Man who gave trooper the finger has charge dropped

Denver, Colorado - A harassment charge has been dropped in the case of a 35-year-old Colorado man who faced prosecution for displaying his middle finger to a Colorado State Patrol trooper. The State Patrol said in a statement that it asked that the case be dropped. The American Civil Liberties Union had argued that while the gesture may be have been rude, it amounted to protected free speech. According to the ACLU, Shane Boor was driving to work in April when he saw a trooper pull over a car. As Boor passed by, he extended his middle finger in the trooper’s direction.  More

$500,000,000 for kids who can’t sit still

Washington DC - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told said that the administration’s new $500 million early learning initiative is designed to deal with children from birth onward to prevent such problems as 5-year olds who “can’t sit still” in a kindergarten classroom. Sebelius and Education Secretary Arne Duncan jointly announced the $500-million program, which will provide competitive grants to states to address issues affecting educational outcomes for children from birth to age 5. A number of children were missing the social and developmental skills which would allow them to sit in a classroom or play with others or listen to a teacher for any period of time.  More

Police shut down bar inside of prison

Mexico - Mexican police have dismantled a fully-stocked bar — complete with two billiards tables — that had been operating inside a jail.  Authorities announced that they had seized some 200 bottles of beer, 12 bottles of tequila and 20 bottles of vodka, as well as firearms, marijuana and heroin from what they said was a low-security prison. Carlos Gonzales, a spokesman for the northern Chihuahua state where the raid took place, did not provide details as to how the prisoners had concealed the watering hole from authorities. But he said at least one prison administrator had been fired over the incident and may face charges.  More

Father takes cell phone, daughter shoots father

Tahuya, Washington - Authorities in Washington state say they’re arrested a teenage girl for allegedly shooting her dad with an arrow after he took her cell phone away. Mason County detective William Adam says the man told officers that his 15-year-old daughter used a hunting bow to shoot him after he grounded her and took the phone. He was airlifted from the rural, forested Tahuya area to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and listed in serious condition.  More

Fight with machete, cinder blocks

Florida - A Florida Keys man was arrested for attacking his roommate with a machete when he was asked to leave the mobile home they shared. Fidel Gonzalez Gutierrez, 52, faces attempted murder charges for the fight at Trailerama Trailer Park in Marathon, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said. Gutierrez had been allowed to move into 45-year-old Eduardo Gonzalez’s trailer just a few days before the attack. They were sitting and enjoying a quiet evening outside the trailer when Gonzalez told his roommate that he had to move out, and that’s when Gutierrez grabbed the machete. “The suspect went into the kitchen and got a machete; he returned and began to swing it at the victim,” a report of the incident said. “The victim said he threw a couple of cinder blocks at the suspect to defend himself.”   More

$100,000 Fellowships To Not Go To College

USA - Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and one of the first investors in Facebook, is proposing a controversial path toward more rapid innovation. His Thiel Foundation announced that it was giving 24 people under 20 $100,000 fellowships to drop out of school for two years to start a their own companies. Thiel thinks ideas can develop in a start-up environment much faster than at a university. And the project is also intended to question the idea of higher education. Thiel said that the United Sates was in a higher education bubble. “A true bubble is when something is overvalued and intensely believed,” he told said. More

Parents: Don’t wear pyjamas to school

UK - Schools in east Middlesbrough have asked parents to stop wearing pyjamas on the school run. Headteachers across 11 schools have requested that mums and dads show decency and respect when attending school premises. The Gazette has been told stories of parents turning up to schools at the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up as well as attending meetings with teachers in their PJs. Many have since sent letters home to parents asking for their wishes to be respected. “It’s about setting an example and having self esteem.” Since the letters have been issued many schools have noticed a sharp decline in the number of parents wearing pyjamas in the playground.  More

Dog nurses ligers after tiger mom refuses

BEIJING - A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother. Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in ...Dog nurses ligers after tiger mom refuses

Seeing-eye sheep, goats guide blind horse (Reuters)

Reuters - Michelle Feldstein was prepared to provide special accommodations for the blind horse she recently added to the flightless ducks, clawless cats and homeless llamas inhabiting her animal shelter in Montana.Seeing-eye sheep, goats guide blind horse (Reuters)

