‘Duct Tape Bandit’ pleads guilty to robbing Ky. liquor store

CATLETTSBURG, Ky. (AP) — A man who wrapped his head in duct tape to conceal his identity has pleaded guilty to robbing an eastern Kentucky liquor store.
Under terms of a plea agreement, 25-year-old Kasey G. Kazee faces 10 years in prison, the maximum sentence. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree robbery.
Police said Kazee entered an Ashland liquor store on Aug. 10 with his entire head, except for openings at his eyes and mouth, wrapped in duct tape.
Kazee told a clerk he had a knife and threatened to harm her if she didn’t give him the money from the cash register, police said. The clerk complied and the man left.
Before the "Duct Tape Bandit" could make his getaway, another store employee tackled him in the parking lot, police said. The employee and several other men who came running from a neighboring store detained the suspect until officers arrived.
Police didn’t say how much money was taken, but the store manager said the register came up $15 short. Police said no weapon was found on Kazee when he was arrested.
Sentencing was set for May 23.

Boy Scout finds $800 in wallet and returns it

DORR, Mich. (AP) — When an 11-year-old Boy Scout found someone’s wallet with $800 inside, he understood what the person who lost it was going through.
Only a few weeks before, he had lost his own wallet and the $45 it contained.
J.R. Bouterse immediately told an adult about his discovery, which was turned over to a law-enforcement official and returned to its grateful owner.
"We’re just so proud of him," said the boy’s mother, Michelle Bouterse, 41. "We can’t say enough."
To reward the boy, the Michigan State Police threw a pizza party Monday night, not only for the law-abiding child but for all 30 Scouts in Troop 90.
Another guest at the party, to J.R.’s surprise, was 20-year-old Jessica Cutler, the wallet’s owner, who wanted to personally thank him for his act of honesty.
"I can’t believe someone would find a wallet with that much money in it and not take some," she said. "A lot of people maybe wouldn’t have done that same thing. I’m just glad he found it and not someone else."
J.R. found the wallet a little more than a week ago while leaving a Scout meeting at the church.
"I knew exactly how she felt," he said.
Not exactly: His own wallet has not been returned to him.

Newlyweds jailed after brawl at hotel

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A newlywed couple spent the night in separate jail cells — she in her wedding gown — after police said they brawled with each other, then members of another wedding party, at a suburban Pittsburgh hotel.
The fight started Saturday night after a reception when he knocked her to the floor with a karate kick in the seventh-floor hallway of a Holiday Inn, according to police. It escalated when she attacked two guests from another wedding party who came to her aid, police said.
The melee moved to an elevator and then to the lobby, where the couple threw metal planters at the two guests of the other party, causing minor injuries, police charged.
"It was pretty wild," Ross police Sgt. Dave Syska said.
Dentist David W. Wielechowski, 32, of Shaler, and Christa Vattimo, 25, had married a month earlier in the Bahamas but repeated their vows Saturday at a reception for 150 guests. They were checking into their room when the argument began, police said.
Police arrived to find the dentist lying on the lobby floor and his bride screaming, they said.
Authorities charged them both with simple assault, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, and the bride with an additional count of public intoxication. They face a May 7 preliminary hearing.
A district judge considered issuing a restraining order against Wielechowski, but his new bride declined the measure.
The couple declined comment upon their release Sunday morning.
She left with her father, still dressed in her white gown.
Wielechowski left alone, sporting a swollen eye, tuxedo pants, a bloody T-shirt and one shoe.

Chicks are in luxury at Manhattan apartment building

NEW YORK (AP) — Chickens are legal in the city, but they may not be so welcome at a tony high-rise apartment building on Manhattan’s East Side.
The superintendent of the building near the U.N. said he uses his basement condo as a temporary home for mail-order chicks.
"I’m raising chickens because I plan to retire," the super, John Hyranyaz, told the New York Post in Tuesday editions.
But he denied raising the animals at the building. "Everyone sees them, so they think I’m raising them," he said.
Instead, Hyranyaz said the peeps only get to stay at his apartment for a day before he transports them to his farm in upstate Binghamton. He said he also orders geese and rabbits.
Recently, he was keeping more than 50 brown-and-white mottled chicks in a pen.
"I live here. I get them all the time," the 62-year-old said.
The building is home to many U.N. diplomats and some of its two-bedroom condos are advertised at up to $1.8 million.

300-pound inmate complains Ark. jail doesn’t feed him well

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — An inmate awaiting trial on a murder charge is suing the county, complaining he has lost more than 100 pounds because of the jailhouse menu.
Broderick Lloyd Laswell says he isn’t happy that he’s down to 308 pounds after eight months in the Benton County jail. He has filed a federal lawsuit complaining the jail doesn’t provide inmates with enough food.
According to the suit, Laswell weighed 413 pounds when he was jailed in September. Police say he and a co-defendant fatally beat and stabbed a man, then set his home on fire.
"On several occasions I have started to do some exercising and my vision went blurry and I felt like I was going to pass out," Laswell wrote in his complaint. "About an hour after each meal my stomach starts to hurt and growl. I feel hungry again."
But Laswell then goes on to complain that he undertakes little vigorous activity.
"If we are in a small pod all day (and) do next to nothing for physical exercise, we should not lose weight," the suit says. "The only reason we lost weight in here is because we are literally being starved to death."
The suit also asks that the county be ordered to serve hot meals. The jail has served only cold food for years.
The meals, provided through Aramark Correctional Institution Services, average 3,000 calories a day, jail Capt. Hunter Petray told The Morning News of northwest Arkansas for a story Saturday.
A typical Western diet consists of 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day.
Laswell’s suit was filed without a lawyer in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.

