Boy, 12, shoots mom’s boyfriend

Columbus, Ohio - A 12-year-old Ohio boy was charged with murder in juvenile court days after telling a 911 dispatcher he shot his mother’s boyfriend because the man threatened him. A complaint alleges that the boy used a .22-caliber revolver to shoot the man behind one ear at a home in central Ohio’s Delaware County. The boy reported the shooting to a dispatcher just after midnight. Then his mother took the phone, saying between screams and sobs that her son intentionally shot her boyfriend twice after the man threatened them with a gun and told them to leave. Jeffrey Reece, 38, died at a hospital. Preliminary results from an autopsy show that Reece died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.  More 

Man on bike robs drive-through

 Meriden, Connecticut - Police in Connecticut said a bicycle-riding robber threatened a clerk at a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-through and pedaled away with a cash drawer. Meriden police said Vernon Lewis, 42, threatened the drive through worker at the East Main St. Dunkin’ Donuts and fled with a cash register drawer full of cash. An officer spotted Lewis near the public library a short time later and he was found to be carrying $321 cash. He was identified as the suspect by Dunkin’ Donuts employees.  More 

Man on crutches escapes from police

Chicago, Illinois - The 49-year-old ex-convict was on crutches. But that didn’t keep James Roesch from escaping from custody at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse. Roesch was being held behind a courtroom, awaiting a bond hearing for a recent burglary arrest, when he bolted about 10 a.m., sheriff’s police spokeswoman Liane Jackson said. At some point, Roesch dumped his crutches as he fled, Jackson said. He didn’t get far. Officers caught him as he made his way outside. He was brought back in with plenty of time to spare before his bond hearing.  More  

Man Caught Urinating on Cough Drops

Florida - Police are looking for a man who urinated on more than 100 packages of cough drops inside a Walgreens in Florida. It happened around 10:30 p.m. at a Walgreens on S. French Avenue in Sanfiord. Investigators say the man went to the aisle where the cough drops are kept, looked around, unzipped his pants, and urinated on about 110 packages of cough drops. Police say he then walked back to the pharmacy and attempted to fill a prescription but didn’t have the proper documents.  More  

Human cannonball plunges to his death

UK - Horrified families looked on as a human cannonball was killed when his safety net failed during an Easter Bank Holiday extravaganza. The stuntman suffered catastrophic head and neck injuries when he hit the ground in front of a huge crowd at the Kent County Showground.Eyewitnesses said the stuntman was fired up to 50ft in the air as part of Scott May’s Daredevil Stunt Show. The net collapsed while he was in the air. As the cannon went bang the truck recoiled.He landed on the grass head first and continued to roll forward but then stayed on his back motionless.  More

Man critical, shot with potato gun

Australia - A man is in a critical condition after being shot in the head with a potato gun in a forest in central western NSW. The 24-year-old man was camping with friends in Gurnang State Forest, south of Oberon, when a potato gun discharged, striking him in the head. The man was airlifted to Westmead hospital in a critical condition. Police are investigating the incident.   More

Library spends $1,092 each for chairs

 Detroit - Detroit Public Library officials say finances have grown so bad they could close most neighborhood branches, but in a few weeks plan to unveil a revamped wing of a main library that even administrators say spares few expenses. The South Wing is stocked with 20 yellow and orange European lounge chairs that cost $1,092 apiece, artistic pendant light fixtures and two alcohol-burning fireplaces. The project morphed from a $300,000 furniture update to a $2.3 million overhaul with new floors, study rooms, lighting and built-in, wood-framed book shelves. It’s not the only spending to come under question as the system considers closing up to 18 of 23 branches and laying off as many as 191 of 333 workers. Since 2008, the library has paid at least $160,000 to food vendors, including $1,760 at an ice-cream shop, and spent $1 million on 6 percent raises to union workers at a time counterparts in City Hall took 10 percent pay cuts.  More

Some NY cab drivers to wear bulletproof vests (Reuters)

Reuters - New York City livery cab drivers, often called to crime-ridden neighborhoods that yellow taxis tend to ignore, are being armed with bulletproof vests, an advocacy group said on Tuesday.Some NY cab drivers to wear bulletproof vests (Reuters)

