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.' "
21:31 Posted by David
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."
21:25 Posted by David
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. "
21:24 Posted by David
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. "
21:46 Posted by David
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. "
21:45 Posted by David
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. "
21:42 Posted by David
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.' "
21:39 Posted by David
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."
21:38 Posted by David
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.' "
21:38 Posted by David
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. "
21:37 Posted by David
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. "
17:47 Posted by David
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. "
17:44 Posted by David
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.
17:41 Posted by David
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."
17:38 Posted by David
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. "
17:31 Posted by David
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. "