Florida lawmakers consider bill banning ornamental testicles

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — They’re proudly displayed by any self-respecting bull, but dangling big metal ones on the back end of a truck could be banned in Florida.
Metal replicas of bull testicles have become trendy bumper ornaments in some parts of the Sunshine State, but state Sen. Carey Baker is campaigning to ban the orbs.
Baker acknowledged that Florida lawmakers have more pressing issues, including huge revenue shortfalls, but said the state needs to draw a line on what’s obscene before more objectionable adornments appear.
State Sen. Steve Geller argued against Baker’s bill.
"I find it shocking that we should be telling people that have the metallic bull testicles ... you’re now going to have points on your license for this," said Geller.
Geller was in the minority. Baker’s bill to fine drivers $60 for displaying the ornaments passed the Senate. It’s now up to the House, but there’s only a slim chance that members of that chamber would pass the measure before the session ends this coming Friday.
If it were to be passed, Gov. Charlie Crist has not indicated whether he would sign it, although he has not been too critical of this and other not-so-pressing issues.
"It’s good to have some things that maybe aren’t quite as serious. Got to have a little levity," the governor said.
A similar bill in Virginia, aimed at rubber trailer hitch replicas of human genitalia, died in committee this year.

Choir director brings prayers for lower gas prices to SF

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A choir director who hopes prayer can bring down high gas prices is trying out his approach at some of the costliest pumps in the country.
Rocky Twyman of Washington, D.C., came to San Francisco over the weekend to stage a pray-in at a Chevron station. He is also calling on churchgoers to ask for God’s intervention where he says politicians have failed.
Gas costing $4 a gallon or more has become common around the San Francisco Bay area.
The 59-year-old Twyman says people praying for cheaper fuel should also walk more and use car pools.
Twyman also works as a community organizer and public relations consultant. He has led campaigns to nominate Oprah Winfrey for the Nobel Peace Prize and to encourage African Americans to donate bone marrow.

Police: Carjacker stops to ask TV news crew for directions

CLEVELAND (AP) — A carjacking suspect stopped during the crime to ask a television news crew for directions, police said.
The 19-year-old was arraigned Thursday on a charge of aggravated robbery and ordered held on $50,000 bond.
WOIO-TV newswoman Shannon O’Brien and photographer Eric Walls were doing a sidewalk report Monday on bank problems when the passenger in a car asked for directions to a bank. The driver signaled that he was being held at gunpoint, O’Brien told police.
The news crew called police and followed the car until officers caught up. Police Lt. Thomas Stacho said the suspect was carrying a loaded handgun.

Penguin’s wetsuit puts him back in the swim of things

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — What’s black and white and warm all over? A penguin in a wetsuit, naturally.
Sounds like a joke, but it’s quite serious for biologists at the California Academy of Sciences, who had a wetsuit created for an African penguin to help him get back in the swim of things.
Pierre, a venerable 25 years old, was going bald, which left him with an embarrassingly exposed, pale pink behind.
Unlike marine mammals, which have a layer of blubber to keep them warm, penguins rely on their waterproof feathers. Without them, Pierre was unwilling to plunge into the academy’s penguin tank and ended up shivering on the sidelines while his 19 peers played in the water.
"He was cold; he would shake," said Pam Schaller, a senior aquatic biologist at the academy.
Pierre’s species of penguin is accustomed to temperate climates, unlike many of their cousins. The birds are nicknamed Jackass penguins because they make sounds similar to braying donkeys, quite startling the first time you hear it in an aquarium.
Schaller first tried a heat lamp to keep Pierre warm. Then she got another idea: If wetsuits help humans frolic in the chilly Pacific, why not whip up one in a slightly smaller size?
Staff at Oceanic Worldwide, a supplier of dive gear based in San Leandro, were enthusiastic about making a real penguin suit.
"We were really excited to do it," said Teo Tertel, company marketing specialist. "We heard most of these penguins only live to 20, and our little buddy there was already 25. Anything we could do to help them, we were all for it."
Schaller conducted fittings to design the suit, which fastens with Velcro at the back, covers Pierre’s torso and has small openings for his flippers.
"I would walk behind him and look at where there were any gaps, and cut and refit and cut and refit until it looked like it was extremely streamlined," she said.
One concern was that the other penguins would reject Pierre in his new duds, but in fact, they accepted his sleek new look.
Pierre was outfitted with the suit about six weeks ago. Since then, he has gained weight, grown back feathers on his hind parts and is again acting like his feisty, alpha-male self.
On a recent visit, Pierre waddled around the tank, taking brief dips and standing on a rock next to his mate. He blended in well, although he was the only penguin with a black tummy.
Schaller can’t say for sure whether the wetsuit allowed Pierre to recover his fine feathers, but "certainly we were able to keep him comfortable during a period of time that would have been very difficult for him to stay comfortable."
With his plumage restored, Pierre is being weaned off the suit, taking more and more dips in the buff.
There are no plans to make him a matching surf board.

