ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York City man who admitted to smuggling three Burmese pythons in his pants through a U.S.-Canadian border crossing was sentenced Wednesday to a year of probation and fined $5,000, federal prosecutors said. Calvin Bautista, 38, crossed into northern New York with the hidden snakes on a bus from Montreal […]
BOSTON (AP) — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection dog sniffed out something unusual in luggage from a traveler returning from Africa — mummified monkeys. The passenger returning from a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo reported that the luggage contained dried fish, but an inspection at Boston Logan Airport revealed dead and dehydrated […]
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge who sent more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial will resign, according to a court filing. In a proposed settlement agreement filed Thursday with the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary, District Judge Traci Soderstrom agreed to resign on Friday and never again seek a […]
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A wayward kangaroo was corralled safely by sheriff’s deputies Thursday after it was spotted hopping around the pool area of a Florida apartment complex. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office released video and still photos of the kangaroo, including some footage shot from a helicopter. The agency also released audio of a […]
BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) — An inert rocket of the type used to carry a nuclear warhead has been found in the garage of a home of a deceased resident in Washington state, police said. Bellevue police responded Thursday to a report of a military-grade rocket in the garage of a home in the city across […]
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring Friday at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania, the scene of the largest and best-known Groundhog Day celebration in the United States. The annual event is a tongue-in-cheek ritual in which Phil’s handlers, members of a club with roots in the late 19th century, reveal whether the […]
New York (AP) — This New York love story begins with a criminal act of sabotage. Under cover of darkness a year ago Friday, someone breached a waist-high fence and slipped into the Central Park Zoo. Once inside, they cut a hole through a steel mesh cage, freeing a majestic Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco who […]
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A woman fell into a dumpster while throwing out her garbage and was later rescued from a trash truck that had compacted the contents while she was inside, fire department officials in New Hampshire said. Luckily, neighbors heard her screams and the trash compartment was equipped with a camera. The driver […]
KUTZTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania early Friday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce whether he saw his own shadow and predicts there’ll be six more weeks of winter — or didn’t, which signals an early spring. Thousands are expected to attend […]
Snowplows are essential to enduring winter in Minnesota, so maybe it’s not surprising that every year thousands of people vote on names for the giant machines that clear the state’s roads, such as Plowy McPlowFace and Darth Blader. The often-icy state began naming its 800 plows in 2020 and is expected to announce winners of […]
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A 350-pound black bear that perched for hours in a tree, causing a Mother’s Day spectacle last spring in northern Michigan, was killed by a hunter, authorities said. “It makes me sad, because I was just envisioning it living peacefully in the forest somewhere, thriving as a bear does,” said […]
DENVER (AP) — A motorcyclist who authorities say posted a video of himself on YouTube speeding from Colorado Springs to the Denver metro area on Interstate 25 in 20 minutes — a trip that typically takes about an hour — is wanted on multiple charges. Rendon Dietzmann, a 32-year-old from Texas, recorded himself Sept. 28 […]
The recent blast of cold weather has given alligators a chance to show off their way of coping with freezing temperatures. The Swamp Park Outdoor Adventure Center in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, posted eerie videos on social media on Sunday showing alligators suspended in frozen ponds with just the tips of their snouts peeking […]
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky city has come up with an out-of-this-world campaign to promote tourism. The Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau used an infrared laser to beam a message into space to invite extraterrestrial travelers. “The first thing you’ll notice as you descend through Earth’s atmosphere above Central Kentucky is the lush green […]
PHOENIX (AP) — It’s no joke. A federal agency is discouraging humorous and quirky messages that could distract or confuse drivers on highways and freeways across the country. The Federal Highway Administration recently released an updated 1,100-page manual that spells out how signs and other traffic control devices are regulated. In it, the agency strongly […]
LEEDS, Alabama (AP) — A man crashed his car outside a Bass Pro Shop in Alabama, stripped down to his birthday suit and plunged into the giant aquarium inside the store, police said. The ordeal happened Thursday night in front of shocked shoppers in the town just outside Birmingham, Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin said. […]
DORA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman with two uteri and two cervixes has given birth to two babies after carrying one of them in each uterus. Kelsey Hatcher of Dora, about 28 miles (45.06 kilometers) northwest of Birmingham, gave birth to two girls on Wednesday and Thursday after a combined 20 hours of labor. […]
Jessica Vincent had just started surveying the shelves of a Virginia thrift store when a vase caught her eye. It was shaped like a bottle and had ribbons of color, aqua green and amethyst purple, that spiraled up its glass surface like stripes of paint. The piece looked old amongst the clutter of measuring cups, […]
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Abraham Lincoln’s top hat is missing from a bronze sculpture along the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky. The sculptor, Ed Hamilton, posted photos of his artwork at Waterfront Park on Facebook on Saturday and said someone stole the hat from the sculpture. “They had to be strong and determined to pry […]
VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — A county prosecutor’s office says one of its law clerks passed the State Bar of California exam at age 17. The Tulare County District Attorney’s Office said this week that, according to research, Peter Park is the youngest person to pass the exam. The State Bar said Friday in an email […]
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona woman got a huge shock when surveillance footage showed the thief who stole her backyard cameras was four-legged and fluffy-tailed. Esmeralda Egurrola, of Tucson, noticed on Monday that her three motion-activated cameras appeared off-line. So, she checked the most recent recording in each camera from an app on her […]
BOSTON (AP) — An official menu for a state banquet that bears the signature of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong has been auctioned for $275,000. Boston-based RR Auction said the menu auctioned Wednesday was for a banquet held in Beijing on October 19, 1956, and commemorated the first state visit to China by Pakistan’s Prime […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a challenge for all new parents: Getting enough sleep while keeping a close eye on their newborns. For some penguins, it means thousands of mini-catnaps a day, researchers discovered. Chinstrap penguins in Antarctica need to guard their eggs and chicks around-the-clock in crowded, noisy colonies. So they nod off thousands of […]
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman bagged a marriage proposal earlier this month along with a big buck during a recent deer hunting trip. Samantha Camenzind’s boyfriend not only gave her the first shot at the deer they had spotted on a trail camera south of Lincoln, but then surprised her by popping the […]
