Pa. police: Ohio truck rigged to steal fuel

HERMITAGE, Pa. (AP) — Police have linked the large-scale theft of diesel fuel from a western Pennsylvania convenience store to a specially equipped pickup truck trailer with a trap door and a vacuum hose.
No one has been charged, but the truck and trailer were found on the property of a man who owns a small asphalt and trucking company in Ohio, police said.
"It’s a very ingenious way of doing things and I’ve never seen anything like this," said Hermitage Deputy Police Chief Edward Holiga.
Holiga said his department is investigating whether the truck is linked to at least three thefts since 2005. In the latest, about $4,500 worth of diesel fuel was reported stolen April 28 from the underground tanks of the Tic Toc Food Mart in Hermitage.
Police issued a surveillance photo of the pickup and trailer believed to be involved in the thefts and received a tip that led them to a property in North Bloomfield, Ohio, about 30 miles northwest of Hermitage.
Police spotted the truck and trailer on the property Tuesday and obtained a search warrant that was executed Wednesday.
The trailer contained a straw wall that concealed a wooden partition. The partition hid a siphoning mechanism and an empty 15-foot long propane tank.
Police believe someone inside the trailer would siphon diesel fuel from underground tanks at fuel stations by lowering a hose through the trap door and using the pickup’s engine to power a vacuum that drew the fuel into the tank, Holiga said.
Police also found several storage tanks on the Ohio property, including a 5,000-gallon tank containing about 500 gallons of diesel fuel.
Holiga said police in Ohio are investigating at least one theft there, too.
Because police are continuing to investigate the thefts, Holiga said he doesn’t expect his detectives to file charges until next week.

New York town repeals ban on clotheslines

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Town board members who had drawn the line at hanging clothes outside to dry are cutting residents some slack: It’s OK for them to use clotheslines now.
The Southampton Town board has lifted a ban on clotheslines that had stood since 2002, when some homeowners complained the laundry on their neighbors’ lawns was making the tony Hamptons town look shabby.
But no one objected when the town board voted Tuesday night to repeal the ban.
Town Councilwoman Anna Throne-Holst said being able to hang her children’s clothes outside instead of drying them in a machine will keep her electricity costs down.
"If you have three teenage sons like I do, your energy bill is going through the roof," she said.
Other residents said they had ignored the ban despite a possible $1,000 fine or six-month jail term. No Southampton resident had been sanctioned for hanging a clothesline.

Houston to spend $150K to defend police beard ban

HOUSTON (AP) — City officials are apparently willing to dig deep to defend the police department’s ban on beards.
The Houston City Council on Wednesday unanimously authorized spending up to $150,000 to defend the city in a lawsuit challenging the no-facial hair policy.
"The lawsuit is pending and we have to defend ourselves," Councilman Ron Green said. "But we’re basically saying we want new police officers, but we don’t want police officers with beards."
Four police officers filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in November claiming the policy is discriminatory. The officers say the prohibition on beards and goatees is unfair for men who suffer a skin condition that reacts negatively to shaving. The condition can cause severe irritation, rashes and ingrown hair.
The police department instituted the policy in 1993 so uniformed officers would look conservative and professional, according to a city memo.
Officers said the policy unfairly effects their earning potential, both within the department and at secondary jobs.
"If I work an extra job in a dangerous area, I look like a security guard," Sgt. Shelby Stewart.

Maine town’s jail up for sale for $200,000

SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) — If you’re in the market for a roomy brick-and-stone Victorian — complete with some pretty impressive security features — look no further.
The Somerset County Jail in downtown Skowhegan is for sale. It has a price tag of $200,000.
"It’s an interesting building. It could be used for many, many things," said Philip Roy, chairman of the Somerset County commissioners.
The 14,000-square-foot lockup, which was built in 1897, is scheduled to shut down later this year when a new 200-bed county jail opens in Madison.
One of the selling points, said Tonya Allen, an assistant real estate broker, is that the building is situated in the heart of downtown Skowhegan, with no zoning or permit-use restrictions.
Roy said some ideas for the old jail include turning the property into a restaurant, an art gallery, a gift shop or even a bus station.
The razor-wire fencing comes included.

Lost parrot returned to owners after reciting name, address

TOKYO (AP) — When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.
Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor’s roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.
He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.
"I’m Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.
"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we’ve found Yosuke," Uemura said.
The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.
But Yosuke apparently wasn’t keen on opening up to police officials.
"I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.

Romp in woods ends in charges for airline workers

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A pilot’s nighttime romp in the woods with a flight attendant has ended with both suspended and under arrest, police said.
Jeffrey Paul Bradford, 24, and Adrianna Grace Connor, 24, both employees of Pinnacle Airlines Inc., were at a diner on Sunday night before they apparently decided to take a walk, police said.
"They told the officer they wanted to go do it in the woods, essentially," said Lower Swatara Township Police Sgt. Richard Brandt. "That’s the best answer they had."
Things went awry when people who live in the neighborhood summoned police around 9:30 p.m., saying they had seen a naked man and an intoxicated woman.
A helicopter with heat-seeking equipment was called in, and Bradford was discovered hiding behind a shed shortly before midnight.
His only attire was a pair of flip-flops and a wristwatch.
Bradford, of Pittsburgh, was charged with indecent exposure, public drunkenness and other offenses. Connor, of Belleville, Mich., was charged with theft, public drunkenness and other offenses; police said she took a flashlight from a neighbor’s vehicle.
The office of District Justice Michael John Smith, where Bradford and Connor were arraigned, said they were not represented by lawyers. Telephone listings for them could not be located by The Associated Press.
A spokesman for Pinnacle Airlines said the two were suspended while the company investigates.

