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<b>W.Pa. man charged in weed-whacker attack</b>


GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) A Westmoreland County man is accused of hitting his neighbor with a weed-whacker.

Sixty-seven-year-old Gary Wright, of Southwest Greensburg, is charged with simple assault, recklessly endangerment and disorderly conduct.

Police say neighbor William Bell told Wright to get off his property on May 23 and Wright hit him in the arm with the tool. Bell's wife says the weed-whacker going full-speed and Bell put his hand up to stop it from hitting his face.

Police say Wright told them that he wasn't on Bell's property and that Bell had kicked and tried to grab the weed-whacker.

He's been ordered to stay away from the neighborhood until his Aug. 7 preliminary hearing and is living about 15 miles away. It's unclear if he has an attorney.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )
 
<b>Man stuck in pavement hole for two hours</b>
By Lucy Cockcroft Last Updated: 5:10PM BST 28/06/2008

Man was stuck in a lamp-post hole for hours in Swansea before being rescued by firefighters. It was a choice he lived to regret. Having misjudged the diameter of the 18in (30 centimetre) hole, which workmen had dug to fix in a lamppost, he became wedged in it up to his armpits.

A crowd of more than 100 people gathered around to watch as he struggled to wriggle free. Some tried to pull him out, but he was stuck fast.

The unidentified man was eventually rescued by firefighters, after being laughed at and photographed by morning shoppers in Swansea, south Wales, for more than two hours.

One onlooker, 29-year-old builder Gareth Hughes, said: "He was wedged in so tight we'd have pulled his arms out of their sockets if we'd pulled any harder. He was stuck fast, right up to his chest. "We were all stood around this unfortunate man in the hole having a right old laugh.

"The man said he'd gone in feet first to retrieve a lighter he'd dropped in the hole and got stuck.

"God knows how he even managed to squeeze in the hole because it was only 30cm in diameter.

"Once the firemen arrived, they strapped a rope round him, beneath his armpits, and winched him out."

An ambulance was put on standby to treat the man, but he was pulled out uninjured.

A spokesman for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: "We received a call saying a male was stuck in a service duct outside a curry house in Swansea.

"We used a quad pod, which has a winch, to pull him out."

An ambulance was on standby, but the man was uninjured.
 
<b>Man sought by Conn. police hits troopers' garage</b>
June 27, 2008


BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A man being sought by police for questioning in a series of traffic accidents was arrested after crashing his truck in a state police garage in Connecticut.

A 36-year-old man faces charges including criminal trespass, reckless endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Police said the man broke through the access arm at the front gate of state police headquarters in Bridgeport on Thursday, drove his pickup into an open garage door and then crashed into a vehicle lift.

The suspect was arrested when he attempted to flee. Troopers said they learned later that Bridgeport police were searching for the vehicle, which had been involved in accidents earlier in the day.

No injuries were reported in any of the accidents.

The man told authorities he was being chased, but there was no evidence to back that claim, police said.
 
<b>Michigan man accused of fork, chicken attacks</b>
3 days ago

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) — A man was accused of stabbing his mother with a fork and assaulting a second woman with 10 pounds of frozen chicken.

Frederick Duane McKaney, 40, of Ypsilanti, was arraigned Wednesday in 12th District Court in Jackson. He faces two felony assault charges as well as one count of assault and battery and one count of resisting an officer.

Prosecutors said McKaney stabbed his mother in the back of the neck with a fork Monday night.

About an hour later, he hit a woman in the head with a plastic bag of frozen chicken. They had exchanged rude words while he rode his bicycle. She needed five surgical staples to close her wound.

McKaney has no attorney on record with the court.

A pre-exam conference is scheduled for July 2.
 
<b>German man torches car to protest high gas prices</b>
3 days ago

BERLIN (AP) — A German man doused his BMW with gasoline and torched it on Friday in protest at skyrocketing fuel costs, police said. The unemployed 30-year-old man drove the black 1995 BMW 3-series sedan onto the lawn outside Frankfurt's convention center grounds at about 7:30 a.m., police spokesman Karlheinz Wagner said.

