The Chavez Diet: Venezuelans urged to lose weight
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Call it the Bolivarian battle of the bulge. President Hugo Chavez said in a televised speech Friday that "there are lots of fat people" in Venezuela and advised his supporters to exercise and eat healthy to trim their waistlines.
Fla. man arrested for calling 911, asking for sex
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida police say a man arrested for repeatedly calling 911 looking for sex claimed it was the only number he could dial after running out of cell phone minutes. Tampa police said 29-year-old Joshua Basso made sexual comments to the 911 dispatcher and asked if he could come to her house. Investigators say she hung up, but he called back four more times. He was arrested about 15 minutes later at his home late Wednesday and charged with making a false 911 call. Basso reportedly told officers that he didn't think he would get in trouble for calling 911.
Man convicted of robbing mom to pay parking ticket
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A 27-year-old Anchorage man has been convicted of robbing his mother at gunpoint because she didn't give him money to help pay a $430 parking ticket. The Anchorage district attorney said Friday that Cheng Saelee was also convicted of illegally contacting his mother from jail and trying to get her to drop the charges. Prosecutor Gustaf Olson said Saelee was arrested in November 2008 after he became angry during an argument with his parents, got a handgun from his room and pointed the weapon at his mother's head.
LA police arrest 74-year-old tagging suspect
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 74-year-old man said to be the oldest graffiti vandal ever captured in Los Angeles County was arrested Friday, authorities said. Deputies spotted the septuagenarian John Scott putting stickers on a stairwell at a downtown Metro Center subway station. The black-and-orange bumper stickers ask, "Who is John Scott?" and have been seen stuck on buses in Baldwin Hills and areas on the Westside of the city. Stickers used in such a way are referred to as "slap tags" by those in the law enforcement community. They can be adhered to public property in a second or two but are difficult to remove.
Woman who mistook cop for Sonic car hop faces DUI
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (AP) — A woman who mistook a police officer for a car hop at a Sonic drive-in was charged with DUI and possession of drug paraphernalia. A caller to 911 Saturday reported the woman nearly struck several vehicles before pulling into the drive-in. The Johnson City Press reported Elizabethton Police Officer Sarah Ellison found the woman slumped over the steering wheel. When Ellison tried to get the woman's attention, the woman handed her a $20 bill, continuing to offer it even after she identified herself as an officer.
Cat's demise prompts rumors of Thatcher's death
TORONTO (AP) — When Canada's transport minister decided to name his cat Thatcher, he likely never thought it would cause quite the stir it did during a gala dinner earlier this week. During a tribute to Canada's military in Toronto, some 1,700 luminaries, including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, were in the middle of dinner Tuesday night when smart phones throughout the room began to buzz with the news: "Lady Thatcher has passed away." Dinner chatter abruptly veered to expressions of shock and reminiscences of Margaret Thatcher, the 84-year-old former British prime minister, as news of her apparent passing spread like wildfire.
Police: Drunk man survives being run over by train
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) — Police said a highly intoxicated man who survived when multiple freight train cars rolled over him is "the luckiest guy alive." Police Major Kevin Lemke said Canadian National Railway employees reported they ran over someone lying between the tracks and did an emergency stop about 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Officers found a 42-year-old local man in some bushes 20 feet away from the tracks. The man indicated he was walking when he saw the train and jumped out of the way.
Man distracted by bird drives Bugatti into marsh
LA MARQUE, Texas (AP) — A man blamed a low-flying pelican and a dropped cell phone for his veering his million-dollar sports car off a road and into a salt marsh near Galveston. The accident happened about 3 p.m. Wednesday on the frontage road of Interstate 45 northbound in La Marque, about 35 miles southeast of Houston. The Lufkin, Texas, man told of driving his luxury, French-built Bugatti Veyron when the bird distracted him, said La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist. The motorist dropped his cell phone, reached to pick it up and veered off the road and into the salt marsh. The car was half-submerged in the brine about 20 feet from the road when police arrived.
Ala. robbery suspect jailed minus part of his nose
FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) — A northwest Alabama man is in jail minus part of his nose, which police said was bitten off during a robbery attempt. Police said a 40-year-old man was in custody Friday after surrendering to authorities. He will be charged in what police said was a robbery attempt that occurred Monday in Tuscumbia. The suspect allegedly entered a house and struggled with two men. During the struggle, one of the men bit off an inch-long chunk of the robber's nose. Officers found a small piece of flesh, and the suspect was missing part of his nose when he turned himself in Thursday.
Police: Drunken Pa. man drove tractor on beer run
EXPORT, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania State Police say a man was drunk when he hopped on a lawn tractor and drove it to buy more beer. Police said 63-year-old Ford Earl Broome, of Export, was stopped by a state trooper at about 8 p.m. on Sept. 6. The trooper said he stopped Broome near a tavern, and that Broome smelled of alcohol and appeared to be drunk. Police said Broome denied drinking, but then acknowledged he "drank a little" before driving the tractor to a bar to buy more beer. Police said Broome's blood-alcohol content was about double the state's legal limit for drivers.
