ODDball news story thread

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BC-US-ODD--Golf Course-Loose Pony,114
'Fore'-legged duffer found wandering NY golf club
Eds: APNewsNow.
MARATHON, N.Y. (AP) - Anyone lose a small horse near the ninth
hole at a central New York golf course?
A Maple Hill Golf Club employee was watering the greens early
Wednesday morning when he spotted a miniature pony along one of the
fairways.
Course owner David Barton says a lead was attached to the horse.
Workers tied it to a garage while they checked with nearby farmers
in the rural town of Marathon, 40 miles south of Syracuse. No one
reported missing a miniature pony.
Barton says the horse appeared tired and hungry. He called state
police, who turned the pony over to the Cortland County SPCA.
Troopers say Thursday they're still looking for the pony's
owner.

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BC-US--Man Shoots Car,100
Arizona man sentenced for shooting his car
Eds: APNewsNow.
KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) - A western Arizona man has received a
three-month sentence after authorities say he shot his Camaro
because it wouldn't start and then refused to come out of his home.
The Kingman Daily Miner reports Lauriano Lawrence Lovato went
out to his car April 13, and when it wouldn't start, he fired two
rounds through the windshield and into the dashboard.
Neighbors called police, and Lovato was eventually arrested
after a lengthy standoff.
The Kingman man pleaded guilty to one count of discharging a gun
unlawfully within city limits and was sentenced to three years
probation and 90 days jail time.

[nygsem]

BC-US-ODD--Golf Course-Loose Pony,114
'Fore'-legged duffer found wandering NY golf club
Eds: APNewsNow.
MARATHON, N.Y. (AP) - Anyone lose a small horse near the ninth
hole at a central New York golf course?

Hmmm, that's up by your brother's place isn't it?

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"Across the river from his house! Sheesh!"

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BC-US-ODD--Missing Dog-Arkansas,129
Missing Arkansas dog found after 7 years
Eds: APNewsNow. Will be updated.
ROGERS, Ark. (AP) - A dog that went missing seven years ago in
northwest Arkansas soon will be reunited with its owner.
The Rogers Morning News reports that Andrew Navarette's Shih
Tzu, Mimi, disappeared from his Rogers backyard seven years ago.
Navarette was unable to find Mimi despite a microchip containing
his contact information implanted in her neck.
KHOG TV says Kim Rafter, also of Rogers, subsequently acquired
Mimi in good faith, renamed her Gizmo, and has cared for her since.
Navarette meanwhile moved to Woodlake, Calif.
Mimi turned up at an animal shelter on Saturday after Rafters
lost her. Officials found the microchip and contacted Navarette.
Assistant shelter manager Matt Colston says a happy Navarette is
paying for her to be shipped to California.
Shelter manager Bud Norman says Mimi is healthy.

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BC-US-ODD--Lemonade Stand Robbed,122
Ohio kids say teens robbed their lemonade stand
Eds: APNewsNow.
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Children selling lemonade in the
Cleveland suburbs have told police they were robbed by teenagers
who pulled up in a rusty old car and threatened to beat them up.
Eleven-year-old Omar Schpeb says he and his friends got scared
and handed over their money. But he tells WJW-TV he chased the car
as it drove away and the teens tossed back some of the cash.
The kids estimate they lost at least $13.50 to the thieves,
described as two guys wearing blue hoodies and skinny jeans and
three teenage girls.
Parents of the children say a kind person donated $20 at the
police station in Strongsville to make up for the theft.
Police are asking for tips to track down the teens.
---
Information from: WJW-TV, http://www.fox8.com

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BC-US--Urine-Mountain Goats,93
Olympic Park visitors urged not to pee near trails
Eds: APNewsNow.
PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) - Olympic National Park in Washington
state is urging hikers not to urinate along backcountry trails to
avoid attracting mountain goats who lick urine deposits for salt.
The advice is part of a plan to avoid aggressive goats like the
one that gored a Port Angeles, Wash., man to death in October.
The Peninsula Daily News reports the popular park also may close
trails where goats follow people or enter camp sites.
Backcountry campers are advised to urinate 200 feet away from
trails to prevent the trails from turning into "long, linier salt
licks."
---
Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com

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BC-US-ODD--Unreal Fireworks Show,130
Doctored TV images of Boston fireworks draw flak
Eds: APNewsNow.
BOSTON (AP) - TV footage of Boston's July Fourth fireworks show
was spectacular. Some of the shots also were physically impossible.
The CBS national broadcast Monday included shots of colorful
explosions over the city landmarks including Fenway Park, the
Statehouse and Quincy Market.
Organizers of the show acknowledged to The Boston Globe for a
story Friday that some scenes had been altered: Images of fireworks
going off over the Charles River were superimposed over pre-filmed
landmarks in other parts of the city.
David Mugar, the Boston-area businessman and philanthropist who
is the show's executive producer, defends the practice. He says the
broadcast was entertainment and not news.
David Perry, a Massachusetts native who lives in Ohio, told the
Globe he was disappointed because the fireworks are good enough
already and don't need enhancement.
---
Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

