TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES

[TexasStooge]

Russian police mistake rugby match for brawl

MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) - Russians playing a game of amateur rugby were arrested by police who mistook the match for a mass brawl, local media reported Monday.

"We got a call to our control room saying there was a fight involving a lot of people on some waste ground just outside town," RIA news agency quoted a police official in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don as saying.

The players and supporters -- nearly 100 people in total -- were taken to the local police station. They were released without charge when officers realized they had been playing rugby, the news agency reported.

[TexasStooge]

Polite Britain gets tough on anti-social behavior

By Catherine Hornby

LONDON, England (Reuters) - Preacher Philip Howard used to yell "be a winner not a sinner" at passers-by through a megaphone in London's main shopping street.

But not everyone appreciated his high-volume evangelizing. Thanks to a court order, he faces up to five years in jail if he is caught with an amplification device in Oxford Street again.

"British society is going crazy," said Howard, 52, who has preached in Oxford Circus for almost a decade.

"It's the hierarchy that don't like you. But let's face it the hierarchy put Jesus to death."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair introduced court powers called Anti-Social Behavior Orders (ASBOs) in 1999 as part of a range of measures designed to ban problem behavior such as excessive noise, drunkenness, bad language and graffiti.

They have since become a cultural phenomenon. A rock band in Manchester is called "ASBO," it is a popular name for dogs and a status symbol for some youths, and newspapers revel in mocking the latest arcane applications of the measure.

A woman in Scotland was banned from answering the door in her underwear. One man was "ASBO-ed" for playing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas" too loudly, another for feeding pigeons on his property.

A SAFER PLACE

The government says ASBOs have made real progress in improving the quality of life and making the country safer, and last week Blair announced moves to withhold funding from councils that fail to tackle anti-social behavior.

"ASBOs change the balance of power between bullies and those people whose lives have been destroyed," said Bill Pitt, an expert on the legislation and member of the government's Respect task force to tackle anti-social behavior.

About 7,400 ASBOs were issued in England and Wales between April 1999 and September 2005. They can be issued to anyone aged 10 or above but more than half are given to adults.

Manchester City Council, which campaigned for the original legislation and has handed out the most ASBOs, says they play an important role in protecting communities.

"In Manchester we have a significant number of drug, drink and mental health issues," Manchester Council's Executive Member for Housing, Eddy Newman, told Reuters.

"People are living very close to each other, often in poverty and deprivation, and they deserve to live without a climate of anti-social behavior around them."

A 61-year-old woman from Brooklands in Manchester said her life was greatly improved when the ringleaders of a 40-strong gang that used to hang around near her house were given an ASBO barring them from her steet.

Jennifer Bielanowski said the youths smashed up cars, shouted racist abuse at a shopkeeper and drew graffiti, and one 18-year-old head-butted her in her garden after she had complained to the police about their behavior.

"ASBOs are brilliant ... my life has improved 1,000 percent," she told Reuters.

"It has all stopped completely, I can relax in my garden and don't have any problems," she said, "I can go to the shops, I don't have the verbal abuse, and they don't gather here."

She said she believed the system was particularly effective because complainants did not have to identify themselves.

"With police statements, the lads who are in trouble know who complained about them. But with the council and ASBOs, people can give an anonymous statement."

TARGET THE VULNERABLE

Critics say ASBOs too often are used against the vulnerable or homeless, and do not tackle the root causes of social problems. They say the legislation has overshadowed other ways of dealing with problem behavior.

"The government has promoted the ASBO at the expense of everything else," said John Hedge, a member of the Thames Valley Partnership, which aims to find long-term solutions to crime and social exclusion through programs such as mediation schemes.

A clearer definition of anti-social behavior could also help to deal with the problem, Hedge said.

"This is an over-arching term for anybody people don't like, ranging from littering, to groups of young people, to serious crimes," he said.

Critics also say the original purpose of the order is being abused in some areas and the National Association of Probation Officers (NAPO) is pressing for a review of the system.

ASBOs have been used on people with Tourette's syndrome -- a disorder characterized by a tendency to utter obscenities in public places -- whose disruptive behavior is not intentional.

"ASBOs are being used to deal with nuisance, which could be dealt with in other ways," said Harry Fletcher of NAPO.

An ASBO is a civil order, but violating it can be a criminal offence with a penalty of several years in jail or large fines. About 40 percent of ASBOs are breached, the Home Office says.

"It's a super-warning, it's not a punishment, it's basically saying to people if you carry on behaving in this way, then you will be facing criminal sanctions," said Newman in Manchester.

