Naked man challenged girlfriend to duel

 Titusville, Florida - A Florida defense lawyer was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his girlfriend while challenging her to a naked sword duel. Terry Lee Locy, 36, of Titusville was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence battery. The police report says Locy and his girlfriend had been arguing about the man’s drinking habits. Locy then allegedly took a mirror off a door and raised it up as if he was attempting to strike the woman, who grabbed the hook the mirror was hanging from and threw it at Locy, cutting his head. Then, after showering, Locy, who was still naked, handed a sword to his girlfriend and said, “You’re going to need this,” unsheathed a larger sword and said, “I’m going to kill you.” More 

85-year-old punches robber in the face

Illinois - While Edward Alexander was watering his front lawn a would-be robber pointed a gun at the 85-year-old and told him to give it up. Alexander knocked away the pistol and punched the man in the face, hobbling the bad guy, who ran away - but not before the pistol went off and a bullet hit Alexander in the leg. From his hospital bed the retired probation officer of 32 years says he has no regrets. “You’ve got to make a stand one way or the other in life,” he said from his room at Advocate Trinity Hospital. “And if you don’t you’ll be run over.” “I hope I’m prepared next time,” he joked to a friend visiting at the hospital. “Prepared to send them to the morgue.”  More

Billionaire Gets Blockbuster Suit Filed by Ex-Girlfriend

 New York - A beautiful Brazilian soap star has the lead role in her own daytime drama, which casts George Soros, the billionaire financier of lefty causes, as a heavy who not only broke her heart, but also reneged on a promise to give her an Upper East Side apartment worth $1.9 million. The drama will be staged in Manhattan Supreme Court, where 28-year-old Adriana Ferreyr filed a blockbuster $50 million suit charging, among other things, that the frisky octogenarian slapped her around while they were in bed discussing his real estate betrayal. “While still in bed, Soros slapped Ferreyr across the face and proceeded to put his hands around her neck in an attempt to choke her,” her lawsuit claims.  More

Man arrested for popping his pimples at McDonald’s

Cape Coral, Florida - A man accused of disgusting McDonald’s patrons by popping his pimples was under arrest after customer complaints led to a brief chase by officers. It started when customers of the McDonald’s alerted authorities to a man standing outside the restaurant for about 10 minutes squeezing away at the acne on his back. Events that followed with police ended in a brief chase and the arrest of the man, who allegedly gave a false name when confronted about the complaints. Owen Lemire Kato, 23, was arrested on charges of giving a false name upon arrest as well as drug offenses.  More

Woman falls into recycling bin, dies

Toledo, Ohio - Authorities in Ohio say a woman who died after falling face first into a recycling bin had gotten stuck in a spot where she couldn’t breathe. The woman’s husband says he came home from work and found her legs sticking out of the container that sits alongside their porch. He tells The Blade newspaper of Toledo that he first thought it was a dummy. He says he shook her legs and knew she was gone. A coroner in Toledo says that 62-year-old Sheila Decoster died from positional asphyxia. More

Tight rope walker loses footing at 330 feet

Shaoyang, China - A Chinese high-wire walker completed a 50-foot stroll between two hot air balloons at 100 feet, but lost his balance trying to repeat the stroll at 330 feet. Saimaiti Aishan, a seventh-generation high wire artist, completed the walk between the balloons at an altitude of 100 feet in Shaoyang, China, but he misstepped while trying to duplicate his success at an altitude of about 330 feet. He managed to grab onto the steel wire and held on until he was returned to safety.  More

Hotel clerk drinks the urine of a guest

Fresh from a Texas penitentiary, a notorious prankster said that he deeply regretted his telephone terrorism and specifically apologized for a malicious hoax of his that ended with a Kentucky hotel clerk drinking the urine of a guest. James Tyler Markle said that his illegal escapades with his former Pranknet cronies has left him with a felony conviction and ruined my life. Markle’s most heinous call was placed to a Homewood Suites hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. That involved prank concluded with a front desk worker drinking a urine sample provided by a guest. Markle led the female employee to believe the sample was apple cider. After the worker ingested the urine, Markle exulted, “I want you to understand, ma’am, that you just drank that man’s urine.”  More

Captain Save-A-Ho’ arrested

Iowa City - A self-professed protector of women was arrested for public intoxication. Iowa City Police Officers were dispatched to the Pedestrian Mall for multiple complaints of a man harassing people. Police said they found 34-year-old Jerald T. Navarre shouting and smelling of alcohol. Police said Navarre showed signs of intoxication, admitted to drinking and told officers he was a little drunk. Navarre has a lengthy criminal record with various arrests for intoxication, burglary and escape from custody.  More