Goat walks into piano store

Ammon, Idaho - Animal authorities in Idaho said they were searching for the owner of a small goat caught when it followed a mother and child into a piano shop. Employees at the Piano Gallery Store in Ammon said the goat walked in after a mother and child and workers used an extension cord as a makeshift leash until Animal Control officers arrived. The Idaho Falls Animal Shelter said it was trying to find the owner of the goat, which has been nicknamed Beethoven.  More

Marijuana smoke odor in car not enough for police action

BOSTON (Reuters) - The smell of marijuana smoke is no longer enough reason for police to order someone out of a car, now that pot has been decriminalized in Massachusetts, the state's highest ...Marijuana smoke odor in car not enough for police action

Paramedics drop grandma into icy sea

Norway - A 73-year-old grandmother is in intensive care after being dropped overboard by paramedics who were trying to carry her off a cruise ship. Janet Richardson spent several minutes in the icy waters off Norway before she was rescued. A medical team had been trying to transfer her on a stretcher, when the two boats moved apart and she fell into the North Sea.  More

Smelly plant to bloom at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 17 (UPI) -- A plant described by one botanist as smelling like "several-days-old bloated roadkill" is getting ready to bloom at Ohio State University.Smelly plant to bloom at Ohio State

It’s the Devil’s 100th birthday

Baraboo, Wisconsin - Devil’s Lake celebrates its 100th birthday this year as a state park - Wisconsin’s loveliest, largest, geologically unique and most popular, with more than 1.8 million visits last year. The spring-fed, roughly mile-long lake, measuring 47 feet deep, is unlike anything east of the Rockies. It’s part of the south range of the Baraboo Bluffs, a quartzite up-thrust. An ancient river cut a gap where the lake now lies, and the 500-foot-high bluffs of quartzite that surround it were dumped by the retreat of the last glacier some 12,000 years ago. How the lake got its name is much debated, but it most likely was a botched translation of various Native American names that meant Spirit Lake.  More

Teen Who Auditioned for American Idol Attacked

New York - A 17-year-old New York girl who auditioned for “American Idol” was beaten by five students at a Brooklyn high school leaving her incapable of competing in a talent show. Five students from the Brooklyn Academy High School have been charged in the brutal beating of Shacara McLaurin outside her home. Police say they attacked her by beating her with a padlock inside a sock. McLaurin said that she was attacked because one of the girls was jealous of her singing abilities.  More

Boy sets house on fire looking for dog

St. Petersburg, Florida - A teenager using a candle to search for his dog ignited a fire that destroyed his house. Authorities say the 15-year-old was looking underneath a bed for the dog  when the fire started and quickly spread. The boy suffered minor smoke inhalation while trying to fight the fire with a garden hose. The dog was found dead in the bedroom. No other injuries were reported.  More

Man stabs himself to death after performing

Bend, Oregon - Police in central Oregon say a 19-year-old man performed a song he introduced as “Sorry for the Mess” at a coffee house open microphone event, then fatally stabbed himself in the chest. Lt. Chris Carney says patrons at Bend’s Strictly Organic Coffee rushed to help Kipp Rusty Walker and police and medics arrived quickly. But the young man died at St. Charles Medical Center from multiple stab wounds. Carney says Walker used a double-edged knife with a 4- to 6-inch-long blade. Police reports indicate the crowd of 10 to 15 was clapping as Walker finished his keyboard performance. When patrons saw him hitting his chest, Carney said they initially thought that was part of his act — until they saw blood.  More   

Man Engulfed In Flames At Porn Shop

San Francisco, California - A man was hospitalized with life-threatening, third-degree burns after catching fire inside a San Francisco porn store. Police officers across the street from the porn shop saw a man run out the front door of the store engulfed in flames, an SFPD spokesman said. Arson investigators said it was not exactly clear how the man caught fire. Police indicated he had apparently been watching videos in a private booth when the fire ignited.  More  

Condom Campaign For Kids as Young as 11

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - A new campaign by Philadelphia officials to reducesexually transmitted diseasesallows children as young as 11 to receive free condoms via mail order, outraging some parents who believe that’s too early to start getting physical. The program, offered by the city’s Department of Health, features a website that includes facts on diseases like Chalamydia, gonorrhea and HIV/AIDS, as well as detailed — and playful — instructions for young girls on how to use female condoms. More