After losing job, ex-mayor in dognap scandal loses the dog

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A custody case that wrecked a small-town south Texas mayor’s political career ended Thursday when she was ordered to return a Shih Tzu to her neighbors.
Grace Saenz-Lopez, the former mayor of Alice, had claimed Puddles died last year while she was pet-sitting for the neighbors. Three months later, however, a relative of the neighbors saw the dog, renamed Panchito, at a grooming business.
Saenz-Lopez insisted that Rudy Gutierrez and Shelly Cavazos had neglected the animal, but District Judge Richard Terrell in McAllen ordered her to give the dog back to the couple.
"She’s broken-hearted, man," said Homero Canales, Saenz-Lopez’s attorney, but he added that his client would comply with the order.
Canales added that the judge "admonished us for making a big deal out of a dog case." The lawyer’s wife delivered the contested pooch Thursday afternoon.
"I think everybody is just delighted," said Dee Ann Torres, the owners’ attorney.
The case gained national attention, including on NBC’s "Today" show, on which Saenz-Lopez said in February, "I didn’t steal the dog. I did not return him to save his life."
Saenz-Lopez resigned as mayor that month once a recall petition began circulating. She had held the office since 2003.
Torres said Gutierrez and Cavazos cared for the dog as well as Saenz-Lopez did.
"She is in no way a humanitarian in taking this pet away from its owners," Torres said. "They love that little dog."
Saenz-Lopez still faces two felony counts of tampering with evidence and concealing evidence. A preliminary hearing on those charges is scheduled for Tuesday.

Monroe woman sues husband after carrot attack

MONROE, Conn. (AP)— A Monroe woman is suing her husband, claiming he caused her to lose an eye when he threw a carrot at her during an argument.
The lawsuit filed by Pamela Vecsey claims that when she and her husband, 48-year-old Roderick Vecsey were arguing on July 14, 2006, in their home, her husband threw a carrot from about 20 feet away.
The woman’s lawyer says Pamela Vecsey was hit in the left eye by the carrot which ruptured the eyeball. The eye was removed and she now has a glass eye.
Roderick Vecsey was arrested and charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct. The charges against him were later dropped.
The couple still live together.

NY artist to photograph 2,008 nudists in Viennese soccer field

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — It might be a good time to make strategic use of a yellow card.
New York contemporary artist Spencer Tunick has gained notoriety worldwide for photographing thousands of people in the nude. Now he’s planning to pack a Vienna soccer stadium with 2,008 naked fans in the run-up to the Euro 2008 tournament.
Austria’s national railway said Thursday it will offer free travel to the first 2,008 men and women who sign up to bare it all for the May 11 spectacle.
Tunick wants to pose them on the field inside Ernst Happel Stadium, where the tournament final will be played. Austria and Switzerland are co-hosting the event, which runs from June 7-29.
The Brooklyn-based artist has draped naked bodies in front of the United Nations and in more than 70 other locations from Montreal to Melbourne, Australia.

Poisonous spiders take over hospital

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — A tiny Australian hospital is closing temporarily because of an infestation of poisonous spiders.
The Baralaba Multi Purpose Health Service will close for 24 hours starting Thursday morning so officials can fumigate the building to get rid of redback spiders that have been found in large numbers in the main part of the hospital.
Three or four patients will need to be moved to another hospital while the building is closed, according to a statement from Queensland state health officials.
Redback spiders, common throughout most of the country, have a painful bite and a toxic venom, although an anti-venom is available.
The statement said warm weather had caused more redback spider eggs to hatch than usual.
"We believe the best way to deal with them, and the safest option for staff and patients, is to have the whole building fumigated so both the spiders and their eggs are killed," Ellen Palmer, rural director of nursing, said in the statement Wednesday.
Nearly 300 people live in Baralaba, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Brisbane.

Buddy the ’beautiful bulldog’ excels at sleeping, snoring

By NAFEESA SYEED
Associated Press Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Buddy is a sleeping beauty: Reddish brown, he’s usually asleep on his back, snoring loudly with his large tongue lolling out.
He was wide-awake Monday, though, when he was crowned winner of a "Beautiful Bulldog" contest.
"He doesn’t have a good stamina to him ... he’s been laying around all winter," said George DuBois from Ankeny, Iowa, who owns Buddy with his wife, Cindy. "Just in the last 10, 15 days we’ve done some walking. We’ve been getting in shape for this."
The DuBois’ 3-year-old dog was among 50 bulldogs from mostly Midwestern states who came to compete. The beauty contest honors Drake University’s mascot and one of the events leading up to the Drake Relays, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious track and field competitions.
"I’m so excited. I didn’t think he had what it took to get it," said Cindy DuBois. "His mom is back home and she won’t know what to think when he comes home with all this good stuff."
Buddy competed unadorned, unlike many of his rivals. They dressed up as fairy princesses, rock stars, cheerleaders, bumblebees and even Snow White and Mr. T.
Bella Star of Elmwood, Ill., had her nails painted red and wore a Hawaiian lei, pink bikini top and a grass skirt. The skirt slipped off as she strutted down the "dogwalk" before the judges.
"We felt this best represented her personality," said owner Amanda Price. "She’s very fun-loving, high-spirited."
Buddy panted heavily as he sat on his throne, getting used to his new crown and cape as photographers snapped his picture. On Saturday, he’ll ride in a golf cart at Drake Stadium before about 18,000 spectators.
"I don’t think he really wants attention all that much ... he wants to be with people," said George DuBois. "He’s just a rascal."