However, for Siobhan Gilmore, a resident of Bardsey in Yorkshire in northern England, the measures are excessive.

"This has just gone too far," she told Reuters. "I got a letter from the police saying that children playing (soccer) out in the streets was anti-social behavior."

[TexasStooge]

You can watch it, but you can't like it...

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Phnom Penh patriarch Non Nget has told Cambodia's 40,000 Buddhist monks to remain passive while watching World Cup soccer games or be defrocked.

Non Nget said Monday monks should not watch the games in public, cheer or bet on matches as such actions were against Buddhism.

"It is very difficult to ban them because new technology means the games can be aired live and seen everywhere," he said. "They may watch, but must be calm."

"But if they make noise or cheer as they watch, they will lose their monkhoods," Non Nget told Reuters.

[TexasStooge]

Beer ingredient may fight prostate cancer

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - A main ingredient in beer may help prevent prostate cancer and enlargement, according to a new study. But researchers say don't rush out to stock the refrigerator because the ingredient is present in such small amounts that a person would have to drink more than 17 beers to benefit.

Oregon State University researchers say the compound xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a specific protein in the cells along the surface of the prostate gland.

The protein acts like a signal switch that turns on a variety of animal and human cancers, including prostate cancer.

Cancer typically results from uncontrolled cell reproduction and growth. Xanthohumol belongs to a group of plant compounds called flavonoids, which can trigger the programmed cell death that controls growth, researchers say.

Xanthohumol was first discovered in hops in 1913, but its health effects were not known until about 10 years ago, when it was first studied by Fred Stevens, assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at OSU's College of Pharmacy.

Last fall, Stevens published an update on xanthohumol in the journal Phytochemistry that drew international attention.

Stevens says it possible for drug companies to develop pills containing concentrated doses of the flavonoid found in the hops used to brew beer.

He also says researchers could work to increase the xanthohumol content of hops.

There are already a number of food supplements on the market containing hops, and scientists in Germany have developed a beer that contains 10 times the amount of xanthohumol as traditional brews. The drink is being marketed as a healthy beer, but research is still under way to determine if it has any effect against cancer.

The latest Oregon State University research was published in a recent issue of Cancer Letters.
___

On the Net: Oregon State University

[TexasStooge]

Man eats 47 cheese sandwiches in 10 min.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) - There's a rising star on the competitive eating circuit. California man Joey Chestnut downed 47 grilled cheese sandwiches in ten minutes this weekend in Las Vegas to set a world record. That's eleven more sandwiches than the old record of 36.

Last month, Chestnut ate 50 hot dogs. Some say he's a threat to the reigning champ of food stuffing, Japan's Takeru Kobayashi.

Chestnut won the grilled cheese contest sponsored by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, the same group that runs the annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest at New York's Coney Island.
_____________________________________________________________

And now for his next challenge: How many Hamwinkies will he eat in a short amount of time?

[TexasStooge]

Calif. inmate gives birth on the toilet

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) - A recently incarcerated inmate who claims she was unaware she was pregnant gave birth in her cell to a baby boy, authorities said Friday.

Leticia Cisneros, 35, was sitting on the toilet Wednesday, suffering from what she thought were cramps, when she gave birth, said a Sheriff's Department statement. Another inmate came to her aid and took the baby.

Soon afterward, a deputy came and wrapped the boy in towels until a prison nurse arrived and cared for him.

If it were not for the quick action of the deputy, nurse and other inmate in providing aid for the child, he "would likely not have survived," the statement said.

Cisneros was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on June 1 on elder abuse and other charges. A pre-booking medical screening questionnaire did not mention she was pregnant.

Subsequent inmate interviews revealed that while Cisneros thought she had recently gained weight, she did not know she was pregnant.

[TexasStooge]

Pa. officials seek order on 'rat house'

PORTAGE, Pa. (AP) - Township officials are seeking a court order to clean up — and possibly tear down — a rat-infested house where they say animal waste is piled a foot high and trash is stacked to the ceiling.

Animal control officers removed 47 dogs from the Portage Township house last month. Officials said the three occupants, who were all charged with cruelty to animals because of the squalid conditions, no longer live there.

State police and animal control officials said some dogs were kept on chains in the house that were so short that the animals could not move away from their own waste.

Township solicitor C.J. Webb wants a Cambria County judge to issue an order allowing officials to clean up the mess and to tear down the house if it cannot be salvaged otherwise.

"It's fairly obvious the condition of the house is not good, and a court order for cleanup may not be physically possible," Webb said.

