Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas, Russian health officials said on Monday.

Moscow city health department officials confirmed 12 cases of laser-blindness at the Central Ophthalmological Clinic, and daily newspaper Kommersant said another 17 were registered at City Hospital 32 in the centre of the capital.

Attendees at the July 5 Aquamarine Open Air Festival in Kirzhach, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Moscow, began seeking medical help days after the show, complaining of eye and vision problems, health officials told Reuters.

"They all have retinal burns, scarring is visible on them. Loss of vision in individual cases is as high as 80 percent, and regaining it is already impossible," Kommersant quoted a treating ophthalmologist as saying.

Attendees said heavy rains forced organisers to erect massive tents for the all-night dance party, and lasers that normally illuminate upwards into the sky were instead partially refracted into the ravers' eyes.

"I immediately had a spot like when you stare into the sun," rave-attendee Dmitry told Kommersant.

"After three days I decided to go to the hospital. They examined me, asked if I had been at Open Air, and then put me straight in the hospital. I didn't even get to go home and get my stuff," he said.

Cosmic Connection, promoters of the Aquamarine rave, were unreachable and did not list contact numbers on their Web site.

Industry Web site www.laserfx.com said focused laser light can cause eye damage almost instantly.

The owner of a Moscow laser rental company told Reuters the accidental blindings were due to "illiteracy on the part of technicians".

"It was partly the rain, but also partly the size of the laser. Somebody set up an extremely powerful laser for such a small space," said Valentin Vasiliev, who said his company did not provide the Aquamarine lasers.




Australian man spent 487 pounds a week on beer

An Australian man convicted of his seventh drink-driving charge was spending about A$1,000 (487 pounds) a week on beer -- enough to buy more than 2,500 small bottles a month, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

The heartbroken construction worker began drowning his sorrows after breaking up with his partner five years ago, the Northern Territory News said, quoting his defence lawyer as telling a court in Australia's remote, tropical north.

The magistrate declined to jail the father of four, Michael Leary, noting he had quit drinking since his latest arrest, but he banned Leary from buying or even holding a beer for 12 months.

The magistrate also poked fun at Leary's favourite beer, Melbourne Bitter, in a part of the country where drinkers can be as loyal to beer brands as they are to football teams.

"(That is) poor judgement on two counts there -- drinking that much and drinking Melbourne Bitter," magistrate Vince Luppino was quoted as saying.




Hippo bites Denver zookeeper

A veteran worker at the Denver Zoo suffered a hand puncture today when a hippopotamus chomped down during routine dental training.

The woman keeper was bitten about 9:45 a.m. in the outdoor hippo exhibit as she and colleagues were doing desensitizing training on Mahali, a 5-year-old male, to make dental work more comfortable for the hippo.

"Mahali was doing this training where we ask him to hold his mouth open and while he holds his mouth open another keeper will tap on the teeth or do something to kind of desensitize the animal," said zoo spokeswoman Ana Bowie.

The training helps condition the animal "so he's more comfortable having hands or any dental tool in his mouth," she said.

"For unknown reasons, Mahali decided to close his mouth while one of our keepers had her left hand in his mouth," Bowie added.

Fortunately a smaller tooth — not a large tusk — inflicted the injury, because the keeper's hand was in front of Mahali's mouth, she said.

The 16-year veteran keeper quickly freed her hand after the puncture wound below the pinkie and ring finger on her left hand, she said.

"He closed his mouth. She literally popped him on the side of his nose ... and he opened his mouth right up," Bowie said.

"She walked away and we kept pressure on (the wound)," the spokeswoman said.

The alert keeper just wanted colleagues to drive her to the hospital, Bowie said. But workers called 911 and had paramedics transport her by ambulance.

Later in the morning, Mahali was dozing in the sand, while his dad, Bert, was partially submerged in the pond.

Bowie said zoo officials will review the accident to see if there's a way to improve procedures.

Mahali is the brother of Hazina, a female hippo that died in October after her nearly 29-hour ride to her new home at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada.

The death was deemed "an accident that no one could have reasonably foreseen," an independent veterinarian's report later concluded.




Woman gives judge earful, lands in jail
Obscene outburst nets Sarah Muller contempt charge in jury selection

OCALA — A Summerfield woman said she blurted without thinking a couple choice words for a county judge during jury selection at the Marion County Courthouse Monday morning—ones which had landed her in jail by the end of the day.

“Sometimes I get upset and I say things,” Sarah E. Muller said during an interview with the Star-Banner at the Marion County Jail Booking Center late Monday afternoon. “I didn’t know I would go to jail for freedom of speech.”

Faced with the prospect of serving as a juror and upset that County Judge R. James McCune Jr. denied her request for dismissal, the 23-year-old insulted the presiding judge by calling him a two-syllable curse word—a crude term referring to the anus — within earshot of several of the other 178 potential jurors seated in the Jury Assembly Room.

When the judge asked Muller to clarify her remark, Muller repeated it. He charged her on the spot with direct criminal contempt of the court — a second-degree misdemeanor— and Muller was promptly handcuffed by a court bailiff and taken into custody.

At a hearing later in the afternoon, McCune sentenced Muller to three days in jail and ordered her to pay court costs and fines.

“I was very upset that my excuse that I needed to go to the doctor was not as good an excuse as a lie,” she said later, referring to the judge’s decision to dismiss a woman standing ahead of her in line. If that woman, Muller argued, could escape jury duty by claiming she did not speak English well, how come she couldn’t be removed for health reasons?

She had come to court alone that morning, she said, severely irritated that she had to spend money on gas getting there, rather than the clinic to apply for Social Security disability.

Muller, who is unemployed, said she was born with a leaky valve in her heart and has had four previous heart surgeries to treat it.

“I can’t waste my money on gas to come [to court] and be able to go to the doctor at the same time. Gas ain’t cheap,” she said.

Muller is even more broke than when she arrived at court: She owes the court $50 and the Public Defender’s Office $183 for the brief counsel Assistant Public Defender Hisham Shanawany provided at the hearing.

Muller was the first to hop in line to ask that she be excused by the judge following qualifications Monday morning.

She cited poor health and the need to visit a doctor.

Finding no urgency in her situation, McCune denied her request for dismissal and ordered her to take a seat with the rest of the jury pool.

That did not deter Muller, who re-entered the line and this time, threw in the claim that she was “a racist,” in efforts to cast herself as someone unable to be a fair and impartial juror.

“I just didn’t want to do jury duty. That’s the best excuse there was,” Muller said later.

McCune denied her dismissal once again, at which point Muller insulted him.

During the hearing, McCune called two witnesses to testify about the incident: Deputy Clerk of Court Tonja Leek-Snyder, who was seated beside McCune and witnessed the entire exchange, and bailiff Larry McLemore, who had arrested Muller.

“How in the world did you think that running your mouth in such a foul, profane way would be appropriate in court, of all places?” McCune asked Muller. “Did it even dawn on you that you were already here and you might as well make the most of it?”

Muller apologized to the judge as tears streamed down her face.

“I’m very sorry for calling you that. I did not know it was illegal, and I did not mean to cause disrespect,” she said.

Muller added that cursing was “a very bad habit” of hers and that she was feeling upset, sick, and very broke.

“I’m very poor, and I barely have any money at all,” she protested. “I do not appear to be sick, but I am internally sick.”

