www.gi-news.com

2,500 Rubber Ducks Stolen From Ill. Police Academy

User Rating:  / 1

YORKVILLE, Ill. – A flotilla of yellow rubber ducks intended for a fund-raising event has been stolen from a police academy in suburban Chicago.

The Beacon-News in Aurora says Friday that some 2,500 ducks took flight this week from the Yorkville Citizens Police Academy.

Police say several of the toy ducks have been found on a Yorkville roadway and request that any more found be returned to the academy.

Police plan to use the toy ducks in their annual “Duck Pluck” to raise funds for the academy.

Source: news.yahoo.com

Woman Trying to Pet Moose in Alaska Park Gets Kick

User Rating:  / 1

NCHORAGE, Alaska – Don’t mess with the moose.

That’s the warning police in Anchorage, Alaska, are repeating after one of the animals kicked a woman in the chest and shoulder at a city park. She was checked by medics Monday afternoon and didn’t have to go to a hospital.

The Anchorage Daily News reports the moose had been in Town Square Park most of the day feeding on trees. The woman in her 20s was attacked when she tried to pet it.

Police spokeswoman Anita Shell says the moose is not a threat unless provoked, so people need to give it space.

Sex Swap Prisoners Get Right to Bras and Make-Up

User Rating:  / 0

Transsexuals must be allowed access to items which help them adopt their new gender, the new rules say, such as medical prostheses and – in the case of those changing from male to female – padded bras and make-up to cover beard growth.

“Transsexual people, particularly those who have not undergone surgery or extended hormone therapy, may use various items to assist with their presentation in their acquired gender,” insists the guide.

“These can range from sophisticated prostheses to padded bras.

“Regardless of their level of sophistication, access to them can only be restricted in exceptional circumstances.

“These items may only be prohibited when it can be demonstrated that they present a security risk.”

Any prison which attempts to stop transsexual prisoners from having such items could be taken to court for judicial review, the paper warns.

“Both male to female and female to male transsexual people may use make-up to present more convincingly in their acquired gender.

“Make-up that is vital to presenting in the acquired gender, such as foundation to cover up beard growth, may not be restricted.”

Unlike other male prisoners, transsexuals will not be expected to wear prison uniform if they are punished by being moved to the basic privileges regime.

“Allowing male to female transsexual prisoners to wear their own clothes is not a privilege,” it says.

“It may be helpful to explain this to other prisoners who are required to wear prison uniform.”

The document advises that suitable clothing can be ordered from the Additions mail order catalogue, if the inmate has enough money. Alternatively, friends and family can provide garments or nearby prisons could donate clothes, it adds.

Read more...

Street's mail deliveries banned after dog 'bites' postwoman

User Rating:  / 1

The Royal Mail has suspended deliveries to an entire street after a postal worker claimed she was bitten by a Jack Russell terrier.

Residents in more than 30 homes in Saltash, Cornwall, have been told to pick up their letters from the post office following the incident involving four-year-old Rusty.

Karen Mitchell, the dog's owner, said her pet "barks but has never bitten anyone", adding: "They've suspended the post in the whole street over a dog that's smaller than my cat".

A spokesman for the Royal Mail said Rusty, who is regularly allowed to run freely in Newman Road, was "an unacceptable hazard to staff".

However, neighbours condemned the decision and questioned how postmen were able to reach their front doors to hand out notices informing them of the ban.

Mrs Mitchell, who also owns a rottweiler, Mia, and a German shepherd, Molly said: "He's actually my five-year-old son's and sleeps in the bed with him. He's just a small yappy dog. If the kids open the front door, he runs out.

Read more...

April Fools' jokes poke fun at royal wedding

User Rating:  / 1

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's royal wedding is off! Oh no it's not, it's an April Fools' joke.

The big royal occasion later this month was the top target for traditional April 1 pranks in the press on Friday, including bride-to-be Kate Middleton shopping for baby clothes and the left-leaning Guardian joining the pro-monarchy bandwagon.

Beyond the royal nuptials, British tycoon Richard Branson has snapped up Pluto in a bid to reinstate it as a planet while his Virgin Atlantic airline will encourage first class travelers to grow their own vegetables on long-haul flights.

And the Daily Telegraph reported a "secret memo" about Labor Party plans to hold royal wedding-style street parties to mark the upcoming marriage of its leader Ed Miliband on May 27.