[TexasStooge]

Ore. man with 3 gators feels unwelcome

TUALATIN, Ore. (AP) - They may not be soft and cuddly, but James "Bugs" Brown said his three alligators are beloved pets. He said the gators — Chomper, Hisser and Snapper — are like family. And he'd rather move than cave to the pressure from the city to get rid of them.

Brown has lived in the city for 26 years and his oldest alligator has been with him since 1985. But recent concerns from a neighbor prompted the City of Tualatin to push Brown to say "see ya later" to his pets.

The neighbor runs a daycare out of her home and called the city with safety concerns about having the alligators next door. However, she says she didn't intend for Brown to lose his pets.

The city considered a law banning alligators and other exotic pets but has set the exotic pet ordinance aside after enormous community reponse. Instead, they are fining Brown for violating city code.

Brown could have to pay up to $1500 each day his alligators stay there. But a municipal judge will make the final decision on how much Brown is fined.

"We don't believe that it's a 'normal household pet,'" the city attorney Brenda Braden said. "Quite honestly, we just feel like we have to cite him."

State laws regulate exotic pets but alligators don't fall under those rules. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife doesn't restrict them either because alligators — which can't survive Oregon's winter in the wild — aren't considered a threat to native wildlife.

Alligators have caused problems in Oregon before. The escape of Al the alligator from his Beaverton home in 2002, prompted the city to create new pet rules.

Brown said he'll look for a home outside the city limits for he and his toothsome pals.

"I won't live in a place that discriminates," Brown said.
___

Information from: The Oregonian

[TexasStooge]

Escaped bull startles Maine neighborhood

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) - A one-ton rodeo bull escaped from a pen, setting off a chase that involved police and a horseback rider before the animal was captured in a backyard.

Dirty Rider apparently jumped a fence Friday night at the Colisee arena, where a professional bull-riding event was being held. He was cornered and roped within 15 minutes, but he gave handlers a battle and neighbors a start before being herded into a trailer.

"I was going to go to the rodeo tonight," said Jim Nelson, watching at a safe distance. "I guess it came to me instead."

Everyone came away fine, police Cpl. Tim Darnell said, "except for one unhappy bull."

[TexasStooge]

Bulls run loose on Houston freeway

HOUSTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) — Some cattle caused some chaos on a Houston freeway overnight.

Authorities say two bulls ran onto Interstate 610 at Interstate 45 north of downtown late Sunday night after a gate on a cattle trailer opened.

Both wandered through the neighborhood nearby before one was hit by a pickup truck. It had to be euthanized.

The other was finally lassoed and the rope secured by a police patrol car's front tires. That angered the bull, who charged and rammed the car several times before it was subdued.

The patrol car was severely damaged, but the officer inside was not injured.

No human injuries nor other damage was reported.
_____________________________________________________________

ALSO ONLINE:

- Houston Traffic Reports from Traffic Pulse

[TexasStooge]

Bulky man barely injured as car rolls over him

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 440 pound German man discovered that being overweight can be good for your health -- if you get run over by a car.

German police said the extra body mass prevented the 30-year-old man from suffering potentially fatal injuries when a Volkswagen Polo drove over him after he braked suddenly on his bicycle at a crossroads and fell off in front of the car.

"It certainly helped him in this case," said Sven-Marco Claus, a spokesman for police in the western town of Gifhorn on Monday. "Someone smaller would probably not have been so lucky."

The man dislocated his hip, which local doctors put back in place, but otherwise suffered only scratches and a bloody nose from the underside of the vehicle, police said.

[TexasStooge]

Mini-mouse makes major mischief

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A tiny mouse the size of a human toe cut electric power to more than 40 percent of Phnom Penh, Cambodian officials said on Tuesday.

The mouse managed to short circuit a 40-megawatt power plant south of the city, said Chea Sun Hel, director of the power company's distribution department .

"The mouse was as big as a human toe, but it created a big problem," he told Reuters.

Phnom Penh's 1.3 million residents often suffer power cuts the government blames on technical problems.

[TexasStooge]

Who would St. Anthony root for?

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Even though Brazil is the World Cup favorite, many Brazilians will seek a helping hand from the country's patron saint, St. Anthony, when the national soccer team takes on Croatia in its opening game in Berlin Tuesday.

June 13 is also St. Anthony's Day and crowds of devout in the world's largest Roman Catholic nation are expected to attend special masses.

Churches in parishes dedicated to St. Anthony in Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo said they will invite worshipers to stay on after mass and watch the game in church halls. In Pari parish, the church has set up a big screen.