Christmas tree finally untrimmed in Winsted

WINSTED (AP)— Town officials say it was not procrastinating that caused the lights on the town Christmas tree to stay up four months after the holiday was over.
There were a lot of reasons why it took town employees until last week to remove lights, decorations and the star.
Training, busy schedules and uncooperative weather delayed the removal of decorations, according to a fire officials.
Capt. Geoff Bleiler said the annual chore was delayed in large part because rain left the ground too soft to support the heavy aerial ladder truck required to reach the top of the tree.
Bleiler said firefighters with big ladder truck were finally able to remove the lights and star topping the tree last week.

Mont. gov. speaks at commencement for class of one

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Jeff Greenwood is in a class by himself.
He was the only student to graduate from Opheim High School this year, but the small event Friday drew a big name. Gov. Brian Schweitzer gave the commencement address.
Greenwood, who plans to attend Dickinson State University in North Dakota, said the high school is the "hub of activity" for rural Opheim, a town about 10 miles south of the Canadian border.
"The student-to-teacher ratio is pretty good," said Greenwood, who is the student body president and, of course, the senior class president.
Greenwood had a few classmates before high school, but his last remaining classmate moved to Utah during freshman year. He took some classes alone his senior year while sharing others with juniors at the school.
"You get to know everybody and you’re friends with everybody," Greenwood said. "At the same time, you can’t get away with anything."
Principal LeRoy Nelson, who has also been school superintendent, said he thought this was the first time the school graduated just one student. Six students graduated last year and 12 are on track to graduate in 2009.
Nelson said he thinks single-member classes will become more common as enrollment drops at rural schools. Last year, one other Montana school had one graduate. Schweitzer spoke there as well.

Company to reprint yearbooks after head switching

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — School officials say they are appalled by altered photos — including heads on different bodies — in hundreds of McKinney High School yearbooks delivered this week.
Besides the head and body switching, some necks were stretched, one girl’s arm was missing, and another girl’s head was placed on what appeared to be a nude body, with the chest blurred.
A spokeswoman for Minnesota-based Lifetouch National School Studios Inc. said the alterations were "an unfortunate lapse in judgment" by an employee but didn’t believe it was malicious.
The high school had required Lifetouch to make heads the same size and eyes at the same level in all student photos, company spokeswoman Sara Thurin Rollin said Saturday. The request was "unusual and definitely very particular, but that’s not to suggest what happened here is acceptable," she said.
Rollin declined to say if the company fired or reprimanded the employee who altered the images. She said Lifetouch is taking full responsibility for the altered pictures, about 30 in all, and will pay to have the publication reprinted before the seniors graduate.
Lori Oglesbee, the school’s yearbook adviser at McKinney High School, said the yearbook staff would spend the weekend rebuilding the yearbook.
McKinney is about 20 miles north of Dallas.

Veggie Pride Parade urges "Give Peas a Chance"

NEW YORK (AP) — The veggies your mom implored you to eat are getting their own celebration in New York City: The Veggie Pride Parade.
Rain or shine, the parade is expected to wend its way through Manhattan’s old meatpacking district on Sunday before ending at Washington Square Park.
Along the route, costumed bride and groom Penelo Pea Pod and Chris P. Carrot will exchange veggie vows and ask observers to "Give Peas a Chance" and "Go Vegetarian!"
Parade organizer Pamela Rice says the mission of the parade is to promote vegan and vegetarian lifestyles and the ethical treatment of animals. It was inspired by a similar parade in Paris, France.

14 tons of spilled Oreo cookies snarl Ill. traffic

MORRIS, Ill. (AP) — Got milk?
Police say a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos has overturned, spilling the cookies still in their plastic sleeves into the median and roadway.
Illinois State Police Sgt. Brian Mahoney says the truck’s driver was traveling from Chicago to Morris on Interstate 80 around 4 a.m. Monday when he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into the median.
"The boxes came out of the trailer and boxes were ripped open," he said.
The crash about 50 miles southwest of Chicago remains under investigation.
Mahoney says no charges have been filed but both lanes of traffic remain closed while authorities remove the cookies.

Wis. man won’t buy gas for 31 days

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — Brian LaFave couldn’t care less how high gasoline prices climb these days — he’s parked his pickup truck and is refusing to buy gas for a month, possibly longer.
"The goal is to not use one drop of gas for 31 days," LaFave said, calling it his personal stand against the oil companies.
Now LaFave, 31, is riding his bicycle or walking everywhere he goes. He won’t even let friends pick him up unless they already planned on being in the neighborhood.
"If they’re not going out of their way, I can take the ride," he said. "But if they’re going out of their way, then ... I’m still consuming gasoline so it kind of defeats the purpose."
LaFave started the effort May 11. He bikes to his third-shift job at Aldrich Chemical in Sheboygan Falls, a 9-mile commute.
"I did like a practice run ... two days in a row to make sure I could do it," he said. "I’m not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die."
It’s a big change for someone who put 300 miles on his truck the week before he stopped driving it.
LaFave fills out a chart each day listing how many miles he bikes, the destination and the gas price that day, among other things. He plans to compute his savings and donate that amount to a charity that provides food to children in Africa.
"I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it," LaFave said. "People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it, but I just wanted to take a stand and say, ‘I’m not gonna pay this much money for gas."’