In terms of journalistic resources, few put in as much effort as the Guardian, traditionally a bastion of royal-bashing republicanism.

"In something of an about turn, the Guardian today pledges its 'full throated support' for the monarchy," it said in its online edition, which features a comprehensive live blog poking fun at rival newspapers and broadcasters.

Read more...

‘Star Trek’ Moment for Earth-Bound Shuttle Discovery

User Rating:  / 0

“Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery,” said Shatner in a specially recorded introduction to the “Theme from Star Trek,” played as wake-up music at 2:23am (0723 GMT).

“Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before,” said Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the popular television and movie series.

The music was chosen by public vote in a Nasa contest to pick theme music for the astronauts’ wake-up call.

Discovery, Nasa’s oldest and most travelled shuttle and the first of the three-member fleet set for retirement when the US programme ends later this year, separated from the ISS after spending eight days and 16 hours there on its last mission.

Read more...

17th century witch chronicles put onlin

User Rating:  / 0

LONDON (Reuters) – A 350-year-old notebook which documents the trials of women convicted of witchcraft in England during the 17th century has been published online.

The notebook written by Nehemiah Wallington, an English Puritan, recounts the fate of women accused of having relationships with the devil at a time when England was embroiled in a bitter civil war.

The document reveals the details of a witchcraft trial held in Chelmsford in July 1645, when more than a hundred suspected witches were serving time in Essex and Suffolk according to his account.

"Divers (many) of them voluntarily and without any forcing or compulsion freely declare that they have made a covenant with the Devill," he wrote.

"Som Christians have been killed by their meanes," he added.

Read more...

NM Lawyer Who Targets Drunk Drivers Guilty of DWI (AP)

User Rating:  / 0

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – An Albuquerque, N.M., lawyer known for suing drunken drivers has been convicted of driving while impaired.

Ron Bell was found guilty of three counts Tuesday, including DWI, speeding and failure to maintain a traffic lane.

Bell was stopped in June 2010 by an off-duty Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputy. Bell failed some field sobriety tests and a toxicology report showed he had amphetamine in his system.

Bell takes Adderall, which contains amphetamine, for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

A toxicology expert testified that the level in Bell’s system was enough to impair a normal person’s driving. Bell’s attorney argued there was no evidence Bell was incapable of driving.

Bell was ordered to pay a fine and perform community service. He also must attend DWI school and use an interlock ignition device for one year.

Source: news.yahoo.com

Nearly Third of Young Texted While Driving?

User Rating:  / 0

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A new poll shows young drivers are more likely to use cell phones while driving, and that 30 percent of them have recently texted from behind the wheel, U.S. transportation officials said.

The release of the poll came as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called distracted driving “a deadly epidemic.”

The poll comes from the magazine Consumer Reports, which is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation on creating awareness about the dangers of cell phone use while driving.

Among the findings are that 63 percent of respondents under 30-years-old reported using a handheld phone while driving in the past 30 days, the Department of Transportation said.

And 30 percent of the drivers texted from behind the wheel in the same time period according to the survey, which had a total of 1,026 respondents.

Older drivers were less likely to talk on the phone behind the wheel, and only 9 percent of those over 30 years-old reported they had recently texted while driving.

LaHood, appearing at the Yonkers, New York, headquarters of Consumer Reports, said teens are more likely to drive distracted because of peer pressure.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Jerry Norton)

Source: www.reuters.com

Got $14,000? Pa. Retailer Has a Prom Gown for You

User Rating:  / 1

PHILADELPHIA – If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, a made-to-order $14,000 prom dress is going to become a blingy BFF for a few free-spending fashionistas.

An online retailer based outside Philadelphia has already sold two of the floor-length metallic silver gowns, which have hundreds of diamonds hand-sewn onto the bodice. They’re custom made and take three to four weeks to complete.

A form-fitting strapless number with a thigh-high slit, the gown also sells without diamonds for $398.

“The reaction has been fantastic,” said Jon Liney, who sells the gown on his 3-year-old website DressGoddess.com.

The actual price is $13,997. “My lucky number is 13,” Liney said.

The bejeweled frock is being billed as a prom gown, but Liney said he doesn’t think the two purchases were for teenagers. He will only say that one of the orders is from Europe, and the other is from the U.S.

Read more...