"There will be masses, churches will be decorated, some with Brazil emblems," said Father Sergio in Bauru parish. "He was the saint of happiness and for Brazilians, today happiness is for football."

One possible complication is that Brazil's opponent Croatia is also a strongly Catholic country.

Father Antonio Carlos, in Limao parish, said he believed the saint would remain neutral in the match.

"St. Anthony is popular the world over," he said. "I say St. Anthony will not be involved. These things will be decided on the field, not at mass."

[TexasStooge]

Memories fresh for witness of Hitler's last days

By Tom Armitage

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - There is nothing left of the underground bunker where Hitler committed suicide.

But for former SS officer Rochus Misch, the memories are still fresh, more than 60 years after the end of World War Two.

"There was a little working room, a living room, bedroom, toilet and shower and there was no more," said the last surviving witness to the final two weeks of Adolf Hitler's life, referring to the Nazi leader's underground quarters.

Gazing at the carpark which now covers the bunker, Misch recalled his time as a member of the Fuehrer's close entourage in the days leading up to April 30, 1945.

The 88-year-old, who still lives in Berlin, served Hitler throughout World War Two as a bodyguard and telephonist.

But as the Third Reich came to an end, Hitler withdrew to the underground shelter beneath his chancellery and dismissed most of his staff, retaining only those whose services were considered essential -- including Misch.

"We were expecting it. Hitler let us go on April 22. I was here in Berlin ... and we stuck it out until April 30," he said.

Misch's account of Hitler's last days is worn smooth from years of retelling. His answers to questions sometimes run off at a tangent but his feelings -- particularly about the subsequent portrayal of the events of that spring -- are clear.

"Hitler was not, as the press writes, from February on down here vegetating," he says. "He always came out and went up to his apartment in the flat and I went to my room.

"He came down when there was an air raid warning and so I came down too."

Hitler's bride, Eva Braun, whom he married two days before their deaths, also moved into the bunker, Misch says.

"(In the last few weeks) Eva came and then they stayed down there for the last 12 days."

WITNESS TO THE END

Dressed in an anorak, cardigan and black jeans, Misch faced a barrage of reporters at the bunker site when a local history society unveiled the first sign indicating the location of the shelter.

"Herr Misch is the last one still living who spent the last 15 days in the bunker and experienced the end," said historian Dietmar Arnold, head of the Berlin Underworlds organization which was responsible for the sign.

The bunker was filled with gravel and covered by a carpark in the 1980s by the East German government. There is no trace of it left, nor of Albert Speer's monumental New Reichs Chancellery that once stood nearby.

Misch welcomed the sign -- hoping it would help bring him respite from the hundreds of journalists, historians and archivists who want to tap his memories of the man behind the Holocaust.

"Groups come here every day, they want to know; then they come to me, then they want me to come here.

"They want explanations. It can't go on," he said, his voice trailing off before he launched into another reminiscence.

"There were two witnesses. We were the observers who heard and saw everything that went on down there," he said.

Misch and mechanic Johannes Hentschel were two of the last people remaining in the bunker as Soviet troops advanced on Berlin. Misch was later captured by the Russians and interned. He was released in 1954 and returned to Germany.

"THE WAR IS LOST"

His story became well-known in the wake of the 2004 film "Der Untergang" or "Downfall" which tells of Hitler's last days.

However, he remains a controversial figure in Germany for his dogged faithfulness to the memory of a man who was responsible for the deaths and persecution of millions.

Misch, who witnessed so much, is still haunted by images from the past: like the deaths of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels' six children.

"The Goebbels children were made ready to die in my room. I know all about (it). Frau (Magda) Goebbels could not prepare them where they were sleeping, there were still staff there.... So she came down to the bunker -- nobody came there -- and she prepared the children for their deaths in peace. That happened in my room."

Misch faced fierce criticism in calling for a plaque to commemorate the children -- Helga, Hilde, Helmut, Hedda, Holde and Heide -- and still seems upset by the memory of the days leading up to the childrens' deaths by poisoning.

"It was such a drama, there were tears, you can't imagine," he said.

While the details of Hitler's suicide are well-known, Misch's account is still chilling. By April 22, 1945, an intercepted message from the Western allies convinced Hitler than the end was near.

He sought advice on how best to commit suicide, fearful of falling into the Russians' hands as they descended on Berlin.

His German shepherd Blondi was sacrificed in order to test whether cyanide capsules Hitler planned to use were genuine.

"On April 22, he definitively declared an end: 'The war is lost. You can all rely on me, I will never leave Berlin'," Misch recalled.