Hungry bear and cub take refuge on roof

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A mother bear and her young cub stopped traffic and caused panic Thursday in central Romania after they roamed through gardens in search of food and finally climbed the stairs of a 4-story building and broke onto the roof.
A rescue team tranquilized the mother after failing to steer her toward a nearby forest, officials said.
Residents had reported that the bear and her cub were wandering through gardens and breaking fences in search of food in downtown Brasov. Traffic was stopped for two hours as a team tried to get the animals back to the wilderness.
"The bear cub was very small and could not keep up with its mum, and she did not want to go back to the forest without it," said Flavius Barbulescu, head of the animal protection service.
The animals finally took refuge in a building, climbing the stairs to the attic, breaking a window and then clambering onto the roof. "That was when we decided to tranquilize the mother," Barbulescu said.
Rescuers shot the bear with a dart gun. Once she was asleep, they removed her and her cub from the roof and took the pair to the zoo in an operation shown live on TV. Officials said the animals would be sent to a nearby bear reservation.
Brasov, some 150 kilometers (95 miles) northwest of Bucharest, is one of Romania’s largest cities and a very popular tourist destination. Sightings of bears are common, especially in the district of Racadau, where the animals rummage through garbage container in search for food.
Thursday’s adventure was the second in recent weeks in downtown Brasov. Romania is home to about half of Europe’s brown bears.

Michigan Girl Scout sells 17,328 boxes of cookies

DETROIT (AP) — A Girl Scout sold 17,328 boxes of the group’s signature cookies this year by setting up shop on a street corner, shattering her troop’s old mark and probably setting a national record.
Jennifer Sharpe, a 15-year-old from Dearborn, plans to travel to Europe with her troop with the proceeds from her feat.
"It’s always been one of those goals I wanted to accomplish," Sharpe said Wednesday.
The two bakeries that make the cookies said Sharpe sold more than anyone this year, according to Dianne Thomas, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Metro Detroit.
Michelle Tompkins, spokeswoman for the New York-based national organization, called the figure "amazing" but said there’s no national record on the books.
"We’re thrilled for the girls who take it to such a great level, but so far, we don’t track it at the national level," she said.
Sharpe sold cookies every day on a street corner with help from her mother and troop leader, Pam Sharpe.
"We were always there; we never closed," Pam Sharpe said. "At one point, Jenny got really sick and we did shut down early, and we heard about it the next day."
Jennifer Sharpe’s Troop 813 raised about $21,000 in cookie sales, paying for its 10-day trip to Europe this winter. Troops get only part of the proceeds from their members’ sales.
The cookie program has helped push Jennifer out of her shell, Pam Sharpe said.
"It’s made her really confident," she said. "I remember when she first started selling, she was very shy and quiet and you had to push her out to talk to customers, but now she’s right out there, first to the door."
One thing that hasn’t changed, despite selling thousands of boxes for the past few years, is Jennifer Sharpe’s feelings about the cookies.
"I love them," she said.

Giant beetles seized at Pennsylvania post office

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Customs agents seized more than two dozen giant beetles — some the size of a child’s hand — from an overseas package after postal workers heard the insects making scratching noises.
The large bugs arrived last week from Taiwan at a post office in Mohnton, about 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, in a box whose contents were labeled as toys, gifts and jellies, officials said Wednesday.
But the postmaster suspected the package contained live organisms and notified authorities, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. The package was sent to Philadelphia, where it was X-rayed and then opened.
"The specimens were some of the largest of their kind, and some of the largest I’ve ever seen, averaging five to six inches in diameter," John Plummer, an agency agriculture specialist, said in a statement Wednesday. "They are highly destructive insect pests that can cause extensive damage to fruit and vegetable crops, trees, shrubs and turf grasses."
In all, authorities found 26 Hercules, rhinoceros and Goliath beetles. It is illegal to ship live beetles into the United States without a permit from the Department of Agriculture.
Seven of the beetles were in containers labeled by gender, which means they could have been intended for breeding, customs agency spokesman Steve Sapp said Wednesday.
The sender and recipient have been identified, Sapp said. An investigation is under way, but no decision has been made whether to file charges, he said.

Forgotten tot left behind at Vancouver airport

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — An immigrant family left a 23-month-old boy in the Vancouver airport and learned he was missing only when contacted during the next leg of the trip.
Jun Parreno, the boy’s father, told The Vancouver Sun the mix-up occurred Monday as he, his wife and two grandparents of the child, J.M., were scrambling between their arrival in Canada and a connecting flight to Winnipeg on Air Canada.
Running late after having to unpack and repack all their luggage, "we had 10 minutes before boarding," said Parreno, who was emigrating with his family from the Philippines. "We were running for the gate."
He said he thought his son was with the three other adults, who were running to the gate ahead of him, and they thought the little boy was with him.
Instead, in a scenario similar to the movie "Home Alone," the toddler was wandering alone between a security checkpoint and the flight gates, said Angela Mah, an Air Canada representative.
"We were called by (security) who told us one of the security people had a toddler in tow," Mah said. "He doesn’t speak English, so we found a Tagalog-speaking agent who has been looking after him."
There was no boarding pass for the youngster because he did not have a separately assigned seat, so there was no indication in the airline’s computer system that someone had missed a flight, nor had there been any panicked calls from anyone on a flight missing a child, Mah said.
That’s because the family was scattered in different parts of the plane to Winnipeg and still didn’t know the child had been left.
Air Canada staff began checking flights that had left, and "we eventually determined who his parents might be ... and the flight crew talked to them," Mah said. "They didn’t realize until then that the baby had been left behind.
"We’re not aware of this ever happening on an Air Canada flight before."
The parents were put into telephone contact with the little boy, and Parreno was put on another Air Canada plane to return to Vancouver to get him after the family’s flight arrived in Winnipeg with the airline covering the cost of the two additional flights, she said.
Parreno had tears in his eyes when he returned to Winnipeg holding his son.
"I am relieved everything is OK ... but I was shocked," he said. "The staff at Air Canada took good care of him."

