HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Burglars who stole thousands of dollars of equipment from the Guyandotte United Methodist Church apparently had a change of heart, breaking in the following night to return what they stole.
BROOKVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Jefferson County’s jail warden got a little tired of inmates throwing food despite repeated warnings not to, so he fought back.
CHESHIRE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Health officials have condemned a feces-filled and urine-soaked mobile home inhabited by a 68-year-old woman, her 22-year-old daughter and their 66 cats and dogs.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An administrative judge has denied unemployment benefits to a woman who was fired from her job for keeping a journal detailing her efforts to avoid work.
Residents of a neighborhood next to the University of Arizona say small white rats have been swimming through sewer pipes and into their toilets.
The city will soon find out if its campaign to keep the stink out of a rink is working.
The local Wachovia Bank here was a busy place last week — for robberies.
Eve and Steven Greene made a simple plea to the burglar who broke into their house: Keep the valuables. Return the cremated remains of their 4-year-old son.
A man shot a friend when the two got into an argument over James Brown’s height, police said.
Dan Gulley Jr. was charged with assault in the shooting of David James Brooks Jr., police said.
Even college students might need a lesson or two about dating.
Ray Heilwagen has his wallet back — 62 years after he lost it in France during World War II.
A search for an elusive criminal came to an unexpected end when the man crashed through a ceiling from his attic refuge and landed near the officers who had come to arrest him, police said.
A mother and son accused of stealing a snake from a pet store were arrested when they returned to the store and asked for books on how to care for the animal, police said.
Snowzilla may be a smash hit with shutterbugs, but the towering snowman has detractors closer to home.
A would-be thief found himself foiled, under gunfire — and without pants.
A court has ordered a Chinese television production company to pay damages to a man who received more than 3,000 nuisance messages after his mobile phone number was used in a police TV drama.
An elderly woman unknowingly gave a bank robber a lift, according to the woman and police.
When Carol Lopez let her Labrador retriever out for the morning the dog had an unusual number of tree trunks to attend to. Surrounding her aboveground backyard pool Lopez found 37 used Christmas trees.
A Bangkok municipal office has launched a new program to increase productivity: Lights go out just past noon and civil servants are invited to take an afternoon nap.
A man who set an apparent record by riding a stationary bike for 85 hours finished the feat by checking into a hospital.
A burger battle is brewing between a Texas state legislator and the owners of a restaurant who claim the hamburger was invented here.
It’s every gadget fan’s nightmare: A cell phone apparently ignited in a man’s pocket and started a fire that caused severe burns over half his body.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A 20-pound stray cat whose girth got him stuck in a pet door while trying to plunder some dog food was reunited with his owner Thursday.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Doughnuts will no longer be served to Franklin County jail inmates.
County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy put a $55,000 annual contract for the doughnuts on hold last month over questions about their nutritional value and trans-fat content.
LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — Call it a winter sale.
Jim and Mary Walker are selling snow on eBay. Starting bids were holding steady Friday at 99 cents for samples from “Blizzard I and Blizzard II.”
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A high-speed train had to make an unscheduled stop when a woman gave birth to a baby in the restaurant car, officials said.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — An understudy in a high school play has received two years probation for spiking the drink of a classmate who won the lead role.
STAYTON, Ore. (AP) — Workers sampling holiday cookies at a wood plant here complained of feeling lightheaded and dizzy, and police believe the secret ingredient might have been marijuana.
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. (AP) — Craig Breuwet endured a painfully public punishment for lying to police — he marched up and down a busy road wearing a placard proclaiming “I AM A LIAR.”
PHOENIX (AP) — A convicted pimp has been asked to make a video — for educational purposes.
Antoin Thurman helped with the making of an anti-prostitution video by describing how he recruited girls at malls and clubs and lured them into selling their bodies.
One of Santa’s helpers roamed the streets, thrift stores and coin-operated laundries of the state’s capital, making small talk before peeling $100 bills from his pocket and giving them to needy strangers.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine isn’t calling Ghostbusters, but he’s not saying he would have no use for the Hollywood spirit chasers.
