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Yahoo! News - Driver Survives After Car Plunges 30 Feet: "Mon Dec 27, 5:35 PM ET MEDINA, Ohio - A man escaped with minor injuries after his car plunged 30 feet off a highway overpass and landed wheels-down in the snow-covered median between lanes of freeway traffic.

'The front air bag deployed and right after that I felt a floating sensation,' Michael Doner said. 'I thought, 'I'm either dreaming or I'm falling.''
Doner, 60, of Medina, was making the three-hour drive to visit his mother on Christmas when a car skidded into his and a second car slammed into him, sending his car over the railing on the state Route 57 bridge over Interstate 71 about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland.
A helicopter crew flew him to Cleveland's MetroHealth Medical Center, where doctors told Doner his Honda's side air bag minimized his injuries. He had a broken collarbone and cracked ribs.
He was sent home less than six hours after the fall.
'I'm very lucky,' Doner said. 'The guy upstairs was looking out for me.' "

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Deer Breaks Into Store, Visits Bathroom : "Mon Dec 27, 9:11 PM ET

GLOSTER, Miss. - When Mississippi Soap Co. owner Greg Touchstone got a call at home about a break-in at his store, it sounded sinister: broken glass and a trail of blood. But police followed the blood to the bathroom where they found a buck deer, very much alive.

'It was shocking,' said policeman Tyrone Green. 'I think the deer was scared, and I was scared, too.'
Touchstone got a call at 7:30 p.m. Sunday that his business had been vandalized and the front plate glass window was broken. His father-in-law, Robert Bateman, arrived at the store before Touchstone and, along with Green, found a trail of blood leading from the front of the store to the bathroom in the back.
They figured the burglar was still in the bathroom, Touchstone said. Green drew his gun.
When he opened the door, the deer appeared, Touchstone said.
'I think it scared both of them half to death,' he said. 'That thing somehow got himself in the bathroom and shut the door behind him. You wouldn't believe the blood... That thing was trying to climb the walls to get out of there.'
Green shut the door and another Gloster policeman, George Sanders, arrived to kill the spike buck.
'It was badly cut. It wasn't going to make it,' Green said.
Touchstone figured the deer wandered into town and either attacked its reflection in the glass or got spooked by fireworks.
Or, Touchstone joked, "We make that all-natural buck soap and we figured he was trying to get in there and get it."
The buck soap is a scentless cover-up for hunters.
Touchstone said replacing the window will cost about $400, and the bathroom will have to be repainted."

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Yahoo! News - Snow White Loses 3 Dwarves Over Cost-Cutting: "Mon Dec 27, 9:30 AM ET BERLIN (Reuters) - Snow White had to make do with just four dwarves rather than the usual seven due to cost-cutting at a theater in the eastern German town of Stendal, the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported.

The Altmark Stendal theater said it could afford only six actors for its Christmas rendition of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,' which led to protests from theater-goers from the nearby western city of Hanover who wanted to see seven dwarves.
The theater said it had attached two puppets in dwarf outfits to a background wall to give the production six dwarves. The actor playing the prince was supposed to double as the seventh dwarf but only made one brief appearance on stage.
'The seventh dwarf wasn't on stage the whole time because he was in stuck down in the mine working overtime,' theater spokeswoman Susanne Kreuzer told the newspaper. "

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Yahoo! News - Red-Faced Man in Skirt Freed from Clothes Bin: "Mon Dec 27, 9:30 AM ET SYDNEY (Reuters) - A red-faced man wearing a mini-skirt was rescued by police on Sunday after he became wedged head-first in a clothing donation bin in an act of Christmas charity gone wrong.

Police said a startled member of the public had alerted them after seeing what they first thought was a woman trapped in the charity clothing bin late on Christmas Day.
Two patrol officers were unable to dislodge the man and a rescue squad was called. The unidentified 35-year-old man was eventually freed early on Sunday and told police he was donating clothes when he became stuck.
'I guess that's his own prerogative why he was wearing a skirt, it's not really an offense' a police spokeswoman said.
No charges had been laid, she said. "

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Yahoo! News - Twins swap clothes to flee jail: "Tue Dec 21, 5:46 AM ET

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A man has escaped from a Swedish jail after switching clothes with his identical twin brother, officials say.

The two 18-year-olds were left alone in a detention cell on Monday after one of them had just been sentenced to 10 months in a reformatory school for assault and robbery.
The convict walked free from the jail after switching clothes and pretending to be his brother.
His brother then told wardens they now had the wrong man and his true identity was confirmed by fingerprinting. He was arrested for aiding a felon, but was also released a few hours later. He may face charges.
'We were quite simply duped. They are probably having a good laugh somewhere right now,' said Lars-Ake Pettersson, head of the jail in Kronoberg in Stockholm on Tuesday.
The convict is still being pursued by police. "

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Yahoo! News - Police Track Down Robber for Being Nice: "Wed Dec 22, 6:01 PM ET
ZAGREB, Croatia - A man who robbed 26 stores and betting offices over a nine-month period was tracked down by police because he was nice to his victims.

The 25-year-old man called the people in the stores 'honey' or 'kitten,' and told them: 'You are very dear,' 'This is a tiny little robbery' and 'Take some of the money yourself, babe.'
Zagreb police said Wednesday informants identified the man by the kind of language he used.
The suspect, a drug addict who was not identified, was arrested and subsequently confessed to the robberies, police said. He told them he used a plastic revolver. "

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Yahoo! News - Women Allegedly Assault Man With Tongs: "Wed Dec 22, 8:57 PM ET SAVANNAH, Ga. - Police are looking for two women they say sexually assaulted a man with a pair of cooking tongs in a drug-related attack.

Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan police say the victim, a 25-year-old man, awoke Saturday morning with a metal object protruding from his body.
The victim, who police say was using cocaine at the time, told police he does not remember much of what happened.
He told doctors he was drinking and using cocaine at his mobile home Friday night when he saw two women outside his home and invited them in.
The victim's cousin took him to Memorial Health University Medical Center Saturday after he complained of pain. Doctors surgically removed an object identified as 'one half of a pair of food tongs,' and turned it over to police.
No information was available on the man's condition, according to a hospital spokesman.
The two women are wanted on aggravated sexual battery charges, but police say they aren't having much luck finding them.
'We have no descriptions of the women, being that (the victim) is not cooperating with the police,' police spokesman Sgt. Mike Wilson said. 'And there's little we can do to urge cooperation.' "

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Yahoo! News - Tower Blast Sends Steel Bolt Into Bedroom: "Thu Dec 23, 4:58 PM ET CLEVELAND - A Cleveland couple were jarred awake when a three-inch steel bolt crashed through their window and landed on their bed. Walter Currier and Faith Wiley weren't hurt by the bolt but were unnerved by the incident that included a deafening sound.

The bolt apparently was shot into their house by an explosion Tuesday night on an electric company tower that sits about 40 feet outside their window.
Currier compared the sound to the big guns he heard during the Korean War. 'It was an awful explosion,' he said.
The utility tower was aflame, Currier said.
FirstEnergy spokeswoman Ellen Raines said workers were trying Wednesday to determine what caused the explosion."

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Yahoo! News - Market May Pull Microwaveable Stuffed Toys: "Thu Dec 23, 9:23 PM ET BOULDER, Colo. - Whole Foods Markets is reconsidering whether to continue selling a line of microwaveable stuffed animals that an educator said could lead children to believe there is nothing wrong with putting their pets in household appliances.

Scott Simons, regional manager of the Texas-based organic foods market, said Wednesday that officials will consult with buyers to determine if the Toasty Tots products should be sold in their stores.
'We listen to our customers,' Simons said. 'They bring up great points, and we are a very sensitive company.'
The soft plush animals can be heated in the microwave to become warm dolls.
Mike McBreen, who teaches family education classes in Boulder, said he raised the concerns because he believes the toys could give children the wrong idea. He said he has had clients whose children have put cats and dogs in the washer, dryer and even oven.
'Little kids, preschoolers, and kids even in first grade don't realize that you can't do things like that,' he said. 'It's beyond their levels of comprehension. Older kids, when they start getting into mischief, don't need any more suggestions.' "

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Yahoo! News - Give a goat for Christmas: "LONDON (Reuters) - Looking for a last minute Christmas gift? Think goat!

You will pay 24 pounds for a goat or 10 pounds for a brood of chickens, tell a friend or relative that this is their Christmas present, and it will be sent to a Third World family to provide milk, meat, manure and offspring for trade.
People have bought 31,000 goats and 500,000 chickens under the scheme set up by the international aid agency Oxfam, not to mention 650,000 tree seedlings to provide wood and shade and prevent soil erosion. Other aid agencies have similar projects.
'Not only do people like the idea of giving something so unusual at Christmas, but you can also see how a goat, chicken, bike or midwife mill make a difference to a person struggling against poverty,' Oxfam manager Douglas Graham said. "

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Yahoo! News - Firefighters Burn Down Own Sauna: "Thu Dec 23,10:11 AM ET HELSINKI (Reuters) - A squad of fire-fighters accidentally set their own sauna ablaze but could not extinguish the fire despite their training.

