NEW YORK, Va., Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A Virginia woman weighing in at 105 pounds took home the top prize at a New York contest by wolfing down nearly an entire turkey in 10 minutes.105-pound woman wins turkey-eating contest
Portland, Oregon – A sixth-grader with special needs was pulled out of class and reportedly forced to mow the school lawn as a punishment. Alice Ott Middle School student, 11-year-old Kyron Sloan, has ADD, Asperger’s and maybe a medical condition, which doctors are still trying to figure out, causing him to sleep. Sloan’s mother, Kristi Sloan-Ceron, said her son’s counselor decided his punishment for falling asleep in class should be to mow the lawn. Full Article
Los Angeles, California – A California woman surrendered to the FBI on charges that she called an airline to report a fake terrorist threat hours before her ex-lover was to board an international flight, authorities said. Temple City resident Lizet Sariol called United Airlines to say there would be an emergency on a Las Vegas to Paris flight, according to a criminal complaint filed by the federal government. Prosecutors allege the 45-year-old woman was seeking revenge on a man who she’d had sexual encounters with over four meetings — and who had just unfriended her on Facebook, among other rejections. Full Article
Millersburg, Ohio – Authorities raided the compound of a breakaway Amish group in eastern Ohio and arrested seven men on federal hate crime charges in hair-cutting attacks against Amish men and women. Among those arrested were the group’s leader, Sam Mullet (picture), and three of his sons, said Mike Tobin, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Cleveland. Several members of the group carried out the attacks in September and October by forcefully cutting the beards and hair of Amish men and women. Cutting the hair is a highly offensive act to the Amish, who believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards and stop shaving once they marry. Full Article
Texas – A man accused of stealing a Lakeway man’s goat and then serving it at a barbecue has been charged with felony theft. Javier Aguirre, 27, was in custody at the Travis County Jail. Inmate records indicate he also is charged with possession of a controlled substance and is being detained for immigration reasons. An arrest affidavit said that a Lakeway man called police to report that his 7-month-old goat had been stolen from pens behind his home. The thief used bolt cutters to gain access to the pen. The victim told police he heard from an acquaintance that Aguirre had stolen the goat. Full Article
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Saudi women with attractive eyes may be forced to cover them up, the news website Bikya Masr reported, in a move that could mark the latest repressive measure taken against women by the Islamic state. A spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, said the committee had the right to stop women revealing tempting eyes in public. Women in Saudi Arabia already have to cover their hair, and, in some regions, their faces while in public. If they do not, they face punishments including fines and public floggings. Full Article
England – Pregnant women are known for eating unusual foods: peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, olives on cheesecake, even garden dirt. But a woman living in England is craving something far weirder. Alison Brierley of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, is in the news for eating roadkill. The artist and mother-to-be has long been making jewelery from the hides, claws, teeth and bones of dead animals that she finds on the road. She calls herself a “roadkill recycler.” And then Brierley got pregnant and she developed intense cravings for roadkill meat. more
York, Nebraska – Someone apparently decided it was time to pay a parking ticket issued to his mother in a small Nebraska town — in 1954. An anonymous man cleaning out his mother’s home found the unpaid ticket issued to a vehicle license in Oklahoma that was parked at Meter 77 in downtown York, Neb., July 13, 1954, and decided it was time to take care of the matter. The man walked into the office of York Police Chief Don Klug and, unseen by the official, left the fine — a single dime taped to the ticket inside an antique frame — on the chief’s desk. more
Dale City, Virginia – Police in Virginia say five teenagers have been charged with beating two youngsters who wouldn’t hand over their Halloween candy. Prince William County Police report one robber implied he had a handgun when the group confronted a pair of trick-or-treaters. Four of the teenagers are juveniles, ages 16 and 17, and their names have not been released. The fifth alleged robber, 19-year-old Andre Diggs, is being held without bond. more
Palm Coast, Florida – Authorities in Florida said a disgruntled bank customer urinated into a drive-in bank tube and the waste spilled onto the lap of another customer. A man pulled up to the drive-in lane at RBC Bank in Palm Coastnand asked if he could buy a money order, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The man became upset when the teller told him money orders were not available and drove away a few moments later. The next customer at the drive-in picked up the tube and liquid — believed to be the man’s urine — spilled onto her lap and the interior of her vehicle. more
Garden Grove, California – An email sent out to members of the Crystal Cathedral congregation requesting meals for founder Robert H. Schuller’s wife Arvella, who is ill with pneumonia, is creating mixed feelings of sadness and outrage among members. An email was sent out by administrators to Bible study groups as well as church elders, asking that meals for the reverend’s wife be dropped off at the cathedral’s Tower of Hope where the Schullers’ limo drivers will be waiting to pick them up at the designated time. ”These are millionaires who have limos and chauffeurs,” he said. “Why in God’s name would they want the congregants to deliver meals? It’’s ludicrous,” said a member. more
New York – One groom, disappointed with his wedding photos, decided to sue. The photographers had missed the last dance and the bouquet toss, the groom, Todd J. Remis of Manhattan, said. But what is striking, said the studio that took the pictures, is that Mr. Remis’s wedding took place in 2003 and he waited six years to sue. And not only has Mr. Remis demanded to be repaid the $4,100 cost of the photography, he also wants $48,000 to recreate the entire wedding and fly the principals to New York so the celebration can be re-shot by another photographer. Re-enacting the wedding may pose a particular challenge, the studio pointed out, because the couple divorced and the bride is believed to have moved back to her native Latvia. more
Indiana – Indianapolis Metropolitan Police released surveillance video showing a man inside the Kidscape Learning Center in southwest Indianapolis. The video shows the man – described as white or Hispanic and 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-7 with a long, black ponytail – trying on girl’s bathing suits, police said in a release. Apparently finding a pink two-piece to his liking, he keeps it on as he explores the day care. After about 10 minutes, the man jumps over a counter, setting off a motion detector alarm. He then leaps back over the counter, changes back into his original clothes and leaves the business. More
UK – A Hertfordshire, U.K. man must be feeling pretty embarrassed after making an emergency call to report a mysterious flying object, which turned out to be nothing less than the moon itself. Or was it just a bad prank? “It’s not an emergency per se,” the caller says to the dispatcher, “but there’s something flying over our house. Um, It’s coming towards me now, there’s all this light blazing. I don’t know what the hell it is!” The call was received after 8 p.m. on a recent, night according to the Metro. The caller seems fairly serious — even panicked — but it’s hard to imagine anyone could make this type of mistake. more