An electrical fire that filled a department store with thick smoke didn’t deter holiday shoppers, and firefighters had to block the doors to keep customers from entering, authorities said.
As a traveling salesman, Peter Gilbert has put a few miles on his car — 1,001,385 miles, to be precise.
It’s described as she-said, Santa-said. No matter who’s right, the Santa at University Mall has been replaced.
A bar owner who faced a discrimination complaint over a message in his window has removed a sign that read “For Service Speak English” and replaced it with one reading “Here We Speak English.”
The Louisiana State Police have almost $500,000 that the owner can claim. As long as they do it before the end of the month.
Officials say a longtime employee at the University of Tennessee has admitted literally nickel and diming the school out of $20,000.
A man accused of speeding down Main Street in Anderson has been charged with drunken driving. What was unusual was that he was driving a float in a Christmas parade at the time.
Five-year-old Gabby Supapo stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed. “Oreos,” she declared.
The pastor of a Mount Airy church accused of brandishing a gun as part of his sermon is in trouble — with the police.
Young people behind the wheel are often derided, but four youths here were honored for their quick, “selfless” response on the road.
Making holiday wreaths on the cheap has landed a couple in jail.
One might call it the play that dare not speak its name.
A man was taken to a hospital after tangling with a venomous fish in his home aquarium, police said.
John Russo says he has been a victim of identity theft. So when he was asked to fork over a photo ID just to be seated at an IHOP pancake restaurant, he flipped.
A police officer used a Taser to subdue a python that had wrapped itself around a man’s arm and would not let go.
The perils of parenting apparently can be discovered through a classroom project.
PROVO, Utah (AP) — Honesty and patience have paid off for a maintenance worker who is to receive $10,000 he found in 1996 at Brigham Young University.
Two armed robbers got a little lesson in cold justice.
A high school principal could be in trouble for taking one of his students to a barber shop — without permission of the pupil’s parents.
A teen accused of ordering from at least three fast food drive-throughs nude faces an indecent exposure charge.
LAUREL, Miss. (AP) — Jones County authorities are crediting two inmates with thwarting the escape attempt of a third.
Sheriff Larry Dykes said a trusty at the jail, Danny Lamar Odom, 47, bolted Thursday from a work crew toward a field behind the jail.
When it comes to gambling in Las Vegas, nothing is guaranteed. Except for this: A new video poker machine ensures a certain amount of playing time, no matter how bad your luck.
James Bergsten has an easy way to direct people to his house: Just type in Lincoln, NE, and search in Google maps.
A bottle of perfume that was originally purchased for $50 has been auctioned off for $216,000. And that doesn’t include the perfume itself.
Jon Sanford takes good care of his hair, washing it regularly and conditioning it occasionally. Now he might break a record for that hair — on his arms.
Like most students at Fort Hays State University, Nola Ochs plans to spend some time reading and studying during this week’s fall break.
Throbbing throttles, pumping pistons and traction action ground to a halt as a longtime lover of monster trucks married her sweetheart in a dirt arena, amid rowdy spectators and crushed cars.
Cigar makers hope a 101-foot, 53-pound stogie completed over the weekend is headed for the record books.
“Wet dog” and “stinky feet.” Those are some of the words being used to describe the odor of some paper towels that were stocked in restrooms across town.
A small-town bank that drew $2.2 million in deposits from around the country because of its unusual name will close Jan. 31.
A man who mailed a bomb to a doctor because he was angry about how his penis enlargement surgery turned out was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison.
The Salvation Army kicked a former television reporter out as a volunteer at a Thanksgiving dinner after he allegedly turned it into an opportunity to promote himself.
Most Thanksgiving turkeys are carried in through the front door. But one broke through Sandy Cobbs’ dining room window.
They were only spreading Christmas cheer, might be the thieves’ excuse.
New Zealand’s high school students will be able to use “text-speak” — the mobile phone text message language beloved of teenagers — in national exams this year, officials said.