The sauna, at Lappi, 140 miles west of Helsinki, was destroyed despite the volunteer fire-fighters' efforts, Finnish news agency STT said.
The fire Wednesday caused no injuries.
Bathing in a sauna is a national pastime in Finland, especially in winter, and most households have access to one. "

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unReactive.comYa I know I haven't posted in a while, Deal with it! :) Dave

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Yahoo! News - Utah Man Pays $82 Fine in Pennies: "Thu Dec 2, 1:05 PM ET Strange News - AP
SALT LAKE CITY - A Manti man has a penny for Sanpete County's thoughts. About 8,200 of them, actually.

Grant Petersen withdrew that many copper coins from his bank and delivered them in a bucket to pay an $82 fine he got for driving with a burnt-out headlight.
Court officials are apparently not amused, and have asked Petersen to come back in and offer a more 'acceptable' form of payment. They say state policy allows clerks to reject unusual forms of payment, and it's going to waste county resources for someone to count all that change.
Petersen says he doesn't plan on honoring that request. He says money is money, and U.S. law provides that coins are legal tender. "

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Yahoo! News - Someone Breaks Into House, Turns Up HeatHARBORCREEK, Pa. - An Erie County homeowner returned from a Florida visit to even warmer climes — his house, where police say someone had broken in and had turned up the man's thermostat all the way.
Whoever broke into Paul Rogala's Harborcreek Township home did so by forcing open a basement window. The person then used duct tape to cover a hole in the window — but before leaving, turned up the thermostat and turned on the furnace fan so it was running constantly, state police said.
Rogala turned the thermostat down to 50 degrees when he left Nov. 20 for the visit to 80-degree Florida. He and his family returned Monday, police said.
The house was not otherwise ransacked or disturbed, and nothing appeared to be stolen, Rogala said Wednesday.

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Yahoo! News - Man 'Shushed' in Theater Gets 6 Months: "ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A man was sentenced Thursday to six months in jail for assaulting a man who shushed him during a movie, leaving the victim with a punctured lung and broken ribs.

According to testimony during his October trial, Paul Elrod, 39, arrived late to a movie in March and told his wife that he had had trouble finding a parking space.
Jamin Eisenbach, 51, turned and said, 'Sshh,' putting a finger to his mouth. Eisenbach testified that he felt the back of his seat being kicked several times during the show, heard coughing behind him and felt blowing in his hair.
After the movie, Eisenbach said Elrod kicked him in the chest and he fell backward down a few steps and hit a railing. He was hospitalized nine days.
Elrod admitted during the trial he was upset over being shushed, but said he was defending himself in the fight.
The judge also ordered Elrod to pay more than $13,000 restitution and take anger management classes."

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Yahoo! News - Man Impaled by 6-Inch Hook Through Skull: "Thu Dec 2, 5:19 PM ET SAN ANTONIO - A 6-inch hook was embedded in a man's skull in an accident at a heavy equipment dealership Thursday, but he was in stable condition despite still having a portion of the hook in his head, authorities said.

Rescuers needed about two hours to free the hook from the front-end loader it had been attached to at Holt Caterpillar, then flew the man to University Hospital. Rescue workers said the man was conscious and talking.
Holt is the largest U.S. Caterpillar equipment dealer and sells, rents, leases and services new and used Caterpillar equipment, engines and generator sets in stores stretching from the Rio Grande to the Red River, many located along the Interstate 35 corridor.
The men's identity wasn't released. "

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Yahoo! News - Lava Lamp Left on Stove Explodes, Kills Man: "Wed Dec 1, 9:12 AM SEATTLE (Reuters) - A Washington state man who placed a lava lamp on a hot stove died when the lamp exploded and a glass shard pierced his heart, police said on Tuesday.

Phillip Quinn, 24, was found dead in his trailer home on Sunday night in Kent, about 15 miles south of Seattle.
'There appeared to have been an explosion that was centered on the stove top. There were glass fragments all over, embedded in the walls,' said Paul Petersen, a Kent police spokesman.
A lava lamp features blobs of wax in liquid that rise and fall in a container when heated by a bulb at the base of the lamp.
Quinn was probably standing in front of the lamp when it exploded, then stumbled into his bedroom and died, Petersen said, citing a medical examiner's report. "

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Yahoo! News - Love-making couple spark emergency: "Wed Oct 20,11:29 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Police sprang into operation after receiving an emergency '999' phone alert from a woman apparently in some distress -- only to discover it had accidentally been made by a couple having sex.

Officers at Durham became alarmed when the call came through to their headquarters in the middle of the night and all they could hear was what sounded like a woman crying with a man's voice in the background.
Police traced the number and rushed to the scene, where they found the embarrassed and dishevelled couple who explained they were 'messing around'.
'It happened while they were having sex. The woman had depressed with her foot the '9' button on the phone which happened to be on the floor,' a Durham police spokesman said on Wednesday.
'It certainly put a smile on the faces on the police side -- we were just very relieved it wasn't a violent situation and that the couple were clearly getting on very well together.' "

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Yahoo! News - Driver fined for forcing pony into hatchback: "Thu Oct 21,11:10 AM ET

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch police have fined the driver of a small hatchback car after spotting a Shetland pony crammed in the back.

'The small Shetland pony had no room to move and his head was pressed against the window,' police said on Thursday. A woman on the back seat held the animal by a rope.
Police fined the 42-year-old German driver of the Volkswagen Polo 220 euros (150 pounds) for improper transport of the animal, just bought on a local Dutch market.
'Once the driver has obtained an export certificate, the pony can go to Germany,' police said. "

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Kravitz Sued for $300G Over Toilet Damage : "Sun Oct 24, 3:05 AM ET Strange News - APNEW YORK - An insurance company has sued Lenny Kravitz, saying it had to pay for more than $300,000 worth of water damage in a neighbor's apartment after one of Kravitz's toilets overflowed two months ago.

Amica Mutual Insurance Co. says in court papers that the apartment of retired executive Joel M. Disend 'sustained catastrophic water damage' on Aug. 1 due to Kravitz's 'allowing a commode to become blocked, clogged and congested with various materials.'
Because of the damage, according to papers filed Wednesday in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, Amica had to pay $333,849.77 to fix Disend's condominium apartment on the floor below Kravitz's flat in their SoHo building.
No description of Disend's apartment was available, but Kravitz's 6,000-square-foot duplex, which he bought in October 2000 for $8 million, reportedly has five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a billiards room and a 3,000 square-foot terrace.
The Grammy-winning musician's building also has rocker Courtney Love as a tenant.
Disend, 62, retired in 2000 as chairman and chief executive of New York Life Benefit Services, a financial consulting company and retirement plan provider.
Amica's lawyer, Allen D. Werter, did not return calls for comment.
A spokesperson for Kravitz also did not return calls for comment."

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Yahoo! News - Couple Allegedly Have Sex in Shoe StoreMon Oct 25, 1:19 PM ET
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Two out-of-towners got caught in a rain shower, and decided to seek refuge by breaking into a shoe store. Then one thing led to another — at least that's what the couple told the officer who found them having sex amid new boots in the store's display window.
The officer responding to a burglar alarm at Hacienda Western Wear on Tuesday tapped on the glass door, disturbing Pauline Grace Rainwater, 20, and Brandon Lee Clark, 18. The couple was naked, but Clark managed to cover himself with one hand, and wave at the police officer with the other.
The officer told the couple to get dressed. Court records show they did — and then they took off running. A call for backup brought more officers to the streets, and the two were arrested.
Clark and Rainwater were charged Thursday with burglary, resisting an officer, assaulting an officer and indecent exposure. Bail for each of the transients was set at $7,500.

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Yahoo! News - Deer Crashes Through Store Window in S.D.: "Mon Oct 25, 5:10 PM ET SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A store owner said it would take at least a day to clean up after a deer crashed through a window and knocked over displays and merchandise inside.

The doe darted through traffic and through a side window at Balloons, Bears and Bouquets in southwest Sioux Falls on Sunday.
'So if there's any gratification, it's that it was a smaller window versus a larger (front) window,' said owner Ken Brunick.
Bystanders watched as the deer knocked over plants and displays in its search for a way out. Officers with the city's animal control department killed the deer and removed it. "

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Yahoo! News - Bart Simpson Would Be Proud of Them: "Fri Oct 22,10:01 AM ET MILAN (Reuters) - Four Italian teenagers have confessed to flooding one of Milan's best known schools, causing an estimated 500,000 euros ($630,900) in damage, because they did not want to sit a Greek exam.

The three girls and one boy, aged between 16 and 17, delivered a letter to the school's headmaster on Thursday, explaining how last weekend they blocked drains in a bathroom before they turned on washbasin taps and left them running.
The headmaster, Carlo Arrigo Pedretti, said the pupils wrote in the letter that they flooded the school to avoid having to sit their ancient Greek test on Monday morning.
'I am stunned, I cannot believe it,' Pedretti said. 'These kids have no idea of the consequence of their actions.'
The Parini school, located in the heart of Milan and which was recently refurbished, is the oldest state school in Italy.
The pupils have been suspended from school until next Monday. They were questioned by police on Thursday and could be put under investigation for aggravated vandalism, breaking and entering and causing a disruption to public services. "

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Yahoo! News - 7-Eleven Gives Woman $711 Bonus for Baby: "ESSEXVILLE, Mich. - For 7-Eleven employee Erin Kappen, a surprise was in store when she had a baby. Because Parker John VanWormer weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces when he was born Oct. 4, Kappen received a check for $711 from Garb-Ko Inc., which operates the Essexville 7-Eleven store where she has worked part-time for 18 months.