Rapture Day-They jumped off a bridge to celebrate

Michigan - They jumped off the bridge into the Kalamazoo River to celebrate that the world did not end. But that spontaneous celebration resulted in the apparent drowning of a 18-year-old Kalamazoo youth. Two hours later, Jordan Skinner-Knapp was standing in the parking lot of Comstock’s Merrill Park. Still wet, he was thinking about his friend, Anthony Alexander Johnson, who was swept away in the river’s current. Jordan, 15, said he and a group of five friends went to Merrill Park on the day the world was suppose to end according to a highly publicized prediction by evangelist Harold Camping.They all jumped off the east side of the bridge and started swimming The river current overwhelmed Johnson.  More

Mother sells 13-year-old girl’s virginity

Salt Lake City, Utah - Police in Salt Lake City charged Felicia Rae McClure with aggravated sex abuse of a child and felony sexual exploitation of a minor for trying to sell her 13-year-old daughter’s virginity to some dude by the name of “Don” for the price of $10,000. The woman’s boyfriend reported observing several text messages between the woman and a man named Don discussing sex acts between him and her daughter. The mother admitted to police she had made an arrangement with Don to have sex with her daughter in exchange for $10,000. She also said the man had taken her and her daughter to Victoria Secret to model lingerie and also modeled lingerie at home. More

Teacher urinated in trash can during class

Georgia - A substitute teacher at Riverdale Elementary School was arrested for allegedly exposing himself and urinating into a trash can inside a classroom of fourth-graders Coleman Eaton Jr., 60, was charged with two counts of aggravated child molestation and was being held on $55,400 bond. It was alleged that he walked to the back of the class, told the class not to turn around and allegedly urinated in one of the garbage cans in the back. A couple of students turned around and observed him using the restroom in the garbage can and one of the students went to the office after that and made the complaint.  More

Woman Threatens Employees with Grenade

 Mesa, Arizona - Police say a homeless woman entered a Dairy Queen restaurant and threatened employees with a grenade. When 30-year-old Renee Deshaies attempted to leave the scene near Olive and Main Street, she still had the grenade in her hand. The victims believed the grenade was real and feared for their safety. Police say the grenade was not real and was only used for training purposes.  More

Millionaire lottery winner gets food stamps

Michigan - A Michigan man who won $2 million in a state lottery game continues to collect food stamps 11 months after striking it rich. And there’s nothing the state can do about it, at least for now. Leroy Fick, 59, of Auburn won $2 million in the state lottery TV show “Make Me Rich!” last June. But the state’s Department of Human Services determined he was still eligible for food stamps. Eligibility for food stamps is based on gross income and follows federal guidelines; lottery winnings are considered liquid assets and don’t count as income. As long as Fick’s gross income stays below the eligibility requirement food stamps, he can receive them, even if he has a million dollars in the bank.  More

Two fatties must buy four seats

New York - Southwest Airlines has apologized to a mother and daughter who said they got rough treatment at the airport. Kenlie Tiggeman, a 30-year-old political strategist and weight loss blogger in New York City, said it was humiliating, being told she was too fat to fly. “It was rude. It was in front of lots of people,” said Tiggeman. Tiggeman said the incident happened in Dallas. She and her mother were told by a gate agent they each had to purchase Two seats.  And said that we were, in fact, too fat to fly, without an additional ticket,” Tiggeman said.  More

Watermelons blow up in fields

China - Watermelons have been bursting by the score in eastern China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather, creating fields of land mines instead of the bounty of fruit they wanted. About 20 farmers around Danyang city in Jiangsu province were affected, losing up to 115 acres (45 hectares) of melon. Prices over the past year prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market. All of those with exploding melons apparently were first-time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron, though it has been widely available for some time. More

Drunk Man Found In Woman’s Bed

Eden, North Carolina - Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office charged a 20-year-old after he was found in a home he didn’t belong. Amber Prez walked into her home to find a man she didn’t know in her bed. She ran to a neighbor’s home to call the Sheriff’s Office. When officers checked the home, they found 20-year-old Matthew Shawn Ragland in Prez’s bed. A friend said he was giving Ragland a ride home when Ragland got sick in the car. As the friend was cleaning the car, Ragland walked in to the wrong home to go to bed. Ragland was charged with breaking/entering and reisist/delay/obstructing a law enforcement officer. More