On her charge, Muller could have faced up to six months in prison and a $500 court fine.
Muller was sobbing as she was led away to be fingerprinted following the judge’s sentence. When she turned back to face the judge, who remained seated at the bench, his hand cupped in his chin, she asked: “Is there any bond for that?”

“No,” McCune replied.
“I really wasn’t trying to make him look like a fool,” Muller said later. “If anybody looked like a fool, it was me for saying it. But it don’t matter now, because he already put my ass in here,” she said.

As for advice to others trying to avoid jury duty who don’t want to end up in jail, she advised: “Don’t say any cuss words at all. Maybe even ‘damn’ will get you kicked out.”




Waukesha dads ticketed for fight at soccer game

Waukesha - An off-duty Waukesha police officer and another Waukesha man who got into an altercation at their daughters' soccer game, forcing the referees to stop the game and other parents to call 911 for crowd control, have each received a ticket alleging disorderly conduct, according to court records.

Jeffrey G. Perlewitz, 47, who is a 20-year veteran police officer, and Ralph J. Newcomb Jr., also 47, were each ticketed for the non-criminal offense, which carries a forfeiture of $199.

Waukesha County sheriff’s deputies were called to Sunset Park in Genesee about 6 p.m. June 4 for a fight between parents at a soccer game pitting 9- and 10-year-old girls from Pewaukee and Genesee, according to the report.

According to the report, Perlewitz was heard yelling to his daughter on the field to “get in front of her and slap her if you need to. Just slap her.” That prompted another parent to tell Perlewitz his instructions weren’t appropriate. After getting into the parent’s face, Perlewitz called her the “fat lady.” Newcomb overheard Perlewitz, and he called the off-duty officer a vulgar name and told him to pick on someone else, the report says.

The two men ended up chest-to-chest, verbally sparring. Newcomb told deputies he raised his elbow to block a punch he thought Perlewitz was going to throw but his elbow hit Perlewitz in the eye, the report says.

Seeing the fight on the sidelines, referees stopped the soccer game and told the men to leave the park.
Witnesses said Perlewitz followed Newcomb to his vehicle, refusing to let him leave by standing in front of his vehicle. Newcomb pulled away and Perlewitz contends that Newcomb ran over his foot, the report says.

ROME- An Italian court has ruled the government must pay 100,000 euros (79,981 pounds) in damages to a man who was told to retake a driving test because he was homosexual.
 
When 26 year-old Danilo Giuffrida told doctors he was gay at his medical examination for military service, they passed the information to the transport ministry, who told him he must repeat his driving test or have his licence withdrawn due to his "sexual identity disturbance."

Giuffrida agreed to re-take his test, passed it for a second time, but the ministry renewed his licence for just one year rather than the usual 10 years because of his homosexuality.

The judge ruling on the case in Catania, on the southern island of Sicily, said the actions of the defence and transport ministries showed "evident sexual discrimination" against Giuffrida and ran counter to his constitutional rights.

The behaviour of the ministries led Giuffrida to have "a grave sense of mistrust towards the state,"

added the judge, who ordered them to pay him 100,000 euros of damages in his verdict issued on Saturday.
Giuffrida's lawyer said the case marked the first time the state had been punished for sexual discrimination, and he hoped Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would "summon Giuffrida and apologise to him on behalf of the state and all Italians."

Giuffrida said the sentence was "a step forwards for civil rights because from now on what happened to me can't happen again."




Do you take this credit card?

JERUSALEM- Guests at an Israeli wedding hall can now insert a credit card into a machine at its entrance, tap in a sum and leave a gift for the bride and groom.
 
"It's new in Israel and the world," Aya Alon Kaufman of the Gan Oranim hall in Tel Aviv said on Israel's Channel 10 television. "It's very convenient ... guests can give a gift even if they forget their chequebooks."

She said couples pay 500 shekels (78.36 pounds) to rent the device, which resembles an automated teller machine, and the recorded funds are transferred into their bank account the next day.

The machine, shown being used in the television report, prints out a "deposit" slip with the guest's name, which can be put into an envelope along with a congratulatory note and inserted into a slot in the device for the couple to retrieve.

Rather than bring boxed gifts, guests at Israeli weddings usually leave cash or cheques in envelopes they slip into a safe placed at the reception hall's door.





Finland regains karaoke crown, keeps on singing

A Finnish club set the world record Friday for the longest karaoke session of 216 hours, with the participants vowing to keep going and set a new watershed mark of several weeks.

"The official from the Guinness Book of World Records has given us a certificate and the record is now held by Kouvola Karaoke Club and Finland," Arto Nikunen, the president of the club, told AFP when the marathon had lasted for 216 hours.

The previous record of 214 hours was held by a club in China.

Last year Kouvola, a small town some 135 kilometres (85 miles) northeast of Helsinki, went head to head in an intense karaoke battle with its Chinese rival, when the two sides kept breaking each others' records.

Nikunen's club held the record for just six days last August and this time they want to avoid a similar disappointment. They have increased the number of karaoke machines to six from two and are even prepared for power outages.

"We want to hold the record for longer than six days like we did last year. We want to make a hefty record, so it would be difficult to break it," said Nikunen, whose new favourite karaoke song is the Beatles' "Let it Be."

Kouvola's goal is to reach 600 hours of non-stop karaoke singing, which would be reached on July 27.





Sex curse found at ancient Cyprus site: report

An unexpected sexual curse has been uncovered by archaeologists at Cyprus's old city kingdom of Amathus, on the island's south coast near Limassol, according to a newspaper on Friday.

"A curse is inscribed in Greek on a lead tablet and part of it reads: 'May your penis hurt when you make love'," Pierre Aubert, head of Athens Archaeological School in Greece told the English language Cyprus Weekly.

He said the tablet showed a man standing holding something in his right hand that looks like an hour glass. The inscription dates back to the 7th century AD when Christianity was well established on the island, leading the French professor to surmise that it referred to the activity of witchcraft or shamans surviving from the pagan era.

The ancient city of Amathus was founded by the Phoenicians at around 1500 BC and derived its wealth from grain and copper mines. The city, a regional capital under the Romans, still flourished in the 7th century AD but was abandoned by the 12 century.





Octopuses handed Rubik's Cubes

Twenty-five octopuses have been given Rubik's Cubes in a research study but marine experts don't expect them to crack the puzzle.
 
Instead they want to determine if the sea molluscs have a favourite tentacle for picking things up.
Scientists believe the intelligent sea creatures have a preferred arm out of eight that they use to feed and investigate with - just like humans are right or left-handed.

They are testing the theory with a month-long observation project at 23 Sea Life Centres across Britain and Europe by giving them food and toys to play with.

Claire Little, marine expert at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, Dorset, said the study could also help to reduce stress among octopuses.

She said: "It will be very interesting to see the results.

"Uniquely, octopuses have more than half their nerves in their arms and have even been shown to partially think with their arms.

"We hope the study will help the overall well-being of octopuses. They are very susceptible to stress so if they do have a favourite side to be fed on, it could reduce risk to them."

A diagram of an octopus will sit alongside the tanks with the arms on the right labelled R1, R2, R3 and R4 from front to back. The left arms will be numbered in the same way but with an L instead of an R.

When items such as a ball, a jam jar and Lego bricks are dropped into the water visitors can note down which arm was closest to the object and which arm picked it up.