Saginaw-based Garb-Ko pays the $711 bonus to any employee giving birth to a 7-pound, 11-ounce baby. It operates 90 stores in Michigan, nine in Indiana and eight in Ohio.
'It's not something that happens every day, but through the 26 years that I have been with this company, it has happened several times,' Larry Hauck, the company's marketing director, told The Bay City Times for a Tuesday story.
Kappen, 22, of Bay City, said she hoped to use some of the gift money to open a bank account for Parker and pay some bills with the rest.
'I had no idea they were going to give me a check,' said Kappen, whose son now weighs 8 pounds and 5 ounces. 'I never knew that they had a program like that.' "

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Yahoo! News - Police Raid Cockroach-Infested Apartment: "Mon Oct 4, 4:11 PM ET ANSONIA, Conn. - They were looking for drugs, but also found bugs. Undercover agents raided an apartment early Saturday morning and found the place overrun with cockroaches.

Officers said the property was 'disgusting' and 'unsanitary.'
They also said they discovered some marijuana, cocaine and drug-packaging materials, but the tenants weren't home. Police said someone attempted to fumigate the apartment, but apparently was unsuccessful.
'Apparently, the bugs got to the dealers before the cops did,' Shelton Det. Sgt. Michael Madden said.
Police said they anticipate making arrests in connection with the raid. "

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Yahoo! News - Nameplate Switch Disrupts Council Meeting: "Wed Oct 6, 5:01 PM ET NITRO, W.Va. - A city councilwoman refused to take her seat because someone switched her nameplate with another council member and glued them down, leading the mayor to order the police chief to find the culprit.

Brenda Tyler refused to take her seat for Tuesday's meeting, said City Recorder Joan McClanahan. Councilman Tim Harrison tried to make a point of order about the seating arrangements, but Mayor Rusty Casto refused to recognize it until all regular business on the agenda was discussed.
Casto called the meeting 'the worst one I've seen in 25 years as mayor or a councilman.'
If the culprit is a city employee, he or she will be suspended for three days, Casto said.
McClanahan said many people use the council chambers, and it's not uncommon to find the nameplates moved.
'We will not be able to do anything for this city until we can resolve our own problems and not carry on childish and petty arguments,' McClanahan said. "

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Yahoo! News - Man Pours Gas Down Toilet, Causing Blast: "SALT LAKE CITY - If you can't stand the heat, don't pour gasoline down the toilet. An apartment tenant made that $75,000 mistake Tuesday.

The man came home for lunch and found gas leaking from the tank of his car. He caught the gas, and decided to dispose of it by dumping it down the toilet.
But the pilot light of a water heater ignited the fumes, causing a small explosion. The blast destroyed the porcelain toilet, and the intense heat from the flames melted the remaining pieces.
The man and three other people were able to get out of the home before the fire spread.
Officials said gasoline and kerosene should never be poured into the drain or toilet or sewer system. "

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Yahoo! News - Drunk Dozes Off in Sex Shop, Sparks Alert: "Wed Oct 6, 9:23 AM ET BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man got more excitement than he bargained for in a sex shop when he dozed off in a video booth, got locked in overnight and was mistaken for a burglar by police as he tried to get out, authorities said on Tuesday.

'He'd had rather a lot to drink and had gone in to enjoy himself,' said a spokesman for police in the southwestern city of Mannheim. 'Seemingly the effects of the alcohol proved the strongest stimulus though. He fell asleep.'
When the 50-year-old woke up in the dark inside the closed sex emporium, he struggled in vain to get out, only to set off the shop's alarms and alert police, who soon arrived.
'The officers initially thought he was a burglar,' the spokesman said. 'But he managed to provide them with proof that he was telling the truth.' "

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Yahoo! News - Sex in a Bar Bathroom -- Is It Legal?: "Wed Oct 6, 9:22 AM ET
ROME (Reuters) - Making love in a bar lavatory does not breach public decency laws so long as the door is shut, an Italian court ruled on Tuesday.

A Swiss couple was accused of committing obscene acts after the owner of a bar in the northern Italian town of Como caught them having sex in the lavatory, Ansa news agency reported.
State prosecutors demanded a six-month prison term for the un-named male defendant and a five-month term for his partner.
But Judge Luciano Storaci threw out the case, saying public decency was not offended because the door was closed.
However, he fined the Swiss man 200 euros ($246) for breaking the lock on the lavatory after he was caught with his trousers down.
'If the barman had given me time to get dressed then nothing would have happened,' Ansa quoted the Swiss woman as saying. "

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Yahoo! News - CVS Offers $4 Off When You Buy Stomach: "Thu Sep 23, 7:41 AM ET
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Some drug store customers in Binghamton, N.Y., are doing a double-take this week when they receive a bonus coupon after making a purchase.
The cash register coupon distributed by a CVS store promises a discount on the customer's next purchase of a stomach.
The coupon offers a savings of $4 'on any stomach purchase of 15 dollars or more.'
While some CVS customers may have found the offer a bit funny, the store manager didn't sound amused when asked about it.
The manager says the store wasn't selling stomachs, just stomach remedies. "

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Yahoo! News - Anti-Ketchup Comments Draw Fire From Heinz: "Thu Sep 23,10:54 AM ETSARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Is putting Heinz ketchup on a burger tantamount to supporting John Kerry president?

An upstate New York lawmaker apparently thinks so.
Republican state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco recently told the crowd at a GOP cookout in Saratoga County that using Heinz ketchup would benefit Kerry's presidential campaign.
The Democratic senator from Massachusetts is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, whose late husband was a descendant of the condiment giant's founder.
The H-J Heinz Company caught wind of Tedisco's comments and responded, saying its ketchup is a nonpartisan condiment enjoyed by 'Republicans, Democrats and Independents alike.'
The company says Heinz Kerry is involved with Heinz-funded endowments and foundations, but not the company's ketchup business.
Nevertheless, Tedisco says he's 'a mustard man' until the November election. "

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Yahoo! News - Court Rules a Horse Is Not a VehicleThu Sep 23,10:55 AM ET
PITTSBURGH - The state Supreme Court ruled that Pennsylvania's drunken driving law can't be enforced against people on horseback, a decision that inspired the dissenting justice to wax poetic.
The court ruled Wednesday in a case against two men in Mercer County in 2002. Riders Keith Travis, 41, and Richard Noel, 49, were charged with drunken driving along with a man driving a pickup who allegedly rear-ended the horse Travis was riding away from a bar on a dark country road.
All three men failed field sobriety tests, police said, but a judge threw out the charges against Noel and Travis after they argued that the word "vehicles" in the state's drunken-driving law doesn't apply to horses.
Prosecutors said the code specifically includes people riding animals. But the majority justices cited a similar case in Utah, where judges said such a statute is confusing and too vague about which regulations would apply to animals as well as vehicles.
Justice Michael Eakin, who is fond of writing rhyming opinions, summed up the lone dissent with two stanzas mimicking the theme song of "Mister Ed" — a 1960s TV sitcom about a talking horse:

"A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
but the Vehicle Code does not divorce
its application from, perforce,
a steed as my colleagues said.
"'It's not vague,' I'll say until I'm hoarse,
and whether a car, a truck or horse
this law applies with equal force,
and I'd reverse instead."

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Yahoo! News - Beer Belly Bandit Strikes Again in Fla.TAMPA, Fla. - The "Beer Belly Bandit" has struck again after a 10-month break, adding to the dozens of bank robberies he has committed in Florida since 2000.
The robber, known for his bulging midsection, hit a bank on Tuesday, pulling a gun on two tellers. It was the first robbery he had committed since November, when he held up a bank in Sarasota, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.
The amount stolen was not disclosed.
"Normally with investigations like this, you get an abundance of leads, especially with a $25,000 reward," said agent Steve Davenport. "We're not getting much at all. It's kind of perplexing."
Investigators are not sure where the bandit has been for the past 10 months. Jail is one possibility, but Davenport said police have the bandit's description and he probably would have been recognized.
The Beer Belly Bandit — also known as the "Band-Aid Bandit," because he had a bandage on his face in some holdups — has a skin condition on his hands and arms that makes his skin look bleached.

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Yahoo! News - Students Punished for Dorm Stripper PoleThu Sep 23, 6:43 PM ET
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Three students at Jacksonville University have been punished for installing a stripper pole in an on-campus apartment and taking pictures as fully clothed women performed on it at a party. A female student who won a dance contest also was disciplined.
About a dozen women competed for a $100 Victoria's Secret gift certificate Sept. 11, said James Foster, a 20-year-old who hosted the party. None of the women disrobed.
The men bought the steel pole from Home Depot, bolted it to the concrete ceiling and attached the bottom to a plywood stage covered in red felt.
"Honestly, we just wanted to say we had a stripper pole," Foster said. "We never actually expected girls to dance on it."
When university officials ordered the men to remove the pole, they complied, but not before building a huge party around it.
Signs reading "Pole Dancers Wanted" were posted around campus and the men bought large quantities of beer. Friends were enlisted friends to check identifications and manage security. They charged $5 for men, and women were let in free.
The party ended shortly after the beer ran out.
John Daigle Jr., a school spokesman, said the party's hosts may have violated the university's alcohol policy and broken rules against indecent behavior and the making of unapproved changes to university property.
Daigle, citing school privacy rules, would not identify the students or the punishment they received, but said: "The university took this seriously and the punishment was appropriate."
Punishments at the university can range from a reprimand to dismissal.
Foster said he was put on residential probation through Nov. 9 and had to write a letter of apology.
Daigle said he later learned the woman who won the dance contest was also disciplined, but would not say what her punishment was. "There was no public nudity involved here," he said.
Residential adviser Amber Davis said the party degraded women.
"There are other ways they can go out and get a girlfriend if that's what they want," she said.
The men have taken down the pole and converted the stage to a pingpong table.

