Sheep living life in Mass. highway fast lane
Fish flies out of lake, breaks Arkansas teens jaw
Authorities Burglar wakes men with spice rub
Wanted Ride to Mojave Desert for wayward tortoise
Illinois kindergarten golfer has ace
Illinois kindergarten golfer scores hole-in-one
Man in wheelchair robs Texas 7-Eleven of condoms
Wheelchair robber rolls in and rips off condoms
Team dumps logo near buttocks after 70-0 loss
Doctor fired for allegedly drinking on the job

By (AP)

A gang of unruly teenage bush parrots have wrought havoc at a bird sanctuary in New Zealand by using their powerful beaks to destroy nesting boxes.

The native Kaka parrots _ juvenile birds that haven't reached sexual maturity _ have torn off nesting box doors and vandalized the bird homes, sanctuary conservation officer Matt Robertson said Friday.

Twenty-four of 44 new Kaka nest boxes built over the winter have been ripped apart, he said, adding that the birds then gouged out chunks of wood with their strong beaks.

"It may be that the challenge of taking doors off nest...

By Michael Mancuso (AP)

Cries for help inside a Trenton, N.J., home turned out to be for the birds.

Neighbors called police Wednesday morning after hearing a woman's persistent cry of "Help me! Help me!" coming from a house. Officers arrived and when no one answered the door, they kicked it in to make a rescue.

But instead of a damsel in distress, officers found a caged cockatoo with a convincing call.

It wasn't the first time the 10-year-old bird named Luna said something that brought authorities to the home of owner Evelyn DeLeon.

About seven years ago, the bird cried like a baby for ...

By (AP)

Chattanooga firefighters rescued several cats during a house fire that investigators say was probably caused by the cats themselves.

Fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said firefighters responded to an alarm Thursday morning and found a fire in the kitchen. While no one was home, they found about 10 cats inside.

Some of the cats escaped the house on their own, but some showed signs of smoke inhalation. Firefighters used oxygen bottles and special masks to revive several of the cats. Garner said one cat was not expected to survive.

Capt. Lesley Morgan said the cause...

By Cheril Vernon (AP)

A routine package delivery turned into a milestone for a UPS driver in East Texas. Brent Boyd, 51, on Thursday surpassed one million miles on his UPS delivery truck, the same vehicle he's driven for 22 years with the company.

The odometer on Boyd's 1987 GMC truck rolled over to all zeros as he began his delivery route near Palestine. He said he's never had an accident with his company vehicle.

Boyd told The Associated Press that his truck's gone through at least three engines and been repainted several times.

But he's resisted offers for a new van. Boyd says the truck...

By (AP)

Severe weather, including heavy rain and thunderstorms, was expected in the upper Mississippi Valley and upper Great Lakes regions on Thursday. Strong winds, large hail and tornadoes were forecast for a widespread area.

Precipitation was not expected in the Northeast, but temperatures were forecast to approach 100 degrees.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms were expected in the Southeast. Gusty winds, frequent lightning and heavy rain were likely.

The Pacific Northwest was to see drier weather and seasonal temperatures.

In the Southwest, hot and dry conditions...

By (AP)

A solitary sheep is living life in the fast lane.

An animal shelter worker spotted the sheep last week grazing just feet from traffic on a wooded highway median near Mansfield.

How it got there is a mystery but police first received reports of the animal about a year ago at the junction of Interstates 495 and 95. A number of rescue efforts have failed because the animal is afraid of people, and authorities are wary of using tranquilizers because a drugged animal could wander onto the road.

North Attleboro shelter volunteer Linda Faber contacted a sanctuary in New York...

By (AP)

It's a fishing tale that packs a wallop so strong it broke the jaw of a southeastern Arkansas teen and covered him in fish blood and guts.

Seth Russell, 15, of Crossett, was cruising Lake Chicot on a large inner tube towed by a boat when a Silver Asian carp leaped from the water and smacked him in the face. Seth was knocked unconscious.

"He doesn't remember anything at all," the boy's mother, Linda Russell, said last week. "He was laughing, and the next thing he remembers, he is waking in a hospital."