If the octopus uses several arms, they must write them all down but in the order they touched it.
Staff at the centre will also do the same during feeding time.

Miss Little said: "Visitors will be handed a form asking them to participate in our study.

"We will add the results to all of the data that has already been collected about octopuses. It will also help towards solving the mystery of handiness in the animal kingdom."

The results will be analysed by Sea Life Centre biologists and the results will be announced in the autumn.




Battling grans dragged apart in shop

They arrested one of the pensioners, who has not been named, on suspicion of assaulting the other 78- year-old woman who suffered an injury to her arm. She was later taken to hospital.




Angry flier uses emergency slide to exit Delta jet
 

GEORGETOWN, Guyana— Guyanese authorities say a first-class airline passenger was so angry at seeing economy passengers leave a jetliner before him that he yanked open an emergency hatch and slid down the chute.

Police spokesman Sealall Persaud says the Guyanese man identified as Satyanand Christopher appeared to be intoxicated after the Delta Air Lines flight from New York.

Persaud said Sunday that local police arrested Christoper, who was quickly released on bail after the Friday incident.

Delta spokesman Junior Horatio says the U.S. carrier plans to file charges against the man for interfering with flight crewmembers.




Wash. judge tells verbose lawyer to make it snappy

U.S. petrol prices hit a record $4.08 a gallon last week, up 38 percent from a year ago.
Brothels, illegal in most U.S. states, are legal in parts of Nevada.




Couple maintain Portugal's ceramic penis tradition

CHAO DE PARADA, Portugal- Husband and wife Francisco and Casilda Figueiredo are among the last exponents of a traditional Portuguese handicraft -- making ornamental ceramic penises.
 
For more than three decades, the couple have carefully shaped thousands of ceramic male organs, moulding them into upright shapes and painting them in life-like colours for export to Germany, France and North America.

Francisco and Casilda, aged 68 and 65, still toil away in a humble village workshop in the Caldas da Rainha region, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Lisbon, but say the tradition is dying out.

"The days of the ceramics trade here are numbered, I see no possibility of survival," Francisco said as he prepared moulds of the couple's top-of-the-range two-foot phallic-shaped bottles in his workshop. "It will never be like it was in the past."

The bottle sells for 15 euros (11.8 pounds)

The tradition is said to have started in Caldas da Rainha
when King Dom Luis, who ruled from 1861 to 1889, suggested that local potters make something more interesting.

A renowned caricaturist, Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, gave the initial inspiration, prompting Caldas da Rainha to expand on its tradition as a pottery centre.

"Nobody knows exactly what started the tradition, they say it was Dom Luis, but I don't know if it's true or not," said Francisco.

The traditional craft has faced a slow decline as buyers in Portugal and beyond become more liberal and the figures lose their ability to provoke.

The couple produce ceramic mugs with a penis sticking out of the bottom or the side, penis-shaped bottles and ceramic soccer figures with the male organ popping out from under a flag.

Francisco said that during the peak of their business they were producing 1,000 bottles a month.

"There were many people making ceramics, but now locally there is just us," said Casilda. "We exported to Germany, Canada and France. Today we just sell to visitors and local shops."




Angry neighbour shot undies

Among other less conventional choices were Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python, Hit the Road Jack, and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.



Man rips head from Hitler wax figure

BERLIN- A man tore the head from a controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler on the opening day of Berlin's Madame Tussauds museum on Saturday, police said.
 
Just minutes after the museum opened, the 41-year-old German man pushed aside two security men guarding the exhibit.

"Then he went over to the figure and ripped off the head," a police spokesman said.

The man tore off the head in protest at the exhibit, the spokesman added. The police were alerted and arrested the man, who did not resist. He was later released though he remained under investigation for assault and damaging property.

The waxwork figure of a glum-looking Adolf Hitler in a mock bunker during the last days of his life was criticised as being in bad taste. A media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussauds on Thursday was overshadowed by a row over the exhibit.

Critics said it was inappropriate to display the Nazi dictator, who started World War Two and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews, in a museum alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes.

Dressed in a grey suit, the figure of Hitler gazed downwards with a despondent stare, his arm outstretched on a large wooden table with a map of Europe on the wall of his gloomy bunker.

About 25 workers spent about four months on the waxwork, using more than 2,000 pictures and pieces of archive material and also guided by a model of the "Fuehrer" in the London branch of Madame Tussauds where it is standing upright.

It is illegal in Germany to show Nazi symbols and art glorifying Hitler and the exhibit was cordoned off to stop visitors posing with him.

Unobtrusive signs asked visitors to refrain from taking photos or posing with Hitler "out of respect for the millions of people who died during World War Two". Camera surveillance and museum officials were meant to stop inappropriate behaviour.

Institutions such as the foundation for Germany's central Holocaust memorial site condemned the idea of the exhibit as tasteless, saying it had been included to generate business.

The wax figure is the latest in a gradual breaking down of taboos about Hitler in Germany more than 60 years after the end of the war and the Holocaust in which some six million Jews were killed.

The 2004 film "Downfall" provoked controversy as it portrayed the leader in a human light during the last days of his life and last year a satire about Hitler by Swiss-born Jewish director Dani Levy was released in Germany.




Bride sues after bum wedding

A bride is suing a designer after her £2,000 wedding dress came apart on her big day, leaving her bum on display at the altar.

The 30-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to Italian privacy laws, claims her big day was ruined by the poor stitching, reports the Daily Telegraph.

According to the writ the bride was left in tears and the priest was left not knowing where to look. The Carry On style incident happened at Chiavari on the Italian Riviera.

Details of the writ emerged after an initial hearing at the civil court, in nearby Genoa, chaired by judge Pasqual Grasso.

The woman is claiming damages of £20,000 from the designer, who was not named but is based at Rapallo, twenty miles from Chiavari.

Her lawyer Alberto Figone said: "This was supposed to be the biggest day of my client's life but it turned out to be the worst, her wedding was ruined.

"She was left extremely embarrassed because the stitching of her dress came apart at the altar, slid down and revealed her bottom to the whole congregation.

"The priest concluded the ceremony and the couple were married but of course she was not able to take any proper photographs of the ceremony because she was semi naked.

"As a result, she has decided to sue the shop in Rapallo that made the dress for moral damages as well as financial damages, and the request is 23,000 Euro."

The incident happened in 2006 but has only just come to court. The couple have since separated.




Russia suspects arsonist stripper

A British embassy spokesman said: "We are aware of the arrest of a British national and have offered consular assistance."




Woman Says She Is Powerless to Fight Fake 'Prostitute' Facebook Profile

A British woman who was listed as a prostitute on a fake Facebook profile that stole her identity says her life has been ruined, The Daily Mail reported.

Kerry Harvey, 23, told The Mail that she received obscene pictures on her cell phone and prank calls from hackers who forged a profile on the social networking site Facebook featuring Harvey’s correct date of birth, middle name and cell phone number. Her occupation, however, listed on the fake profile as “prostitute,” was not correct.

Harvey is actually an advertising sales executive from Abbeydale, and says she is fighting for tougher rules to stop cyber bullies from anonymously cloning Web users’ identities, The Daily Mail reported.
“It was really distressing and I found it so offensive it really upset me,” Harvey told The Mail. “These sites are too open to abuse and should be closed down or made safer. Since it happened I've become really self conscious. I can't just go up to people and talk to them because my confidence has gone.”
The Facebook page was up for a week before it was deleted by the person who created it. Facebook told Harvey they could not track down the culprit after the page was gone.

Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos, an anti-virus software company, is an expert in identity fraud.

“The biggest problem is that anyone at any time can set up a false profile without the other users knowledge and post anything they like,” Cluley told The Mail. “It's an anonymous way of posting things about people without detection. Millions of people use Facebook, which is always going to leave users susceptible to this sort of thing.”




Man Says He's Turning Into Woman, Begs Doctors to Help

A British man claims that he is turning into a woman and is begging medical experts for help.

Pub singer Terry Wright, 60, said children in his Birmingham neighborhood had started taunting him with shouts of "she-man" after he started losing his beard and hair and began developing breasts and smooth skin about 10 years ago, The Sun newspaper reported.

“I am a man, not a woman, and I do not want to be a woman. I just want to get my life back to normal,” Wright told the paper.

Blood tests showed the father of five had abnormally high levels of the female hormone estrogen but his doctors said they had never seen such a case and did not know how to treat him.

Wright said his doctor originally suspected he was trying to change gender and even offered him a sex change, but he furiously rejected the suggestion.

A psychiatrist has judged him mentally sound and an MRI scan ruled out the possibility of a tumor causing the estrogen surge.




Woman Accused of Trading Sex for Gasoline

FORT WRIGHT, Ky. —  Police in northern Kentucky arrested a woman who officers say traded sex for gasoline.

Police in Fort Wright set up a prostitution sting and said one of the suspects they arrested engaged in sex for a $100 gasoline card and other gifts.

Angela Eversole, 34, of Fort Wright is charged with prostitution and doing business without an occupational license. She pleaded not guilty at a Tuesday arraignment.

Police also arrested a man they said paid Eversole. He is 50-year-old Kenneth Nowak of Avon, Indiana.

Kenton County prosecutor Ken Easterling said it's sad when people are selling their bodies for gas.




Bargain break - with the Mujahideen

Hard-up Polish students snapped up a bargain break in Paris - and found they'd been recruited into an Iranian terrorist group.

More than 3,000 Polish students signed up for the £5-a-head coach trip but were bussed straight to a demo for Iranian militants the People's Mujahideen.

The group is listed as a banned terrorist group by both America and the EU.

"It was a shock," said one student. "I thought we were going to live it up in Paris - not join a terrorist group."




Man charged for having pants undone in park

The man was charged Saturday with lewd or lascivious exhibition and cited for driving while his license was suspended. He was being held on a $50,000 bond.




Drivers Say Man Was Wearing A Thong

MANCHESTER- Drivers along I-291 had quite a sight Saturday, as a man wearing nothing but a thong, fake breasts and a wig sauntered along the side of the highway.

Police said they received several calls about the man, which prompted an hour-long search. Police said they found the man, fully clothed and collecting cans behind a business on Batson Drive in Manchester. Police said they found a wig and fake breasts in the man's car.

David Gebhardt, 42, of Manchester, was charged with disorderly conduct and simple trespass and was released on $2,500 bail.




Pair caught skinny dipping in Portland reservoir
 
PORTLAND, Ore.- Two people caught skinny dipping in a Portland reservoir that is a main source of water for the city nearly caused officials to dump millions of gallons of water and close the facility.
  
Ryan Langsdorf, 28, and Ashley Moyer, 23, were found in one of two sections of the Mount Tabor Reservoir at about 3 a.m. Saturday during a spell of unusually hot weather. They were cited for trespassing.

The parliamentary ombudsman has asked the school board to decide on the issue before Sept. 8.




Man faces charges in assault with chicken
 
An Ypsilanti man is accused of stabbing his mother in the back with a dinner fork and clubbing another woman over the head with 10 pounds of frozen chicken.

Frederick McKaney, 40, also faces a charge of resisting Jackson police officers who responded to a reported assault on Woodbridge Street late Monday night.

"He stabbed his mother in the back of the neck when she refused to give him money,
and then he attacked a neighbor woman with a chicken," Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer said.

He secured warrants against McKaney on Wednesday afternoon for two counts of felonious assault and resisting and opposing. McKaney remains in the Jackson County Jail.

McKaney, whose criminal file includes stints in jail and prison, apparently went to his mother's house early Sunday, woke her at 3 a.m. and demanded cash.

Blumer said that a day after he stabbed his mother, McKaney was riding a bicycle at 7:30 p.m. Monday when he encountered two women talking on the sidewalk on Woodbridge.

"He said something nasty to them and they responded in kind," Blumer said.
 
"He jumped off his bike and hit one woman over the head with 10 pounds of chicken."

The woman was treated at Foote Hospital, and had five staples in her head, Blumer said. The husband of the victim in the poultry assault trailed McKaney in a pickup truck and flagged a responding officer on Biddle Street, Deputy Chief John Holda said.

The fork attack drew some blood but did not cause serious injury, Blumer said.




Drugs, phones wing their way to prisoners

"I call these buildings designed by time, shaped by life," added Mr Fisher, who has never built a sky-scraper before. "These buildings will open our vision all around, to a new life."




$40,000 painting left at Goodwill
Alert employees note something special in Cortes street scene amid donations

Had it not been for the discerning eyes of Goodwill store employees, the research skills of the store manager and the help of a few art historians, the Parisian street scene painted by Impressionist Edouard-Leon Cortes might well be hanging today in a college dorm room, over a bed in some cheap Highway 50 motel, or on the faux wood-paneled walls of an Eastern Shore double-wide.

Instead, the painting that was dropped off along with the rest of the day's intake at the Goodwill store in Easton - pots and pans, end tables, clothes, coffee machines, clock radios and the like - is in the hands of an anonymous connoisseur of French Impressionist art, or at least someone who appreciated it enough to fork over $40,600 for the piece at a Sotheby's auction a few weeks ago.

"It could have very easily ended up put in a pile, marked for $20," said Ursula Villar, marketing and development director for Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake Inc.

It's not unusual for buried treasure to be found at a Goodwill store, but most tales of fantastic finds emerge after a customer has left the store with a bargain-priced item, only to find out its true value later.

This time, though, the piece in question wasn't priced and put up for sale - and as a result, Goodwill Industries is $40,000 richer.

"We just lucked upon an opportunity to increase our ability to give back," said Terri Tonelli, manager of the Easton store. "Our mission is about helping people - the less fortunate and disabled - with job readiness and career training. This is going to go a long way to help that."

And, as for the donor who left the painting at the store back in March, he or she is out of luck. Even if the accidentally generous philanthropist could prove the donation - Goodwill doesn't keep records of donors or give them itemized receipts - the gift is considered a legal, and final, transaction.

Tonelli said she was on vacation when the painting was dropped off at the store around March 19.

Luckily, some sharp-eyed store employees plucked the item from that day's load of donations, suspecting that it might be something of unusual value.

"They had recognized it as something worth a second look. So when I came back from vacation, that's when I actually put my hands on it and took a look," Tonelli said. "We get a lot of donations every day. The thing with paintings and art is it's hard to distinguish sometimes whether it's real, or a print, or a copy."