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Yahoo! News - Safe Haven for Naked Yoga: "Thu Sep 23, 7:37 AM ETSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Nudists, grab your yoga mats and head for San Francisco.

City prosecutors on Wednesday said it was not illegal to perform naked yoga in the city -- even at the crowded tourist destination of Fisherman's Wharf.
Prosecutors dropped charges against a limber nudist, known locally as the 'Naked Yoga Guy,' who made a habit of striking yoga poses in the buff in order to promote a book and his lifestyle.
The Naked Yoga Guy, whose name is George Monty Davis, had stripped to stretch near Fisherman's Wharf, prompting a public complaint. But prosecutors decided they had a weak public nuisance case against him because local laws do not bar public nudity.
'Simply being naked on the street is not a crime in San Francisco,' said Debbie Mesloh, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
'To bring a case, a person would have to exhibit lewd behavior, block traffic or impede pedestrians on a sidewalk, something along those lines.'
In another case involving a Los Angeles teenager who dropped his pants to expose his bottom, or 'moon,' passing motorists from a nearby sidewalk, a California appellate court ruled nudity itself is not a crime, Mesloh said. "

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Yahoo! News - Marijuana Smoker Beheads Two Women: "BLANTYRE, Malawi (Reuters) - A Malawian man believed to be high on marijuana beheaded two women with an axe Friday, police in the southern African country said.

The man, in his mid-20s, beheaded a 52-year-old woman while she worked in her garden with her daughter and did the same to a 68-year-old friend who came to the daughter's aid, police spokesman Kelvin Maigwa told Reuters.
'The unsuspecting woman greeted the stranger who, instead, threw the axe at her, aiming at the chest,' Maigwa said.
He said police found marijuana, or hemp, when they searched the suspect's home.
'The house was full of stench from recently smoked hemp. We believe he had an overdose of the hemp that made him go berserk,' Maigwa said, adding that the walls of the house bore quotations from famous reggae songs.
Police have launched a manhunt for the killer, who fled into the bush after the attacks"

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Yahoo! News - Thieves rob bus full of policemen: "Wed Sep 15, 6:03 PM ET

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Forty-six Brazilian policemen travelling to a sports competition were caught with their guard down this week when four Brazilian thieves robbed the bus carrying them to the event.

The bus with 46 unarmed policemen from northeastern Paraiba state was headed to the city of Salvador in Bahia when two cars with armed robbers forced them to stop on the country's main interstate highway on Tuesday.
'The robbers took their cameras, cellular phones, wallets and even the sports uniforms and sneakers,' a police spokesman said.
The suspects, who escaped, apparently did not know the bus was full of police when they stopped it, he said.
'We are looking for them, but I cannot say there's any particular ardour here due to the fact that policemen have been robbed.' "

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Yahoo! News - Pa. Golfer Cleared of Not Yelling 'Fore': "Fri Sep 17, 1:46 PM ETCARLISLE, Pa. - A golfer plunked in the face by an errant ball was unable to convince a jury that the man who hit him was negligent for failing to yell 'Fore!'

James A. Tomkins claimed fellow golfer George Long didn't yell the standard warning when he hit a wayward shot on the Cumberland Golf Course in 1999.
The ball hit Tomkins in the right eye, knocking him out of his golf cart.
Jurors deliberated two hours Tuesday before deciding that Long was not negligent.
Long, who claimed he did yell a warning, said golfers in Pennsylvania would be happy with the verdict.
'When you play golf, you take a risk,' he said.
Potential jurors were asked if they were golfers, and about half of those picked to hear the case said they were either casual or serious about the game. "

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Yahoo! News - What Are the Odds of a Ghost Closing Your School?: "NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Fear of a ghost who knocks on doors and wafts the scent of aftershave lotion along corridors has forced a prestigious college for statisticians in the Indian capital to close.

Students of the Indian Statistical Institute said the ghost of a dead classmate had knocked on doors, jostled them on staircases and left traces of aftershave lotion and cigarette smoke, the Times of India said.
Students linked the aftershave aroma to a first-year student who died last month of a rare heart condition.
'A fear psychosis had gripped some students. We thought it was best to allow them to go home if they wanted to,' the newspaper quoted Rajeev Karandikar, head of the prestigious institute, as saying. "

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Yahoo! News - Man OK After Being Run Over by Train: "Thu Sep 9, 7:05 PM ET
LE MARS, Iowa - A man who police say was intoxicated was unhurt after a train drove over him. Shawn M. Polley, 44, of Bowling Green, Ky., was passed out between the rails of the train tracks last week, police said.

The train's engineer hit the emergency break and notified authorities that the northbound train may have hit a pedestrian. Two of the train's engines passed over Polley's body without hitting him, Officer Jay King said.
Authorities woke Polley and removed him from the tracks after the first engine was disconnected.
'He was sleeping, passed out, whatever you want to call it,' King said. 'He's just a lucky guy.'
Polley was arrested for public intoxication and interference with official acts. "

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Yahoo! News - Man Gets 6 Months for Swinging Alligator: "Fri Sep 10, 7:14 AM ET
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A man who swung an alligator at his girlfriend during an argument was sentenced to six months in jail.

David Havenner, 41, of Port Orange, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery and possession of an alligator, said Linda Pruitt, spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office. He changed his earlier plea of not guilty, she said Wednesday.
He was sentenced to six month in jail with 48 days credit for time served during the Sept. 1 hearing, according to court records.
Sheriff's officials said Havenner was keeping the 3-foot gator in his bathtub and swung it at his girlfriend, Nancy Monico, 39, during an argument on July 16.
Monico told investigators that Havenner beat her with his fists, then grabbed the gator and swung it at her as she tried to escape. The gator struck Monico at least once, after which time Havenner threw empty beer bottles at her and then kicked her out of their mobile home, she told investigators.
Havenner told investigators that Monico bit his hand because she was upset that they had run out of alcohol.
The alligator was later released into the St. Johns River, wildlife commission officials said."

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Yahoo! News - Racing Pigeons Face Dope Testing: "Fri Sep 10, 8:48 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's pigeon racers are being subjected to random dope tests as the sport's ruling body clamps down on suspected foul play.

The Royal Pigeon Racing Association has sent test kits to 60 race organizers across England after complaints some birds have been given performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids and synthetic hormones.
'Just like any other sport, there is a suspected small, determined band of cheats who are spoiling things for other owners,' Peter Bryant, the Royal Pigeon Racing Association's general manager, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Thursday.
'We are hoping to send more and more of the kits to smaller organizations. It is sad that it has come to this but it is the only way we are going to know if the sport is clean.'
Britain has more than 50,000 pigeon racers, known as 'pigeon fanciers,' breeding a million birds a year to race against each other in what can be long-distance endurance events. "

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Yahoo! News - Woman Gets Ticket While Stuck in Traffic: "Fri Sep 3, 9:33 AM ET
OSLO, Norway - Renathe Opedal was hopelessly stuck in traffic during rush hour when an overeager attendant slapped her a $73 parking ticket.

Opedal, 32, couldn't believe it, took the case to court and won.
'I'm really glad I won,' she said by telephone on Friday. 'But it took much too much time and energy. I'm glad it's over.'
On March 26, traffic had backed up in the southern town of Kristiansand during rush hour and Opedal's car got stuck in the middle.
According to the ruling by the Kristiansand District Court, the city parking attendant misunderstood the situation and thought Opedal had caused the traffic jam by parking illegally.
The court ruled that the traffic attendant was wrong, annulled the ticket, and ordered the traffic department to pay Opedal $585 in costs.
'Parking companies do some pretty strange things sometimes,' said Opedal. 'They should have ... come to their senses. Instead, we had to go to court.'
Kristiansand is on Norway's southern tip, about 175 miles south of Oslo."

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Yahoo! News - Airplane's Toilet Ice Crashes Garden Party: "Mon Sep 6, 9:50 PM ET
GRAZ, Austria - It was an inelegant intruder on a sunny afternoon: a chunk of ice from a jetliner toilet that broke free and slammed into an Austrian family's garden.

No one was injured when the ice tumbled from the sky Sunday afternoon in Graz, about 120 miles south of Vienna, authorities said. The fragment bore deep into the soil in the garden, where the unidentified family was enjoying a lazy summer afternoon.
Police said the 6-inch ice ball almost certainly came from an airliner toilet, judging from its blue color and its odor. They did not elaborate."

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Yahoo! News - Shoppers Foil Juggling Lipstick Thief: "BERLIN (Reuters) - A man who walked into a shop and amused shoppers by juggling with lipsticks and other expensive cosmetics from its counters faces charges after being spotted pocketing them during his performance, police said Tuesday.