Louisiana panel blocks anti-droopy pants bill

By DOUG SIMPSON
Associated Press Writer
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A state Senate panel rejected a bill on Tuesday that would make it a crime to wear one’s pants too low, even as Cajun-country towns around Louisiana have been banning saggy pants from their streets.
Sen. Derrick Shepherd’s bill would have made it illegal to wear, in public, clothing that "intentionally exposes undergarments or intentionally exposes any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of the buttocks or genitals." Violators would have faced a fine of up to $175 and eight days of community service.
Exceptions included thong swim suits and clothing worn in fashion shows.
Sen. Yvonne Dorsey said she disliked the look of baggy pants but wanted to defend the public’s right to wear their clothes as they wish.
"When we begin to take the freedom of speech away ... I think we’re doing something that’s just not right," said Dorsey, a Democrat.
Shepherd said the state should take a stand against droopy pants, which he called just one example of widespread indecency in contemporary clothing styles.
"The shorts are getting shorter, the tops are getting smaller, the cleavage is getting larger," said Shepherd, also a Democrat. "When are we going to say, ’Enough is enough’?"
With no objection, the Senate judiciary panel voted against moving the measure to the floor.
Shepherd tried and failed to pass a similar bill in 2004, but the measure died in the face of opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union.
About a dozen Louisiana towns and cities have enacted or are considering bans on saggy pants.
The style is believed to have started in prisons, where inmates are issued ill-fitting jumpsuits but no belts to prevent hangings and beatings. The look was popularized in gangster rap videos.

Police: Manager sold marijuana from drive-through window

FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Police have arrested a pizza parlor manager on charges alleging he sold marijuana out of his drive-through window in Fort Smith, Ark.
Authorities said Monday that state and local investigators acting on a tip went to the Pizza Hut restaurant and found six ounces of marijuana and a set of digital scales in the manager’s office.
Police said they arrested 28-year-old manager Aaron Massey on Friday on a charge of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Massey has been released on $3,500 bail.

Woman finds 8-foot alligator in her Florida kitchen

OLDSMAR, Fla. (AP) — And some people get jittery about mice in the kitchen.
Authorities say 69-year-old central Florida woman found an 8-foot long alligator prowling in her kitchen late Monday night.
Sandra Frosti says the gator must have pushed through the back porch screen door and then went inside through an open sliding glass door at her home in Oldsmar, just north of Tampa. It then apparently strolled through the living room, down a hall and into the kitchen.
A trapper with Animal Capture of Florida removed the alligator, which was cut by a plate that was knocked to the ground during the chaos. But no one inside the house was injured.

Video surfaces of man stuck in elevator for 41 hours

NEW YORK (AP) - A time-lapse video of a man trapped in an elevator for 41 hours has become something of an Internet sensation after surveillance camera footage emerged after nearly a decade.
"After a certain period of time I knew that I was in pretty big trouble because it was the weekend," Nicholas White said Monday on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America."
Video of his Oct. 15, 1999, ordeal in an elevator in New York's McGraw-Hill building was posted online to accompany an article in the April 21 edition of The New Yorker. It can be seen on the magazine's Web site and had been viewed more than 280,000 times on YouTube by Monday morning.
White said he understood why the video has captured people's attention: So many have wondered what they would do if it happened to them.
Edited to a soundtrack of classical piano music, the video shows him pacing, trying to climb the walls, lying down, curled up in a fetal position, prying apart the doors. (He said he relieved himself down the shaft when the doors were open.)
White sued the managers of the midtown skycraper and the elevator maintenance company and won an undisclosed settlement.
He was a production manager for Business Week when he left his office about 11 p.m. Friday for a cigarette break. According to the article, it was never determined exactly why the elevator stalled though there was talk of a voltage dip.

Couple offers home as prize in essay contest

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A couple have decided to give away their home to the winner of an essay contest. The catch: It costs $100 to enter, and the home will go only if at least 2,500 people sign up.
The state Gaming Control Board is examining whether Tiffany and Todd Lovell’s contest qualifies as a raffle, which would make it illegal under state law, or a game of skill, which is allowed, said Greg Saunders, the board’s deputy director.
"We haven’t made that determination yet," he said.
The Lovells said the depressed housing market led them to try to move their 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom, one-bathroom home through the essay contest. They are hoping to get at least 2,500 entries, which would net them $250,000. If they receive fewer than 2,500 entries, they said they would cancel the contest and return the entry fees.
The couple said entries would be judged by "various members of the Los Alamos County community."

Dog crosses desert, mountains to get back home

ELY, Nev. (AP) — A dog that ran off during a road-trip rest stop apparently made her way nearly 80 miles across Nevada’s high desert and two mountain ranges to return home a week later.
Moon, a Siberian husky, was reunited April 14 with owner Doug Dashiell, who had last seen her April 6 near Railroad Valley, about 77 miles from his home in Ely.
Moon, who is nearly 2 years old, was no worse for the wear, with the exception of stinking like a skunk that apparently sprayed her somewhere along the journey.
"I’ve had trouble with her running away before. She’s always come home," Dashiell said. But he didn’t expect her to show up after a week had passed.
"After seven days — no way," he told the Ely Times for a story Thursday.
Then the White Pine Veterinary Clinic called Dashiell and told him Moon was back in town. She had wandered up to an Ely residence where Alvin Molea took her home, fed her and gave her a place to sleep.
Molea called the clinic because the dog was wearing a tag from it.
The dog’s journey would have taken her across the White River and Ward mountain ranges.