Muskogee elects boy mayor

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — A 19-year-old freshman at the University of Oklahoma was elected mayor Tuesday of Muskogee, a city of 38,000 in the northeastern part of the state.
With all precincts reporting, John Tyler Hammons won with 70 percent of the vote over former Mayor Hershel Ray McBride, said Muskogee County Election Board Secretary Bill Bull.
"The public placing their trust in me is the greatest, humbling and most awesome experience I’ve ever had in my life," said Hammons, who is from Muskogee but attends the university in Norman.
The two candidates squared off in a runoff election for the nonpartisan post after neither secured 50 percent of the vote in a six-person election April 1.
Hammons, who will be sworn in next week, said he plans to continue his college education but expects to transfer to a school closer to Muskogee.
"Being elected does not change my desire to continue my education," he said. "We will schedule our time in an appropriate fashion so that I can be mayor and stay in school."
Hammons replaces Wren Stratton, who decided not to seek re-election after one term.
The mayor leads the nine-member city council and serves as a voting member. Hammons said a key to his platform that resonated with voters was openness of government and keeping citizens better informed of city operations.
"I think that’s been a detriment to the trust of the citizens of Muskogee," he said. "Once we have that trust, we can solve any other problem."

Cape parishioners subdue would-be church robber

BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) — Police in Massachusetts say churchgoers in a Cape Cod town tackled a would-be robber who tried to steal a collection box during a service.
Investigators say Clyde Bridges showed up Sunday at the Hyannis Foursquare Portuguese Church wearing a mask and carrying a cigarette lighter shaped like a gun.
Officers arrived to find the 45-year-old being held on the ground by parishioners who had tackled him and ripped off the mask.
Bridges is being held on $200,000 bail on armed robbery charges. He also is accused of robbing a pizza delivery man this month.
Bridges lawyer Terrance O’Connell says his client denies robbing the delivery man and does not remember what happened at the church before he was pinned down.

Man dressed as Darth Vader spared jail for attack on founder of Britain’s Jedi church

HOLYHEAD, Wales (AP) — A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of a group calling itself the Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday.
Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, attacked Jedi church founder Barney Jones — aka Master Jonba Hehol — with a metal crutch, hitting him on the head, prosecutors told Holyhead Magistrates’ Court.
He also whacked Jones’ 18-year-old cousin, Michael Jones — known as Master Mormi Hehol — bruising his thigh in the March 25 incident, prosecutors said.
The two cousins and Barney Jones’ brother, Daniel, set up the Church of Jediism, Anglesey order, last year. Jedi is the faith followed by some of the central characters in the "Star Wars" films.
The group, which claims about 30 members, says on its Web site that it uses "insight and knowledge" from the films as "a guide to living a better and more worthwhile life."
"We all love the films and what they stand for. Obviously some people are going to laugh about it," the Wales on Sunday newspaper quoted Barney Jones as saying last month. "But a lot of people do take it seriously."
Unfortunately for Hughes, his March attack was recorded on a video camera that the cousins had set up to film themselves in a light saber battle.
"Darth Vader! Jedis!" Hughes shouted as he approached.
Hughes claimed he couldn’t remember the incident, having drunk the better part of a 2 1/2-gallon (10-liter) box of wine beforehand.
"He knows his behavior was wrong and didn’t want it to happen but he has no recollection of it," said Hughes’ lawyer, Frances Jones.
District Judge Andrew Shaw sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year. He also ordered Hughes to pay $195 to each of his victims and $117 in court costs.
In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 — 0.7 percent of the population — listed Jedi as their religion.

Australian fined for buckling in beer, not child

DARWIN, Australia (AP) — An Australian man has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car’s floor, police said Tuesday.
Constable Wayne Burnett said he was "shocked and appalled" when he pulled over the unregistered car Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs.
The 30-can beer case was strapped in between two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, but on the car’s floor.
"The child was sitting in the lump in the center, unrestrained," Burnett told reporters Tuesday.
"I haven’t ever seen something like this before," he said. "This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child."
The driver was fined 750 Australian dollars — about $710 — for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle and for failing to ensure a child was wearing a safety belt.