The juggler had bagged more than 200 euros in cosmetics in the store in the western town of Euskirchen when staff realized something was amiss and called the police.
'People watched the 18-year-old man gradually put the items in his bag,' a police spokesman said."

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Yahoo! News - 'Thanks' for the Cash, Taunts ATM Thief: "BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police are looking for a thief who left a word of thanks after stealing 4.7 million baht ($113,000) from an automatic teller machine at the weekend.

'He wrote the word 'Thanks' on the side of the tampered ATM with a felt-tipped pen. The hand-writing was rather neat. I think he may be trying to taunt us,' Lieutenant-Colonel Nathachai Thepsuporn told Reuters on Monday.
Nathachai, the deputy police commander in the northern province of Phrae province where the robbery took place, said the heist appeared to have been the work of someone with a fair knowledge of how an ATM operates.
Near the looted ATM, police found a box of metal-cutting acetylene equipment the thief had used to get through two security doors protecting the rear of the machine. ($1 = 41.60 baht)"

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Yahoo! News - Sounds Like an Idea for a TV Series...: "BERLIN (Reuters) - Two German nuns took the law into their own hands and recovered a picture of the Virgin Mary stolen from their Franciscan hospital, police said Tuesday.

The engraving vanished Saturday and Sisters Georgia and Isabella decided not to leave the case just to the police.
'The two nuns took a car and scoured the local area on Sunday morning,' said a police spokesman. 'They got lucky and found the picture at a flea market.'
'When the seller asked for 500 euros they said they would have to ring to get someone to bring the money. Instead they called the police,' he said.
The seller is being investigated for handling stolen goods."

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Yahoo! News - 10-Year-Old Caught Driving After Wreck
Tue Aug 31, 5:53 PM ET
LONDON - Firefighters got a surprise when they cut a driver from a wrecked car early Tuesday — he was 10 years old.
The youngster was alone and driving his father's blue Rover 420 through Basildon, northeast of London, when he lost control and hit a lamppost around 5:30 a.m., police said. Police didn't say where the boy was going or how he got the car.
The boy, whose identity was not released, suffered a hand injury and was taken to Basildon General Hospital.

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Yahoo! News: Runaway Turtle Travels 3 Miles in 3 Months

LONDON - Herman the tortoise is more than 30 years old, but she can still cut a dash. The female tortoise has just been returned home after a rushing three miles across country in a little over three months, her owners said Wednesday.
"It is great to have her back," said owner Ken Swanston, 62, a retired fisherman from West Lilburn, near Alnwick in northeast England.
"Herman escaped from a hole in the garden fence when we were away on holiday at the end of May. We hunted high and low looking for her but we never found her and we even reported her missing to the police."
Herman's journey ended when a mailman found her on Amerside Moor, near Wooler, last week.
Herman — so named because she is a Herman tortoise — lives with four spur thigh tortoises, three females called Big Un, Hole in Shell and Lawnmower, and a male called Rambo, in a greenhouse in the Swanstons' garden. All five are in their 30s and have been together for the past 28 years.
Lisa Bolton, who runs the Wildlife In Need rescue center at Chatton, near Alnwick, where Herman was taken first, said the tortoise would have faced dangers including cars, combine harvesters, hungry foxes, badgers, stoats, weasels and even rats.
"Three miles is quite some distance to travel and for a tortoise it is a very long way," she said.

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Yahoo! News - Doctors Find Loose Change in Man's Stomach: "BANGKOK, Thailand - It was almost like breaking open a piggy bank. Doctors performing emergency surgery on a man who was rushed to hospital writhing in pain were stunned when more than 4.2 pounds of loose change spilled out of his stomach.

Sanguan Pongsawat, 37, who has a history of mental disorders, was operated on Tuesday in the northern town of Payao, said Dr. Sakchai Athawiboon of the Payao hospital.
Sakchai said that Sanguan, who lived with his mother, had been swallowing the coins for a long time without her knowledge.
'He is in safe condition. But he has to be in the hospital for some time in case of side effects because the metal coins had been in his body for a long time,' Sakchai said Wednesday.
The coins had turned black from stomach acid.
Sanguan was in excruciating pain on Tuesday and was taken to a hospital, where an X-ray showed hard objects in his stomach. They weren't identified until the surgery.
Payao is about 375 miles north of Bangkok. "

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Yahoo! News - Noisy Sex Session Awakens Entire Street: "Tue Aug 31,10:20 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A pair of young lovers so annoyed their neighbors with a noisy sex session that police had to go and ask them to lower the volume, police said on Tuesday.

Officers in the western city of Essen interrupted the couple shortly after midnight after neighbors, listening to the sounds through an open window, called to complain.
'Gradually more and more neighbors gathered in front of the house to investigate the noise,' said a police spokesman.
The embarrassed couple were asked to close the window and continue at a lower volume, he said."

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Yahoo! News - Teacher Sentenced for Slapping Leader: "Wed Sep 1, 8:48 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - An unemployed teacher received a four-month suspended sentence Friday and ordered to perform community service for slapping German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the face at a Social Democratic Party event in May.

The court in Mannheim described 52-year-old Jens Ammoser as a 'scatterbrain,' but said physical assault was an unacceptable way of expressing political discontent.
An program of welfare cuts has unleashed anger against Schroeder's government, and thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets. Earlier this week, protesters in the eastern city of Wittenberg threw eggs at Schroeder, but missed. "

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Yahoo! News - Coast Guards Use Popcorn for Oil Slick Drill: "Wed Sep 1, 8:31 AM ETSTOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Coast guards from Scandinavia and the Baltic delighted seagulls Wednesday by using popcorn to simulate an oil slick as they carried out an oil-spill emergency drill.

The area is permanently on high alert for spills because of intense tanker traffic -- which the World Wide Fund for Nature estimates could double in the next 10 years in the Baltic alone.
'Popcorn is good...as we don't want to cause any more pollution and nature will take care of what we don't pick up,' Swedish Coastguards spokesman Karl Gustav von Konow told Reuters. 'It also spreads like oil on the water's surface.'
Ten cubic meters of popcorn were used -- of the unsalted and unbuttered variety. The seagulls did not seem to mind, flocking around the oil tanker, nine coastguard vessels and two tugboats taking part in the drill near the Brofjorden refinery on the west coast of Sweden. "

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Yahoo! News - Three Killed in Rush for IKEA Vouchers in Saudi: "Wed Sep 1,11:13 AM ET
JEDDAH (Reuters) - Three men were trampled to death in a rush to claim vouchers at the first IKEA furniture showroom in Saudi Arabia Wednesday, hospital officials said.

Sixteen shoppers were injured at the Sweden-based furniture store opening in Jeddah. Medics revived some 20 customers who had fainted in the crush. IKEA said two were killed.
The rush was triggered by an offer for the first 50 shoppers to receive $150 in vouchers. An IKEA statement said more than 20,000 people showed up.
Hospital officials said two of the dead were a Pakistani and a Saudi national.
The IKEA statement said the company had worked closely with Saudi security officials to plan the opening.
IKEA is known for simple, reasonably priced products. "

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Yahoo! News - Store Clerk Accepts Fake $200 Bill, Makes Change: "PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - At first glance it looked like the real thing, so store clerk Kathryn Miller was happy to accept the $200 bill as payment -- and even make change.

The bill did carry a picture of President Bush, but he is not one of the presidents who appear on the U.S. currency and in any case there is no such thing as a $200 bill.
That did not stop Miller, who works at Fashion Bug, a women's clothing store in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, from taking the bill in payment for an item costing $99.
She also gave change to Deborah Trautwine, a resident of nearby Jeanette, said Jeanne Martin, a spokeswoman for the state police in Greensburg.
'Anyone with any bit of knowledge should have recognized that it wasn't the real thing,' Martin said.
Trautwine, who was located by police on the basis of information from the clothing store, was charged on Wednesday with forgery, theft by deception, and receiving stolen property.
The bill was probably a joke rather than a forgery, said Martin. 'It was some sort of gag money,' she said.
She didn't know whether Miller still works at Fashion Bug. "

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Yahoo! News - How Would You Like to Meet This Guy?: "Wed Sep 1, 9:32 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A man caught having sex with a blow-up doll in a busy public shopping arcade had to be physically parted from his rubber lover and escorted away, said police in Stuttgart Wednesday.

The 38-year-old man was caught with his trousers down early Monday evening after alarmed witnesses alerted the police.
'It was real, he was caught in mid-action with the doll,' said a press spokeswoman. Police said that they had considerable difficulty separating the drunken man from his partner. "

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Yahoo! News - Cow Earns Montana Rancher a Free Drink: "Wed Aug 25, 8:05 AM ET
BOZEMAN, Mont. - Rancher Skip Hougland figured it was an offer he couldn't refuse: Bring in a cow, get a free frozen blended coffee beverage.
So he took Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stuart, a Scottish Highland steer who generally goes by 'Charlie,' to a local Dairy Queen on Tuesday and got a free 'Moolatte' as part of a corporate promotion.
Hougland brought Charlie to town from his Willow Creek ranch after reading that people who brought a living cow to any participating business would be rewarded with a free coffee-flavored Dairy Queen version of a latte.
Charlie, who is 10, was the only animal that made an appearance at any of the area outlets of the Minneapolis-based chain.
Store manager Minde Erickson said she was surprised Hougland showed up with Charlie. 'It seems like a lot of work,' she said.
After numerous children finished marveling at Charlie, who has short legs, shaggy red hair and long horns, Hougland put the steer back in the trailer and collected his reward. "

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Yahoo! News - Student in Hot Water Over Ex-Lax Brownies: "Wed Aug 25,10:27 PM ET
FAIRMONT, Minn. - Pranksters take note: baking Ex-Lax into a tray of brownies and leaving them in the teacher's lounge could put a gross misdemeanor on your record.