He then jumped out, emptied a canister of gas over the vehicle, and set fire to it, Wagner said.

By the time the fire department got to the scene, the car was entirely burned out.

The Bavarian man, whose name was being withheld because he has not been charged with a crime, told police that gas prices were so high he could no longer afford to drive the vehicle.

As in many countries, gasoline prices have risen steadily in Germany; a liter of regular gasoline now costs about euro1.55, or $9.40 per gallon.

Police were investigating whether the man could be charged with violating German environmental laws with the stunt, Wagner said. Penalties range from fines to five years in prison.
 
<b>Woman jumps out of moving car on Fla. Interstate</b>
4 days ago

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — It's not uncommon for someone to make a dramatic exit in the middle of an argument, but the gesture should probably be avoided while traveling on the Interstate.

Marquita Cherrell Armstrong was a passenger in a car driven by Jeffery Dawayne Watson Tuesday when the two got into an argument on I-10 near Tallahassee.

State troopers said Armstrong told Watson that she wanted to get out, but Watson refused to pull over in a construction zone. That's when Armstrong opened the car door and jumped out.

Armstrong was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

<i>Information from: Tallahassee Democrat, <a href="http://www.tdo.com" target="_blank">http://www.tdo.com</a></i>
 
<b>North Pole man clipped for DUI on riding mower</b>
5 days ago

NORTH POLE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers used lights and sirens to apprehend a North Pole man suspected of driving under the influence after he allegedly led them on a slow-speed chase that covered several lawns.

The 20-year-old man was on a riding mower. Sunday's pursuit lasted about 200 feet and reached speeds of up to 5 mph before a trooper got out of a cruiser and told the man to stop.

Troopers received a call early Sunday complaining of an intoxicated man driving a mower. They said Wyatt Lewis's blood-alcohol content was 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Driving a lawnmower while drunk qualifies for a DUI charge. Lewis was also charged with failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer.

No phone number was listed for Lewis in North Pole and a message left with the Fairbanks Correctional Center on Tuesday was not immediately returned.
 
<b>Super fast silent UFO pursued by military Chinook helicopter in Washington USA.</b>

25 June 2008

WASHINGTON, USA - A military helicopter was photographed pursuing a super fast UFO in Washington State, America last week.

A <a href="http://www.australia.to/huey.jpg" target="_blank">High resolution image</a> taken at a speed that freezes the rotor blades of the helicopter could not capture more than a blur of the UFO being pursued.

James Gilliland's <a href="http://www.eceti.org/" target="_blank">ECETI Ranch</a> is the location where UFO enthusiasts gather to watch "lightships" at night and hyper velocity UFOs by day.

Mr Gilliland is often ridiculed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Meier" target="_blank">Billy Meier UFO group</a> ( religion ) which appears to claim exclusive rights to authorized UFO encounters. Mr Gilliland said "These photographs were taken by guests with multiple eyewitnesses just a few of hundreds of photos and 70 hours of footage along with witnesses like triple PhD Boeing Engineers, Air Force Base Commanders, pilots like Pierre and Nigel as well as physicists from all walks of life."

"This group is well known for attacking all other researchers, contactees, crop circle researchers and anyone outside of their camp. There are several total contradictions in their story, the contacts stopped in the late 70's according to his video and his sons testimony at the International UFO Congress and his Contact notes say there are over 7,000 people being contacted by his' "Advanced ETs" which seem to not always tell the truth"

"As Billy Meier being the only contacted and prophet of, "Spirit Form"what they call God I find this totally ridiculous. Considering his history of being in prison, joining the foreign legion to get out, deserting, then bounty hunting, etc it seems God would have made a little better choice."

"His actions and the overwhelming evidence proves to the contrary. Not just the evidence here but around the world. Beware of anyone who says they have exclusive rights and connections to off world visitors and God."