Man glued to Wal-Mart toilet seat

Maryland - Police in Maryland are on the hunt for the perpetrator of what appears to be a prank that left a man glued to a toilet at a Wal-Mart store. If caught, the jokester who doused the seat with glue at the Elkton Wal-Mart could face second-degree assault charges, said Lt. Matthew Donnelly of the Elkton Police Department. Police, along with the Singerly Fire Co. and the Cecil County paramedics, were called to the scene at about 7 p.m. There, they found the 48-year-old victim, who called for help after realizing the sticky situation he was in when he tried — and failed — to stand up and leave the superstore’s restroom. It took responders 15 minutes to remove the victim from the stall, but they were unable to disconnect the toilet seat from his body.  More…

Man Delivers Corpse to Hospital

Stupid News- New Mexico - Española Hospital staff made a gruesome discovery when a man came in at 2:10 p.m. saying he had a woman in his car who needed help. Underneath a blanket in the man’s Mercury Grand Marquis was a woman’s decomposing body, Española Police Lt. Christian Lopez said. Police have tentatively identified the woman as 33-year-old Amy Marquez, of Española, based on a statement by the man who brought her to the hospital. Lopez said police believed 65-year-old Española resident Jerry Maestas had been driving around the city with the woman’s corpse in his car for at least one day.  More…

Snake comes out of second-hand chair

Richmond, Virginia - A Virginia man said he was shocked when a boa constrictor emerged from a chair that had recently been given to him by a friend. Barrett Edwards of Richmond said he was watching TV when he got up from the chair to use the bathroom and returned to find the snake coiled atop a vent. Edwards called 911 and police arrived to trap the snake in a pillow case. Investigators said they believe the snake had been hiding in the coils of the chair since before it was given to Edwards.  More…

Prankster leaves glue on toilet seat

ELKTON, Md., April 7 (UPI) -- A man who sat on a glue-covered toilet seat in a Maryland Walmart suffered minor injuries but authorities said the perpetrator of the prank could land in jail.Prankster leaves glue on toilet seat

Tokyo running out of beer

 Tokyo, Japan - Beer is running short at some retailers in the Tokyo metropolitan region as brewers struggle with damage to their factories and power outages caused by the March 11 quake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan. Among major brewers, Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Asahi Breweries Ltd. each had two beer factories damaged by the disaster, including ones in eastern Japan, while Kirin Brewery Co. had a manufacturer of materials for its beer cans affected as well as its Sendai factory in hardest-hit Miyagi Prefecture. More…

Show & Tell: Elementary students feel breast implants

Henrico, Virginia - Some angry Henrico parents are demanding answers after their kids were allowed to feel a breast implant at school It was all a part of Shady Grove Elementary’s Career Day, but some parents feel things went a bit too far. We found out the kids were supposed to be learning about a career in plastic surgery, but some parents feel that is a bit too much for elementary students. They feel they should have been warned. At Shady Grove Elementary School, it’s a show and tell, many are still talking about. Some parents are outraged after a local plastic surgeon let students feel breast implants as part of his presentation.  More…

Swine flu vaccine not safe after all

UK - The Heath Service Executive (HSE) will remove all stocks of the swine flu vaccine Pandemrix from GPs’ surgeries. The vaccine has been linked to the disabling sleep disorder, narcolepsy. Last week, this newspaper revealed that eight people who received the swine flu vaccine in Ireland have developed the devastating disorder, with most of the cases involving teenagers and young adults. Now, the HSE has taken the decision to visit GP surgeries around the country and collect the vaccine made by pharmaceutical giantGlaxoSmithKline.  More…

Old man stabs neighbor in cat fight

San Diego, California - Authorities say an elderly San Diego man stabbed his neighbor in a dispute over cats and dogs. The fight broke out when the 74-year-old man said his kittens were being harassed by his neighbor’s dog. Investigators say the man then hit his 64-year-old neighbor in the face with a broom stick, returned with a knife and stabbed the other man in the stomach. The 74-year-old man was taken into custody.  More… 