Man builds airplanes out of junk

 Canada - Barbecue tanks, TV antennas, swimming pool walls, apple juice cans, farm gates, rebar, floor mop handles. Put it together and what have you got - a pile of junk? Not in Ian Baron’s hands. Try life-size replicas of old fighter planes. Four in total, all made from recycled bits and pieces. They’re parked proudly on the front lawn of his rural home a few minutes north of Bowmanville. The wingspan of his largest and favourite creation, a 1944 Spitfire Mark IX, is 11 metres. The Fokker had a serious wing flaw, he discovered. “It could climb quickly but was very slow because there was lots of drag with that third wing.” Baron, who’s never had the urge to fly a plane, thinks his hobby of assembling them from scratch is unique. Others restore old aircraft or build them from kits.  More

Three Siblings Sought in Armed Bank Robbery

Florida - Officials across the Southeast continue to search for three siblings on the run after allegedly robbing a bank and shooting at officers during in a high speed chase, as shocking discoveries are made at a house where the three allegedly spent time living. Below the Zephyrhills, Fla., property where suspects Lee Grace Dougherty, 29, Dylan Dougherty Stanley, 26, and Ryan Edward Dougherty, 21, allegedly spent time living together is a sophisticated bunker that neighbors say might have been the source of illegal activity. The underground structure is made up of two 40-foot cargo containers buried side-by-side with a manmade hallway leading to the bunker. The structure is outfitted with both electricity and running water.  More

Mexican military helicopter lands in Texas by mistake

Laredo, Texas - A Mexican military helicopter landed at Laredo International Airport by mistake, said a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Mucia Dovalina, the uniform public affairs officer for the Laredo Port of Entry, said the helicopter landed about 3 p.m. Dovalina said that, following protocol, CBP officers checked out the helicopter’s occupants, then allowed them to return to Mexico in the aircraft. “The only thing that I can tell you is that they did land here,” she said. “It was by mistake. They were processed and they were returned to Mexico.” According to a statement from CBP, the pilot mistook the airport for a landing strip in Nuevo Laredo.  More

Prank sends police to unsuspecting residents

 Toronto, Canada - Police kicked down the door of a North Toronto apartment after a caller warned them about a possible murder taking place inside. But all they found was a guy wearing noise-cancelling headphones who had the misfortune to be working from home that day. “I didn’t hear them knocking or banging on the door saying: ‘Please open up,’” said software consultant Jason Myles. The first thing I heard was when they attempted to kick down the door.” The headphones drowned out the initial commotion and by the time Myles heard the kicks, it was too late for the door. Myles believes he was a victim of something called “swatting,” a prank in which a caller reports a fake emergency with the intent of getting police to mobilize a SWAT team.  More

Student makes bomb threat so she could study for a test

Lakeland, Florida - A Polk State College student has been arrested after telling deputies she took part in making a false bomb threat in July so she could study for a test. Alexxis C. Anthony, 19, from Lakeland, told deputies she and a friend, Theron K. Brown Jr., were involved in a bomb threat to the college because she wanted her class to be canceled. Anthony, a student at the Lakeland campus, told deputies she was pressured to keep her grades up because of a college scholarship. The Lakeland campus was evacuated and closed until law enforcement confirmed that there were no explosive devices. More

Stupid News-Fantasy Coffins

Ghana - Why be buried in a boring coffin, when you can get handmade coffins that look like a fish , lobster, snake, bird, shoe, beer bottle, even a cigarette? For the Ga tribe in coastal Ghana, funerals are a time of mourning, but also of celebration. The Ga people believe that when their loved ones die, they move on into another life - and the Ga make sure they do so in style. They honor their dead with brightly colored coffins that celebrate the way they lived. More 

New saggy jeans designed to improve mobility (Reuters)

Reuters - Men who like to sag their jeans down low but fear they could end up around their ankles may be interested in new pants that snap to special boxer shorts for support and improved mobility.New saggy jeans designed to improve mobility (Reuters)

Airline Uses Sandwich to Treat Cardiac Arrest

UK - Although European flight attendants are mandated to know first aid, one family says that when a relative went into cardiac arrest during a flight, the baffled flight crew didn’t deliver life-saving CPR, but instead delivered a sandwich and soda and charged for it. Billie Appleton says her stepfather, Per-Erik Jonsson, 63, went into cardiac arrest during a flight from England to his home in Sweden. When he lost consciousness, his wife alerted the staff but they were unprepared to render treatment, Appleton told the paper. “They said he had low blood pressure and gave him a sandwich and a soda,” she told the paper. “And they made sure he paid for it.” More

Bears saved from forced vodka drinking (Reuters)

Reuters - Ukraine's Environment Minister Mykola Zlochevsky vowed on Wednesday to free all bears kept in restaurants for entertainment purposes and often forced to drink alcohol, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.Bears saved from forced vodka drinking (Reuters)

