in his parents house, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department. “He’s been there the whole time,” said a sheriff’s department official. “He was hiding in a cardboard box in the attaic above the garage.”...More

Odd News-Driver suspended for pink tie

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois - An Illinois bus driver said he was given a one-day, unpaid suspension for wearing a pink tie in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. William “Bill” Jones, 46, said he wore his pink tie to work with the Springfield Mass Transit District on the first Friday in October as part of a campaign encouraging men to wear pink on October Fridays as a reminder to women to get annual mammograms.....More

H3N8 Canine Influenza

wiggle its way into as many of us as it can this flu season, there is another virus, H3N8, that is threatening dogs this year. H3N8, or Canine Influenza, is not contagious for us Homo sapiens, but for dogs it can be deadly. Fortunately, there is a new vaccine available to safeguard pooches. Fox News dropped into the Ridgewood Vet Hospital in New Jersey to see how they are combating the disease. A steady flow of dog owners and their barking companions braved the $20 shot, the first of a two-part inoculation process....More

Math teacher arrested for obscene conduct at Costco

BOISE, Idaho - A local high school math teacher has been arrested for obscene conduct in a public place. Chuck McClure, Boise Police public information officer, says Kyle Dennis, 37, was arrested after multiple instances of “obscene live conduct” that took place at two Boise retail outlets. According to court documents, Dennis “knowingly engaged in obscene conduct…by manipulating his penis with his hands while walking around a Costco store with an erection.”....More

Catfight-Ga. woman, 86, charged with cat theft

ATLANTA (AP) -- The claws are coming out in court case over a Georgia cat. 86-year-old Fauniel Kliemt has been charged with stealing a long-haired cat she said was a stray. Kliemt pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of theft of lost or mislaid property. The case began in 2007 ago when a neighbor gave her the cat...More

Dog jumps on sliding door to alert family to fire

BELTSVILLE, Md. (AP) -- Prince George's County fire officials said a family's barking dog alerted them to a fire and enabled them to escape without injury. The fire was reported about 6 a.m. Tuesday in Beltsville. Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady said the dog, Monster, a Doberman, was outside the house when the fire broke out....More

Utica woman arrested for DWI twice in a night

UTICA, N.Y. (AP) -- A 33-year-old upstate New York woman has been charged with driving while intoxicated twice in less than five hours. Utica police stopped Talitha Gorea just after 7 p.m. Monday for vehicle and traffic violations and found her with an open container of alcohol and an ecstasy pill. Gorea was charged with drug possession and DWI for having a blood alcohol content level above the legal limit....more

La. police: Pickle smell might lead to thieves

SLIDELL, La. (AP) -- Police in Louisiana say the pungent smell of pickles or jalapenos may lead to the perpetrators of a crime. Police in Slidell, a small town just east of New Orleans, are asking parents to call authorities if their children came home smelling like pickles or jalapenos over the weekend, or if they hear about students selling lots of candy....More