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BC-US-ODD--Banana Attacks Gorilla,129
Ohio shop's gorilla mascot attacked by banana
Eds: APNewsNow.
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio (AP) - The manager of a cell phone store in
Ohio called 911 to report a gorilla had been attacked by a banana.
The Wireless Center in Strongsville, near Cleveland, advertises
at curbside with a man in a gorilla suit. Manager Brandon Parham
says he was watching last week as a kid dressed as a banana emerged
from some bushes and took a flying leap at the store mascot.
Parham says the attacker looked like a Spartan from the movie
"300" - except he was a banana.
The gorilla was knocked down but got back up, adjusted his head
and went back to work.
WJW-TV reports the banana split - running down the street with
other teens.
Police think it was a prank. They weren't able to find the
offending fruit.
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Information from: WJW-TV, http://www.fox8.com[/size]

[nygsem]

Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, is under arrest for chopping off her husband's penis and tossing it in the garbage disposal.  After she laced her husband's food with an unknown drug or poison, he lay down, believing something was wrong with the food, according to police reports. Her husband then woke up tied to the bed as Becker cut off his penis with a knife. She then threw the genitalia in the garbage disposal and turned the disposal on, Lt. Jeff Nightengale of Garden Grove, Calif. police, said.



http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wife-cuts-off-husbands-penis-throws-garbage-disposal/story?id=14055080

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BC-US-ODD--Paranoid 911 Call,125
Men suspected of hallucinating call 911 for help
Eds: APNewsNow. APNewsNow.
SPRINGFIELD, Ga. (AP) - South Georgia authorities say two men
became so high on drugs they began hallucinating and called 911
when they thought intruders had broken into a home.
Effingham County sheriff's spokesman David Ehsanipoor said the
pair is suspected of using methamphetamine around the time they
called 911 for help early Tuesday.
Deputies responding around 4 a.m. to the home outside Savannah
were told by the pair that people in a back bedroom had broken into
the home, but no intruders were found.
Ehsanipoor said deputies realized they were hallucinating. He
said "they were so high they called 911 on themselves."
The Savannah Morning News reports the suspects, both of
Bloomingdale, face several charges including manufacturing and
possessing methamphetamine. It wasn't known Tuesday whether they
have attorneys.

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Ex-astronaut Mitchell says moon camera a NASA gift
Eds: APNewsNow. Will be updated
By CURT ANDERSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer
MIAMI (AP) - Former astronaut Edgar Mitchell says a camera he
brought back from the Apollo 14 moon mission was given to him by
NASA despite the space agency's lawsuit seeking its return.
Court papers filed in Florida federal court urge a judge to
dismiss NASA's claims for the camera. Mitchell says he unbolted the
camera from the lunar module before the astronauts returned to
earth to preserve the tape inside. Mitchell says NASA later told
him he could keep it.
NASA sued earlier this month contending it has no record that
the camera was transferred to Mitchell.
The 80-year-old Mitchell is one of 12 people to walk on the
moon. Since retiring in 1971, Mitchell has focused on exploring the
mind, physics, space aliens and ways of linking religion with
science.

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Colorado sheriff not happy with bounty hunter
AP Photo COGRA101, COGRA102
Eds: APNewsNow. Adds sheriff comments from blog about pepper spray.
With AP Photos.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) - A Colorado sheriff has a bone to
pick with Duane "Dog" Chapman, star of the A&E show "Dog the
Bounty Hunter."
Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey says Chapman excessively pepper
sprayed a fugitive during a scuffle and then took him into the
sheriff's office Wednesday without decontaminating the man first.
Hilkey says that put his staffers and the public in danger,
while Chapman stayed outside "prancing back and forth waving his
golden locks for the camera."
The sheriff says the man was taken outside and cleaned up by
medical staff before being admitted to the jail.
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports authorities are not
investigating the pepper spray incident.
Chapman and his team didn't return an email seeking comment
Thursday.
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel, http://www.gjsentinel.com

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BC-US-ODD--Bear-Jar, 2nd Ld-Writethru,129
Tenn. black bear saved from jar stuck on its head
AP Photo TBHO102, TNHO101
Eds: APNewsNow. Adds that jar likely came from garbage. With AP
Photos.
NEWPORT, Tenn. (AP) - A black bear is back in the woods in
Tennessee after getting help with a problem - a plastic jar stuck
on its head.
State wildlife officers looked for the bear for three weeks
after reports he was caught in the jug. The Knoxville News Sentinel
said the male bear was roaming around Newport, in the foothills of
the Great Smoky Mountains.
On July 17, wildlife officer Shelly Hammonds was checking
another report of the bear when the animal ran in front of her
vehicle. Hammonds fired a tranquillizer dart and the bear collapsed
in downtown Newport.
The bear weighed just 115 pounds, about half its expected
weight. It was released into the Cherokee National Forest. Wildlife
officials believe the bear got into the jar while foraging through
garbage.

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C-US--Severed Penis, 3rd Ld-Writethru,126
Arraignment delayed in Calif. severed penis case
Eds: APNewsNow. Corrects attorney's quote.
By AMY TAXIN
Associated Press
WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) - Arraignment has been postponed for a
California woman accused of cutting off her estranged husband's
penis and running it through the garbage disposal.
An Orange County Superior Court judge rescheduled Friday's
arraignment of 48-year-old Catherine Kieu to Sept. 23 and set bail
at $1 million.
Kieu is charged with torture and aggravated mayhem.
If convicted of all counts, Kieu could face life in prison
without parole.
Authorities say Kieu spiked her 60-year-old husband's meal July
11, then tied him to the bed and attacked him with a kitchen knife.
Kieu's husband had filed for divorce in May after 16 months of
marriage.
Kieu's attorney, Frank Bittar, declined to comment on the
allegations except to say there's a lot more to the case than meets
the eye.