Hundreds strip for naked photo shoot in Austria

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — The man behind the camera had three requests for his subjects: no sunglasses, no smiling, and no underwear.
The latest work by New York photographer Spencer Tunick gathered 1,840 people, baring it all in Austria’s Happel Stadium on Sunday.
"Stay very still. Don’t move," the Austria Press Agency quoted Tunick as telling the crowd as he went to work.
Much of the hours-long photo shoot had little to do with soccer, with naked volunteers assuming different poses at the behest of the artist. But at least one of the photos had them with the ball, men first and then the women.
The stadium will host seven of the Euro 2008 soccer championship matches being staged by Austria and Switzerland, including the June 29 final.
Tunick has made a name for himself with his works featuring hundreds of naked people at unusual venues. He described Sunday’s shooting on his Web site as combining "the spirit of sports, the grand sweeping waves of stadium architecture and the abstract relation of the human form to modern structures."

Chicago students seek Obama’s haircut, speedy spud, Weird Al

CHICAGO (AP) — Dozens of students from the University of Chicago returned Sunday from a four-day multistate trek dubbed the world’s largest scavenger hunt after trying to find Barack Obama’s haircut and a car horn that plays "La Cucaracha," among other things.
The list of 269 items includes having "a Nobel Prize winner or ’Weird Al’ Yankovic witness your organ donor registration" and trying to get "Obama’s haircut at Obama’s barbershop."
Teams get points for the items they bring back to campus, tasks they complete or questions they answer correctly. The scavenger hunt, in its 22nd year, includes a road trip as far as 1,000 miles from Chicago.
"This allows us to take another kind of brain power and put it into frivolous, trivial but completely enjoyable tasks," said senior David Pisano, 21.
Winners had not been posted as of late Sunday for this year’s challenges, which included having "a potato break the sound barrier" and finding "a disgruntled beekeeper."
Some participants headed to Las Vegas in search of celebrities to photograph, while others contemplated weaving a basket underwater, building a working light bulb from scratch, or locating or constructing a bust of Abraham Lincoln made out of pennies.
In 2000, the list called for a live elephant, which students were able to procure for judging.

Iowa man charged with throwing candy at police

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A college student whose friend was being questioned in a hit and run found himself charged with assaulting an officer with a curious choice of weapons: M&Ms.
Sean McGuire was arrested early Sunday at a convenience store after Drake University security guards noticed the colored candies falling on the ground around the officer. When the officer turned around, an M&M hit his shoulder, according to a police report.
McGuire claimed he threw the candy because he was "sticking up for his friend," who apparently was the man suspected in the accident, the report states.
McGuire, of Glenview, Ill., was released from jail Sunday after posting $1,000 bond. A telephone call to his cell phone Monday wasn’t immediately returned.

Man jailed when daughter fails to get diploma

CINCINNATI (AP) — A man ordered by a judge to make sure his daughter hit the books has found himself in jail because she failed to earn a high school equivalency diploma.
Brian Gegner, of Fairfield, was sentenced last week to 180 days in jail for contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor.
He was ordered months ago to make sure his 18-year-old daughter Brittany Gegner, who has a history of truancy, received her GED — something that hasn’t happened yet.
Brittany Gegner, who said Monday that she plans to take a required GED test this month, said her father shouldn’t be blamed for her failure because she has been living with her mother.
"It was my wrongdoing, not his," said Brittany Gegner, whose fiance and 18-month-old daughter also live at her mother’s home in nearby Hamilton. "He shouldn’t have to go to jail for something I did."
Her mother agrees.
"Brittany is almost 19 years old now and I think it’s unfair to put her father in jail," said Shana Roach. "She’s an adult now, and it’s not right to rip an innocent man from his home."
Butler County Juvenile Court administrator Rob Clevenger Jr. said Monday that the court still has jurisdiction in the case because Brittany Gegner was a juvenile when the truancy problems began and when the charge against Brian Gegner was filed in 2007.
A hearing on a motion filed by Brian Gegner’s attorney to reconsider the sentence is scheduled for Friday. Messages seeking comment were not returned Monday at the offices of defense attorney Tamara Sack and the Butler County prosecutor.
Brian Gegner’s wife, Stephanie Gegner, said she and her husband are afraid he will lose his job if he remains in jail. She said they tried to keep his daughter in school.
"You’d take her to school and she’d go out the other door," Stephanie Gegner said.

Mother, son heading to Iraq together

TEANECK, N.J. (AP) — A 46-year-old combat medic and a 29-year-old man will be serving together in the same National Guard unit in Iraq. Nothing unusual — except they’re mother and son.
Sgt. Carmen Villegas, a 46-year-old combat medic, was transferred two weeks ago to the same Teaneck-based unit as her son, Sgt. Felipe Diaz.
Diaz, a Paterson police officer, said he was given the task of introducing the newest sergeant at the 250th Brigade Support Battalion’s Foxtrot Company.
The two will be among more than 2,800 soldiers of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team who are heading to Iraq in September.
Villegas worked for eight years as an oncology nurse at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Paterson. She said she had planned to retire from the Guard in June but changed her mind when she heard about the Iraq deployment.
"It’s like a family to me," Villegas said of the Guard, which she joined in 1979, when Diaz was an infant.
Villegas said it was difficult to think about her son going with her: "God forbid something happens to him. I keep running that through my mind."
Besides her son, she’ll have to worry about a husband. Villegas plans to get married on Wednesday to Victor Hernandez, a sergeant in a National Guard helicopter unit based near Trenton. He is scheduled to go to Iraq in January.

Woman pays off 1976 parking ticket issued in Mich.