The teen has had oral surgery to wire several teeth together and ...

By (AP)

Authorities say they've arrested a man who broke into the home of two California farmworkers, stole money, rubbed one with spices and whacked the other with a sausage before fleeing.

Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Ian Burrimond says 22-year-old Antonio Vasquez was found hiding in a field wearing only a T-shirt, boxers and socks after the Saturday morning attack.

He says deputies arrested Vasquez after finding a wallet containing his ID in the ransacked house.

The farmworkers told deputies the suspect woke them Saturday morning by rubbing spices on one of them and smacking...

By (AP)

Sadie the desert tortoise needs a ride to an adoptive home in the Mojave Desert _ the sooner the better.

The 10-inch reptile, found at a U.S. 95 rest stop in Idaho, has thrived at the Kiwani Wambli wildlife rehabilitation center north of Spokane since July but is unlikely to do so well with the onset of fall, center operator Dotty Cooper said.

"It's just way too cold," she said.

Cold-blooded desert tortoises are unaccustomed to temperatures below 40, much less when the mercury dips to freezing temperatures. To survive a winter in Cusick, Sadie would have to be kept indo...

By (AP)

Look out Tiger Woods, 5-year-old Drew Gray's got game.

The kindergartner had a hole-in-one _ though it doesn't count because it was on par-3 course _ last week on the 75-yard, fifth hole at Yorktown Golf Club. The shot was witnessed by several family members and verified by course owner John Bethard.

Drew is the youngest player to ace a hole at the course, Bethard said. Drew has been playing golf on family outings for two years. He played this summer in the club's golf camp for 4-to-8-year-olds, Bethard said.

___

Information from: Belleville News-Democrat,

h...

By (AP)

Look out Tiger Woods, 5-year-old Drew Gray's got game.

The kindergartner had a hole-in-one last week while playing the 75-yard, fifth hole at Belleville's Yorktown Golf Club. The ace was witnessed by several of Drew's family members and verified by Yorktown owner John Bethard.

Drew is the youngest golfer to score a hole-in-one at the course, Bethard said. Drew has been playing golf on family outings for two years. He played this summer in the club's golf camp for 4-to-8-year-olds, Bethard said.

Drew's great-uncle, Jon Hanft was playing with Drew. Hanft's only advice:...

By (AP)

A robber rolled into a Dallas convenience store came armed with a bat and a knife. He left with a lot of condoms and an energy drink.

Dallas police Cpl. Kevin Janse said Friday that a man in a wheelchair entered a Dallas 7-Eleven Wednesday afternoon, rolled straight toward the cash register and beat it with a baseball bat until it opened.

But he didn't grab any cash. Instead, police say he stole 10 boxes of condoms and an energy drink before making his getaway Wednesday afternoon.

Janse says the suspect may have been homeless and was likely intoxicated at the time of...

By (AP)

A wheelchair getaway at a 7-Eleven has police looking for an unusual robbery suspect. Authorities said Friday that a man in a wheelchair entered a Dallas convenience store this week, rolled straight toward the cash register and began hitting it with a baseball bat.

But he didn't grab any cash. The suspect instead stole 10 boxes of condoms and an energy drink before making his getaway Wednesday afternoon, Dallas police Cpl. Kevin Janse said.

Janse said the culprit may have been homeless and probably intoxicated at the time.

___

Information from: The Dallas Morning...

By (AP)

The Idaho Vandals football team is dumping the letter "I" from the buttocks region of players' new pants following a season-opening 70-0 loss to the Arizona Wildcats.

Rob Spears, the school's athletic director, says nobody realized just how the logo placed in the center of the players' behinds would look before they tried their pants on.

Spears told the Idaho Statesman the sewn-in University of Idaho logo has since been hastily removed by equipment managers after complaints.

Spears says there was a miscommunication with equipment supplier Nike over the placement of th...

By (AP)

A Massachusetts doctor has been fired and lost the right to renew his medical license for allegedly trying to give a pregnant woman an epidural while drunk.

The state Board of Registration in Medicine says 39-year-old Robert Dolan was drinking from a bottle of bourbon he brought to work when he was called to perform the procedure at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center last November.

