http://www.kentucky.com/331/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2008 Kentucky.com Weird News 60 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:56:19 EDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench webmaster@kentucky.com http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456431.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456431.html Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:55 EDT
A police spokesman says the man fled from a convenience store when an officer arrived to investigate a report of a shoplifter Tuesday.

The man allegedly punched in a back window of a Citizens Area Transit bus, climbed aboard, forced the driver off, drove the bus about 200 yards and then jumped off the moving vehicle.

A police officer climbed aboard the bus and stopped the vehicle.

Police say the man was arrested on felony charges and given clothes and a mental evaluation.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/454671.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/454671.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:26 EDT
Hundreds of people and six fighting bulls, accompanied by steer, sprinted the half-mile (850-meter) route through cobblestone streets in just over two minutes, a relatively clean and fast run by San Fermin standards.

One Spaniard was gored in the thigh and treated at a city hospital, but was not in serious condition, the Red Cross said. Four other Spaniards were treated for bruises.

The first run on Monday took over four minutes and injured 13 people. None of them were gored.

The runs to the city bullring take place at 8 a.m. daily and are the highlight of a centuries-old festival that became world famous with Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456023.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456023.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:45 EDT
The chase started just before 11 p.m. Monday after officers received a call about people "fighting in the street with guns," police said. When police arrived, they managed to block one car from getting away. The man in that car spoke briefly with officers before speeding away - and the chase was on.

The man crashed his Toyota Camry into a house and ran away, police said. But as officers searched the car, the man's cell phone rang and the caller asked for the suspect by name.

Officers said a search of the car uncovered a set of scales and two plastic bags, one containing marijuana and the other containing crack cocaine.

Police declined to name the man Tuesday but said they were still searching for him.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/455211.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/455211.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:56 EDT
The retired Concorde is normally on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. It has been at a recreational facility in Brooklyn while the USS Intrepid and its home pier in Manhattan are repaired and renovated.

Early July 1, a truck hauling equipment away from a Jamaican soccer-and-cricket festival bumped into the Concorde's distinctive nose and knocked it off. Museum President Bill White says the cone is salvageable and will be reattached and repaired to original standards.

White is apologizing to British Airways, which owns the jet. He says the recreational facility should have provided better security for the plane.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456025.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456025.html Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:45 EDT
Max Minnefield called police Monday to tell them he had paid a man and a woman $8 for drugs he never received.

Police charged him with criminal attempt to commit possession of narcotics.

During his arraignment Tuesday, Judge Bradford Ward asked Minnefield, "Did you really think the police were going to go after the people?" He added that his question was rhetorical.

Prosecutors later dropped the charges.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/454946.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/454946.html Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:01 EDT
Judge Ronald Leighton balked at a 465-page lawsuit that made its way onto his desk. He invoked a rarely used rule that requires a "short and plain statement" of allegations.

The title of the racketeering lawsuit filed by attorney Dean Browning Webb was eight pages long.

The judge issued his order in a limerick:

"Plaintiff has a great deal to say,]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/453414.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/453414.html Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:55 EDT
Krause's winning spit on Saturday was 56 feet, 7 1/2 inches.

That's 6 1/2 inches better than his father, the second-place finisher and defending champion, 54-year-old Rick "Pellet Gun" Krause of Tuba City, Ariz., who spit 56 feet, 1 inch.

Thirty-year-old Brian Krause, of Dimondale, currently holds the Guinness World Record after spitting a pit 93 feet, 6 1/2 inches in 2003.

Amanda Jennings of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the first woman to place in the top three, did not qualify for championship competition but retained her title as women's champion with a spit of 43 feet, 11 inches.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452966.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452966.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:07 EDT
The 41-year-old man shoved aside two museum employees - one of whom was assigned to protect the exhibit - and slightly injured one of them, police said. They said he then ripped the head off the likeness of the Nazi dictator.

Police said they arrested the man and he told them he was demonstrating against the Hitler figure.

The man, who looked "absolutely normal," was only the second visitor to enter the museum, employee Stephan Koch said - adding that he and a colleague had tried unsuccessfully to prevent the assailant from jumping over a table in front of the figure and damaging the effigy.

The Berlin resident now faces an investigation on suspicion of causing damage to property and bodily harm, police spokesman Bernd Schodrowski said.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/453310.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/453310.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:43 EDT
Paul Crowell pleaded guilty to possession of an electric weapon and was sentenced June 20 to two years.

Documents say he stole a Taser from an East Troy police officer. He got it while sitting in a patrol car after his vehicle was found in a ditch.

The 22-year-old allegedly showed the online video to a girl, and she reported it to police.

Crowell's father, Paul Dupey, also pleaded guilty to possession of an electric weapon. He is scheduled to be sentenced in August.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451981.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451981.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:50 EDT
University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder's preferred candidate.

"Good luck!" Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. "You're (sic) country depends on You!"

Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote.

According to a criminal complaint, the Minnesota secretary of state's office learned about the offering on the Web site and told prosecutors. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452377.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452377.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:55 EDT
Friday's ruling by Justice Nicholas Warren is expected to save millions for the manufacturer, Procter & Gamble Co.

Warren overruled a VAT Tribunal decision that Pringles should be subject to the 17.5-percent tax because it met the definition of "potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch."

The judge found that Pringles were only 42 percent potato, and thus exempt.

P&G spokeswoman Marina Barker says the company is pleased with the ruling.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452677.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452677.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:30 EDT
Police say the Waukesha (WAWK'-uh-shaw) man took a cab to a mall Monday and pretended to have a heart attack. The cab driver left unpaid.

Authorities say the man then ran up a $23 bill when he had a steak dinner at Applebee's. He again pretended to have a heart attack.

This time the fire department took him to a hospital. A doctor there recognized the man as having pulled the same stunt in the past few weeks.