That's what happened to Katie Jablinske, a former Fairmont high school student. Jablinske was originally charged with a felony, but she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for the lesser charge.
A judge released Jablinske without jail time under the condition she stay out of trouble for one year.
Jablinske's lawyer, Michael O'Rourke, said he and members of the public 'were surprised that something like this could be charged as a felony.'
'This was a prank,' he said.
Jablinske, 18, who moved to Nebraska to attend college, said in June she was shocked charges were filed in the first place. She said the brownies prank was just a joke and she meant no harm to any teachers.
No one ate the brownies, perhaps because rumors were circulating that they contained rat poison or marijuana.
Police Chief Greg Brolsma said there is nothing specific in the law making so-called pranks legal just because they're meant in jest. "

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Yahoo! News - Squirrel Runs Circles Around Yanks, Tribe: "Wed Aug 25,10:30 PM ET
CLEVELAND - This squirrelly newcomer caused quite a stir at Jacobs Field. A brown squirrel ran onto the field in the bottom of the third inning Wednesday night and ran circles around the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians.
After romping through the outfield, it dashed toward the infield to the delight of the cheering crowd. The squirrel then ran between Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter, who stood watching the critter.
After a brief delay, play continued when the squirrel ran out and settled down in center field. Several players smiled at the sight, and the squirrel was still out there in the fifth inning.
The Indians superimposed a team jersey over a photo of the squirrel on the giant television screen in center. "

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Yahoo! News - Ohio Woman Grateful for Hang-Up Call: "Thu Aug 26, 7:32 AM ET
SUMMERFORD, Ohio - A woman says her life was likely saved when she answered a hang-up phone call.

Mary Dhume was watching television Monday night when the phone in the next room rang. She got up to answer it, but there was no one at the other end of the line.
Suddenly, she heard breaking glass and saw her living room wall collapse onto the chair where she'd been sitting.
A pickup truck had missed the curve on the road in front of Dhume's home and smashed into the century-old house. Dhume said she saw the driver run away as she dialed 911.
Three hours later, State Highway Patrol troopers arrested Carlos Cummings, 41, of Mechanicsburg, on a charge of failing to control a vehicle.
'The phone ringing at that particular time? That's one of those things people would never believe,' Dhume said. 'Maybe it was God calling to tell me to get out of my living room.' "

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Yahoo! News - Worm Sightings Shut Hong Kong Public Pools: "Thu Aug 26, 7:40 AM ET
HONG KONG - A spate of worm sightings in public swimming pools has forced several closures and police said Thursday they have been called to investigate the case that's left Hong Kong feeling a bit squeamish.

The worms, actually mosquito larvae, don't pose a health threat but they have generated intense local media coverage including TV footage showing them wiggling in the water.
Worms have been found in three pools that have now been closed for cleaning, and police are trying to determine whether a crime has been committed.
The worm sightings emerged at the same time public pool lifeguards are locked in a wage dispute with the government, but the lifeguards have denied planting them.
Experts say swimming pools are not likely places for such worms to grow naturally.
'There may be a human factor in this,' said Paul Cheung, a leisure and cultural services official. "

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Student Charged With Clogging Toilet : Thu Aug 26, 7:37 AM ET
PORT OF SWEET GRASS, Mont. - Jesse Huffman insists he didn't do it on purpose, but the toilet he left plugged after "nature called" at this border crossing in north-central Montana has him facing criminal charges.
Toole County authorities charged the 19-year-old college student from Great Falls with criminal mischief after a border agent accused him of intentionally clogging the toilet.
Huffman said the clogged piping was completely unintentional, the result of an urgent, but natural bodily function.
"I've never been arrested before or anything like that, and I get arrested for taking a dump," said Huffman, a student at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Huffman was returning to Montana from a trip to Lethbridge, Alberta with four friends Saturday. Port authorities stopped their car for what was apparently a random search. The car's 19-year-old driver was cited for illegally possessing alcohol.
Huffman said he asked to use the bathroom while waiting for the driver.
A short time later, a port inspector discovered the toilet was clogged and threatened charges, Huffman said.
Cory Grayson, one of Huffman's friends, said he couldn't believe it when border agents first threatened charges.
"I didn't think they were serious at first, I was just laughing so hard," he said.
Port Director Larry Overcast said he could not comment on the case.
Huffman said he has hired an attorney and intends to fight the charge.

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Yahoo! News - 'Let's Just Cuddle': "Wed Aug 25, 8:26 AM ET
BERLIN (Reuters) - A leading German dictionary publisher plans to launch a guide it says will help men translate the subtext of female conversation.

The Langenscheidt publishing group, best known for its well-respected yellow foreign language dictionaries, will launch sales of a 128-page book to translate such baffling female banter as: 'Let's just cuddle' into 'No sex tonight please!.'
'Each themed chapter offers men behavioral tips and exposes hidden messages transmitted by women in everyday situations, such as on holiday or during shopping trips,' said Silke Exius, chief editor at Langenscheidt.
Other examples in the 'German-Woman/Woman-German' edition due out in October include explaining why a woman asks a man to take interest in the pair of shoes she may be trying on.
She wants him to look because he's about to pay for them. "

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'Sorcerer' Kills 10, Sells Bodies for Cremation: "Thu Aug 26, 9:11 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained a 'sorcerer' who killed 10 people and sold their bodies to bereaved families to cremate in the place of loved ones who were secretly buried, police and a state-run newspaper reported Thursday.
The 34-year-old man, surnamed Lin, strangled or poisoned the 10 villagers at his home, next to a temple, in the southern province of Guangdong, the Beijing Morning Post said.
Chinese tradition, especially in rural villages, holds that burial brings peace to the dead and tombs are placed according to the laws of geomancy. But in a country of 1.3 billion people, the seemingly haphazard siting of graves wastes scarce farmland.
Since 1978, when China launched its reform drive, all levels of government have recommended cremation to save land.
'This region cremates its dead, but local people prefer to be buried in the ground. People bought the bodies to be cremated in place of their relatives,' a police official told Reuters Thursday.
Lin, whom the newspaper called a sorcerer locals consulted to communicate with spirits, sold the bodies for 1,000 to 8,000 yuan ($120 to $966) each, the newspaper quoted local police as saying.
Police caught Lin plying his trade in corpses in mid-August in the city of Shantou, it said.
Chinese newspapers, unrestrained by the contempt of court laws of the West, often quote police confirming guilt or a confession before a defendant has been charged or the case has gone to court.
Communist China considers itself free of mass violence. Its sensationalist but still self-censoring media tend to play down cases of serial murderers.
A Beijing taxi driver was executed in June for killing seven people, including four prostitutes.
Last year, China executed one of its worst serial killers in history, a man who murdered 67 people and raped two dozen women in a four-year spree."

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Yahoo! News - Couple Find Cocaine Hidden in Hotel Chair: "Thu Aug 19,10:36 PM ET
GRAHAM, N.C. - For a brief time, the Best Western Inn here had a chair worth about $50,000. The chair in room 204 wasn't an antique. Instead, an Ohio couple who stayed in the room Saturday found 4.4 pounds of cocaine in the chair, police said.

Graham police Capt. Jeff Prichard said someone cut a slit in the chair's seat and tucked two packages of cocaine inside.
A truck driver from Ohio and his wife rented a room there Saturday and discovered the cocaine about 6 p.m., Officer Robert Lovette said in a police report.
The truck driver told Lovette that a package fell out when he moved the chair. The couple picked up the package, thought it might be narcotics and called 911.
Graham Officer R. Parks tested its contents and confirmed that it was cocaine.
As officers searched the room, the truck driver tipped the chair and police found a second package of cocaine. Each package contained about a kilo of powder cocaine.
The couple are not suspects.
Police are looking for others who stayed in the room recently. 'I wouldn't call them suspects, but they are someone we would like to speak with,' Prichard said. "

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Yahoo! News - Bear Ignores Blaring Music, Raids Garden: "Fri Aug 20, 5:09 PM ET
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Not even loud rock 'n' roll music could discourage a 350-pound bear that repeatedly raided plums and watermelons from a couple's garden.

Eldon and Gerry Nihues hung a radio from the plum tree, tuned it into a rock station and turned it up loud in hopes of scaring off the bear, which helped itself to about 50 watermelons, including 11 in one night.
'It was this crazy rock stuff that was playing, but it didn't bother him,' Gerry Nihues said. 'He'd eat the plums right out from under where the thing was playing.'
The state Division of Wildlife set out a trap, and the bear walked into it sometime Wednesday night. Wildlife officers tranquilized the bear, tagged it and released it in a remote area.
Eight bears have been relocated from the area in the past three weeks, Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton said.
More encounters are expected statewide as bears try to fatten up before hibernating for the winter. "

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Yahoo! News - Komodo Dragon dies in zoo love plunge: "Sat Aug 21, 7:28 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Love could not conquer all for a rare, 10-year-old Komodo Dragon who plunged to her death at London Zoo after she scaled a dividing wall to reach her mate.