Dolan, an anesthesiologist, called another resident for help, who noticed he appeared drunk. The attending physician then called security. He was fired by the hospital a few days...

By (AP)

The Idaho Vandals football team is dumping the letter "I" from the buttocks region of players' new pants following a season-opening 70-0 loss to the Arizona Wildcats.

Rob Spears, the school's athletic director, says nobody realized just how the logo placed in the center of the players' behinds would look before they tried their pants on.

Spears told the Idaho Statesman the sewn-in University of Idaho logo has since been hastily removed by equipment managers after complaints.

Spears says there was a miscommunication with equipment supplier Nike over the placement of th...

By (AP)

A Charleston man faces drunken driving charges after police spotted him riding a farm tractor on a highway without lights or proper warning signs. Kanawha County sheriff's deputies arrested 22-year-old Joshua David Postalwait early Friday morning.

A complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court said deputies were responding to a report of an intoxicated man on a tractor when they saw the tractor on Casdorph Road.

Postalwait was charged with driving under the influence and carrying a concealed weapon.

He was being held Friday afternoon at South Central Regional...

By (AP)

A 71-year-old Cincinnati preacher convicted of waving a gun and threatening another driver won't be going to jail. A Hamilton County judge on Thursday sentenced Thomas Howell to two years' probation and 100 hours of community service on his conviction for aggravated menacing.

Howell can't possess any weapons while on probation and must give up his concealed weapon permit.

The judge said most gun threat cases lead to jail but Howell would be spared because the minister has prostate cancer and glaucoma.

Howell was driving to First Commandment Church of the Living God in t...

By (AP)

Think rush hour is bad enough? What if a three-foot python were part of the drive home? The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Friday that biochemical engineer Marika Suominen-Yeh got the surprise of her life last week when a motorist flagged her down after seeing a snake drop from beneath her minivan.

Danny Markadakis, a former snake owner, waited for a lull in traffic, then scooped up the snake and took it home.

Markadakis took the three-foot ball python to Avian & Exotic Animal Care, where it was treated for a mild abdominal burns and adopted this past...

By (AP)

One Utah community is cheering a special bear _ but don't call him Smokey.

Investigators say a large black bear raided a clandestine marijuana growing operation so often that it chased the grower away.

"This bear is definitely law-enforcement minded," said Garfield County Sheriff Danny Perkins. "If I can find this bear I'm going to deputize him."

Deputies found food containers ripped apart and strewn everywhere, cans with bear teeth marks, claw marks and bear prints across the Garfield County camp on Tuesday.

Perkins said the operation on Boulder Mountain inclu...

By (AP)

It may not be a best-seller, but "Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers" has won a literary accolade: oddest book title of the past 30 years.

The book topped a poll to find the weirdest-ever winner of Britain's Diagram Prize for unusually monickered volumes.

It beat previous winners including "Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice" and "How Green Were the Nazis?" in an online vote. The results were announced Friday by trade magazine The Bookseller, which organizes the prize.

The runner-up was "People Who Don't Know They're Dea...

By (AP)

A gang of unruly teenage bush parrots have wrought havoc at a bird sanctuary in New Zealand by using their powerful beaks to destroy nesting boxes.

The native Kaka parrots _ juvenile birds that haven't reached sexual maturity _ have torn off nesting box doors and vandalized the bird homes, sanctuary conservation officer Matt Robertson said Friday.

Twenty-four of 44 new Kaka nest boxes built over the winter have been ripped apart, he said, adding that the birds then gouged out chunks of wood with their strong beaks.

"It may be that the challenge of taking doors off nest...

By (AP)

A routine package delivery turned into a milestone for a UPS driver in East Texas. Brent Boyd, 51, on Thursday surpassed one million miles on his UPS delivery van, the same vehicle he's driven for 22 years with the company.

The odometer on Boyd's 1987 GMC truck rolled over to all zeros as he began his delivery route near Palestine. He said he's never had an accident with his company vehicle.

Boyd told The Associated Press that his truck's gone through at least three engines and been repainted several times.

But he's resisted offers for a new van. Boyd says the truck i...

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