This painting, though, had an antique-looking frame, with a gold embossed nameplate carrying the artist's last name, Cortes, and a French title, Marche aux fleurs (Flower Market).

"I could tell it was a real painting, and that it was older," she said, "as opposed to something you might get at Ocean Gallery," Ocean City's warehouse store of affordable art.

In her office, she typed the artist's name into Google. What turned up was this:

Born in 1882 in Lagny-sur-Marne, 20 miles east of Paris, Cortes was the son of a Spanish court painter, who was taught by his father and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. A painter with remarkable Impressionistic flair, Cortes died in 1969. He was best known for his Paris street scenes (like the one on Tonelli's desk). Some of those, she found through further Googling, had sold recently at prices nearing $60,000.

"The hair on the back of my neck was standing up by then," she said. She compared the signature on her painting with those she was able to call up on the computer. It seemed an exact match.

Tonelli says the painting, had it not been singled out in the store, probably would have been priced at $100. Instead, Tonelli, who has worked at the store for three years, called headquarters.

"This type of thing can happen in any Goodwill store. We get amazing things donated all the time. It's really, truly a treasure hunt to walk in the store," she said. "Part of the reason we're so cautious is that we had a piece of art come through years ago that sold for $50 and turned out to be worth $3,000."

The Cortes painting was taken to the Goodwill Industries regional headquarters in Baltimore, where, spokesman Villar said, local art experts were invited to examine it. They determined that Goodwill very well might have the genuine article in its hands.

"The best next step seemed to be to contact someone who could authenticate it," Villar said. "We shipped it to Sotheby's so they could clean it, give us authentication and auction it off."

The prestigious New York auction house called back with good news.

"They said it was very much a genuine work of art and a great find," Villar said. "We were blown away. Definitely this is something that doesn't happen to us every day. This is the first time Sotheby's has ever been involved in one of our sales."

Sotheby's cleaned the painting; checked, as it routinely does, to see whether the painting had ever been reported stolen (as has happened with some Cortes pieces); and cleared it for auction.

While Sotheby's has a policy of not identifying bidders (winners or losers), the owner of Rehs Galleries Inc. in New York - currently home to about 10 Cortes paintings - said he made the second-to-last bid on the painting.

"It just got too expensive," said Howard Rehs, who owns the gallery with his father, Joseph. He said he did not know who made the winning bid.

Rehs was the winning bidder, though, on a second Cortes painting, a winter scene, sold in the same auction for $37,500. His gallery is probably the biggest dealer in works by Cortes, whose paintings have become more highly prized in the past nine years, Rehs said.

"He was always appreciated as an artist, but people are now beginning to see the importance he had," Rehs said. Though Cortes is best known for his Paris street scenes, his landscapes, still lifes and other paintings have become more sought after as well. Many of his works can be seen on the gallery's Web site (http://www.rehs.com/cortes-virtex.htm).

Rehs said he wasn't totally surprised by the painting ending up in a Goodwill store. He remembers selling a high-priced original painting to the Ritz Carlton chain that ended up in a Hawaii hotel. At a sale of the hotel's contents, a man purchased the painting for $5.

"You hear stories all the time where some customer in a Goodwill store buys something for $10 that turns out to be worth thousands. In this one, I guess Goodwill makes the profit, so this is kind of nice. It's very good that someone there knew what they were doing."

Tonelli, though, says she's no art expert, and she credits her entire staff for finding fine art amid the piles of household goods:

"It was really a team thing. All I did was Google it."




Tooele family shocked when roofers find skull in attic

Paul and Karen Dupaix have lived in their circa 1910 Tooele home with their children for the past eight years, but rarely go into the attic.

The family was shocked when workers putting on a new roof Monday made a grisly discovery: a human skull between a wall and the point of the roof where the eaves meet.

"That is the last thing we expected to find," said Karen Dupaix.

Tooele Police Lt. Jorge Cholico said investigators are now trying to contact surviving family members of the late Rex Stutznegger, known as one of Tooele's first dentists, and his wife, Helen. The couple were the previous owners and had lived in the home for about 65 years, Karen Dupaix said.

While police said the skull had some hair and tissue attached, it was missing the jaw. The skull is small, but police are unsure whether it belonged to a child or a small adult. The skull will now go to the Utah Department of State Antiquities and Archaeology to be identified, Authorities used cadaver dogs and searched the property for more remains, but nothing was found.
 
Attempts by The Tribune to reach survivors of Rex and Helen Stutznegger were unsuccessful Tuesday. The Stutzneggers do not appear to have been the original owners of the home. Census records show the late Rex Stutznegger living in Salt Lake City with his parents in 1920 and in 1930.

Dupaix said that she and her husband were fixing the roof because they wanted to sell the home to move closer to her husband's new job in Lehi and that she hopes the attention will not deter people from buying the home near 200 West and 100 South.
 
"We know there is nothing in the attic now that is old and scary," Dupaix said. "We don't feel we need to leave because it's freaky or anything. We've liked this house."




Woman jumps out of moving car on Fla. Interstate

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - It's not uncommon for someone to make a dramatic exit in the middle of an argument, but the gesture should probably be avoided while traveling on the Interstate.
  
Marquita Cherrell Armstrong was a passenger in a car driven by Jeffery Dawayne Watson Tuesday when the two got into an argument on I-10 near Tallahassee.

State troopers said Armstrong told Watson that she wanted to get out, but Watson refused to pull over in a construction zone. That's when Armstrong opened the car door and jumped out.

Armstrong was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.




Music promoter sentenced
Touting band, he took $1 million from investors

Waukesha - A Madison music promoter who talked investors into giving him $1 million to secure stardom for a band called Tasty Wonton but spent it on drugs, cars and a lavish lifestyle was sentenced Monday to a combination of 15 years of prison and probation.

Saying he wanted to both send a message with a prison sentence and give investors a chance to be repaid, Waukesha County Circuit Reserve Judge John Fiorenza sentenced Thomas R. Anderson to three years in prison, seven years of extended supervision and five years of probation.

Anderson, 46, could be sent back to prison for up to 12 years if he violates any conditions, including failing to pay restitution. He was convicted of two counts of felony theft and two counts of making false statements in the sales of securities.

Because Anderson lied about how investment money would be spent, Fiorenza said, “investors didn’t have a chance to make an objective decision on whether to invest into this project.”

Fiorenza also scolded Anderson for not setting up a restitution fund while the case was pending.

Anderson apologized for his actions and said he wants to repay the investors.

“I will spend the rest of my life doing so,” Anderson said.

Special prosecutor Matthew Huppertz asked the judge to consider in his sentence the amount of money taken, Anderson’s lack of remorse and his pattern of reckless behavior.

Of the $1 million, $563,000 came from Waukesha County investors, Huppertz said. The money is gone, he said, and was spent on private jets, lavish parties, fancy cars and cocaine.

No records exist on how Anderson spent more than $1 million during an 18-month period.

One of Anderson’s victims, Jeff Cox, told the court that the incident has divided families and friendships.
Cox also said he didn’t think he was someone who could be scammed. He trusted and liked Anderson. Now he questions every decision he makes.
 
“It would have been kinder if he would have held a gun to my head and taken the money that way,” Cox said.
Clarence Bundy said he didn’t care so much about the restitution as seeing Anderson spend the maximum amount of time in prison.

“He’s taken a lifetime of savings from my family and my children,” Bundy said.

