August 12, 2010

Cat Turns On Vacuum, Causes Emergency Alert

Berlin (AP) A cat home alone in Germany apparently turned on the vacuum cleaner, frightened itself half to death and wound up being attended to by emergency services. Police in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth said a neighbor heard the cat’s cries‚ not to mention a vacuum left running for hours‚ and feared there’d been a terrible accident.

The fire service sped to the scene Monday evening, but found only the cat and the machine.

A police statement Tuesday said the emergency call wasn’t entirely in vain, though, because “at least the cat could be calmed down.”

Candidate’s Self Description Not Proper For Ballot

Madison, WI (AP) A candidate for the Wisconsin Legislature who wants to use an expletive and a racially charged phrase to describe herself on the ballot has lost an appeal of a federal judge’s order dismissing her lawsuit.

Ieshuh (eye-EE’-shu) Griffin appealed U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa’s decision rejecting her lawsuit on Thursday. She wants to describe herself on the ballot as ``NOT the ‘whiteman’s b----.’’

The judge on Friday dismissed her appeal, saying no matter how creatively she argues the issue, she can’t file her lawsuit as a habeas corpus action. Randa says those are reserved for people in custody, which Griffin is not.

Griffin said Monday she will attempt to appeal the order directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Drinking Game During Council Meeting ‘Disruptive’

Keene, NH (AP) A city councilor in Keene, N.H., says a group that turned a meeting into a drinking game didn’t help its cause: easing Keene’s open-alcohol-container ordinance.

Two of the three people charged with disorderly conduct are associated with the libertarian Free Keene movement. Two of them were drinking from containers labeled ``not a beer.’’

Rules posted online required participants to take a swig at the mention of certain phrases, like ``call to order.’’

City Councilor Cynthia C. Georgina tells the Keene Sentinel that the behavior at Thursday’s meeting was ``very disrespectful and disruptive.’’

Mayor Philip Dale Pregent says there was no way of knowing if the containers had beer, but he says the participants were causing a disruption and declined his request to stop.

It’s Bikinis VS Bibles! Who Will Win The Battle Of Opinions?

Warsaw, OH (AP) The owner of an Ohio strip club and some of his dancers have been protesting at a church that has done the same to them for four years.

Women in bikinis sat in camp chairs Sunday outside the New Beginnings Ministries church in Warsaw, about 60 miles northeast of Columbus.

Tommy George owns the Foxhole strip club in nearby Newcastle. He says he and his employees decided to start coming to the church because they were fed up.

George says the church’s pastor, Bill Dunfee, and his congregation have bothered the club’s weekend patrons. He says they come armed with bullhorns, signs and video cameras for posting customers’ license plate numbers online.

Dunfee calls George a “parasite” and says seeing the protesters outside the church has strengthened the resolve of his flock.

Don’t Mess With Me! I’m Loaded & I’m Not Afraid To Use It!

Connellsville, Pa. (AP) State police said a woman wiped a dirty diaper on the window of another woman’s vehicle during a dispute in a traffic jam as both were leaving the Fayette County Fair. Jessica Hollis, 23, of Mount Pleasant, has been charged with harassment in the incident which state police in Uniontown said happened about 10:50 p.m. Saturday. Police said Hollis smeared the diaper on the rear window of a vehicle driven by 36-year-old Melanie Campbell, of Hopwood.

Police said the women began arguing while they were stuck in traffic leaving the fairgrounds in Dunbar Township.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Hollis, and a phone number listed in her name was disconnected Monday.

Treats Hourly For Life: Dog Alerts Neighbor, Saves Owner

Yamhill, OR (AP) A small dog who refused to return home until a neighbor followed her helped rescue her owner after he collapsed at home following heart surgery. Charles Mitchell said he was working in his yard last week in the Oregon wine country town of Yamhill when an 11-year-old dachshund named Missy scampered up and refused to leave.

Mitchell told the dog to go home, but she refused, and when he decided to follow her across the street to investigate, he found his neighbor, Charlie Burdon, had collapsed inside his home.

The police chief arrived with paramedics, Burdon was taken to the hospital. Burdon suffered an attack of vertigo and is recovering.

But Burdon and Mitchell, who have known each other for years, both said Missy is their hero.

Idaho Farmer Unknowingly Tends To 300 Pot Plants

Jerome, ID (AP) Authorities say a southern Idaho farmer unknowingly watered and fertilized more than 300 marijuana plants while tending to his corn fields.

The Jerome County sheriff’s office says the farmer found the plot of pot growing between his tall, green stalks of unripened corn early Monday and called authorities.

The sheriff’s office says the 314 low-grade marijuana plants are valued at $628,000 and would have been ready for plucking in the next month or so ‚ just before the corn harvest.

A detective says the pot was started from seed and relocated to the field, a common way marijuana growers hide their plants.

Authorities have ruled out the farmer as a suspect, saying there have been at least two other similar reports in the past year.

Man Goes Naked For ‘Spiritual Experience’

Lincoln, NE (AP) Lincoln police say a man was spotted walking naked near two churches and a parochial high school. Police said a passer-by called dispatch around 8:40 a.m. Sunday after seeing the man near Pius X High School. According to police reports, the 35-year-old man told officers that he went naked for a spiritual experience.

Capt. David Beggs said the man was cited on suspicion of public indecency, among other misdemeanors.