Cowboys, croquet, insurance in U.S. halls of fame

Reuters - While Halls of Fame that honor sports heroes and rock and roll idols generally receive the most attention, they're not the only facilities that laud those that are at the top of their field.---...More

Circus Trapeze Artist Falls On Kids

Boston, Massachusetts - Some young spectators at the Big Apple Circus in Boston on Thursday got a big surprise when a trapeze artist landed on them after a fall. The performer, Alexander Sotov, a member of the Russian flying Aniskin Troupe, lost his grip and fell onto the netting, but bounced off and landed in the front row. He fell on an 8-year-old and 10-year-old.
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Python found in Neb. hotel's potty was lost pet

LA VISTA, Neb. (AP) -- The Nebraska Humane Society has tracked down the owner of a python found in a toilet of a La Vista hotel room. They said the owner panicked after losing the pet snake while staying at the Hampton Inn in late March and left without alerting management. The python was found Thursday morning by another guest..---...More

Chocolate may be good medicine for liver patients

Reuters - Cocoa-rich dark chocolate could be prescribed for people with liver cirrhosis in future, following the latest research to show potential health benefits of chocolate.---...More

Desk-bound men target of new male wonder pants

Reuters - Businessmen who vowed to hit the gym daily in 2010 but are yet to leave the desk are the target of a new, fast-growing line of high-tech underwear which boasts to trim the torso while also benefiting your health.---...More

MSU student thong thief caught with 79 pairs

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Police say a 19-year-old Michigan State University student who pilfered 79 pairs of women's panties faces possible charges.---...More

Badgers dig up 100-year-old graves

SIDMOUTH, England - Officials in a British town said three excavated graves that raised concerns about possible grave robbers were actually dug up by badgers. The East Devon District Council said the 100-year-old remains were uncovered at the Sidmouth, England, cemetery by a family of badgers and officials are now exploring options for dealing with the animals
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Chinese Girl Suffers from Strange Condition

Qingqing, a 13-year-old girl in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing, suffers from a strange sickness: She roars and goes into convulsions every few minutes. Her family has taken her from one ---...More

Farm hit by potato rustlers

UK - The Jersey Royal Company, which supplies all the leading supermarkets including Tesco, Asda and Waitrose with potatoes, has been forced to hire security guards to stop criminals digging up the tubers in the middle of the night. Barrie Hamel, a director at the company, said: “In previous years we’ve always had one or two people nicking potatoes for their own use. But in the last two weeks we’ve had eight or nine attacks.---...More

Man Pleads Guilty To Bass Tourney Cheating

Rockwall, Texas - Robby Rose stuffed a lead weight into a bass during a fishing tournament and this week he learned his punishment. An investigation by a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden concluded Rose stuffed his fish during the 2009 Bud Light Trail Boss Big Bass Tournament on Lake Ray Hubbard last October 24. He was sentenced to five years probation, 15 days in jail and loss of his fishing license for five years.---...More

Mustache advocacy group seeks tax break

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- It's time that mustached Americans got in on the stimulus money. At least that's the proposal being pushed by tax policy professor John Yeutter and the St. Louis-based American Mustache Institute. The tongue-in-cheek group dubs itself "the world's only facial hair advocacy and research organization."...---...More

Wash. deputy sues over Whopper with spit

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A sheriff's deputy in Washington state is suing Burger King and a franchise operator over a Whopper he says a worker spit on.---...More

Fla. deputy shocks colleague with Taser in joke

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) -- A Collier County deputy was reprimanded after shocking a colleague with a Taser in an incident meant to be a joke. The December scene was caught on tape at the Collier County jail. A female deputy was seen showing a message on her iPod to Cpl. Wilmer A. Arencibia, who followed the woman and shocked her on the behind with his Taser..---...More

Corpse was still alive at airport, wife says (Reuters)

Reuters - A German woman arrested on suspicion of trying to smuggle a corpse onto a plane says her husband was still alive when they reached Liverpool airport.---...More

Steven Seagal Sued for Sex Trafficking and Assault

A 23-year-old former model claims she interviewed with Seagal last February for the position of executive assistant. Kayden Nguyen says she got the job, but when she showed up for work, she learned, “Mr. Seagal had been keeping two young female Russian ‘Attendants’ on staff who were available for his sexual needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” Nguyen alleges in her suit, one of the ‘Attendants’ had recently quit and it was this job — not executive assistant — Seagal intended her to fill. ---...More

Comedy show not funny

North Korea - The show now called “It’s So Funny” is meant to uplift the morale of troops and extol propaganda about the virtues of serving under “The General” Kim Jong-il. Laughter is optional — unless the soldiers in the audience are ordered to do so. The format of the show is usually a conversation between a man and a woman in military uniform, who sometimes sing, dance and try a little slapstick, but mostly avoid telling one-liners.---...More

Women arrested in UK for taking corpse onto plane

LONDON (AP) -- Police have arrested two women at an British airport after they reportedly tried to smuggle a corpse onto a flight.More

Colo. judge fired over teen arrest for overdue DVD

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) -- A longtime Colorado judge has been fired after issuing an arrest warrant for a teenager over an overdue library DVD.More

$1 million-a-day gamble

Gulf of Mexico - Right now, on the outer edge of the Gulf of Mexico, Chevron Corp. is making a very big bet that, nearly six miles below where it has parked a new high-tech drillship, it will find enough oil to make this $1 million-per-day wager pay off where water depths reach nearly 7,000 feet and a vast, uninterrupted expanse of sea is the only view. Now, the only thing left to do is wait, as a drill bit far below inches closer to a target that may or may not exist. More

Surgeons Wear Body Armor to Operate on Soldier’s Head

Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan - U.S. army surgeons donned body armor to remove a high-explosive bullet from a soldier’s head during a tense five-hour operation, The Sun reported. Non-essential staff at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan were evacuated during the surgery to remove the Taliban bullet, which contained two ounces of high explosives powerful enough to kill the entire surgical team. More

Dad jailed for pot in son’s Elmo backpack

UNIONTOWN, Pennsylvania - A western Pennsylvania father has been jailed after police say he went to his son’s elementary school to retrieve nearly four ounces of marijuana from the boy’s Elmo backpack. Police say Ronald Washington told school officials he needed to get something from the Sesame Street-themed backpack, prompting school officials to search it.More