Anderson’s attorney, Christopher Van Wagner, said his client was promoting a real band. Tasty Wonton is now known as Bascom Hill and is playing the college circuit.

Anderson’s addiction to prescription painkillers and his cocaine use impaired his judgment, Van Wagner said, adding that Anderson has achieved sobriety for the first time in his adult life during the past three years.
He argued that probation would be best because Anderson could continue to work to repay investors and he could have the support system that could ensure he would remain sober.

Called band a ‘slam dunk’
According to the criminal complaint, Anderson called himself an “independently wealthy venture capitalist.”
He said he stumbled upon this new band with a promising future in 2003 and all he needed was the help of a few investors to tide the band over until the money started rolling in. He viewed it as a “slam dunk,” the complaint says.

Anderson had a Madison-based music production company called Head West, and he told investors that he was wealthy due to a trust fund from his parents. No trust fund exists, the complaint says.

In truth, Anderson had hooked up with Tasty Wonton in December 2001 and was able to get the band a recording session in Nashville in 2003. That’s when Anderson began signing up investors.

Anderson had at least one glitzy sales pitch in June 2003, when he chartered a private jet to fly potential investors from Waukesha to Appleton to hear and meet the members of Tasty Wonton. From the airport in Appleton, the investors were whisked to the band’s show by a limousine.

Even the band began questioning Anderson’s spending habits.

Anderson was out of money in 2004, and in September of that year, band members, several investors and “some of Anderson’s family members” all confronted Anderson at his home.

He eventually admitted to misleading them all.

After the sentencing was handed down Monday, Van Wagner asked that Anderson be given 20 days to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison, but the judge denied it. Anderson was handcuffed and taken to jail.

As victims exited the courtroom, Anderson’s family peppered them with questions about whether they were happy about Anderson’s fate and denials that they were swindled. A second deputy was called to the courtroom to maintain peace.

The parties have not agreed on the amount of restitution. A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 26.




Kid golfers, strippers share golf course

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - A close encounter between flirtatious strippers and children playing in a golf tournament was the result of "mistiming," golf course officials said Tuesday as they apologized to parents.
  
The scantily clad women spilled out of a limousine as the youngsters were finishing their game as part of the Gold Crown Junior Golf Association tournament Monday. Tournament officials said they were not warned the strippers would be arriving before the end of the game for children, who ranged in age from 7 to 12.

The women were part of Shotgun Willie's Charity Golf Tournament to benefit breast cancer. The strippers were to serve as caddies to patron's of the strip club. A club manager said there were 144 golfers and 70 caddies.

A woman told KUSA-TV the event drew curious questions from her children, who asked her why the men joining the strippers had water guns and why the women wore only their underwear. KUSA said the woman declined to be identified.

Eagle Trace Golf Course manager Evelyn Koch says the women were forbidden from going topless and that they were just flirting with the men.

"I cannot tell you the girls didn't flash out there but it wasn't a free-for-all," Koch said. She said the Shotgun Willie's crowd and the young golfers had to share the same clubhouse while the children had lunch because their tournament started later than expected.

Still, she said the Broomfield golf course was sorry children were present when the strippers arrived.

Golf course instructor Dustin Moser said some of the strippers "got a little out of control" but that it happened after the children had left.





Equal time for happy news on Romania TV, radio

BUCHAREST- Upbeat news would have to make up half of all newscasts on all of Romania's radio and television stations, under legislation adopted unanimously Wednesday in the senate.
  
"News programmes on TV and radio shall contain, in the same proportion, news with positive and negative themes," states the legislation, which is going to President Traian Basescu for adoption.

The measure is the idea of two senators -- one from the governing National Liberal Party, the other from the far-right Great Romania party -- who bemoan the "irreversible effect" of negative news "on the health and life of people".

Its aim, they said, is to "improve the general climate and to offer to the public the chance to have balanced perceptions on daily life, mentally and emotionally".

It would be left to the national audiovisual council in Romania -- an EU member state where the media was tightly controlled until the 1989 collapse of communism -- to judge what is "positive" and "negative".

Less than impressed is the council itself, along with journalists who hope the legislation will not be promulgated.

"News is news," said council chairman Rasvan Popescu, quoted by the Mediafax news agency.

"It is neither positive or negative. It simply reflects reality. I don't believe that the introduction of such a quantitative criteria can work. Events cannot be programmed, nor can minds."





Man auctioning life says 'idiots' made fake Internet bids

SYDNEY (AFP) - A middle-aged man who put his life up for auction on the Internet said Tuesday "idiots" had made fake bids which pushed up the price of his home, job and lifestyle to unrealistic levels.
  
Ian Usher, 44, was drinking champagne and celebrating on Sunday night after the seven-day auction of his Australian lifestyle started with a bang, hitting 650,000 dollars (619,265 US).

By the time he awoke on Monday, bidding had reached 1.9 million dollars and then ticked over the two-million-dollar point as he sat watching his computer.

But after initially laughing at his luck, Usher quickly came down to earth when he realised that a registration system for bidding on the eBay auction site had not been activated.

The former carpet store assistant, who is selling his near-new three-bedroom home in Perth in Western Australia as part of his "life package", began ringing the people behind the offers to check whether they were genuine.
Usher, originally from Yorkshire in England, said the highest bidders gave a range of excuses -- from blaming another family member for making the bid to claiming their eBay password had been stolen -- before they all backed out.

"They are just idiots, absolute idiots," he told AFP.

"I think I was speaking to kids most of the time."

Usher has now deleted most of the bids on the site, even though some may have been genuine, and the top offer for his "life" sits at 300,100 dollars.

"That's not even 75 percent of the value of the house," he said.

Usher has said the unusual auction was triggered by his break-up with his wife more than two years ago, and the desire to rid himself of the personal possessions which reminded him of the happy years they spent together.

As well as the house and contents, Usher is also offering the winning bidder introductions to his friends and a stint at his former job for at least two weeks, with the possibility of permanent employment if the store owners agree.

If the sale goes ahead, Usher will keep only his passport, wallet and the clothes on his back.

He said the value of the assets for sale -- which includes everything from an indoor spa to a home entertainment system to his pots and pans -- was between 450,000 and 500,000 and he was confident of reaching that point.

"I'm beyond worried, I'm just along for the ride at the moment," he told AFP.




Man auctioning life says 'idiots' made fake Internet bids
 
SYDNEY- A middle-aged man who put his life up for auction on the Internet said Tuesday "idiots" had made fake bids which pushed up the price of his home, job and lifestyle to unrealistic levels.
  
Ian Usher, 44, was drinking champagne and celebrating on Sunday night after the seven-day auction of his Australian lifestyle started with a bang, hitting 650,000 dollars (619,265 US).

By the time he awoke on Monday, bidding had reached 1.9 million dollars and then ticked over the two-million-dollar point as he sat watching his computer.

But after initially laughing at his luck, Usher quickly came down to earth when he realised that a registration system for bidding on the eBay auction site had not been activated.

The former carpet store assistant, who is selling his near-new three-bedroom home in Perth in Western Australia as part of his "life package", began ringing the people behind the offers to check whether they were genuine.
Usher, originally from Yorkshire in England, said the highest bidders gave a range of excuses -- from blaming another family member for making the bid to claiming their eBay password had been stolen -- before they all backed out.

