Eagle lugging a deer head causes electrical disaster

Mon, Jan. 29, 2007
Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska - About 10,000 Juneau residents lost power after a bald eagle lugging a deer head crashed into transmission lines.

"You have to live in Alaska to have this kind of outage scenario," said Gayle Wood, an Alaska Electric Light & Power spokeswoman. "This is the story of the overly ambitious eagle who evidently found a deer head in the landfill."

The bird, weighed down by the deer head, apparently failed to clear the transmission lines, she said. A repair crew found the eagle dead, an electrocuted mass of feathers, with the deer head nearby looking no worse for the accident.

Greased, naked student disrupts lunch

Mon, Jan. 29, 2007
Associated Press

WESTERVILLE, Ohio - A high school lunch period was disrupted Monday by a greased, naked student who ran around screaming and flailing his arms until police twice used a stun gun on him, authorities said.

Taylor Killian, 18, had rubbed his body with grapeseed oil to keep from being caught, and got up after the first time he was shocked to continue running toward a group of terrified students huddled in a corner at Westerville North High School, Lt. Jeff Gaylor said.

"That prank went a little farther than he intended, I guess," Gaylor said.

Officer Doug Staysniak was monitoring the lunch period when Killian, with long hair and a full beard, ran in the room toward students, who screamed and stampeded away. The officer is normally assigned to a middle school and did not recognize Killian as a student, Gaylor said.

Police said that an administrator ordered Killian to stop, but that the student made a sexual gesture and kept running.

Killian is in jail and charged with inducing panic, public indecency, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. A message seeking comment was left at Killian's home.

School officials reported that Killian was a very good student, Gaylor said. There was no indication of substance abuse or a medical problem.

New road grit popular with sheep

11:45 Wednesday 31st January 2007

A new way of gritting roads in winter is proving too popular for its own good - with sheep.

They find a new sugary-coated winter salt too tasty - and keep licking it off the road, reports the Daily Post.

Flintshire in North Wales has started gritting its roads with the "environmentally friendly agricultural by-product".

Molasses are added to the salt to help it stick to icy roads instead of bouncing off.

But in areas where sheep roam freely, the passing of a council gritter is now the call for a free tasty treat.

Elfed Evans, of Lixwm, said: "As soon as the gritter has passed they converge in the hundreds onto the roads to lick the free meal provided by the council.

"It is believed that the adjunct used to coat the rock salt contains molasses. The sheep quickly become intoxicated and addicted to the new sweet tasting salt."

"The environmental advantages of using this product is it is less corrosive to vehicles and the road infrastructure generally and it does spread more accurately."

Big Ballet bound for Britain

11:27 Wednesday 31st January 2007

A ballet troupe made up of Russian women weighing an average of 280 Pounds is bound for Britain.

The Big Ballet company are set to perform at 27 theatres over 30 days.

It is the first time the 16 dancers, who each weigh a minimum of 238 Pounds, have toured the UK.

Venues still have to be confirmed because health and safety officials need to check whether the stages are strong enough. The floor of the troupe's former practice facility collapsed when several of the dancers jumped and landed at the same time.

"These girls are big stars," says their promoter, Alexei Ignatov. "They're proof that you don't have to be thin to look graceful."

Big Ballet's Dance captain Katya Yurgowa said: "We eat normal amounts of food, and the same kind of food, as everybody else - our size is in our genes."

Performed on a black-box stage with hand-made costumes the first section of the show is a parody of popular classical ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

The second is faster-paced as the larger-than-life dancers perform to contemporary music, such as Robbie Williams, Tom Jones and the Pet Shop Boys.

The Big Ballet was set up 13 years ago by top Russian choreographer Panfilov. He set out to prove people of larger build can move with the same grace, dignity and flair as traditional dancers.

Will 'Snooze'

09:13 Wednesday 31st January 2007

The new Will Smith movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" had an unhappy end for two German movie goers.

They were so bored that they both fell asleep and ended up locked in for the night.

The pair were rescued by firemen when passers by heard them frantically banging on the door and called police to the cinema in Cologne.

After being rescued, the grateful pair confessed that the same thing had happened once before and that they've learned their lesson once and for all about Will Smith movies.

Man loses wife at poker

09:04 Wednesday 31st January 2007

A Russian man lost his wife in a game of cards after putting her up as a stake instead of cash.

Andrei Karpov, from Murmansk, had run out of money in a game of poker and offered his opponent his wife instead of cash to stay in the game.

When he lost the game and his opponent Sergey Brodov turned up to claim his winnings his wife Tatiana was so angry she decided to divorce her husband and started a relationship with Brodov.

She has since married Brodov, and said she does not regret leaving her first husband.

She said: "It was humiliating and I was utterly ashamed. But as soon as my ex-husband did that I knew I had to leave him.

"Sergey was a very handsome, charming man and I am very happy with him, even if he did 'win' me in a poker game."

Cat and mouse become pals

10:35 Monday 29th January 2007



A cat and a mouse have become unlikely best friends in Jilin city, China Lu Feng

It happened after a man who owned a cat in Jilin city was given a pet mouse by a friend six months ago, reports the City Evening News.

Chen said: "On first sight of the little mouse, the cat was very excited and circled around the cage without stopping."

After watching him for several days, Chen felt the cat was not intimidating the mouse so he let the mouse out -and they instantly became friends.

"I would not have expected they could be friends, or be friends so quickly," he said.

The City Evening News says the mouse played with the cat continually, climbing onto its back and sitting on its head, while Chen was being interviewed.

Husband's underpant tantrum destroys home

08:45 Monday 29th January 2007

Ivo Jerbic, 55, from Prikraj, near Zagreb, told police he had lost his temper after failing to find any clean underpants in a closet full of old clothes.

He had thrown them all in the garden and set fire to them.

He told police: "My wife never throws anything out and just lost my temper."

But the fire spread to the house which burned to the ground.

Cat and mouse case for cops

15:06 Friday 26th January 2007

Police were called in after a cat tried to pull a mouse out of a jam jar and got its head stuck.

A motorist went to a police station for help after finding the cat wandering beside a road in Peterborough, with the jar on its head and the mouse millimetres from its nose.

A receptionist and three officers pulled and twisted but were unable to release the cat.

Eventually the animal freed itself - and the mouse - by smashing the jar on the floor of Thorpe Wood police station.

"It was like a scene from Tom and Jerry," said a police spokeswoman, "I don't think anyone had ever seen anything like it before."

"The cat and mouse immediately ran off. It took us three days to find the cat and the mouse is still running around Thorpe Wood police station somewhere."

Road campaigner crashes on new road

08:09 Friday 26th January 2007

A man who led a 30-year campaign for a new bypass has become the first person to crash on it.

Jim Burley fought for the bypass in Pegswood, Northumberland, England to reduce heavy traffic through the village.

Parish council chairman Jim, 70, and his wife Eunice, 69, were driving their Vauxhall van when it collided head-on with another van.

The accident was on a section of the bypass which is open to traffic while work continues to complete the remaining stretch.

The pair were not seriously injured but Jim said other parishners have been calling him up for days to have a laugh at his expense. "I am starting to wish that I'd never begun this campaign", added a morose Jim.

Haha. Keep 'em coming.