He was charged Thursday with defrauding a restaurant as a habitual criminal. He could get up to nine months in prison and a $10,000 fine.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451924.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451924.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:40 EDT
The 570-pound cast bronze Alger Cadet Gun is on display at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History inside the Little Rock Arsenal. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was born in the building in 1880.

Built by Cyrus Alger & Co. of Boston, the artillery piece was used to help train cadets at the privately run Arkansas Military Institute in Tulip, 50 miles south of Little Rock.

Alger built 10 of the light artillery guns, which fired 6-pound projectiles. Four guns were sent to the Virginia Military Institute, four were sent to the Georgia Military Institute and two were sent to Arkansas' school. Only seven guns survive.

This gun is owned by the Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia and is being lent to the MacArthur Museum for three years.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452178.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452178.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:40 EDT
Tank, an 8-year-old African spur thigh tortoise, was returned Wednesday to owners Mark and Kim Hirchak after they called Munster police to report him missing.

The couple had earlier called Highland and Hammond police, but Munster officers knew all about the missing reptile, which had turned up at a gas station not long after his escape.

During his absence, Tank was shuttled between various homeowners, including a couple whose backyard strawberry patch and flowers became his dinner.

Fourteen-year-old Kylie Hirchak said Tank, who escaped when someone left open a garage door, is like a member of the family. He's one of two tortoises the family owns.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452489.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452489.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:50 EDT
The two 17-year-olds from Mahopac, about 30 miles south of Oniontown, suffered head and face injuries.

Troopers arrested a 17-year-old from Oniontown on Thursday and charged him with criminal mischief. Additional arrests were expected, police said.

State police investigator Eric Schaefer said it wasn't the first time out-of-towners were attacked by local residents.

"The biggest recommendation at this point is for everybody to stay out of there," Schaefer said. "Anybody that doesn't belong there, anybody that's not a resident, just stay out of Oniontown."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451845.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451845.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:45 EDT
The men tied at 59 frankfurters in 10 minutes, before being made to gobble another five dogs in a last-minute tiebreaker. They consumed 64 hot dogs total and were looking quite peaked after the competition.

Kobayashi had hoped to reclaim the throne after a disappointing three-dog loss last year shattered his six-year winning streak.

"He wanted it, but I needed it," Chestnut said of his diminutive Japanese rival.

Thousands gathered at Coney Island on the Fourth of July to watch the glutinous gladiators compete in the annual event. Chestnut emerged victorious for the second year in a row, beating 20 others who had only 10 minutes to scarf down as many hot dogs as possible, two minutes less than in previous years.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452034.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452034.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:55 EDT
Ralph Archbold and Linda Wilde, who portray the historical figures, tied the knot Thursday evening in a public ceremony in front of Independence Hall, where the real Franklin helped draft the nation's founding documents.

The bride and groom, as well as the entire wedding party, were in costume for the event.

"Ralph and Linda, the entire city could not be happier for you," said Mayor Michael Nutter, who performed the brief ceremony.

After exchanging vows, Archbold and Wilde were given a standing ovation by the crowd of several thousand as the Philly Pops played the wedding march.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452407.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452407.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:00 EDT
A judge dismissed a reckless endangerment charge against Lewis's owner, Ruth Cisero, on Thursday, concluding she had met terms of a special probation for first-time offenders. Lewis is now an indoor pet, allowed outside only in a cat carrier.

"Unlike most of us, Lewis has learned to live with his limitations," said Eugene Riccio, Cisero's attorney.

The scratch-happy black-and-white cat drew widespread attention in 2006 when Cisero opted for a trial on the criminal charge rather than euthanize or declaw him. It became a national claws celeb, and some pet lovers even sported "Save Lewis" shirts.

A lot has changed in two years, though.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452414.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/452414.html Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:37 EDT
In a seesaw struggle for the ages, Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi each consumed an eye-popping 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes, forcing an unprecedented showdown that tested the very depths of their distended stomachs.

Under the glare of ESPN and facing a boisterous and sweaty crowd of thousands on Coney Island, Chestnut, the reigning champ, and Kobayashi, the six-time title holder, were forced to gobble down another five hot dogs in overtime.

Staring into the wiener abyss, the pair found the pluck to continue, devouring the beef and buns with renewed gusto, before Chestnut finally prevailed to chants of "USA!"

When it was over, Kobayashi was left holding a soggy mush of bun in his hand, and Chestnut had achieved nearly mythical status in the annual event held by Nathan's Famous since 1916.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451909.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/451909.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:40 EDT
The 56-year-old says she has no feeling in her toes because of nerve damage from diabetes. She discovered the toe missing after waking from a nap Monday. She called her daughter, who phoned 911.

A veterinarian says the toe had been bandaged because of a healing hangnail. That might have somehow attracted the dog.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456317.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456317.html Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:55 EDT
Denver prosecutors say 34-year-old Thomas Pilaar was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered Tuesday to pay $53,549 in restitution. He pleaded guilty in May.

Of an estimated 1,400 books and DVDs that were taken, about 500 have been recovered.

Denver Public Library estimated it had lost $35,000, while Douglas County said it had $11,000 worth of overdue items.

Authorities were tipped off by a woman who recently bought books on Craigslist and noticed the library identification stamps.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456431.html http://www.kentucky.com/523/story/456431.html Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:55 EDT
A police spokesman says the man fled from a convenience store when an officer arrived to investigate a report of a shoplifter Tuesday.

The man allegedly punched in a back window of a Citizens Area Transit bus, climbed aboard, forced the driver off, drove the bus about 200 yards and then jumped off the moving vehicle.

A police officer climbed aboard the bus and stopped the vehicle.

Police say the man was arrested on felony charges and given clothes and a mental evaluation.]]>