Maryland woman gives birth to rare quadruplets, 3 identical

TOWSON, Md. (AP) — A mother has given birth to a rare set of quadruplets in which three of the four boys are identical.
The boys were born 11 weeks premature in January at Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson. The parents plan to introduce themselves and their boys at a news conference Friday.
There are fewer than 100 documented cases of "identical triplets plus one" in the United States, hospital officials said.
Two embryos were implanted into the mother, and both were fertilized, hospital spokesman Michael Schwartzberg said. One of them split, then split again, creating the identical triplets.
The boys were delivered by Caesarian section Jan. 29, their mother’s 32nd birthday. Joshua Drew was born first, then Gavin Michael, Cody Benjamin and finally Logan Christopher, the non-identical one, Schwartzberg said.
The babies were treated at the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, and all four have been home in Belcamp for about 2½ weeks, Schwartzberg said.

Cops: Teen arrested in drug sting set up by school principal

By CLARE TRAPASSO
Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. — A high school senior who was charged in a drug sting set up by a rival school’s principal is suing district officials over his lengthy suspension.
Concord High School student John Huckins, 17, was arrested last month on a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He has not entered a plea, but school officials suspended him for the rest of the school year.
Bishop Brady High School Principal Jean Barker set up a meeting with Huckins on a cell phone she confiscated from one of her students, according to police reports.
She received a text message from Huckins stating, "Yo, you need a bag?" according to police reports.
Barker pretended to be the phone’s owner and told him to meet outside the back door of her Catholic school, then called police.
When Huckins showed up March 6, he was arrested with a quarter-ounce of marijuana, police said.
Barker did not return phone messages to The Associated Press. She defended her actions to The Concord Monitor, saying Huckins’ willingness to bring drugs onto school property placed her school at risk.
Huckins’ attorney, Mark Howard, disagreed.
"It is a crime in the state of New Hampshire to elicit a drug offense if you are not either a police officer or working under the direction of a police officer," Howard said.
Police refused to comment.
While his criminal case is pending, Huckins has sued the Concord School District, Superintendent Chris Rath and his principal, Gene Connelly, over his suspension. Huckins is attending classes until a judge reaches a decision.
"John is very interested in staying in school and finishing out the school year," Howard said. "He couldn’t be any more embarrassed or humiliated about this."
The lawsuit alleges the school district neglected to provide the written charges against him and inform him he could bring a lawyer to his suspension hearing.
Concord School District attorney John Teague acknowledged that a mistake was made initially but said the charges were refiled correctly.

Police: Man in drag rammed car into lingerie store

COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Police say a man dressed as a woman repeatedly crashed his car into a suburban Detroit lingerie store that refused to hire him.
Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe says Jeremy McIntosh, 27, was arrested Saturday outside Intimate Ideas. Damage to the store was estimated at $3,000.
McCabe says McIntosh was wearing "facial makeup, lipstick, blue Capri pants, red flip-flops, a flowery blouse and a matching flowery women’s bra."
McIntosh told deputies he is homeless and wanted to go to jail because he had nowhere else to go.
McIntosh remained jailed after his arraignment Monday on charges including malicious destruction of property and reckless driving. McCabe says McIntosh doesn’t have a lawyer yet.

Iowa pranksters get just desserts: 3,000 forks in their yard

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — When known pranksters Rick and Marilyn Jones left town for a wedding, neighbors seeking payback eyed their property and decided to stick a fork in it — a few thousand forks, in fact.
Tom and Paula Tschudi planted 3,000 white plastic forks in the Jones’ yard and dangled more from the roof, fence and garage.
"We just wanted to do something funny to them, because every time we leave, they pull some prank on us," said Paula Tschudi, who promised to help pick up the forks.
Over the years, the Joneses have strung beer cans like holiday lights around the Tschudis’ home, put a for-sale sign in their yard and strung yellow crime-scene tape around chalk outlines of bodies on the sidewalk.
As the Tschudis, their two children and another neighborhood family planted the forks Sunday, one passer-by asked what they were doing.
"We told him we were aerating their lawn," Paula Tschudi said with a laugh.

Tisbury voters divided on alcohol sales

TISBURY, Mass. (AP) — Tisbury residents, it seems, are split on whether to allow beer and wine sales at restaurants in town.
Exactly split.
A ballot question on whether to allow sales of alcohol tied 690-690 in Tuesday’s election on the Martha’s Vineyard community.
Town Clerk Marion Mudge says those who want to allow sales of beer and wine have already asked for a hand recount, and that could change the results.
Tisbury is one of more than a dozen towns in Massachusetts towns where there are no liquor stores or bars. Many restaurants do allow customers to bring their own alcohol.

Tow truck driver takes car with child inside

DALLAS (AP) — A tow truck driver unknowingly hauled away a car with a 7-year-old asleep inside before returning the vehicle minutes later and speeding away, police said.
The panicked parents of the missing boy watched the driver hurriedly unhook their car and take off as they met with authorities late Monday, according to a Dallas police report. A possible kidnapping investigation at the apartment complex had already begun.
Fidel Retana Jr., 23, was pulled over a short time later and arrested on child endangerment charges. But police said Tuesday they expect to drop the charges.
"It appeared that he did not intend to take the child," Dallas police Sgt. Brenda Nichols said.
David Traylor, Retana’s attorney, said his client noticed the boy only when he stopped to ensure that the car was hooked up properly. The car had been parked in a fire lane while the boy’s mother ran upstairs to her apartment.
Traylor said Retana left the second time in a hurry because he knew the parents were there and were probably angry.
"He tried to do everything he could to get the kid back quickly," Traylor said.
Authorities said the boy’s mother was crying and vomiting outside when they arrived. The boy was still asleep when the car was returned.
"I hate the way towing people run the business," said Sergio Zuniga, the boy’s father.

