AP Strange NewsBrief at 10:56 p.m. EST

Search of car turns up gift-wrapped marijuana

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Some people won't be getting the Christmas presents they were expecting. Missouri troopers seized about 20 pounds of marijuana from a car this week — some of it in luggage, and some in boxes wrapped as Christmas gifts.

Donkeys escape from live nativity scene in Colo.

VAIL, Colo. (AP) — A living nativity scene in near the Colorado ski resort of Vail almost had to go without two crucial actors when two donkeys escaped. The nativity scene is an annual tradition for Eagle River Presbyterian Church in the Vail Valley. Pastor Rob Wilson says two borrowed donkeys were being held in a fenced-in pen for the event Wednesday night, but the animals pushed their way through it.

Pa. student suspended for wearing Santa suit

WALLINGFORD, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia teenager was suspended for a day for wearing a Santa Claus suit to school. Michael Hance says he told his principal that he planned to wear the suit to Strath Haven High School in Wallingford and hand out candy canes. The 18-year-old senior says the principal told him that wasn't a good idea because it would be a distraction. But he wore the suit anyway, with regular clothes underneath.

Mouse infestation closes Pa. Capitol cafeteria

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Why is the cafeteria at the Pennsylvania Capitol infested with mice? Probably because health inspectors didn't visit it for four years. State law requires annual checks for health and sanitation. Auditor General Jack Wagner said Thursday he received assurances in 2005 that the state Agriculture Department would inspect it.

Friends pack apartment with gifts in holiday prank

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago man could be unwrapping the hundreds of Christmas gifts spread around his apartment for days, even weeks. Trouble is, they aren't really presents. They're his own belongings meticulously wrapped by friends as a prank while he was out of town.

Woman calls 911 when husband refuses to eat dinner

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors will review the case of a woman authorities claim has called 911 30 times over six months for non-emergency reasons, including a call to complain that her husband refused to eat his dinner. Last Friday, the woman allegedly made a pair of calls to 911, including a hang-up and another where a woman was heard screaming. Police were dispatched to the residence and officer Paul Gonzales said police were told by her that "her husband did not want to eat his supper." A police report said the 53-year-old woman was also yelling "about things that happened two weeks ago."

Cat finds way home after 11 days, 2 broken legs

SPRING HILL, Fla. (AP) — Down two legs, and who knows how many lives, a Florida cat missing 11 days somehow arrived home. Tracie Steger lost hope after search parties and fliers failed to turn up her beloved Giggle-Blizzard. She winced after hearing a car had hit a kitty, and raced to scare off a vulture with a suspicious whisker in its teeth. Neither was him.

Escaped otters delay Ohio-bound flight in Houston

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Passengers on a Continental Airlines flight couldn't believe it when they saw an otter scurry from the plane's cargo hold and onto the tarmac at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. The daring escape by a pair of otters delayed the Ohio-bound flight for about an hour Tuesday night. One passenger said that most on board thought the delay was a joke at first. But another said they watched one of the otters scurry across the tarmac.

Police: Parishoner owed $70 rams truck into church

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Spokane County Sheriff's said a 56-year-old man was so incensed at a $70 repair bill he was owed, he rammed his truck into a Spokane church. The Spokesman-Review reported that a parishioner of the Country Crossroads Church, was arrested on Tuesday after he slammed his truck into the church building and ransacked the inside. The Sheriff's Office said the tirade was apparently over a $70 repair bill the church owned the suspect for electrical work he had done. The man allegedly smashed nearly window, television, computer and light fixture inside the church.

Minn. woman accused of causing painful injury

WINONA, Minn. (AP) — Authorities are considering whether to charge a woman accused of grabbing a man by the genitals and yanking hard enough for him to need stitches. Deputy Police Chief Tom Williams told the Winona Daily News the 54-year-old woman faces possible charges of domestic assault, third-degree assault and interfering with a 911 call. Officers were called Friday night to a domestic disturbance in Winona. Williams said the man pulled down his underwear for police and showed them a large tear on his genitals.