GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA--Offbeat

Cremated remains part of fireworks show

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:06:00 EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — One of the fireworks bursting above the city this year will contain a bit of cremated remains — a fitting tribute, organizers say, to the man who ran the annual event for 40 years.

Tow-truck funeral planned for Maine tow operator

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:50:00 EDT

AUBURN, Maine (AP) — An Auburn man who towed disabled vehicles for nearly a half century will be making his last ride in a procession of tow trucks and wreckers as family, friends and colleagues bid him a final goodbye.

Alleged Fla. sausage assault brings battery charge

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:48:00 EDT

DELAND, Fla. (AP) — A man was charged with battery after he hit his mother in the head with a three-pound package of Polish sausage, police said.
Gregory Allen Praeger, 46, was in the kitchen cooking and talking on the phone when officers arrived Saturday night. His mother told police he had been drinking and arguing with her, then picked up the package of sausage and hurled it, grazing her head. She was not badly hurt and did not have to go to the hospital.

Crocodile welcomed into Australian pub by drinkers

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:58:00 EDT

DARWIN, Australia (AP) — Drinkers at an outback watering hole may have wondered if perhaps they'd had one too many when they were greeted by a crocodile at the pub's door.
But being good hosts, they did the only polite thing and invited him inside.

Woman's 'Wing House' takes flight in Malibu

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:57:00 EDT

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — The neighborhood already has a house that scientists say looks like a giant atom smasher, and nearby there is another that is perched on a cylindrical tower and looks like a flying saucer. Yet when Francie Rehwald moves into her new digs sometime next year, she'll have them both beat.

Painting left at Md. Goodwill auctions for $40,000

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:59:00 EDT

EASTON, Md. (AP) — An old painting dropped off at a rural Maryland Goodwill store turned out to be a work by a French Impressionist. And now, thanks to the sharp eye of a store employee, the charitable organization is $40,000 richer.

Montana school searches for missing bison

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:49:00 EDT

ASHLAND, Mont. (AP) — Talk about fast food: One school is searching for more than 130 bison that wandered away from its lunch program.
Curtis Yarlott, executive director of the St. Labre Indian School, said the animals were probably spooked by a thunderstorm over Memorial Day weekend and ran through a fence.

Marines getting a few good triplets from Cadillac

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:59:00 EDT

CADILLAC, Mich. (AP) — The Marines are getting a few good triplets.
Andrew, Sam and Elizabeth Foltz may have disagreed now and then growing up, but they're taking the same post-high school path — enrolling in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Ohio man repays borrowed gasoline after 34 years

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:58:00 EDT

SOUTHINGTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio couple has been repaid for a liquid asset they shared 34 years ago.
Violet and Harold Goff of Southington say a man showed up at their home recently and explained that he'd appeared at their door in 1974 when he was 17 and had run out of gas.

Australian in wheelchair gets drunk-driving charge

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:42:00 EDT

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A man found asleep in a motorized wheelchair on a highway in northern Australia was charged with drunk driving, police said yesterday.
Officers in a patrol car noticed the man slumped in the stationary chair about 10 a.m. Friday on an exit lane near the tourist city of Cairns, regional traffic Inspector Bob Waters said. Cars were swerving to get around him, Waters said.

A 6th human foot found on Canada's Pacific coast

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:38:00 EDT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Another human foot was found yesterday on a British Columbia shoreline, the second this week and the sixth within a year in a bizarre mystery that has confounded police.

Police: Man told snake to attack officers

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:26:00 EDT

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — Police in Bridgeport, Conn., say they arrested a man after he ordered his pet to attack two officers. Lucky for them, 9-foot-long pythons aren't very obedient.
Police say 21-year-old Victor Rodriguez was charged with threatening officers and disorderly conduct after Monday's incident. No one was hurt.

Paraguay drops charges in same-sex wedding after doctor confirms groom is hermaphrodite

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:18:00 EDT

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — A couple jailed on suspicion of having a same-sex wedding was freed yesterday after a doctor determined that the groom is a hermaphrodite.
Prosecutor Jose Planas ordered the couple jailed after their civil wedding Friday, when the priest scheduled to perform the religious ceremony the following day said he received a call saying the groom, Jesus Alejandro Martinez, was actually a woman.

Another human foot washes up on Canadian shore

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:13:00 EDT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Yet another human foot has washed up along the British Columbia coast.
Police in southwestern British Columbia say a left foot was found partially submerged in water on Westham Island, south of Vancouver, yesterday morning.

Like us, chimps calm each other with hugs, kisses

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:13:00 EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — For most folks, a nice hug and some sympathy can help a bit after we get pushed around. Turns out, chimpanzees use hugs and kisses the same way.
And it works. Researchers studying people's closest genetic relatives found that stress was reduced in chimps that were victims of aggression if a third chimp stepped in to offer consolation.

Tattoo artist sets record with number of tattoos

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 12:49:00 EDT

DALLAS (AP) — Oliver Peck may be seeing the number 13 in his dreams.
From midnight Thursday to midnight Friday, Peck completed 415 tattoos, applying the unlucky number 13 to scores of arms, legs, ankles, backs, thighs and even some rear ends.

Feds: Man had heroin in diaper he wore

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 11:09:00 EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Frank Keys Jr. faces up to 40 years in prison after he was found cruising down the highway with more than 200 grams of heroin in the diaper he was wearing, federal officials said.

Ga. aquarium announces rare sea dragon pregnancy

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:35:00 EDT

ATLANTA (AP) — A weedy sea dragon at the Georgia Aquarium has something to celebrate this Father's Day.
One of the rare creatures is pregnant for only the third time ever at a U.S. aquarium, aquarium officials said. But don't look for the expectant mom — dads carry the eggs in this family.

Mom finds snake in crib, coiled around baby's leg

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:23:00 EDT

BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (AP) — A woman who awoke to her baby's cries was shocked to peer into the crib and find a foot-long snake wrapped around her 7-month-old daughter's leg.
Cari Abatemarco said she was visiting family in the Long Island town of Brentwood last week when she made the startling discovery.

LA reservoir covered with balls to protect water

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:22:00 EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of shimmering black plastic balls were dumped into one of the city's last open-air reservoirs to prevent a sunlight-fueled chemical reaction that can harm the water supply.