Weird News

One of the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta has been under pressure lately. Zoo keepers, along with undergraduate students from Georgia Tech and reseachers from Emory University, got a western lowland gorilla named Ozzie to voluntarily have his blood pressure taken by a machine students designed called the Gorilla Tough Cuff. Zoo officials say it's the first time a gorilla has ever voluntarily had its blood pressure taken in any zoo in the world. Read More

It was just a routine car wash. Except there was no car _ and no clothing. Four Australian men who allegedly undressed and soaped up at a car wash have been charged with exposure and public nuisance. Police said the men paid for a wash before stripping nude and cleaning themselves in the soapy water while their female companions took photos. Read More

"They call me the hardware store," says Requelme Abanto from his hospital bed in northern Peru. Doctors in the city of Cajamarca said they removed 1.5 pounds of metal from Abanto's stomach, including nails, coins, and rusted copper wire and scrap metal. Read More

Police said a woman threatened her husband with a 7-inch knife after he threw away her bottle of vodka as she slept in their suburban Detroit home. Clawson police Lt. Scott Sarvello told The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak the man returned home from work Sunday night to find his wife sleeping with a bottle of vodka. He threw away the bottle. Read More

Prosecutors have decided to drop charges against two men who got into a raucous fist fight at a St. Petersburg City Council meeting. Frederick Dudley and Ronald Deaton were arrested in October after they began throwing punches during an argument over a decision to privatize a public sidewalk. The men, ages 76 and 61, respectively, were charged with disorderly conduct. Read More

Administrators have nixed a North Carolina middle school's cash-for-grades fundraiser. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday that Wayne County school administrators have halted the plan at Rosewood Middle School in Goldsboro. Read More

Sanitation workers sorted through 10 tons of trash to recover a wedding ring accidentally thrown away by a New Jersey couple. Read More

A Northern Ireland filmmaker has won euro46,000 ($69,000) in damages after a judge ruled that his Irish island home was transformed into a parking lot while he was overseas for six years. Read More

Police said an East Texas man has outsmarted himself in trying to get a quicker response from officers to an alleged assault. Tyler police said 38-year-old Mark Anthony Johnson called 911 on Monday night and reported that he'd just committed a homicide and was armed with a weapon. Read More

A Richmond man will have to live more than a month in one of his neglected rental houses as punishment for failing to maintain his properties. Oliver Lawrence was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail, followed by 40 days in home incarceration at a small, single-story house owned by his company, Bayou Properties. He also was fined more than $177,000. Read More