Officer nabs alleged thief who asks for directions

OREM, Utah (AP) -- Utah police say a man accused of stealing two phones from a convenience store was arrested when he flagged down the investigating officer and asked for directions...
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Woman allegedly tosses baby into SUV to block repo

DALLAS (AP) -- A woman is accused of throwing her year-old son into her SUV in a failed attempt to stop the vehicle from being repossessed in Dallas. Krystal Gardner of Tool was jailed Wednesday on bail of nearly $3,800 on charges including child endangerment related to abandonment, no driver's license and no insurance. Electronic records at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center did not list an attorney for the 28-year-old mother, who was booked Monday....
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Crocheting Beats The Reich For Odd Title Prize

(Reuters) - Defying grim predictions that the economic downturn would clobber specialist books, the annual contest for oddest title has had a bumper year, with the 2009 winner being named on Friday as...---...More

World War II vet holds SWAT off for 6 hours in his sleep

Houston, Texas - After he allegedly fired a gunshot during an argument with his wife, a 84-year-old World War II-era veteran held SWAT officers at bay at the couple’s home in southwest Houston for nearly six hours before he was arrested peacefully. He told reporters that he owns enough guns to “take down the whole (expletive) army if I wanted to,” but he had not planned on using them. He had been asleep during much of the standoff. ---...More

City To Ban Dog Barking 24-Hours A Day

Piscataway, New Jersey - An ordinance about incessant barking between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., has been expanded to include barking around the clock. And, yes, you could be fined. “That’s not fair at all. Dogs shouldn’t be scrutinized for what? They’re talking! Talking is their barking!” resident Anthony Brullo said. The ordinance was expanded to include round-the-clock complaints because the town got about 400 animal noise complaints last year.
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Stupid News:Bee stings for good health

Beijing, China - Bee sting therapy, which involves placing live bees on a patient’s body at certain pressure points, dates back over 3,000 years in China. It is similar to acupuncture in that it uses bees stingers instead of needles and the same principles, but the bees’ toxin is essential, making the treatment like an injection. Doctors say the therapy has proved effective in curing diseases such as rheumatism and arthritis, as well as a list of other ailments. ---...More

Odd News-Woman calls 911 to say she is trapped in jail

Illinois - Carly A. Houston was taken to the Naperville police station after she allegedly became embroiled in a heated dispute with a taxicab driver. A police officer dutifully supplied the 29-year-old Chicago woman with a telephone, instructing her she could make one call to find a relative or friend who could come to the station to post her bail. She used her call to dial 911. She pleaded for help, complaining she was “trapped inside the detention facility.---...More

Love in a cold climate lethal for couple

Reuters - A Russian couple having sex in a car parked in a tiny garage have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.
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Space Rays Might Be Crashing Toyotas

Toyota vehicles have been having a problem with sudden, uncontrollable acceleration lately. It’s been variously attributed to faulty circuits and driver error, but the real culprit might be radiation from beyond the skies. Every day, the Earth is bombarded with trace amounts of radiation from space. The radiation has been known to cause glitches in circuitry. And now, Toyota is looking into the possibility that the same radiation might be causing their cars to speed out of control.
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Jet Company Eyes World Record

Geneva - A Swiss-based private jet company says it will attempt to set a speed record for a round-the-world flight using a small aircraft weighing between 9 000kg and 12 000kg. Sonnig SA claims its..
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Burglar uses MySpace account during burglary

KENNEWICK, Washington - A burglar who spent about five hours on a store’s computer after breaking into the business gave police all the clues they needed to track him down. Investigators said the 17-year-old logged into his MySpace account while at Bella Office Furniture and that made it easy for them to find him.---...More

St Patty's Joke

Joey-Jim was tooling along the road one fine day when the local policeman, a friend of his, pulled him over. "What's wrong, Seamus?" Joey-Jim asked. "Well didn't ya know, Joey-Jim, that your wife fell out of the car about five miles back?" said Seamus. "Ah, praise the Almighty!" he replied with relief. "I thought I'd gone deaf!"

The Cleveland UFO: What on Earth?

For more than a week, a mysterious pulsating light has been appearing each night over Lake Erie east of downtown Cleveland. The unidentified flying object, which shows up at approximately 7:30 pm and zips around in the darkness for about two hours before disappearing, has been captured on film from various angles.
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Detroit Mayor to bulldoze 25% of city

Detroit, Michigan - Battered Detroit wouldn’t have to struggle to pay for services in the vast areas of the city that are essentially abandoned if they didn’t exist - so Mayor Dave Bing is going to bulldoze them. Over 3 years, a quarter of the city and 10,000 homes will come down, remaining residents will be relocated, and resources will be focused on still-viable neighborhoods.
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Odd:Woman Jumps Off Cliff to Flee Attacker

MALIBU, California - Authorities say a man tried to sexually assault a Malibu jogger who escaped by jumping off a cliff and sliding about 100 feet down a steep hillside. Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Derek Sabatini says the woman was taken to a hospital with cuts and bruises from the fall.
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Woman allegedly stabs ex after looking at phone