Hundreds of Australian drivers have come up with a way to weasel out of tickets: Blame it on a dead guy.
A woman’s attempt to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a gas station was easily foiled when the clerk realized something odd: It was blank on one side.
A man accused of biting off a piece of a man’s lip several months ago is now accused of attacking and biting the same man on the head, police said.
Police charged a suspect after a bus driver was robbed of his fares, then realized the suspect was a 3-month old baby.
No shirt, no service? What about no clothes at all?
MUSTANG, Texas (AP) — An unpaid bill nearly caused a supplier to shut off water service to an entire town.
NEW YORK (AP) — Clean public restrooms are scarce in New York. Clean public anything is especially scarce in Times Square.
But this holiday season, the makers of Charmin toilet paper have built pristine public restrooms, which are set to open Monday in the middle of one the busiest intersections in the world. And they’re free.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A student’s call for help to his mom may have gotten him more parental involvement than he bargained for.
This is quite possibly the most jaw-dropping story to ever come across the wire here at the Tribune. This man's public defender is having to debate that because the deer was dead, it was no longer bestiality, which is against the law in Duluth. It just gets stranger from there.
This pen has no ink, but plenty of flash.
Manufacturers of clothing steamers might need to update their product warnings to include this: Do not use near building sprinkler systems.
Amanda Brisendine attributed the 30 pounds she gained in the past year to an abandoned smoking habit and rich food. So when she went to the hospital with sharp stomach pain, she wasn’t expecting to leave with a newborn son.
Police arrested a man for using a lawn mower to cut a racial slur in the grass in an open field.
Some gyms forbid hogging machines or wearing flip-flops. At one gym, grunting is grounds for expulsion.
A man who posted his own sex offender registry photo on the social networking Web site MySpace.com is back behind bars.
Taking a radical approach toward preventive dentistry, an orthodontist is conducting a Halloween candy buyback.
A golfer who made a hole-in-one last month at a charity golf tournament and won $50,000 is being sued by a teammate over how the money should be spent.
The Museum of Funeral Customs is used to some spooky donations, but a rare casket recently arrived with an unusual addition: a human skeleton.
The mayor personally distributed thousands of fliers discouraging underage drinking only to find they mistakenly contained the phone number for a sex talk line.
MERRILLVILLE (AP) — A Girl Scouts council has sued 10 parents, alleging they kept more than $8,000 from cookie sales.
The Drifting Dunes Girl Scout Council filed civil lawsuits Monday in small claims courts in Porter and Lake counties, alleging scout parents kept cookie money in 2004 and 2005.
An elderly couple believe a chunk of blue ice from the holding tank of an aircraft toilet ripped a hole in their roof and destroyed a bed.
An inmate who used laxatives to shed 31 pounds so he could squeeze through a hole in a prison wall had been frustrated by the indefinite sentence he was serving, a judge said.
A sanitation agent was shown on videotape breaking light bulbs on the street in front of a restaurant and then writing a littering ticket to the restaurant’s owner, a state assemblyman said.
After fishing without a bite for hours in the Florida Keys, a Massachusetts couple finally pulled something into their boat: a 5-year-old cairn terrier named Tigger.
When firefighters responded to an alarm at a local research center, they found no fire and one guilty ape.
No Cocaine shall be sold at 7-Elevens, the convenience-store company is telling franchise owners.
A toddler who went fishing for a stuffed cartoon character in a vending machine wound up sharing space with the toy inside the game’s plastic cubicle.
A write-in candidate for Lincoln County sheriff is accused of striking the local Democratic Party treasurer in the face at a party rally and was arrested by his opponent, the incumbent sheriff.
The city police station was abuzz this week — with the sound of rattlesnakes.
Don’t feel like standing in line on Election Day? In Denver, you can get a limo ride to the polls if you take advantage of early voting Saturday.
A coin toss made a dead woman the winner of a rural school board race.
The mischievous Dennis the Menace has gone missing — except this time, he’s not hiding because he broke the rules.
Elaine and Jim Canary thought for sure they would never again see her diamond wedding ring, lost on a business trip.