CALUMET, Mich. (AP) — Police in this Upper Peninsula town had forgotten about the $1 parking ticket written on Sept. 1, 1976. But the woman who had found it on her windshield hadn’t.
The ticket, a $20 bill and a note arrived at police headquarters last month in a plain white envelope with no return address.
The note read: "I always had good intentions of paying it. I put it aside and every once in a while I would come across it and said ‘someday I’m going to pay it.’ Now I think it’s time."
The fine for an unpaid meter violation increased to $5 after 72 hours, said Police Chief David Outinen, but it hadn’t increased beyond that. He told The Daily Mining Gazette of Houghton that he couldn’t remember someone making good on an unpaid ticket after so much time.
The woman apparently hopes her payment closes the matter. "Please don’t try and track me down. I am a respectable lady," she wrote.

Michigan youngster collects a million pennies for his school

CARLETON, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan school has a million thanks to give to a fourth-grader.
Ten-year-old Andrew Niemi of Carleton has been collecting pennies since a day after Christmas in 2006. He held fundraisers to reach his goal of 1 million. Niemi finally picked up his last cent in March.
Last week, Niemi presented a $10,000 check to St. Patrick Catholic School.
His mother, Connie Niemi, says the money will go toward equipment, including audiovisual hardware, two large classroom maps and a concrete bench for the peace garden.

Driver gets in wreck, sees his home catch fire, gets ticket

ROCK ISLAND, Tenn. (AP) — One moment, Justin Hill was turning into his driveway. Minutes later he was being flown to a hospital as his home went up in flames. Then he got a traffic ticket.
Hill, 42, got into a crash after turning into the path of an oncoming car Tuesday evening, said Tennessee Highway Patrol Officer Monte Terry. Hill’s wife heard the crash and ran outside, leaving the kitchen stove, where she had been cooking unattended.
Within minutes, their Rock Island trailer was on fire, and firefighters who had responded to the accident found themselves fighting the blaze.
The rural central Tennessee home had extensive damage. Hill was treated at the hospital and released, but he was cited in the accident for failure to yield.

SpongeBob SquarePants image painted on historic Colo. cabin

MONUMENT, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is looking for the "SpongeBob fanatics" who painted the cartoon character on the chimney of a historic building.
The 10-foot tall painting of Nickelodeon character SpongeBob SquarePants is on a cabin in the Pike National Forest that used to be the Forest Service’s tree nursery until it was abandoned in the 1930s. Forest Service law enforcement officer Tom Healy says the incident is part of an increase in vandalism in the area.
Officials say whoever painted the cartoon on the chimney brought four colors of paint and that it was a time-consuming venture.
Healy says it will cost several thousand dollars to wipe the animated yellow sea sponge’s image from the site.

Woman donates kidney to her former English teacher

ELWOOD, Ind. (AP) — Twenty-two years after graduating from high school, Angie Collins is now her former English teacher’s favorite student.
Collins, 40, donated her kidney this week to Darren Paquin, who teaches English at Elwood Community High School, where she graduated back in 1986.
Collins’ husband, Dean, said she offered Paquin one of her kidneys after she learned that Paquin was experiencing kidney failure.
"She knew she wanted to do it and she knew she was supposed to," he said.
Collins, a mother of three, and Paquin underwent the transplant surgery Tuesday at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Collins is scheduled to head home on Sunday for Mother’s Day.
Collins said she thought and prayed for about two months over whether she would offer to donate one of her kidneys to Paquin, who was her high school instructor in speech and composition.
"I wanted to make the decision to donate first, before I ever found out if I would be a match," she said. "Then, when I made the decision to donate, I knew I was a match. I knew it in my heart."

Police: Victims’ own photo helped cops nail robbery suspect

BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) — Police say they had no trouble tracking down a robbery suspect, because the victims had taken his picture while chatting with him at a bar a short time before the theft.
The suspect, Andre Smith, struck up a conversation with a group of women at a bachelorette party at the Bensalem Township taproom early Sunday morning, the township’s public safety director, Fred Harran, said Wednesday. The women were taking photos of each other when Smith jumped in front of the camera, Harran said.
Smith later was ejected from the bar for allegedly harassing customers.
When two women in the group left the bar to go to a nearby convenience store, Smith robbed them of their purses, Harran said. The women recognized Smith — who apparently didn’t recognize them — and gave investigators a copy of their photo, Harran said.
Later Sunday, a detective went around to local apartment complexes looking for Smith and spotted him, Harran said.
Smith was arrested on robbery and theft charges and is being held on $50,000 bail. Electronic court records did not list an attorney for him.

Woman blaming Norwalk over dog dung

NORWALK (AP)— A New York woman has filed a $100 claim against Norwalk saying a family outing to the Maritime Aquarium was ruined by dog feces.
The woman claims her child’s shoes, along with the entire outing, were ruined when her 1-year-old stepped in dog feces outside the Maritime Garage.
City attorney M. Jeffry Spahr says the official response is that her claim is denied and in his words, "poop happens."
Kelly DeBrocky of Mahopac, N.Y., wants the city to reimburse her for $54 she spent replacing her toddler’s ruined shoes and the expenses for parking and aquarium admission on April 5.