Six-foot-long (2-metre-long) Nina died from internal bleeding after she fell trying to reach Raja, who is still in good health and on display, a zoo spokesman said on Saturday.
'Immediate measures have been put in place to prevent a similar incident happening and we are carrying out a thorough investigation into what occurred,' London Zoo's curator David Field said in a statement.
The Komodo Dragon is the largest flesh-eating lizard in the world and is found in the wild on only four small Indonesian islands. They number about 5,000 worldwide.
Nina arrived at the zoo last month and staff hoped she and Raja would mate and become a major attraction.
The dragons were being held in adjacent cages separated by an 8-foot-high wall with a gap at the top so they could gradually become accustomed to each other."

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Yahoo! News - Would You Like Some Pot With That?: "Wed Aug 18, 7:34 PM ET
AMBLER, Pa. - The secret at one McDonald's wasn't just in the sauce. The manager at a McDonald's in Montgomery County, Pa., has pleaded guilty to selling pot along with Big Macs.

Authorities say word about Denise Stilwagon's $10 bags got out and she sold some of the illegal weed to an undercover detective.
Stilwagon was sentenced to time already served plus four years of probation.
Her boyfriend and supplier, James Harry, has also pleaded guilty and was ordered to serve 90 days in jail. "

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Yahoo! News - L.A. May Ban Silly String on Halloween: "Wed Aug 18,10:23 PM ET
LOS ANGELES - Banning Silly String in Tinseltown on Halloween? It's a proposal that to some seems almost too silly for words.

The City Council considers the issue no laughing matter, however, and on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to an ordinance banning the discharge of the gooey aerosol string in Hollywood on Oct. 31.
'I know we may think this is silly, but it is not silly to the storm drain system of Los Angeles, or to the ultimate destination, the ocean,' said Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose district includes Hollywood.
The council voted 10-0 to approve the ordinance, but another vote is required before it can take effect. "

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Yahoo! News - German dog eats owner's money: "Thu Aug 19,12:10 PM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German woman thought she had been robbed by sedative-toting thieves when she returned to her car to find 380 euros (242 pounds) missing and her dog vomiting, only to discover the pet had eaten the cash, police say.

'She thought the dog had been drugged and that thieves had taken the money,' a police spokesman in the western town of Aschaffenburg said on Thursday. 'The woman had withdrawn the money and hidden it under bank statements on the passenger seat.'
She informed police and took the dog to a vet.
'The vet gave the dog an injection and after 20 minutes six of the 50 euro notes reappeared,' the spokesman said.
'The dog spat out the rest of the money in shreds along with the bank statements.'
'It should be noted that the damaged bank notes can be changed at the state central bank, so that there was no material loss in this case,' the police said in a statement. "

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Yahoo! News - Human Ad Given Five Months Jail for Diving: "Thu Aug 19, 9:15 AM ET

ATHENS (Reuters) - A Canadian man advertising an online gaming site, who broke security and jumped into the Olympic diving pool, was given a five-month prison term on Wednesday for trespassing and disturbing public order, court officials said.

'He has appealed the decision and was released without bail,' the official said.
The man, who disrupted the men's three-meter synchronized diving Monday when he climbed up on a springboard and jumped into the indoor pool to the delight of hundreds of cheering fans, was also fined 300 euros.
Wearing a tutu and with the Web Site address written on his chest, he raced up the ladder, dodging tight Games security. "

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Yahoo! News - Bear Passes Out After Only 36 Beers: "Thu Aug 19, 8:23 AM ET
SEATTLE (Reuters) - A black bear was found passed out at a campground in Washington state recently after guzzling down three dozen cans of a local beer, a campground worker said on Wednesday.

'We noticed a bear sleeping on the common lawn and wondered what was going on until we discovered that there were a lot of beer cans lying around,' said Lisa Broxson, a worker at the Baker Lake Resort, 80 miles northeast of Seattle.
The hard-drinking bear, estimated to be about two years old, broke into campers' coolers and, using his claws and teeth to open the cans, swilled down the suds.
It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge.
Wildlife agents chased the bear away, but it returned the next day, said Broxson.
They set a trap using as bait some doughnuts, honey and two cans of Rainier Beer. It worked, and the bear was captured for relocation. "

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Yahoo! News - Woman Holds $4,000 Divorce Party in Park: "Thu Aug 19, 8:21 AM ET
RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi woman threw a 15,000 riyal ($4,000) party in a public park to celebrate her divorce from her abusive husband, al-Watan newspaper said on Thursday.

The daily said the woman, who was not identified, gathered family and friends in the city of Medina to celebrate the end of her unhappy marriage -- a rare occurrence in the ultra-conservative kingdom which frowns upon divorce.
She also invited everyone that was in the park at the time to join in, plying them with food and drink, the paper added.
Divorce is legal under Islam but rights activists say many women in Saudi Arabia prefer to stay in unhappy or violent marriages rather than be stigmatized by society or lose custody of their children. "

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Yahoo! News - Judge Accused of Masturbating Resigns: "Thu Aug 19, 8:25 AM ET
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Reuters) - An Oklahoma judge facing removal over charges that he masturbated and used a device for enhancing erections under his robes during trials said on Wednesday he would retire from the bench.

Creek County District Judge Donald Thompson, 57, wrote to Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry resigning effective Sept. 1, a move that will allow him to retire with a full pension.
A former state representative and a judge for 22 years, Thompson was accused by state Attorney General Drew Edmondson of using a 'penis pump' to enhance erections during trials and exposing himself to a court reporter several times while masturbating on the bench.
The state Court on the Judiciary was scheduled to hear a motion on Friday to suspend Thompson.
The judge has denied the charges and did not refer to them in his letter of resignation.
'I have greatly enjoyed my public service and offer my gratitude for the public trust reposed in me during the terms I served,' he said. "

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Yahoo! News - Robbers Strike Jelly Bean Plant: "Fri Aug 13, 8:57 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two armed men robbed the Jelly Belly factory north of San Francisco, making off with cash but none of the jelly beans that were a favorite of the late President Reagan, officials said on Thursday.

Two masked men entered the factory after the close of business on Tuesday as staff were counting the takings from the visitors center. They fled with an undisclosed amount of money but no sweets.
'It happened after hours, number one, so no visitors were put in any danger and no one was hurt here,' company president Robert Simpson told Reuters by telephone. 'The outcome was as good as we could have hoped for in circumstances like that.'
Jelly Belly, which says it is the largest U.S. maker of jelly beans, gained much publicity from Reagan who kept a jar of the company's jelly beans in his office. "

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Yahoo! News - Inmate Loses Court Bid to Grow Hair: "Fri Aug 13, 8:51 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Californian prison officials can cut the hair of an inmate despite his objection that to do so would violate his Native American religious beliefs, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday.

Philip Henderson had maintained that cutting his hair, except under extraordinary circumstances, would defile the creator.
But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals backed a lower court ruling that said the California Department of Corrections' reasons for requiring short hair -- such as making inmates easier to detect if they try to escape -- were justified.
'We therefore affirm the district court's judgment and its conclusion that the CDC's hair length regulation is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests,' the three-judge panel ruled. "

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Yahoo! News - Blazing Bunny Spreads Fire at Cricket Club: "Sat Aug 14,12:30 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A rabbit set alight by a bonfire at a British cricket club got its revenge when it ran burning into a hut and set it ablaze destroying costly equipment, the club said on Friday.

Members of Devizes cricket club in Wiltshire, western England, were burning dead branches when a rabbit caught up in the waste sped burning from the flames spreading a fire which destroyed lawnmowers and tools worth $110,000.
'After it had been going 5 minutes, the rabbit shot out of the bonfire on fire and went into the hut which is our equipment store,' club chairman John Bedbrook told Reuters.
Two fire engines were called to extinguish the blaze. The rabbit's skeleton was discovered in the charred hut.
'The firemen were certainly concerned about the rabbit. They felt sorry for it,' said Bedbrook. "

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Apology Given for Lemonade Stand Closing
: "Aug 12, 9:57 AM (ET)


ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two seventh grade girls really know a thing or two about turning lemons into lemonade. They were doing a booming business at their lemonade stand Wednesday - a day after a neighbor complained and the city Health Department temporarily put them out of business.
Mim Murray, 10, and Marisa Miller-Stockie, 12, of St. Louis, have sold lemonade together for three summers, hoping to save enough for laptop computers before school starts.
But the girls said a Health Department inspector told them Tuesday they didn't have the proper business licenses and were selling unsafe ice cubes. The girls were using powdered lemonade mix with ice cubes bought from a store.
A resident, O.V. Carreathers, 48, had registered a complaint about the stand on Friday with the city's Citizens Service Bureau. The girls didn't work Monday, but the inspector found them Tuesday.
Carreathers said she wanted to keep the girls off her property: 'I just didn't want them blocking my walkway.'
The girls said their stand had been on the grass behind Carreathers' property.
After the stand was shut down Mim's mother, Germaine Murray, called a St. Louis television station and the family's pastor, Monsignor Salvador Polizzi. He brought the situation to the attention of Mayor Francis Slay.
Melba Moore, the city's health commissioner, said temporary food and beverage vendors are supposed to obtain permits, but that doesn't apply to children's lemonade stands.
"It should not have happened. And I apologize," said Moore, who gave the girls $3 Wednesday for a 25-cent cup of lemonade.
Besides earning $112 Wednesday, the girls said they have learned something from their lemonade experience: "You don't have to sit there and take it," Mim said.
Marisa added, "We learned to stand up for ourselves."
--
Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.post-dispatch.com "

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Yahoo! News - Couple quits smoking for health of parrot: "Wed Aug 4, 6:07 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - A couple booked themselves into a clinic to quit smoking after the vet said it was the only way to save their beloved sick parrot.