Mothers kill daughters for marrying wrong men

India - Two Muslim mothers in a northern Indian town have been arrested on accusations they killed their daughters for dishonoring the family by eloping with Hindu men. Newlyweds Zahida, 19, and Husna, 26, were strangled when they returned home after getting married to men of their choice, said Anil Kumar Kusan, a police officer. Marriages between Hindus and Muslims are not common in India and are frowned upon by both communities, although there are more instances of inter-religious marriages among the educated urban population. Across India, many marriages are still arranged by families. But with the booming economy and more women entering the work force, such traditions are slowly giving way to love marriages.  More

Man Spends Life Savings on Doomsday Ad

 New York - A New York man spent his entire $140,000 life savings advertising his prediction that the world will end May 21. Robert Fitzpatrick, a 60-year-old Staten Island resident, said he spent at least that sum on 1,000 subway-car placards and ads on bus kiosks and subway cars. They say, “Global Earthquake: The Greatest Ever! Judgment Day May 21, 2011.” In a self-published book, “The Doomsday Code,” Fitzpatrick said the Bible offers “proof that cannot be dismissed.”  More

Cell Phones Caused Bee Deaths

 Switzerland - Cellphone transmissions may be responsible for a mysterious, worldwide die off in bees that has mystified scientists. Dr. Daniel Favre, a former biologist with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, carefully placed a mobile phone underneath a beehive and then monitored the reaction of the workers. The bees were able to tell when the handsets were making and receiving calls. They responded by making the high pitched squeaks that usually signal the start of swarming.  More

Man didn’t get a day off from work, jumped

Dubai - A man took a fatal plunge from the world’s tallest building in Dubai, according to several media reports. The jumper, believed to be a 30-year-old Asian man, leaped from the 147th floor of the 160-story Burj Khalifa and landed on the 108th. Other outlets indicate he may have landed on the 102nd floor. Dubai police confirmed they received a report about a possible suicide at the half-mile-high skyscraper. Reports suggest the man may have been upset that he didn’t get a day off from work.  More

Couple robbed a bank to pay for wedding

Woodbury, New Jersey - Two southern New Jersey residents who robbed a bank last year to pay for their wedding trip to Las Vegas are now headed to state prison. Twenty-eight-year old Charles B. Koch of Stratford and 27-year-old Cheri Harper of Malaga both received seven-year terms. They must serve 85 percent of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole. They also were ordered to pay $7,600 in overall restitution to the bank in Franklin Townshipwhich they admitted robbing. Harper told authorities she entered the bank with a concealed knife, while Koch claimed to have a bomb.  More

Drinking a beer saves man’s life

UK - The 32-year-old was chatting to friends when one of them made a confession. “We were sat having a beer one evening,” explains Phil. “And one of them just says ‘I’ve shaved my testicles’. I laughed at him and thought ‘what a bozo’.” But a few days later, after wondering how it felt, Phil gave in to his curiosity and did the same, revealing a pea-sized lump on his left testicle. he had a single course of chemotherapy and because the cancer was in its early stages when diagnosed, Phil’s prognosis is good.  More

Man calls 911, shortchanged in crack deal

North Charleston, South Carolina - Police arrested a 41-year-old man after he called 911 and told officers that he was not given the correct change after buying crack cocaine from a drug dealer. Police arrested Dexter White for disorderly conduct. It all started when White called authorities and told officers that he had given $60 to a drug dealer for crack and only got back $20 worth of drugs. White said the drug dealer refused to give him $40 back. According to a police report, White then walked away from the drug dealer, smoked the crack he purchased and then called 911.  More

Woman Loses Phone, Nude Pictures Sent

Spartanburg County, South Carolina - A woman recently called police to file a report about a missing cell phone. The woman told Spartanburg County deputies she lost her phone at the Copper River restaurant in Boiling Springs. The woman told police she later learned that someone found her phone and was sending nude pictures she had stored in the phone to people in her contact list.  More 