"I believe they did have contact, took some great photos and video but something went very wrong with this group. Maybe the exclusive keeps the members paying on a regular basis part of their income and not looking elsewhere?"

The United States government knows something about the UFOs seen over Washington last week as it is the only entity that owns a black Chinook like the one trying to pursue the UFO.

Is the UFO from earth, space, a black ops budget or another world ?

The military know something as this light observation helicopter inspected witnesses at ECETI Ranch.
 
<b>Woman caught rooming with three-legged llama in Mülheim</b>
Published: 20 Jun 08 14:27 CET
Online: <a href="http://www.thelocal.de/12615/" target="_blank">http://www.thelocal.de/12615/</a>

A German woman in Mülheim in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has been rooming with her three-legged pet llama for the last two years, city officials said Friday.


Authorities discovered the woman was living in her apartment with the llama when someone made a complaint to animal protection services.

Workers did not take the llama into custody, however, because the woman was able to convince them she was actively searching for appropriate accommodations for the animal.

Apparently the woman had bottle fed the llama as a cria (baby llama) after it had to have one of its hind legs amputated. According to the animal protection workers, the llama is completely dependent on the woman.

Attempts to find a field or stable for the tripodal pet have been unsuccessful, but animal services are working to find a "solution that makes all sides happy."
DPA/The Local (<a href="mailto:news@thelocal.de">news@thelocal.de</a>/+49 30 20253575)
 
<b>Neb. man accused of firing crossbow at neighbor</b>
Jun 23, 2008

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police arrest a 49-year-old man accused of firing a crossbow at his neighbor. Officer Katie Flood said the man got into an argument with his 25-year-old neighbor about the breed of the neighbor's dog Saturday evening. The owner said the dog was a pit bull, but older man said it was a Labrador.

After the argument, police say the older man went into his apartment and returned with a black crossbow.

Officiers said the man shot the crossbow when his neighbor tried to extend his hand to apologize.

Police were called, and the man was arrested on suspicion of making terrostic threats and other violations.

<i>Information from: KOLN-TV, <a href="http://www.kolnkgin.com" target="_blank">http://www.kolnkgin.com</a></i>
 
New York man accused of hiding in woman's couch

Posted: Jun. 20, 2008

NEWBURGH, N.Y. — Police say a New York man cut a hole in a woman's couch and hid in the carved-out space until she came home. Newburgh police said the woman sat on the couch Wednesday evening and felt a bump in the cushions move.

She jumped up and David Joe Limones emerged from his hiding place, knocking a cell phone out of her hand.

The woman was on the phone with a friend when she entered her apartment because she had filed an earlier complaint against Limones and was worried he might be there. Police said she had asked the friend to stay on the line and call police if something went wrong.

When officers arrived, they found Limones and the 22-year-old woman arguing on the apartment's balcony.

Limones, 27, faces burglary and other charges. He is being held on $20,000 bail.

County officials, including those at the public defenders office and the sheriff's department, were unable to provide the name of Limones' lawyer.
 
Palm Frond Used As Weapon In 'Most Bizarre' Central Fla. Store Robbery
POSTED: 1:34 pm EDT June 19, 2008 UPDATED: 8:31 am EDT June 24, 2008

<b>DELAND, Fla. -- </b>A Central Florida man armed only with a large palm frond robbed a store in a crime described by police as one of the most bizarre they've ever seen. Police said Gelando Olivieri attempted to rob the V&F Discount Beverage store in DeLand by threatening harm with a spiked Spanish bayonet, a palmetto-like plant with sharp points on its leaves.

"The man came in with the branch. I have never seen anything like this," owner Goutam Sarkar told the DeLand-Deltona Beacon Thursday.Surveillance video showed Olivieri wildly waving the palm frond in front of a worker's face. Investigators said Olivieri threatened to use the leaves to stab if he wasn't given $50."(The plant) was sharp," Sarkar said. Before any money was exchanged, Oliveiri was chased out of the store by a man armed with a bar stool.

