SanLuisObispo.com: Weird News

Man allegedly goes for wild ride on stolen combine

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:42 PDT

A Minnesota man is under arrest after allegedly stealing a combine and taking it for drunken ride through several yards and crashing into a garage. The man was charged with first offense operating while intoxicated, third-degree burglary, third-degree theft and criminal mischief as a Class C felony.

According to the Mitchell County Sheriff's Office, deputies were dispatched to a residence south of McIntire around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday after receiving a complaint that a combine had driven through several yards, striking numerous vehicles and a garage.

Deputies said they found the combine down the road and identified the man as the driver.

Man wins contest with 1,528-pound pumpkin

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:27 PDT

Thad Starr's giant pumpkin really began putting on weight in August. A lot of weight. The pumpkin gained about thirty pounds a day on its way to victory Monday at the 35th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off in Half Moon Bay.

Starr's pumpkin finished at 1,528 pounds, beating the contest record he set last year by four pounds.

"We really pamper them," Starr, 41, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., said about the pumpkins he raises, adding that the secret to growing big pumpkins is good soil.

Prosthetic eye gives horse a shot at show career

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:22 PDT

A miniature horse has been given a second chance for a career as a show horse - thanks to a prosthetic eye. The 65-pound horse, named KBuck, was born June 1 at Lil Chums Miniature Horse Farm in Lawton and lost its eye a few days after birth. Owner Kelsey Chumbley, 12, said she suspects the young horse was the victim of a swift kick from its mother.

"We thought he was going to end up being a backyard pet" instead of a show horse, Kelsey said. "When we found out he had a second chance I was really excited for him."

Veterinarian Jeff Hammond of Marlow tried in June to save the young horse's eye. When it became evident the surgery didn't work, Hammond suggested the cosmetic alternative.

Cops: Man tries to pay for fast food meal with pot

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:22 PDT

A McDonald's cashier called 911 after a Vero Beach drive-thru customer allegedly offered to pay for his meal with marijuana. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said the cashier called Monday with a description of the vehicle the suspect had been riding in.

A deputy spotted the vehicle, found marijuana in the car and arrested its occupant, 27-year-old Shawn Alexander Pannullo.

Pannullo was charged with possession of cannabis and posted $500 bail. It was unclear if he had an attorney.

Missouri grandmother's curiosity squashes scam

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:22 PDT

Delpha Speak has 13 grandchildren and she didn't think it was completely implausible that one of her grandsons-in-law would call her to say he was in trouble. The 72-year-old retiree could tell something was wrong, and she wanted to do whatever she could to help.

But it was that concern that almost caught her up in what the state attorney general's office said is a common scam targeting older folks.

"He said, 'Grandma,' and I said, 'Which grandson?" Speak said. "He said, 'Guess,' and I said, 'Oh, it's Jamie,' and he said, 'Yeah, it's Jamie.'"

Teen changes her name to CutoutDissection.com

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:42 PDT

You can call her CutoutDissection.com, Cutout for short, but just don't call her Jennifer. The former Jennifer Thornburg - now legally CutoutDissection.com - wanted to do something real to protest animal dissections in schools.

The 19-year-old's new name is also the Web address for an anti-dissection page of the site for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where she is interning.

"I normally do have to repeat my name several times when I am introducing myself to someone new," she told The Asheville Citizen-Times for a story last week. "Once they find out what my name is, they want to know more about what the Web site is about."

Police say 'hot kielbasa' was meant for snorting

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:22 PDT

A Brooklyn butcher shop worker called his specialty "hot kielbasa" - for snorting, not eating. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the kielbasa was really cocaine - not the Polish sausage sold in a popular meat market.

According to a criminal complaint, the "hot kielbasa" was kept in the basement.

Twenty-six suspects are under arrest, including the butcher, after an FBI informant visited the shop in response to the message: "Come to the store, I have hot kielbasa for you."

Pooh characters adorn vacant house in Flint, Mich.

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:12 PDT

Characters from the beloved story of Winnie the Pooh are brightening one of the many vacant homes in the struggling industrial city of Flint.

Twenty-year-old Kristina Pringle has a sketch pad full of cartoon characters. Since August, she's been applying her hobby to beautifying an unoccupied house near her own home, painting Winnie's friends on the boarded-up windows.