NYC residents angry over spray-painting of beloved turtle

NEW YORK (AP) — The spray-painting of a Brooklyn neighborhood’s beloved turtle has stirred up cries of animal cruelty and calls for justice.
Myrtle, as the turtle is known, was recently found roaming the backyards near Roebling Street and Union Avenue in the Williamsburg section sporting a fresh coat of garish orange paint on its shell.
"To me, it’s beyond just being an inhumane act. To me, it’s an abomination," said one resident and caretaker of the critter, Meredith Chesney, to a WCBS-TV reporter.
Chesney and other residents speculated that the turtle was sprayed as a prank at a nearby construction site where workers use paint of the same color.
Some bloggers who focus on Brooklyn real estate and development have latched onto the turtle’s plight as a symbol of unscrupulous construction in the borough.
"I’ve probably done a thousand posts about illegal construction and violating regulations with impunity but this probably ticked me off more than anything," said Robert Guskind, founder of the Gowanus Lounge blog, in Tuesday editions of Newsday. "In the grand scheme I know it’s symbolic, but it really makes my blood boil."
Chesney said she tried unsuccessfully to remove the paint from the box turtle’s shell. "You can’t use solvents or paint removers," she said. "That’s not good for the turtle."

Gas price protest singer arrested at Ind. convenience store

VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — A man with a guitar and a megaphone climbed atop a convenience store roof to serenade commuters with his musical protest of high gasoline prices — until police halted the impromptu concert.
Once atop the roof of the Family Express store Monday, and above pumps dispensing fuel at $3.78 per gallon, Jay Weinberg, 29, performed his ditty called "Price Gouge’n."
Dozens of supporters chanted: "I can’t afford it. I’m banging on my dashboard. I can’t believe they think I’m a fool."
The performance lasted about 15 minutes before three Valparaiso police officers arrived and arrested Weinberg on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct. Police said he was cooperative.
The crowd, made up of Weinberg’s friends and other people who just happened to be pumping gas, continued singing. Then some, including his wife, Danielle, drove to Porter County Jail to bail him out.
Weinberg left the building around 7:30 p.m. and was greeted with cheers.

Okla. man sues Armstrong Foundation over pet collars

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A Tulsa businessman who uses the phrases "Barkstrong" and "Purrstrong" on his animal charity’s pet collars has sued the Lance Armstrong Foundation in a trademark dispute.
Chris Ohman filed his suit on April 30 in federal court, and claimed the Armstrong Foundation — which has marketed popular yellow "LiveStrong" wristbands — is infringing on Ohman’s intellectual property rights because it also sells pet collars with the "LiveStrong" motto.
Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor, created the foundation and the bracelets to benefit cancer research.
The Armstrong Foundation filed a similar suit against Ohman in federal court in Austin, Texas, last year, seeking unspecified damages. The foundation wanted Ohman to cease selling the animal collars, the sale of which benefits animal welfare groups in the Tulsa area. Ohman, the founder of Animal Charity Collar Group Inc., earlier had filed a counterclaim to that suit.
Ohman was awarded a patent for his pet collar in December, leading him to file his lawsuit.
"Once I was awarded a patent, I felt like I was in a much stronger position," Ohman said. "I gave them a variety of options. They elected to stonewall me, basically."
Armstrong Foundation spokeswoman Katherine McLane said that organization does not comment on pending litigation.

Warden says 400-pound bear is a free guard

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The way the warden sees it, the more than 400-pound black bear living in the middle of the sprawling Louisiana State Penitentiary is an extra layer of security.
"I love that bear being right where it is," Warden Burl Cain said Monday. "I tell you what, none of our inmates are going to try to get out after dark and wander around when they might run into a big old bear. It’s like having another guard at no cost to the taxpayer."
The bear was first seen by an inmate crossing a road in the prison on Friday. It was taking a stroll near the center of the state’s only maximum security prison, which is about 115 miles northwest of New Orleans. Most of the roughly 28-square-mile prison is run as a farm, but about 5½ square miles is mostly untouched piney woods.
Prison workers measured the bear’s footprints, which were six inches in diameter, Cain said.
"Every inch equals 75 pounds, so that would make it about 450 pounds," Cain said. "The wildlife people told us they think it’s a big female they’ve been tracking for a while."
Prison officials believe they have eight to 10 bears on the grounds, said Gary Young, head of the executive management office at the prison.
Maria Davidson, manager of the Large Carnivore Program for the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, doubts there are that many, but marvels that even one was spotted in an area of high activity such as the center of the prison.
"Bears are actually very shy, their tendency is to run and hide," Davidson said.
As for acting as an unpaid prison guard, Davidson doubts that the bear would provide much of a deterrent to a fleeing prisoner.
"We’ve never had a predatory attack by a black bear in Louisiana, to our knowledge, on pets or livestock," she said. "As for a bear coming out and rushing an inmate, I don’t see that happening."
The prison, known as Angola, is isolated and has plenty of other kinds of dangerous wildlife, including alligators, rattlesnakes and wild pigs, Young said. The last recorded escape was nearly three years ago, and the inmate was quickly recaptured before leaving the grounds.

Ridgefield boy takes of jersey after 4 years

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Finally, David Witthoft shunned his Brett Favre jersey for the first time in 1,581 days.
The Ridgefield, Conn. boy, 12, wore the No. 4 jersey every day since receiving it as a gift for Christmas in 2003. David’s father, Chuck Witthoft, said Monday that his son’s last day wearing the jersey was April 23 — his 12th birthday.
Witthoft conceded his son was starting to become more concerned about his appearance after the jersey barely came down to his belt line.
Witthoft first gained national attention three years ago, and attended his first Packers game in December. He’s also planning to attend the Sept. 8 game when the Packers retire Favre’s No. 4.
His mother, Carolyn, had washed the jersey every other day and mended it when needed.