Kevin Barclay and Sharon Wood gave up a 50-cigarette-a-day habit to save their Amazon orange-winged parrot J.J., said the vet, Glen Cousquer of the South Beech Veterinary Surgery in Essex.
'One of the key things that we need to get right with parrots generally is air quality,' he told Reuters on Wednesday.
'This particular bird presented with very severe respiratory problems. The owners were instructed to do everything they could to improve the bird's environment.'
'I think I must have shaken the owners up quite badly, because the next time I saw them they actually had booked themselves into one of these anti-smoking clinics and were determined to stop. They've gone five weeks,' he said.
J.J., he said, 'is doing really well. It is certainly going to improve his life expectancy.'
It may help the owners, too. "

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Yahoo! News - Mexico finds two "Most Wanted" in jail: "Sat Aug 7, 2:57 PM ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Two Mexicans from a 'Most Wanted' list released to great fanfare by the government last week have already been tracked down -- in jail.

Alfredo Cervantes Ramirez, also known as 'The Bullet-swallower,' and Alvaro Dario de Leon Valdes were withdrawn from the list after officials discovered they were already in prison, the Mexico City prosecutor's office said on Saturday.
The state prosecutor's office put out a statement saying it 'recognizes and values the unmatched cooperation of the citizens and authorities of the country ... which allowed us to locate these two dangerous evil-doers, who are already in jail.' "

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Yahoo! News - Man cuts off penis in sex protest: "Sat Aug 7, 7:14 PM ET

RABAT (Reuters) - A 70-year-old Moroccan cut off his penis in protest at his wife's long refusal to have sex with him, hospital sources say.

The unidentified man severed his organ on Monday in the southern town of Ait Ourir and was taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Marrakesh for treatment.
'He didn't bring his penis with him. He has left the hospital well, but without his penis,' a doctor from the Ibn Toufail hospital told Reuters on Saturday. "

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Yahoo! News - Lightning Jolts Teen Working on Computer: "Fri Aug 6,10:30 AM ET
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - A teenager working on his computer was jolted by a lightning strike that hit his family's home.

Mike Bergeron, 15, of Council Bluffs was in the basement of the home about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday when lightning struck the roof of the house, traveled through the electrical lines to the computer and shocked him.
Linda Bergeron said the impact of the jolt sent her son flying about 5 feet backward. His sister was heading downstairs at the time and heard him fall.
'He was unconscious when she found him,' Linda Bergeron said.
She said her son spent time in cardiac care at the hospital. He was released Wednesday morning but is going through outpatient care.
'I never would have expected something like this to happen,' Linda Bergeron said. 'It's a very weird thing.' "

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Yahoo! News - Man Glues Hand to Girlfriend in Prison: "Fri Aug 6, 8:17 AM ET
MADRID (Reuters) - A German prisoner in Madrid and his girlfriend glued their hands together during a jail visit in an attempt to fight the man's possible extradition to Germany, judicial sources said on Thursday.

The pair were taken to hospital, where doctors were considering whether to operate or use a powerful solvent to separate the man's left hand from the woman's right.
The glue is a type normally used in car repairs.
Spanish police arrested the 39-year-old man in the southern city of Cadiz in April on request from Germany, where he faces accusations of smuggling women from Eastern Europe to force them into prostitution, the judicial sources said.
The Madrid court studying the extradition request will not make a decision for several months, they added. The man has a separate judicial case pending in Spain and authorities want it resolved before any handover to Germany. "

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Yahoo! News - Priest and nun convicted after car romp: "Thu Jul 29,12:22 PM ET

BLANTYRE (Reuters) - A Malawian court has convicted a Catholic priest and a nun of disorderly conduct after they were caught engaged in a sexual act in a parked car with tinted windows.

The Malawian priest, 43, and the 26-year-old nun from neighbouring Zambia spent the night in police cells after being caught in the act on Wednesday, police said.
Passers by alerted police at Lilongwe International Airport after the parked Toyota Corolla, which had tinted windows, began shaking in what police described as 'a funny manner'.
A court in the capital Lilongwe handed down suspended jail sentences of six months with hard labour after the pair pleaded guilty to charges of idleness and disorderly conduct.
'These people were caught in a sex act,' Assistant Superintendent Kelvin Maigwa told Reuters.
Officials in the Roman Catholic Church, whose priests are barred from sex or marriage, declined to comment. "

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Yahoo! News - Woman Who Stole Fuel Ordered to Wear Sign: "at Jul 31,10:39 PM ET
SALISBURY, Md. - A woman who stole $4.52 worth of fuel was ordered to stand outside the gas station Friday wearing a sandwich board sign that declared: 'I was caught stealing gas.'

Sherelle Purnell obeyed the court order, although by the time she arrived 90 minutes late to her noon sentence, the crowd of people that gathered to watch her had dispersed.
'There were parents who came with their children, wanting to teach them a lesson,' said Jan Phipps, manager of Gordy's Tiger Mart, which pushed for the unorthodox punishment.
Purnell, 18, who was caught on surveillance tape speeding away from the gas pump, walked along the convenience shop's grassy storefront as passing drivers honked horns and made catcalls.
Andrew Black, who stopped by on his lunch break, was critical of the punishment and converted an old beer poster into a sign protesting high gas prices.
'What is this, the Middle Ages?' said Black.
Purnell declined to comment.
Some passers-by considered the punishment to be a good deterrent.
'Embarrassment is the best way to deal with these things,' Randy Jedlicka said. "

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Yahoo! News - Couple Kicked Off Flight Over Risque Shirt: "Sun Aug 1, 9:53 PM ET
MIAMI - A couple returning home from a Costa Rican vacation was ejected from an American Airlines flight because the man was wearing a T-shirt depicting a bare breast.

Oscar Arela and his girlfriend were removed from Flight 952 on Saturday after he refused to change the shirt or turn it inside out at Miami International Airport.
The couple, who were making a connecting flight, said nobody on their earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.
'It's a picture of a man and woman, and the woman's breast is showing,' said his girlfriend, Tala Tow. 'The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, 'You have to take off that shirt right now.''
American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly, and said the shirt was more graphic than the couple described. The airline gave them a refund, he said.
Wagner noted on American's Web site the policy clearly states that someone who is 'clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers' can be removed from a flight. "

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Yahoo! News - South Africa denies plans to cancel Christmas: "Mon Aug 2,11:26 AM ET

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa has denied a media report that it plans to cancel Christmas.

The Sunday Times newspaper ran a banner headline 'Christmas may be cancelled' above a story quoting a task team evaluating the number of public holidays as warning no holiday should be regarded as sacred in multi-racial, multi-faith South Africa.
'I would like to reassure all of you that there is no such report which has been tabled before me,' Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told a parliamentary committee on Monday in response to the article.
'There has not been that recommendation.'
Last year the Advertising Standards Authority banned a Post Office advertisement asking children to write to Santa Claus, saying it was 'profiting from the natural credulity of children' and perpetuating 'a falsehood that could break the fragile spirits of the already disillusioned youth of South Africa'. "

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Yahoo! News - Driving Teacher Without License for 43 Years: "Mon Aug 2,10:01 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Berlin driving instructor who taught more than 1,000 motorists how to drive says he never got a driver's license because he was too nervous to retake the test after he failed the first time -- 43 years ago.

'I flunked it because I drove too fast at a roundabout and didn't come to a complete standstill at a stop sign,' the instructor, identified by police as Wolf-Dieter R., told Berlin's B.Z. newspaper on Saturday. 'I was too afraid to try again.'
He was caught by police after a minor accident with a Polish truck recently. He told police he never had a license. He said it was his first accident after four decades driving cars, tractors, and even tanks as a former East German army soldier. "

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Yahoo! News - Drug Sniffer Dog Dies of Overdose: "Mon Aug 2,10:02 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A police sniffer dog died of a suspected overdose while out hunting for drugs, British police said on Monday.

Todd, a 7-year-old Springer spaniel, had been looking for drugs in a field and car in Preston, northern England, when his handler noticed he was looking unwell.
He was taken to a vet and then rushed to an animal intensive care unit at Liverpool University, displaying symptoms of ingesting amphetamines, a Lancashire police spokeswoman said.
He died shortly afterwards.
The death was said to have devastated Todd's handler, Police Constable Roger Moore, his wife and two young children.
'He (Todd) lived with them and they would all go for walks with him -- he was their dog,' Sergeant Peter Crane of Preston's dog unit told the Daily Mirror.
'He's going to be very difficult to replace, but police work is dangerous and unfortunately Todd has become a casualty.'
Police said a post mortem on Todd was being carried out. "

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