"They are just idiots, absolute idiots," he said.

"I think I was speaking to kids most of the time."

Usher has now deleted most of the bids on the site, even though some may have been genuine, and the top offer for his "life" sits at 300,100 dollars.

"That's not even 75 percent of the value of the house," he said.

Usher has said the unusual auction was triggered by his break-up with his wife more than two years ago, and the desire to rid himself of the personal possessions which reminded him of the happy years they spent together.

As well as the house and contents, Usher is also offering the winning bidder introductions to his friends and a stint at his former job for at least two weeks, with the possibility of permanent employment if the store owners agree.

If the sale goes ahead, Usher will keep only his passport, wallet and the clothes on his back.

He said the value of the assets for sale -- which includes everything from an indoor spa to a home entertainment system to his pots and pans -- was between 450,000 and 500,000 and he was confident of reaching that point.

"I'm beyond worried, I'm just along for the ride at the moment," he said.




Lawmakers flay Army over 21-year-old's $298 million arms deal
 
WASHINGTON — Military officials came under withering attack Tuesday in Congress from both Democrats and Republicans, who expressed anger and astonishment that a 21-year-old Miami Beach man with a spot on a State Department "watch list" and a history of failing to deliver on military contracts was awarded a $298 million deal to provides arms to allied forces in Afghanistan.

A congressional investigation found that Efraim Diveroli — who's now 22 — was granted the contract even though he, his company, AEY, and a supplier he worked with were on a State Department watch list for suspicious international arms dealers, said Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The California Democrat said that the awarding of the contract revealed a "fundamentally flawed system," noting that Defense Department officials had overlooked AEY's "long record of failed and dubious performance." That record, as compiled by the committee, included delivering damaged helmets to Iraq, falsely blaming a hurricane in Miami for failing to deliver 10,000 pistols to Iraq's security forces and delivering the wrong model of laser pointer and rifle attachments to the U.S Embassy in Colombia.

"It appears that anyone — no matter how inexperienced or unqualified — can win a lucrative federal contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars," Waxman said, adding that it was "hard to imagine a less-qualified company than AEY."

Defense officials acknowledged shortcomings in the contracting process and vowed changes, though they were unable to tell the panel whether AEY still has business in Iraq.

"I will have to get back to you on whether they're still performing," Jeffrey Parsons, the executive director of the Army Contracting Command, told Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., who said he'd seen crates of supplies with ties to AEY on a recent trip to Iraq.

Military contracting officials said the review of AEY's past performance didn't raise any red flags because the company's previous contracts were too small to require mandatory reporting.

Parsons said AEY had failed to tell the military that it had several contracts that were "terminated for cause" before it was awarded the $298 million contract in January 2007. He said the Army was changing its policies to require that all canceled contracts — regardless of the amounts — be reported.

"In my opinion while there certainly is room for improvement . . . this case is more about a contractor who failed to properly represent his company ... rather than a faulty contracting process," Parsons said. But he acknowledged, "It was not a good decision."

Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the ranking Republican on the panel, criticized the "failure to root out AEY sooner" but said "there is little indication the United States routinely purchases ammunition for vintage Soviet weapons from 22-year-old arms dealers."

Military officials said they didn't know that the State Department had flagged Diveroli and the company because contracting officers weren't required to review the watch list. Parsons said he didn't know whether the list was available to outside agencies.

Stephen Mull, the acting assistant secretary of state at the bureau of political military affairs, said the agency had shared the information with other agencies upon request. According to Mull, AEY was placed on the watch list in January 2005. Diveroli was listed in 2006, with an entry noting "there appear to be several suspicious characteristics of this company, including the fact that Diveroli is only 21 years old and has brokered or completed several multimillion-dollar deals involving fully and semi-automatic assault rifles.

Future license applications involving Diveroli and/or his company should be very carefully scrutinized."
Waxman said Diveroli was invited to testify before the committee but declined through an attorney, citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. Noting that Diveroli was indicted in Miami last week on charges of defrauding the U.S. government, Waxman said, "His Fifth Amendment concerns would appear to be well-founded."

Authorities contend that Diveroli and three employees conspired to defraud the federal government by selling it more than $10 million worth of Chinese-made machine-gun rounds, telling U.S. officials that the ammunition was from Albania.

Diveroli's attorney has called the government indictment flawed.

The committee contends that the senior U.S. diplomat in Albania tried to cover up the Chinese origins of the ammunition, which AEY shipped to Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the State Department, Tom Casey, said at a briefing Tuesday that the agency's inspector general had been asked "to go and look at these charges and conduct a thorough, fair and transparent investigation of these allegations."




Thieves steal phones, laptops from moving truck

"They won't tell us where they trained, how often they did this," Radecke said. "If any other German police departments have seen odd truck thefts, we hope they contact us."




China cop promoted for breastfeeding quake babies

BEIJING- A Chinese policewoman who breastfed babies orphaned during last month's earthquake has been given a better job, prompting online protests that promotions should be awarded on merit, not merely for good deeds.

Jiang Xiaojuan, 30, left her own baby with her parents and took part in the disaster relief work, breastfeeding nine babies, earning her the nickname of "the police mum" in the press.

She has since been awarded titles of "hero and model police officer" and "excellent member of the Communist Party", was appointed to the Communist Party of China Committee of the Jiangyou Public Security Bureau and became the bureau's vice commissar, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Jiangyou, population 850,000, is a city near the epicentre of the May 12 Sichuan quake which killed more than 69,000 people with thousands still missing.

"Many people voiced objections when the Jiangyou government sought public opinion after making the promotion," Xinhua said. "They said an official position should not be used to promote a moral model."

There were also supporters of Jiang's promotion, saying that what she did showed she was a good public servant.




Psychic's vision sets off sex-abuse probe

Varney identified the allege shooter as Chad Murrat, 18, of Lubec. According to the Maine State Police's Weekly Report on June 12, the 18-year-old neighbor was target practicing near the woman's trailer when he noticed a frog in a nearby pond. He fired two rounds at the frog. At least one ricocheted off and went awry.




Australian in wheelchair gets drunk driving charge

BRISBANE, Australia- A man found asleep in a motorized wheelchair on a highway in northern Australia was charged with drunk driving, police said Monday.
  
Officers in a patrol car noticed the man slumped in the stationary chair about 10 a.m. Friday on an exit lane near the tourist city of Cairns, regional traffic Inspector Bob Waters said. Cars were swerving to get around him, Waters said.

The officers breath-tested the 64-year-old man, who registered a blood alcohol reading of 0.301 — more than six times the legal driving limit. He was charged with operating a vehicle while drunk and ordered to report to court on July 7, where he faces a stiff fine if convicted.

"The vehicles that we normally hear about with drink driving are the family car, the truck, the motorbike," Waters said. "But there are also other classes of vehicles that are subject to drink-driving laws," including horses, bicycles, and motorized wheelchairs.

The man, whose name was not released, told police he was making a nine-mile trip from his home to a friend's place, Waters said.

"He placed himself in a very dangerous situation," he said.




Terror theme boosts Beirut cafe

"It attracts customers in an unconventional way. You noticed the moment I opened the restaurant, there was a lot of business," he added.



Police: Man fired crossbow at neighbor

Police say a man shot at his neighbor with a crossbow after they argued over the breed of a dog Saturday.