Man arrested in bra, panties, accused of stabbing goat

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia man found wearing women's underwear and standing over a goat's carcass told police he was high on bath salts. Mark L. Thompson of Alum ...Man arrested in bra, panties, accused of stabbing goat

Man high on bath salts kills neighbor’s goat

Charleston, West Virginia - Police say an Alum Creek man high on bath salts killed his neighbor’s pygmy goat and that neighbors found him in his bedroom, dressed in a bra and panties, next to the dead animal. Mark Thompson, 19, of Greenview Road, is charged with animal cruelty after police got a call from a woman who said he stole her goat. The two women walked into Thompson’s house looking for the goat and made their way to Thompson’s bedroom door. They opened the door and he was standing there with his pants down. He had on women’s clothing and the goat was dead and there was blood everywhere.  More 

Police inadvertently shoot dog attack victim (Reuters)

Reuters - A German woman who had escaped without serious injury from a dog attack was accidentally shot by police while she hid from the animal behind a door, police said on Wednesday.Police inadvertently shoot dog attack victim (Reuters)

Cupcakes, hammocks offered students during exams

Charleston, South Carolina - At 10 p.m. more than 200 students at the College of Charleston emerged from the college library and nearby streets and descended like locusts on a patio table holding boxes of cupcakes. It is final exam week at the downtown Charleston, South Carolina liberal arts school founded in 1770. Cupcakes and other snacks, massages, yoga classes, Zumba dance sessions, guided meditation and peer counseling are offered to stressed-out students. Earlier students found puppies from a local shelter to cuddle and a pancake breakfast was prepared by the college’s president.  More

Osama bin Laden Death Photo -- Brains Visible

The White House is reportedly locked in a debate on whether or not to release the Osama bin Laden death photos ... photos in which you can reportedly see the scumbag's brain...More

Cops bust cockfighting ring at children’s party

Dayton, Texas - Acting on an anonymous tip, deputies from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office showed up at a property in Dayton, Texas - northeast of Houston - to investigate a report of a cockfighting operation. When they arrived, the officers discovered a children’s party underway, complete with a waterslide and a picnic table. But suspects began to emerge from behind the innocent revelry, fleeing to their vehicles and on foot into the tree line, upon seeing the deputies. Several suspects sped away in their cars, some even crashing into one another and driving through a wooden fence. As the children stood by the waterslide, crying, police officers discovered a grisly scene of dead and dying fowl - some suffering severe blood loss and cuts. The birds were found just feet from where the children were playing.  More…

Woman gets $258,000, Shopping Cart Wheels Jam

Connecticut - The Willimantic jury awarded the damages to Alice Mae Suits, a retired school social worker who was hospitalized as a result of the injuries she suffered when the wheels on a cart she was pushing stopped and the cart sheared off the front of her shins, said her lawyer. Suits, 78, suffered facial lacerations, leg lacerations and leg hematomas - a collection of pooled blood in a small area of the lower leg that required extensive surgery and skin grafting. She was 74 at the time. More

Weiner Mobile-Students rides to prom in giant weiner

 Dallas, Texas - Ben Ross recently survived a serious accident but he still made it to his prom in the vehicle of his dreams - a giant hot dog. Ross was seriously injured while riding his motorcycle While at his hospital bedside, his mom remembered Ben joking about going to the prom in the Weinermobile. So she launched an online campaign and convinced Oscar Mayer to send the distinctive hot dog-shaped vehicle to take Ben and girlfriend Molly Muchow to the at the Dallas Trade Center.  More

Woman outsmarts dumb muggers

Vallejo, California - A woman escaped two would-be robbers who allegedly accosted her in the driveway of her home. A female victim was just getting home, parked in her driveway and was getting stuff out of her car, when she was approached by two suspects, both black males age 18 to 25 and both wearing black hoodies. Suspect No. 1 stuck the gun in the victim’s ribs and demanded money. So, she took some money from her purse and gave it to them. But they demanded more, so she said she had more inside. The victim told the assailants to wait by her vehicle on the driveway. They complied while she went into her garage closing the door behind her.  More…