Programmer pops the question on video game

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Hiding a ring in a bouquet just wasn’t enough when a computer programmer decided to pop the question.
Bernie Peng reprogrammed Tammy Li’s favorite video game, "Bejeweled," so a ring and a marriage proposal would show up on the screen when she reached a certain score.
Li reached the needed score — and said yes.
The word of the romantic feat last December filtered out after Peng, a financial software programmer, posted details on his blog. The reprogramming was a tricky task and took him a month.
"I thought it was pretty cool, in a nerdy way," Peng told The Star-Ledger of Newark.
The couple plan to marry over Labor Day weekend, and PopCap, the Seattle company that makes "Bejeweled," will fly the couple to Seattle as part of their honeymoon.
"Most video game companies would frown on people manipulating their games," said Garth Chouteau, a spokesman for PopCap.
"But it won him a woman. As a bunch of geeks we have to say, ’Bernie, hats off to you."’
The company is also supplying copies of "Bejeweled" to hand out as favors to the wedding guests. In the hugely popular game, players score points by swapping gems to form vertical and horizontal chains.

Rats, bought as snake food, become friends, overrun home

ROCHESTER, Wash. (AP) — A woman bought rats as food for her pet snakes but eventually came to think of them as "friends" and allowed them to breed and overrun her house, which will need to be razed, officials said Friday.
The rats have gnawed through wiring, walls, cupboards and drawers, "so there’s no lights or heat or sewage" disposal, said Susanne Beauregard, Thurston County animal services director, on Friday.
Michelle Diller, 64, who had rebuffed agencies’ efforts to help her, agreed to move into an assisted living center to get her cat back, Beauregard said. The cat had been confiscated along with 11 caged animals — four severely malnourished snakes, five mice and two rats.
"I told her I would let her have her cat back if she agreed to move," Beauregard told The Associated Press.
Agencies were seeking housing for Diller on Friday and considering what to do about the rats, which have begun turning up in neighbors’ yards on the outskirts of Rochester, south of Olympia. They were apparently the progeny of a few that escaped after Diller bought them as snake food, Beauregard said.
"Initially she was saying, ’You can’t hurt them; they’re my friends,"’ Beauregard said.
Diller told KOMO-TV of Seattle: "I don’t have a problem with any animal."
Unlike the snakes, which were on the verge of death when they were taken to a veterinarian Wednesday, the cat was in good general health — except for a runny nose and eyes because of the stench of rat urine and feces, Beauregard said.
The county will probably charge Diller with animal cruelty over the treatment of the snakes — two boa constrictors, a corn snake and a king snake — "if that’s the only way to assure that she gets a mental health evaluation," Beauregard said.
Cupboards and walls were riddled with rat holes, and the bottoms had been chewed out of all the drawers. The refrigerator was on, but otherwise the electricity seemed to be "very spotty. Nothing else worked," she said.
"The house needs to be razed and rebuilt," Beauregard said.

'Car Kabob' goes up for auction

BERWYN, Ill. (AP) — A towering sculpture of eight cars made famous in the movie "Wayne’s World" is up for sale on eBay.
The suburban Chicago landmark is named the Spindle and features cars from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s skewered on a metal spike.
Bids open at $50,000, and the auction closes Thursday. The eBay listing says it will cost $100,000 to ship the 50-foot structure.
The Spindle — also known as the "Car Kabob" and the "Eight Car Pileup" — draws fans of the 1992 comedy starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey.
Berwyn residents are divided on what to do with the structure, which is covered with rust and pigeon droppings. It was supposed to be dismantled last year to make way for a pharmacy, but preservation groups formed and protested.
California artist Dustin Shuler built the piece in 1989.

LI man arrested for using bogus bill to pay bail

MELVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Police say it was no surprise a bogus $50 bill got a Long Island man arrested: He was trying to use it to pay his bail on a traffic charge.
The transaction compounded Cyheam Forney’s legal problems and landed him in jail.
Police say they spotted the 31-year-old Forney making an illegal left turn in Melville on Thursday and discovered his license had been suspended.
Forney was arrested on a misdemeanor suspended license charge — until officers said he proffered the counterfeit currency as bail money. He was being held early Friday on a felony charge of possessing a forged instrument.
No telephone number could be found for Forney at the address police had for him, and they didn’t know whether he had a lawyer.

Neighbors buy RV for man facing eviction from treehouse

SEATTLE (AP) — A homeless man who has spent the past two years living in a treehouse has a new, terrestrial home just in the nick of time, thanks to neighbors.
David "Squirrelman" Csaky, a self-taught carpenter, learned Tuesday that neighbors had found an aging recreational vehicle for him to occupy.
"I’m overwhelmed," Csaky said. "I started crying when they told me."
For two years, Csaky, 52, has lived about 30 feet above the ground in a 300-square-foot self-made platform, accessible by a ladder counterweighted with sandbags on pulleys on city land.
Csaky outfitted the treehouse with a tent, wood stove, three chairs, shelves and a counter with an unplumbed sink. His pets include Lucky, a rat; Rainbow, a ferret; and Tilt, a squirrel.
He was lately threatened with eviction because the treehouse is a health and safety concern.
Brandon Ferrante, 28, and Maria Bolander, 27, who befriended him after watching the treehouse take shape, found an aging 22-foot RV online after they learned of Csaky’s situation.
"It broke our hearts," Ferrante said. "He’s taken care of the neighborhood. We couldn’t sleep at night. We decided to make it happen."
They and their landlords, Janet Yoder and husband Robby Rudine, agreed to buy the rig for $500 after the owner offered a special "Squirrelman" discount.
"David’s a unique character but a good neighbor," Yoder said.
After delivering the RV Tuesday evening, owner Timothy Custer decided instead to sell it to Csaky for a penny.
"It’s Dave’s new house," Custer said.
To make the house a home, Ferrante said, the task is now to find a permanent parking place.
"We don’t want to see it get towed," he said.
Csaky, who got his nickname for his ability to tame squirrel, said he was amazed at the public attention, including radio television and radio interviews and talk show appearances.
"This is the beginning of a new life," he said.