Drunken Woman Found Naked In Car

Stuart, Florida - An Okeechobee woman was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Martin County after she was found naked in her car with marijuana inside. Martin County sheriff’s deputies pulled over Charlene Johnson after they spotted her car weaving in and out of the lane. Deputies said they approached Johnson’s car and found her naked and crying in the driver’s seat. According to the arrest report, Johnson told deputies she was crying because she had a fight with her boyfriend in West Palm Beach. When asked why she was naked, Johnson replied, “I don’t know.”  More…

Census worker won’t take no for answer

Chicago - The first few requests were tolerable. A Census Bureau worker would knock on John and Beverly Scott’s door and ask them to fill out an American Community Survey. The McKinley Park couple would politely decline. But as the days passed, the visits became more frequent and the requests more urgent. Some evenings, the doorbell would ring at dinnertime, then again at 10 p.m. “I said, ‘I’m not going to answer your questions.’ She kept saying, ‘You’ve got to, you’ve got to.’ I shut the door, and she kept ringing the doorbell and tapping on the window.” In particular, the Scotts did not want to answer questions they found too personal, such as inquiries about their income, when they left for work and their health. The final straw, John Scott said, was when a Census Bureau employee told him he would be fined $2,000 if he did not fill out the 48-question survey. More…

Stupid News|World Penis Size Map Is Hard News to Swallow

Man oh man, this is really bad news, guys. Based on the Worldwide Penis Size Map, we're coming up a little short here in the United States. That's right. The US of A and all its gloriousness is pretty far up there on the penis size chart. In fact, we're #98 out of 112 countries....

Sick News-GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons defends killing elephants

The CEO of GoDaddy is under fire for video footage that shows him killing an elephant in Zimbabwe, but Bob Parsons says the hunts are necessary to help feed local villagers and prevent the animals from destroying crops.Footage of Parsons’s elephant hunt circulated on the Web, drawing fire from animal rights groups like People for the Ethnical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Change.org.“PETA is closing its account withGo Daddy and urges everyone to follow suit,” the group said in a note on its Web site, which also encouraged others to write to Parsons and express their disappointment.  More…

Worker skips office $319M Mega pool

New York - He didn’t think Lady Luck was on his side — and now he’s out millions. A hapless state information-technology worker who usually joined his office lottery pool took a pass last week — only to learn that seven positive-thinking pals nailed a whopping $319 million Mega Millions jackpot. “The word is that when they were going around the office asking who wanted in on the pool, one guy said no, that he wasn’t feeling lucky,” said Jill Cook, who with husband Tom owns Cook’s Deli in Albany, where the winners are lunchtime regulars.  More…

Man uses fake leg to take down armed robber

Middleton, Massachusetts - A Massachusetts man who used his prosthetic leg to take down a robber says he didn’t have time to think, he just reacted. Stephen Cornell peered through the window of his neighborhood convenience store in Middleton and saw a man pointing a gun at the owner. He tells The Salem News he intended to tackle the thief when he left JC Grill and Pizza, but instead stuck out his artificial leg and tripped him. Cornell and owner Edson Andrade disarmed the thief and dragged him back into the store in a chokehold before calling police.  More…

UFOs to visit royal wedding

London - A retired U.S. Air Force pilot said Britain’s royal wedding is likely to be visited by UFOs. Maj. George Filer, whose National UFO Center records about 1,000 UFO sightings per month, said UFO sightings are common during events of national and international importance. “The craft seem to have an interest in anything important. They’ve been sighted recently over Libya and near the Japanese tsunami,” Filer said.  More…

Kenya’s Maasai compete with farting mongooses

Kenya - Maasai honey harvesters face some stiff competition - from mongooses. They say that the mongooses raid the beehives at night and eat all the honey. It is believed locally they do this by farting - although animal behaviourists say they are not known to be particularly flatulent animals. “The mongooses are very clever animals. They normally climb up the trees where the beehives are,” says Mr Matampash, who runs Neighbours Initiative Alliance, a non-governmental organisation backing the beekeepers. “Once up there, they break wind - forcing the bees to flee from the foul smell and then they knock down the beehive and eat the honey.  More…