LI doughnut shop employee accused of installing bathroom cam

KINGS PARK, N.Y. (AP) — A doughnut shop worker installed a surveillance camera in the women’s bathroom at work and watched the footage from a computer in his car, police said Sunday.
Danish Qureshi, 25, of Huntington Station, was arrested Saturday night at work at the Dunkin’ Donuts at Kings Park, Suffolk County police said.
A resident who has similar surveillance technology called police after he picked up the signal and saw the bathroom on his television, police said. Qureshi had been watching the bathroom on his laptop computer in his car parked nearby, police said.
Qureshi was arraigned Sunday on charges of unlawful surveillance. A man who answered the telephone Sunday at a number listed in Qureshi’s name said Qureshi no longer lived there.

Smoking ban tamps down puffing at pipe convention

ST. CHARLES, Ill. (AP) — There will be no indoor smoking at a large convention for pipe smokers in Illinois.
A new Illinois law bans smoking in public places. That’s taken some of the steam out of this weekend’s Chicagoland International Pipe & Tobacciana Show in St. Charles.
The event draws 4,000 pipe collectors from more than 60 countries. Organizers tried to get around the new law by arguing their gathering was a private club meeting. Police and health officials said no.
Instead, a large smoking tent has been set up 15 feet away from the Pheasant Run convention center.
Convention-goer Al Shinogle of Denver likens it to a wine tasting without the wine.

Man asks court to change his name to "In God We Trust"

ZION, Ill. (AP) — Steve Kreuscher wants a judge to allow him to legally change his name. He wants to be known as "In God We Trust."
Kreuscher (CROY’-shir) says the new name would symbolize the help God gave him through tough times.
The 57-year-old man also told the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald he’s worried that atheists may succeed in removing the phrase "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency.
He recalls that the phrase "God Reigns" was removed from the Zion city seal in 1992 after courts deemed it unconstitutional. Zion was founded as a theocracy — by a sect that believed the Earth was flat.
The school bus driver and amateur artist in the northern Chicago suburb says he has filed a petition to change his name in Lake County Circuit Court.

LI judge holds court in parking lot for 500-pound defendant

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A Long Island music shop owner accused of selling knockoff Gibson Les Paul guitars has been arraigned in a pickup truck in a courthouse parking lot after his lawyer said the 500-pound defendant couldn’t walk into the courthouse.
State Supreme Court Justice Robert Doyle said the man’s "severe weight problem" prompted the unusual proceeding Thursday in Riverhead. A defense lawyer also had given the court a doctor’s letter saying the defendant suffers from osteoarthritis.
The shopkeeper has been released without bail after pleading not guilty to trademark counterfeiting and criminal simulation. He says the case and health problems have forced him to close his store.
He’s accused of selling bogus Gibsons for $1,500 to buyers who thought they were far more valuable genuine versions of the classic electric guitar.

Police: Texas man trying to cash $360 billion check arrested

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Charles Ray Fuller must have been planning one big record company.
The 21-year-old North Texas man was arrested last week for trying to cash a $360 billion check, saying he wanted to start a record business, authorities said. Tellers at the Fort Worth bank were immediately suspicious — perhaps the 10 zeros on a personal check tipped them off, according to investigators.
Fuller, of suburban Crowley, was arrested on a forgery charge, police said. He was released after posting $3,750 bail.
Fuller said his girlfriend’s mother gave him the check to start a record business, but bank employees who contacted the account’s owner said the woman told them she did not give him permission to take or cash the check, according to police.
In addition to forgery, Fuller was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon and possessing marijuana, Fort Worth police Lt. Paul Henderson said.
Officers reported finding less than 2 ounces of marijuana and a .25-caliber handgun and magazine in his pockets, police said.
Fuller couldn’t be located for comment by The Associated Press on Friday because there were phone listings for him in the Fort Worth area.

Dinosaur dung sells for nearly $1,000

NEW YORK (AP) — A pile of dinosaur dung 130 million years old sold at a New York auction Wednesday for nearly $1,000.
The prehistoric deposit fetched $960, said a spokeswoman for Bonhams New York. Its pre-auction estimate was $450.
The fossilized dung is from the Jurassic era, the auction house said. It looks like a rock on the outside and a colorful mineral inside.
The buyer was Steve Tsengas of Fairport Harbor, Ohio. The 71-year-old owns OurPets, a company that sells products to treat dog and cat waste.
Tsengas bought the dung in hopes of motivating his employees and using it as a marketing tool by displaying it at the company’s booth at trade shows, he said.
"Poop," he said, "is a big business in the pet industry."

Woman, not dead, takes call for her own funeral arrangements

METHUEN, Mass. (AP) — Rose Griffin is not dead, so the call from someone trying to arrange her funeral was a bit of a shock.
The Methuen woman got the call at a late hour Friday night from someone looking for her son, who was not there. When an irate Griffin used her caller ID to call back, the man informed her he was a funeral director trying to make arrangements for her son’s dead mother.
The 75-year-old Griffin told him: "You’re talking to the dead person."
Joe Cataudella, co-owner of Cataudella Funeral Home, said someone played a "cruel prank" and left a message with the home’s answering service that Griffin had died.
Griffin, a Wal-Mart greeter, joked that she expects to be around for some time because she’s mean and only the good die young.
She says she has no idea who was behind the prank.