Oliveri was arrested a short time after the crime and charged with armed robbery. Some residents called the Oliveri creative after hearing about the crime. A police official said the leaves of the Spanish bayonet are like knives and that people often plant them under windows to stop break-ins. Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
 
<b>Russia drunk driver takes traffic cop for a ride</b>
Fri 20 Jun 2008, 7:17 GMT
VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - A Russian drunk driver knocked over a traffic policeman then drove for about 1 km (0.6 miles) with the officer clinging to the roof of his car, local police said on Friday.

The motorist only came to a halt after the policeman on the roof fired eight rounds from his pistol, police in the Khabarovsk region, on Russia's Pacific coast, said in a statement.

The driver was unhurt and is in jail awaiting charges, while the traffic policemen only sustained a graze to his right arm, the statement said.

(Reporting by Alexei Dovbysh; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Charles Dick)
 
Published: 17 Jun 2008

<b>A DAD of two told yesterday how he deliberately froze his right leg so it would have to be amputated.</b>

David Openshaw, 28, suffers from body integrity identity disorder (BIID), which makes victims seek amputation of healthy limbs.

Surgeons refused to remove his right leg. So he plunged it into a bucket of dry ice for hours until it became so damaged it had to be removed below the knee.

And David, who says he "hated" the leg since he was four, is delighted with his false limb.

He said: "The excruciating pain from the dry ice was worth it."

The chicken factory worker claimed he is now much happier and the amputation has even improved his love life with Joanne McWilliam.

She said: "We're closer than ever." But David, of Sydney, Australia, insisted he did not want to damage his other limbs.
 
<b>Students move out, but leave human skull behind</b>
Jun 18, 2008

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police say some students who moved out of an apartment near the University of Pennsylvania cleared it out down to the bare bones. An assistant manager who cleaned up found a human skull on the kitchen counter.

Police don't know which of the seven students who lived in the West Philadelphia apartment left the skull behind.

Authorities say there is no indication any crime has occurred, but Lt. Frank Vanore says even for police it is "kind of a weird story."

Vanore says the skull may have been a learning tool for medical students. Or it may have been left as a prank.

Spokesman Jeff Moran of the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office says a forensic anthropologist will check out the abandoned headbone to see if he can learn more.

<i>Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, <a href="http://www.philly.com" target="_blank">http://www.philly.com</a></i>
 
<!--quoteo(post=265853:date=Jun 30 2008, 06:17 PM:name=Stallion)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Stallion @ Jun 30 2008, 06:17 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=265853"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Published: 17 Jun 2008

<b>A DAD of two told yesterday how he deliberately froze his right leg so it would have to be amputated.</b>

David Openshaw, 28, suffers from body integrity identity disorder (BIID), which makes victims seek amputation of healthy limbs.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/24.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rofl" border="0" alt="24.gif" />
 
<b>MOSES LAKE, Wash. — Authorities say a man drove into a security gate at the Moses Lake police parking lot, then asked to be jailed. Officers in the building heard the crash, went outside and saw the 54-year-old man backing away in a 1977 Chevrolet pickup truck.</b>

Only the gate was damaged.

The man was arrested for investigation of first-degree malicious mischief, driving under the influence of alcohol and hit-and-run with property damage.

Capt. Dave Ruffin told the Columbia Basin Herald, "He wanted to go to jail. He said he did it on purpose."
 