"I'd like to make my street better, for sure," Pringle said. "And drawing is something I like to do."

Eating champ delivers top pizza performance in NY

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:17 PDT

Chowdown champ Joey Chestnut has done it again - this time proving he's a pizza powerhouse.

He downed 45 slices in 10 minutes Sunday to win the first Famous Famiglia World Pizza Eating Championship in New York's Times Square.

The 24-year-old from San Jose, Calif., says he fasted for more than a day to prepare. He folded and squeezed the slices to make them easier to swallow.

NY grave of 1st Ellis Island immigrant gets marker

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:07 PDT

The New York grave of an Irish woman who was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island has been marked with a Celtic cross.

Clergy members joined Annie Moore's descendants and admirers Saturday in a Queens Cemetery. She died 80 years ago, but her unmarked grave was discovered only two years ago.

Moore was 17 when she arrived in New York from County Cork in 1892. The Irish consul general in New York says she is a symbol for the hundreds of thousands of Irish who settled in New York.

Santas coming early to Indiana town to sign oath

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:47 PDT

The grandsons of Santa Claus are coming to town.

The descendants of two of the more famous men to don Santa Claus suits plan to meet Sunday in Santa Claus, Ind., to sign a new oath for other jolly gift-givers.

Charles Bergeman is the grandson of Charles Howard, a famous Santa from Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Will Koch is the grandson of Jim Yellig, who is considered the "Santa Claus" of the Indiana town bearing the same name.

Dog dies after saving man in Trinidad from fire

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:32 PDT

A man whose dog rescued him from a house fire in Trinidad said the animal died after running back into the burning building. Trinidad & Tobago Express newspaper quoted Anderson Marcano as saying that he woke up because the dog kept barking and tugging at his pants. Marcano said he smelled the smoke and was shocked to find his house on fire.

The story published Friday did not say why the dog ran back in. Marcano said no one else was inside the house at the time.

Marcano did not immediately return a call for comment.

What happens after you flush? RI offers new tour

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:27 PDT

Ever wonder what happens after you yank the chain on the old commode? Rhode Island is offering tours of several wastewater treatment facilities during what its dubbed the first annual "Rhode Island Water Infrastructure Month."

Tours of treatment plants this Saturday are in East Providence, Bristol and Narragansett. Other tours and educational programs continue in October.

As part of the festivities, the Narragansett wastewater operators team, "Fecal Matters," also will compete in a national latrine-treating skills contest in Chicago against last year's champions, the Rocky Mountain "Commode Commandos."

Woman accused of serving pot-laced cake to guest

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:27 PDT

West Hartford police said they charged a 51-year-old woman with assault, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence after she allegedly served a marijuana-tainted ginger cake to her real estate agent.

Authorities said the 28-year-old man called 911 shortly after leaving her home Thursday, saying he felt sick. He was treated at a local hospital and released.

Medics initially thought he was allergic to the ginger cake. But police said they later determined the woman told someone else she had laced it with marijuana.

Woman, 72, moves after finding snakes in apartment

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:27 PDT

When 72-year-old Gladys Dressner first saw two snakes last in her new apartment last month, she froze. Days later, when an eight-inch snake crawled across her bed, she screamed. Finally, after stepping on a baby black rat snake, she moved.

A Maryland exterminator killed six snakes that were captured in Dressner's Middletown apartment. All six were about eight inches long and harmless. The exterminator suspects a previous tenant kept an adult snake as a pet.

Dressner, who has high blood pressure, diabetes and a heart condition, wrote a letter to her property managers demanding to be moved to a new apartment.

Man wins $200K in Powerball twice in same year

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:31 PDT

For a Kansas City man, 2008 has been a great year when it comes to playing the Missouri Lottery. Arthur Watkins, 53, has won slightly more than $400,000 in two Powerball drawings within a four-month period.

Missouri Lottery officials said Thursday that Watkins selected the Powerball number to win $200,003 in the Sept. 24 drawing. He matched five white-ball numbers in the in the May 21 game to pick up $200,000.

Watkins bought both winners at the Longview Apple Market in Kansas City.