Stamford bans trans fats in city restaurants

STAMFORD (AP)— Stamford’s governing board has taken action to look out for the health of residents by approving a ban on trans fats at city restaurants.
Trans fats are shortening and hydrogenated vegetable oils linked to "bad cholesterol" by the Food and Drug Administration.
The Board of Representatives has voted 22-12 to ban trans fats as of July 1 in food service establishments. However, items in the manufacturers’ packaging, such as cookies or chips, are exempt.
Manufacturers create trans fat by adding hydrogen to oil. This hydrogenated oil has a longer shelf life and more stable flavor.
The city’s health director says inspectors will incorporate the new anti-trans fat rule into their routine inspections.

Robber uses sob story, gun in hold ups

MILFORD, Conn. (AP)— A Stratford man who police say claimed to have AIDS when he robbed at least one of several businesses has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Twenty-nine-year-old Darrance Saunders was sentenced Tuesday in Milford for robberies in Milford, Orange and Westport in 2006. Saunders also faces first-degree robbery charges in Bridgeport and Stratford.
Police say in at least one robbery, Saunders handed an employee of a tanning salon a note stating: "I have AIDS, I’m dying, I have a gun, I want the money."
He was arrested in January 2007 in Bridgeport by the U.S. Marshals Violent Crime Fugitive Task Force.

L.I. assessor says value's way off on one property - his own

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) — Harvey Levinson might be the last person his neighbors would expect to complain about the assessment on his condominium. After all, he’s the county assessor.
But Levinson has asked the Nassau County Assessment Review Commission to knock more than $200,000 off the $502,080 value his own office set for his two-bedroom condo in an upscale Long Island development. If approved, the change would shave an estimated $1,700 off his $13,000 property tax bill for 2009-2010.
Levinson said he was simply trying to point up a clerical error that caused a 75-percent spike in his assessment.
The county Board of Assessors, which he chairs, has asked the review commission to correct the problem for 1,600 condominiums, including Levinson’s. But he said he filed a separate grievance because he "wanted to be open about this."
The assessor — who collects a $166,300 annual salary and a $72,000-a-year state pension for serving 27 years as a county prosecutor — added that he expects to retire, sell the condo and move to Florida before the requested reduction might take effect and trim his taxes.
"The new owner will get the benefit," said Levinson, 68.
Review Commission Chairman John Pegullian said the assessor would be treated as any other taxpayer.

Robber uses umbrella for liquor store heist

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (AP)— Windsor Locks police are looking for a robber who held up a liquor store with an umbrella.
Police say the robber, whose face was covered with a dark ski mask, demanded Monday night that the clerk at the Elm Street Package Store open the cash register.
Police say when the clerk refused, the suspect pounded an umbrella against the front counter and pulled the register off the counter.
The robber took several hundred dollars and was last seen getting in a small, dark-colored vehicle.

CT Caped Crusader stays fit with road work

ELLINGTON, Conn. (AP) — Holy weight loss, Batman! The Caped Crusader has picked the rural roads of Ellington for his effort to get in shape.
There have been multiple sightings of the man in the costume jogging through town for some time now.
Batman, as always, is keeping his true identity under wraps. But this version says he’s a 41-year-old consumer advocate helping homeowners facing foreclosure.
He says the jogging started as a bet with his three sons: If they bought him a Batman suit, he would start running in it.
He tells the Journal Inquirer of Manchester that he’s lost 56 pounds so far. The first people who saw him stopped their car and took pictures.
Batman says he’s keeping the town’s residents and cows safe.

New Zealand man accused of assault with hedgehog

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand man has been accused of assault with prickly weapon — a hedgehog.
Police allege that William Singalargh picked up the hedgehog and threw it several yards to hit a 15-year-old boy in the North Island east coast town of Whakatane on Feb. 9.
"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," police Senior Sgt. Bruce Jenkins said Monday. The teen did not need medical treatment, he added.
The Herald on Sunday newspaper reported that it was not known whether the hedgehog was dead or alive at the time of the attack, but that it was dead when collected as evidence.
Jenkins said Singalargh, 27, was arrested shortly after the incident on a charge of assault with a weapon. He is expected to appear in court again on April 17.
His lawyer, Rebecca Plunket, said Singalargh intends to plead innocent. The maximum penalty for the charge is five years in prison.
While using a hedgehog as a weapon in an assault is uncommon, Jenkins said, "People often get charged with assault for throwing things at other people."