Carlos Lupercio, 49, 1009 N. 30th St., No. 2, allegedly started arguing with a 25-year-old man about the breed of the younger man’s dog on the sidewalk on Apple Street between 29th and 30th streets just before 5 p.m., Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood said.

The owner said the dog was a pit bull, but Lupercio said it was a lab, Flood said.

Lupercio went home and allegedly returned about 20 minutes later with a crossbow pistol, Flood said. The other man tried to extend his arm in apology, but Lupercio allegedly fired the crossbow at him as he was walking away, Flood said.

The man was only two or three feet away when Lupercio allegedly fired, Flood said. The arrow just missed the other man, hitting a tree instead, Flood said.

Lupercio allegedly was still holding the weapon when officers arrived, Flood said. When officers tried to arrest him, Lupercio, who was in a wheelchair, allegedly resisted them.

Lupercio was arrested and jailed on suspicion of terroristic threats, use of a weapon to commit a felony, discharging a weapon within city limits, resisting arrest, failure to comply, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, Flood said.

Police believe alcohol was a factor in the incident, she said.




Ex-cook pleads guilty to putting hair in steak

WEST BEND, Wis.- A former restaurant cook has pleaded guilty to a food-tampering charge alleging he inserted hairs in a steak before giving it to a dissatisfied customer. Ryan Kropp, 24, of West Bend, was fired along with another cook after the incident Feb. 23 at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant.
  
Kropp was charged in Washington County Circuit Court with a felony of placing foreign objects in edibles, carrying up to 3 1/2 years in prison.

After his guilty plea Thursday, Judge James Muehlbauer scheduled sentencing Aug. 12.

The criminal complaint said that when a manager asked a customer how his steak was, the customer said it was somewhat overdone, although he had almost finished eating it and refused an offer of a new steak.

But the manager insisted on having Kropp prepare a new steak the way the customer wanted it, medium rare, so that he could take it home.

The customer called the restaurant and police after finding hair as he was eating the steak the next day.

According to the complaint, a second kitchen worker told police Kropp had put a slit in the cooked steak and pushed something inside, then stated, "These are my pubes," referring to pubic hair.

Kropp told police he put a few of his facial hairs on the steak, saying he was angry the customer sent the other steak back and thought he was "just trying to get free stuff," the complaint said.

A phone number for Kropp had been disconnected when The Associated Press tried to reach him for comment Thursday night.




Police arrest man running on trail in thong

LINCOLN, Neb.- Lincoln police have a message for local joggers with exhibitionist tendencies: The thong is wrong. Police arrested a man on Saturday night for running on a Lincoln bike trail in his thong underwear.
  
Police say the 26-year-old man was arrested for indecent exposure.
Officers said they found him running around Holmes Lake wearing his socks, shoes and, of course, the thong.




Police: Argument over nickname ends in stabbing

An argument over a nickname reportedly led Wichita police to a residence where they say a 44-year-old woman stabbed a 19-year-old with a butcher knife Friday.

Sgt. Lem Moore said in a police briefing this afternoon that nine people were gathering in the 3000 block of Old Lawrence Road, when two young men began arguing who should be able to use the nickname "C-Thug."

The woman, who was a resident of the house, intervened and stabbed the 19-year-old in the back, Moore said.

The man was treated for minor injuries at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus. The woman was arrested.




Davie man sues Disney for discrimination

He said the government has ruled out rocket launches and ground artillery fires as causes of the incident.




Students kicked off Facebook for eating a cat

A group of Danish students have been kicked off Facebook for cooking and eating a cat.

The students, from the Danish School of Journalism in Aarhus, posted 30 pictures of themselves cooking and eating the animal, reports the Copenhagen Post.

But their protest, aimed at drawing attention to the way pigs and cattle are raised for meat, was slammed by the animal rights lobby.

The students say the cat was feral and had been shot by a farmer trying to control the number of cats on his land. They say it was killed humanely and prepared by a professional chef.

They said they were surprised by people's reactions and were 'disappointed' their Facebook profile was no longer accessible.

"We wanted people to think about what it was they were putting in their mouths," said Laura Bøge Mortensen, group member and the editor of a student magazine that carried an article about the meal.

"It's hypocritical for us to spend thousands on our pets, yet buy the cheapest pork from Netto that comes from pigs that have lived a horrid life. And just why is it that it's worse to eat a cat than a pig?"

But she admitted the group struggled to overcome reservations about eating an animal normally treated as a pet.

"We had to count to three before we sat down to eat, and I wouldn't really say that we stuffed our face. Everyone did take a bite though," she said, before revealing the taste was "a little like chicken, with an aftertaste of fur".

But Ole Münster, director of Denmark's version of the RSPCA, said: "This is the worst way to draw people's attention to animal welfare. The choice of a cat was an especially bad one, since we get most of our calls about them."




Crook prefers jail to wife

India's vast rail network carries more than 15 million people every day on some 7,000 passenger trains.




Politician ordered to anger counseling

An Australian politician who told a pregnant rival that her baby could be born a demon was ordered to seek anger counseling on Wednesday after a string of allegations about her caustic behavior.
  
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd interrupted his official visit to Japan to rebuke the junior member of his centre-left government, Belinda Neal, ordering her to improve her behavior and warning that her future in politics was not guaranteed.

His intervention came after a string of media reports about Neal, including her comments to pregnant Liberal Party politician Sophie Mirabella, revelations she was suspended from a soccer team for kicking a fallen opponent, and allegations she threatened and abused staff at a restaurant north of Sydney.

"I've said to her that there appears to be a pattern of unacceptable behavior," Rudd told reporters in Tokyo.

Neal is married to New South Wales state minister and political powerbroker John Della Bosca. She narrowly won her seat in the lower House of Representatives at last November's national election.

Neal and Della Bosca have attracted blanket media coverage in Australia since an incident on June 6 at a nightclub north of Sydney, where they were accused of threatening and abusing staff after waiters asked them to move to a new table. They have both denied any wrongdoing.

Neal told reporters in Sydney she had agreed to anger management counseling.

"I think frankly that it will be a good thing," she said.




Man blames Salina crash on 'brain freeze'

Deputy Public Defender Anthony Adams volunteered to give Shoemaker a ride home.




Couple win right to name son Lego

A Swedish couple have won the right to name their baby son Lego after a legal battle.

Couples in Sweden have previously run into trouble with officials over the names Ikea, Veranda, Metallica and the use of Elvis for a girl.

But the Swedish Administrative Court of Appeals has now overruled an earlier decision to stop a couple naming their child after the brightly coloured plastic building blocks.

In Swedish law, offensive, unsuitable or inappropriate names are all forbidden, as well as names that could embarrass the people they are given to.

Lego's was just the latest in a series of cases in which the tax authority or County Administrative Court have questioned unusual names for youngsters.

A little girl from Stockholm called Elvis was not so lucky. The tax authority this week told her parents that the name was "of a masculine type" and therefore "clearly inappropriate".

However, the couple have protested the decision. "We talked about lots of names and then Elvis popped up," said Elvis' mother Linda.

"We thought it was a name that was pretty and gender neutral. We're not Elvis Presley fans at all."

Last year local officials in Goteburg reversed an earlier bar on the name Metallica. When Michael and Karolina Tomaro baptised their daughter, they wanted to honour their favourite rock band.




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