Vt. hotel painting vanishes - and then reappears

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- Now you see it, now you don't. But wait! There it is again! Police in Burlington said a 6-foot long landscape painting that was stolen from a waterfront hotel has now reappeared, thanks to an unidentified man seen on surveillance video walking up to the door and putting it down before running away....---...More

Chicken costumes banned at Nev. polling places

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Voters dressed in chicken costumes won't be allowed inside Nevada polling places this year....---...More

Nevada detective arrested, then informs media

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A Nevada detective who serves as spokesman for a county sheriff's office was arrested and released, then sent media a release about it, accompanied by his booking photo....---...More

Alligators, snakes, rodents rescued in Milwaukee

Milwaukee police were called to investigate an alleged sexual assault and stepped into a crime scene crawling - in some cases literally - with hundreds of reptiles including alligators and snakes.Police...More

Ouch, Spider bites skinny-dipping tourist in The penis

New Zealand - A venomous katipo spider bite on his penis was the high price a tourist paid for a skinny-dip at a Northland beach. The 22-year-old Canadian left his clothes in the sand dunes while he went for his nude swim and slept on his return. He woke to find his penis swollen and painful with a red mark on the shaft suggestive of a bite. He rapidly developed generalised muscle pains, fever, headache, photophobia and vomiting. ...More

Who caused sell-off? Space aliens or fat finger

NEW YORK (Reuters) – "Fat finger" has company.
The initial theory that an errant trader caused Thursday's mysterious stock market plunge isn't the only dubious hypothesis making the rounds.
Commentators and conspiracy theorists -- whether just joking or trying to raise mischief -- have cast the blame far beyond the investment community, even naming extraterrestrials and North Korea.

As long as the origin of the rapid, near-1,000-point drop in the Dow industrials remains unexplained, rumors and wild speculation will thrive.
A big U.S. exchange operator said on Tuesday there was no "smoking gun" to explain what happened, while regulators and exchanges solidified plans to adopt circuit breakers to prevent a reoccurrence...More

Nebraska police nab alleged 'toilet paper' bandit

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Police said they suspect they've captured the "toilet paper bandit." A man who concealed his face by wrapping his head with toilet paper robbed a Lincoln convenience store last month. Police said the man was armed with a knife, but no one was hurt in the robbery....More

Odd News:Man’s suicide shot also kills his sleeping wife

Kansas - The 70-year-old man who committed suicide by shooting himself in the head ended up killing his wife with the same bullet. The woman’s daughter called police when she discovered their bodies. Gene Whitmore was lying on the bed when he pulled the trigger of the medium-caliber handgun....More

Star Athlete at Texas School Really 22

Texas - A West Texas student who led his high school basketball team to the state playoffs last season was actually a 22-year-old man. Police say the basketball star was really Guerdwich Montimere, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti who school officials say was recognized Florida coaches as having been a star high school player in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a few years ago...More

Family Feared Dead After Home Swallowed by Sinkhole

Canada - All four members of a Canadian family were feared dead after their farmhouse was swallowed by a massive sinkhole. Police found the Prefontaine family — father Richard, his wife Line and their two daughters — in the basement of their home. Two were confirmed dead after their bodies were removed from the site, while the status of the other two was yet to be confirmed.....More

Michigan inmates get work picking up roadkill

SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) -- Saginaw County inmates are being asked to volunteer for work picking up roadkill. Sheriff William L. Federspiel told The Saginaw News that he got the idea to put inmates to work on the "Dead Carcasses Patrol Unit" after seeing a slew of dead skunks, deer and raccoons while driving to the office....
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Golf Reporter Makes On-Air Slip About Tiger Woods

An anchor on the Golf Channel made an embarrassing slip when referring to Tiger Woods withdrawal from The Players Championship in Florida, TMZ reported. Woods, who was playing in his third tournament since returning from his self-imposed sex scandal exile that lasted nearly five months, blamed a bulging disk in his upper back for his decision to pull out of the $9.5 million tournament. But while reporting on the withdrawal of Woods, the female anchor instead blamed a “bulging dick.---...More

Seniors Told They Can’t Pray Before Meals

PORT WENTWORTH, Georgia - Senior Citizens Inc. officials said the meals they are contracted by the city to provide to Ed Young visitors are mostly covered with federal money, which ushers in the burden of separating church and state. The usual open prayer before meals at the center was traded in for a moment of silence. The dilemma is being hashed out by the Port Wentworth city attorney, said Mayor Glenn “Pig” Jones. ---...More

How Oprah helped Lady Gaga overcome 'stage fright'

Lady Gaga's inclination towards bizarre behaviour reportedly took another turn at Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art....More

Growling sea lion pup pulled from under car

SAN DIEGO, California - A sea lion pup has been captured after hiding under a San Diego police car for four hours in the middle of a road. Police Sgt. Jack Knish says officers got a call about 4 a.m. that the pup was crossing a street. Knish says an officer parked his car in the middle of the road and went to investigate. That’s when the sea lion came out from under another car and scuttled under the patrol car....More

Kids Drank Dry Ice

Boston, Massachusetts - One of three Everett middle school students who drank melted dry ice on a dare said he’ll never do something like that again. The students at the Sumner Whitter Middle School ingested the ice during a sixth-grade science class after the boys dared each other to drink the toxic beverage. All three had to be rushed to Children’s Hospital.
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Up in smoke: Man wins at casino, loses it in blaze

SOLVAY, N.Y. (AP) -- A Syracuse-area man's lucky day at an upstate casino has gone up in smoke - along with his winnings. Kenneth Lamoree said he returned to his home in Solvay around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday after winning $3,200 at the Turning Stone casino in Verona. A little more than an hour later, a fire broke out in the two-family home he shares with his fiancee and their three children....---...More

Mass. church to offer worship services for dogs

DANVERS, Mass. (AP) -- A Massachusetts church is scheduled to launch a new monthly worship service - for dogs. Calvary Episcopal Church will offer later this month its first "Perfect Paws Pet Ministry" aimed at giving area pooches and their owners improved odds at getting canines into heaven. The Danvers church plans to hold the service on the third Sunday of every month, complete with communion for the humans and special blessings for pets. Dogs will get special treats....---...More