7-foot snake hitches ride on minibus

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Commuters in the Philippine capital got a shock when they found an unwelcome passenger on their minibus: a 7-foot-long python.
The discovery Thursday sent passengers running and snarled traffic in the Manila suburb of Quezon City, police said Friday.
The python had wrapped itself around steel suspension bars under a "jeepney," a kind of minibus unique to the Philippines, that had traveled into the capital from a nearby province, traffic police Inspector Erlito Renegin said.
Passengers scampered to safety after the snake crawled out from under the jeepney onto the road during a stop, Renegin told The Associated Press. Other cars tried to avoid hitting it, he said.
Renegin said he worked with traffic officials and bystanders to wrestle the snake into a sack.
Dante Santiago, a snake handler from the government’s Wildlife Rescue Center who picked up the python from a police station, said the animal appeared tame. Despite being handled many times, it lunged at him only once, indicating it was familiar with people and could have been a pet that escaped, he said.
Wildlife officials said they would return the python if someone could prove ownership, but that they otherwise would keep it and perhaps release it into the wild.

Fowl play prompts unusual court order

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A court has issued what could be at least a local first: an order of protection for a duck.
A Suffolk County judge approved the measure Thursday, telling a man accused of shooting a family’s pet duck to stay away from the bird and her owners.
Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Chief Roy Gross says he can’t recall a previous court case involving cruelty to a duck.
Owner Janet Lippincott says a group of young people bounded over her backyard fence and swarmed the yellow-billed Peking duck with pellet guns on March 17. The bird, named Circles, has recovered after a bullet pierced her voice box.
The 21-year-old suspect pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony animal cruelty charges.

Toddlers can no longer marry in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas’ marriage-age crisis is over.
A law that mistakenly allowed anyone — even toddlers — to marry with parental permission was repealed by a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe, ending months of embarrassment for the state and confusion for county clerks.
Lawmakers didn’t realize until after the end of last year’s regular session that a law they approved, intended to establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage, instead removed the minimum age to marry entirely. An extraneous "not" in the bill allowed anyone who was not pregnant to marry at any age with permission.
The bill read: "In order for a person who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age and who is not pregnant to obtain a marriage license, the person must provide the county clerk with evidence of parental consent to the marriage."
Some lawmakers called for a special session last year, saying the error would make it easy for pedophiles to take advantage of the law. Gov. Mike Beebe said he didn’t see any imminent crisis and said the chances of children marrying under the law were slim.
Legislators, however, had the chance for a do-over this week when Beebe convened a special session to consider a hike in the state’s severance tax on natural gas. They repealed the botched law, and reinstated 17 as the minimum age to marry for boys and 16 for girls.
Rep. Will Bond, the sponsor of the botched 2007 law and its correction, apologized for the error and asked his colleagues to "throw me a rope and bail me out here."
"I always thought if you put your name on a bill, you should be ready to take the blame if you’re willing to accept the credit," Bond said Wednesday.
Bond, a Democrat, said there hadn’t been any reports of young children attempting to marry under the 2007 law.

Woman bites dog

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Amy Rice feared for her dog’s life when a pit bull jumped over a fence into her yard and attacked her pooch. So she took matters into her own mouth.

Rice says she bit the pit bull on the nose Friday after trying to pull the dog’s jaws off her Labrador retriever, Ella. The dog had jumped a fence to get into Rice’s northeast Minneapolis yard, and Rice says she feared the pit bull would kill Ella.

Rice says she drew blood when she bit the dog, and her doctor will have to determine whether she should get shots for rabies.

The pit bull was quarantined. Ella is recovering with staples and stitches to her head and a crushed ear canal.

Politician proposes day to hunt, freeze toxic toads

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — An Australian politician on Wednesday proposed designating a special day for residents to hunt and kill what he called one of the world’s most disgusting creatures: the poisonous cane toad.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has said it backs the plan by Queensland state lawmaker Shane Knuth to launch "Toad Day Out," but only if the creatures are killed in a humane way, such as euthanizing them in a freezer."
Obviously we’re not idiots. We understand a lot people will be highly reluctant to fill their fridges and freezers with dying cane toads, but at the moment that is the only humane way that we can recommend," said Michael Beatty, the society’s spokesman.
The toads were imported from South America to Australia’s northeastern state of Queensland in 1935 in a failed attempt to control beetles on sugar cane plantations. They now threaten many local species.
Knuth said he wanted "a special day that Queenslanders, especially children, could all play their part."
"The toad is probably the greatest environmental vermin and probably the most disgusting creature known to man," he said.
Knuth has long campaigned against the pests. Last year he suggested a bounty of 36 cents per toad.
Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries said it was important that native frogs are not mistaken for toads during any hunt.

Tire falls from helicopter, crashes through house

MONROE, Ga. (AP) — The mystery of a tire that plunged from the sky and crashed through the roof of a home here now has an explanation.Federal Aviation Administration officials told home owner Mark Brown on Tuesday that the wheel plummeted to earth from a helicopter owned by the Loganville-based Forever Green Landscaping. The wheel is part of equipment used to haul the helicopter around the landing pad during maintenance.

Officials said the equipment should have been removed before flight.

The company’s owner told the Athens Banner-Herald he didn’t know his helicopter had lost a wheel.

Brown said he and his wife returned home last Wednesday to find pictures knocked to the floor and cracks in a hallway’s drywall. He crawled into the attic, where he saw a hole about the size of a loaf of bread in his roof, with a tire peeking through.

"When I crawled up there and saw it pushing through the roof, I thought, ’I must be dreaming,"’ Brown, a mechanic, told the Banner-Herald.

The Walton County Sheriff’s Office traced serial numbers on the tire to the landscaping company, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said. The FAA is still investigating the incident, she said.

Monroe is 46 miles east of Atlanta.