Swede tried to build nuclear reactor in his kitchen (Reuters)

Reuters - A Swedish man was arrested after he tried to build a nuclear reactor in his kitchen and documented his efforts on the Internet...Swede tried to build nuclear reactor in his kitchen (Reuters)

Beauty Queen Loses Crown Over Weight Gain

A Mexican beauty queen says officials took away her crown after she gained weight, stopping her from competing in this year's Miss World pageant."I feel healthy enough to represent my ...Beauty Queen Loses Crown Over Weight Gain

Toy Truck Saves 6 Soldiers’ Lives

Afghanistan - Staff Sgt. Christopher Fessenden is on duty in Afghanistan now after tours with the Army in Iraq. He has traveled with standard-issue equipment — weapons, helmet, uniform, boots and so forth — plus a radio-controlled model truck his brother sent. He said he had loaned the truck to a group of fellow soldiers, who used it to check the road ahead of them on a patrol. It got tangled in a trip wire connected to what Fessenden guesses could have been 500 lbs. of explosives. The bomb went off. The six soldiers controlling the truck from their Humvee were unhurt.  More

School’s aluminum bleachers stolen

 Apple Valley, California - A California desert school’s aluminum baseball field bleachers have been stolen. Students returned to Apple Valley’s Academy of Academic Excellence campus and learned a large section of the bleachers were stolen during the summer break. San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators said that the crime was discovered with the start of school. There are no suspects. It’s apparently the work of metal thieves who get paid by recyclers.  More

Man Buys Puffer Fish Poison To Kill Wife

Chicago, Illinois - A northwest suburban man has pleaded guilty to trying to kill his wife with poison from a puffer fish. Edward F. Bachner IV, of Lake in the Hills, apparently wanted to collect $20 million on the life insurance for his wife, Rebecca Bachner. The federal indictment against Bachner says starting in 2006, he used the alias of Dr. Edmund Backer of EB Strategic Research to purchase four different orders of the deadly puffer fish poison tetrodotoxin from the biochemical manufacturing firm Biotium. Tetrodotoxin has a fatality rate of 50 to 60 percent, and has no known antidote.  More

Free cell phones are now a civil right

Pennsylvania - Pennsylvanians on public assistance now have a new ‘civil right’ — free cell phones. Meanwhile, the rest of us get to pay higher cell bills as a result. Recently, a federal government program called the Universal Service Fund came to the Keystone State and some residents are thrilled because it means they can enjoy 250 minutes a month and a handset for free, just because they don’t have the money to pay for it. Through Assurance Wireless and SafeLink from Tracfone Wireless these folks get to reach out and touch someone while the cost of their service is paid for by everyone else. You see, the telecommunications companies are funding the Universal Service Fund to the tune of $4 billion a year because the feds said they have to and in order to recoup their money, the companies turn around and hike their fees to paying customers. More…

Out of prison 1 day, woman commits new fraud

Mobile, Alabama - A Clarke County woman responsible for the region’s biggest personal fraud against the Federal Emergency Management Agency following Hurricane Katrina wasted no time committing a new offense when she got out of prison. In fact, according to a federal prosecutor in Mobile, Lawanda Williams set the wheels in motion before she even got out of a halfway house. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Costello said Williams faxed documents to Alabama Power from a work-release job at a Taco Bell in Spanish Fort in preparation for fraudulently obtaining a loan in someone else’s name. U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade threw the book at Williams today, rejecting the 37-year-old Jackson woman’s explanation that she intended to pay for the $3,000 worth of appliances she bought on credit.  More

Inmate caught when stash falls out

 Ft. Myers, Florida - A 37-year-old woman under arrest and being escorted through the Lee County Jail was caught attempting to smuggle crack-cocaine into the facility. Angela Lynn Palmer was being escorted by three deputies when she dropped a clear glass tube and then stated to deputies that she had additional items in her vagina. An orange cigar tube then fell from Palmer’s vagina to the floor next to her feet. An additional clear tube was also found. Inside the orange tube, deputies found two pieces of white rock, later identified as crack-cocaine. Both clear tubes contained residue that indicated they were used as crack pipes to smoke the crack-cocaine.  More

Parents leave 2-year-old boy at lake

Minnesota - Police in Minnesota said a 2-year-old boy reported missing by his parents turned out to have been left behind accidentally and was alone for about an hour. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said the parents called them at about 7:30 p.m. and said their son had been with them at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis and they noticed he wasn’t with them when they went to visit friends. Investigators said both parents believed the boy had been with them when they left Lake Nokomis, but another child who was riding in the car told Orono police the boy had not been with them. More