<b>Glued To His Seat</b>

<b>Shopper sues Home Depot, claims he was cemented to store toilet</b>
JUNE 13--A St. Louis man claims that he was injured last year after being glued to a toilet seat in a Home Depot and is suing the retail giant for negligence. Haywood Rosales, 31, charges that during an August 2007 visit to a Home Depot in Florissant, Missouri he used a store bathroom and came into contact with a toilet seat "covered with adhesive," according to his Circuit Court lawsuit. Rosales's lawyers told TSG that their client did not notice the adhesive before sitting down and that he used his cell phone to alert his wife, with whom he was shopping, after realizing "he was glued to the toilet seat." A copy of Rosales's June 11 lawsuit, first reported by Courthouse News, can be found below. When Rosales stood up, the complaint asserts, he "received cuts, bruises, and tearing on his buttocks and thighs," and subsequently "endured the embarrassment, pain, and suffering of the initial injury and its concomitant treatment." Rosales, who claims he was "rendered unable to work" by his injuries, is seeking in excess of $25,000 in damages. Rosales's lawyers said their client sued Home Depot after the retailer's insurer "summarily rejected" a claim. In November 2005, a Colorado man <a href="http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1109051stickyseat1.html" target="_blank">filed a similar lawsuit</a> against Home Depot, alleging that he was so fused to a toilet seat that paramedics had to remove the seat from the toilet to get him out of the store bathroom. After almost two years of litigation, the Colorado case was dismissed after a federal judge ruled that Home Depot did not have prior "actual or constructive knowledge" of the dangerous toilet, nor was the glue prank foreseeable. Rosales's lawsuit refers to the earlier incident, charging that Home Depot should have recognized that "there would be a strong possibility that instances of copycat behavior would occur."
 
<b>Toilet fumes force Flybe emergency landing</b>
By David Millward Last Updated: 9:03PM BST 13/06/2008
<b>A pilot was forced to make an emergency landing after the flight crew were overcome by fumes from the aircraft lavatory. </b>
The incident took place on a Flybe BAe 146 which was being flown from Birmingham to Belfast last September.

According to the Air Accident Investigation Branch the 52-year old pilot complained of feeling light headed shortly after take-off.

Other members of the crew also complained that they felt "drunk" after the fumes started seeping into the body of the aircraft and cockpit.

<a href="http://" target="_blank"></a> All five donned gasmasks. There were no passengers on board at the time.

The AAIB report said: "The commander described feeling a sensation in the aircraft like being drunk. He felt it was difficult to concentrate and he felt 'fuzzy.' "The commander felt similar to being inebriated and that he found it difficult to concentrate. The co-pilot initially felt she had a reduced capacity to fly the aircraft but this feeling quickly passed.

"One cabin crew member felt light-headed, sick and distressed. The other cabin crew member felt tired and sick. "The origin of the fumes was traced to the forward toilet and was probably due to a chemical in the toilet."

It concluded that problem was caused by too much formaldehyde being used to clean the lavatory during maintenance at Exeter airport.

A spokesman for the airline said that cleaners had "overdosed" the lavatory.

He added: "The CAAs findings confirm the fact that chemicals used to clean an onboard toilet had resulted in the crew suspecting that the cabin air quality had been compromised. "

Earlier this year the Government announced that it would carry out an investigation of cabin air amid reports that one in 2,000 flights could be exposed to toxins in cabin air.

The study will entail researchers flying on 100 passenger and cargo aircraft with monitoring devices to see what is in the cabin air.

But this will deal with particles feeding into the air system from the engines, which led to complaints from passengers and piklots of nausea, dissiness and other health problems.

There were 116 separate reports of contaminated air sent to the Civil Aviation Authority last year.

This affected a number of aircraft including the Boeing 757, Airbus 319 and BAe 146.


<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="xD:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />
 
<b>Mysterious 'Gas Men' dole out cash at the pumps</b>
Jun 13, 2008

PLAINVILLE, Conn. (AP) — They don't climb tall buildings in a single bound, but the mysterious "Gas Men" are super heroes to some fed-up motorists. The unknown duo were dressed in sunglasses, baseball caps, khakis and matching green golf shirts when they gave Gayle Kilburn a $100 bill on Thursday as she filled up her car at a Citgo in Plainville.

They also handed her a card that read "Re-Fueling Our Community" and was signed "The Gas Men."

Kilburn says she was stunned by the gesture and at first thought it was a stunt with Monopoly money. She later realized it was real cash and used it to fill her tank.

She said the Gas Men also helped five or six other customers.

<i>Information from: The Hartford Courant, <a href="http://www.courant.com" target="_blank">http://www.courant.com</a></i>
 
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