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -- Las Cruces police said a woman has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her ex-husband. Police said a 27-year-old woman was charged with three counts of aggravated battery against a household member and one count of battery. She was being held on $15,000 bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center. The woman's ex-husband was taken to a hospital for treatment of his wounds after the Thursday night altercation....
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McDonald's parking spot dispute turns violent

LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) -- A long-running argument over a favorite McDonald's parking spot has resulted in an assault conviction. A Colorado jury on Friday convicted 52-year-old Vernon Brandt of Loveland of felony third-degree assault for a 2008 fight with 85-year-old Richard Albers...
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No more jelly bellies on the force

Mexico City - Mexico City's police department has introduced a new lower-calorie menu in cafeterias serving its 70 000-member force after finding out that almost three-quarters of officers are overwei...---...More

Energy Executive Vanishes

New Orleans - A Houston energy executive has vanished in New Orleans after visiting a Bourbon Street bar. Doug Schantz, 54, disappeared Friday at around 2 a.m. after leaving the bar. New Orleans police report his credit cards and ATM card have not been used, making them suspect foul play.---...More

Sea Ice Traps 50 Ships

Sweden - More than 1,000 people are trapped on two passenger ferries and two cargo ships stuck in ice in the Baltic Sea off Sweden’s east coast. The vessels are among about 50 ships stuck firm in the thick ice in the Baltic around Sweden, the Stockholm archipelago and the Finnish island of Aland.
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Sumo wrestler rips ATM out of Moscow mall

Moscow - A sumo wrestler ripped a cash machine out of a Moscow store on Friday, walking off with the bulky 90kg machine on his shoulders. Moscow city police said in a statement that the man and an
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1,000 Free Boots For Polish Kids' Muddy Commute

AP Photo Hundreds of Polish school kids are getting a leg up with free rubber boots as they face months next to a muddy construction site. Officials in the town of Jarocin gave 1,000 pairs of made-to-...---...More

Odd News:Extra-small condoms for 12-year-olds in Switzerland

LONDON: Switzerland has probably become the first country in the world to sell extra small condoms for boys as young as 12 years, though the official age of consent in the land-locked nation is 16....More

Pa. man faces charges for 3 incidents in 3 hours

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) -- A central Pennsylvania man faces charges for three separate incidents involving police in a span of three hours. Manheim Township police said 49-year-old Mark E. Blaylock was charged with theft of services after allegedly refusing to pay a $69 cab fare around 11 a.m. About an hour later he was charged with public drunkenness after police said he was found lying on a road near his house....More

Mass. newlywed couple spend 1st night in jail

HYANNIS, Mass. (AP) -- A newlywed Massachusetts couple spent their wedding night in separate jail cells after police said the bride tried to run over an old flame of the groom---...More

Odd News:Snow Woman Must be Covered

Rahway, New Jersey - Police told a Rahway, New Jersey family to cover their nude snow woman after an anonymous complaint. The family added a green bikini top and a blue sarong bottom. ---...More

"Hurt Locker" producers sued days before Oscars

A U.S. Army sergeant on Tuesday sued the makers of Oscar-nominated film "The Hurt Locker" five days before the Academy Awards, claiming the central character in the film is based on him.---...More

Boozy chimp sent to rehab

Reuters - A Russian chimpanzee has been sent to rehab by zookeepers to cure the smoking and beer-drinking habits he has picked up, a popular daily reported on Friday. An ex-performer, Zhora became aggressive at his circus and was transferred to a zoo in the southern Russian city of Rostov, where he fathered several baby chimps, learned to draw with markers and picked up his two vices....More

OJ's 'acquittal suit' set for museum

California - After 13 years of legal battles, OJ Simpson, his former agent, and Fred Goldman, the father of the man Simpson was accused of killing in 1994, have agreed to donate Simpson's so-called "acquittal suit"....More

Drunk mom allegedly runs through school with sword

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Police said the mother of an elementary school student drank a 40 ounce bottle of malt liquor before brandishing a sword in her child's school. The woman, 32, apparently intended to confront the parents of another child who had been in a spitting match with her child the previous day....More

5,200 Australians Bare All For Photo Shoot

AP Photo About 5,200 naked people have embraced each other on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick. Tunick, who is known for his nude group photos in public spa..---...More

Chicken-wing craze sends prices soaring

It's getting more expensive to be a wing man — or woman — these days. The skyrocketing cost of chicken wings is causing restaurant and tavern owners to raise menu prices and threatening to.---...More

Women only: airline to have female toilets

Reuters - Women flying Japan's All Nippon Airways will have a toilet all to themselves from next month, with the airline designating one restroom on most international routes as female-only.---...More

Protestant head quits after drunk driving (Reuters)

Reuters - The head of Germany's 25 million Protestants resigned on Wednesday after police stopped her for driving while under the influence of alcohol just four months after becoming the third woman to head a major Christian Church.---...More