[TexasStooge]

Ancient city finds fans but Albania tourism hobbled

By Benet Koleka

BUTRINT, Albania (Reuters) - A friend of Roman orator Cicero pleaded with him to lobby Julius Caesar not to build a colony near his estate in Butrint because he feared he would lose land.

Titus Pomponius Atticus described the area as "the quietest, coolest, most pleasant place in the world."

The story, recounted in Butrint's museum, does not say if Cicero approached Caesar, but the latter built a colony here in 44 BC.

Two millennia later, Lord Rothschild and his team of British archaeologists had better luck in convincing Albanian leaders to refrain from building and instead manage the 29 square km (11.2 sq miles) around Butrint's ancient ruins as a national park.

"It took a lot of faith to support the park because it was an alien idea. They had to see it develop in the light of the real world," Oliver Gilkes, the team's field director, said.

But it paid off.

The ruins of the Hellenistic, Roman, medieval and Venetian worlds are now at the heart of the "sun and sand and culture" tourism that new Tourism Minister Bujar Leskaj wants to offer.

Considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the Balkans, Butrint's ruins are set on a small green peninsula between Lake Butrint and the straits of Corfu, a natural fortress almost completely surrounded by water.

A small hotel, the only one in the park's territory, caters to some 400-500 tourists a day from May to October.

"They like the virgin nature, the fresh fish and mussels," said Hektor Balili, one of the owners. "Butrint is like the Blue Mosque of Istanbul. But they do complain a lot about the (narrow) road from Sarande (port)," he added.

Such logistical headaches -- poor roads, power cuts and lack of accommodation -- are holding back Butrint, and tourism in Albania. Most visitors to the ruins are day-trippers ferried from Greece's Corfu Island across the bay.

They come, see it and leave. That was Albania.

But Albania has around 360 km (225 miles) of mostly virgin coastline. Leskaj says his country needs an image makeover to give it a reputation as a safe place, not bandit territory.

BUILDING BOOM

One of Europe's poorest countries, Albania accounts for just 0.1 percent of tourism in Europe.

"We have the Kosovo and Macedonia (Albanians) market. Now we are after the European and U.S. market, the adventure tourists and the relatively rich," Leskaj said.

Cruise ships will stop regularly for the first time at Albanian ports this summer for brief visits. Albania still lacks the structures for mass tourism, but it is building wherever it can, with scant regard for water supply or sewage.

Along the winding roads from Sarande to Butrint, visitors can see bulldozers carving square sites out of rocky hillsides.

In one Sarande spot, the smell of sewage wafts into a bar with the sea breeze.

"The blame falls squarely on the state for not keeping ahead of individuals' desire to build," said Sarande writer Agim Mato. But luckily, he said, the tourism wave was still a while off.

"Albania's tourism is for the daring," he added.

Tony Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet Publications, agreed that wildcat building was far too evident during his May trip.

"We visited Jal Beach just north of Himara ... beautiful little bay, wonderful beach, being rapidly spoilt by some horrible construction without any architectural merit or relationship to the setting," Wheeler wrote to Reuters.

Leskaj said the government was offering fiscal incentives to foreign companies and advising them either to lease or buy land in order to increase accommodation. He is also looking inland.

"The one who will invest in Alpine (skiing) tourism will be the one who will reap most benefits," he said. Albania has lots of snow but no lifts, and locals go abroad to ski.

NO ONE ELSE AROUND

Leskaj said he was conscious that Albania's "image abroad is negative to zero," but said he planned to enlist famous Albanians to make the case for their country.

The most notorious Albanian might better serve the purpose.

Wheeler noted that late Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha built more than half a million concrete pillbox bunkers to keep invaders at bay, sprinkling them along the empty beaches.

That was when Albania was as isolated as North Korea is today. The bigger bunkers have now been turned into restaurants.

"I was amused by the bunkers and I think they're one of the quirky, curious things about Albania which it could easily capitalize on," said Wheeler.

"Albania needs to develop an image which is different from anywhere else," he added.

Arjuna Schryvers and Eefje Ten Haken, an IT specialist and a social worker from Maastricht in Holland, were touring Albania with their mountain bikes in April near Porto Palermo Bay.

They said wanted to see for themselves a country "you do not hear much about and people say it's dusty and chaotic."

"You don't see many tourists. This is pure and not influenced by the West, although they're getting there," Schryvers told Reuters. "It's very interesting to see luxury cars go through flocks of sheep."

"The nature is incredibly beautiful, people are friendly and invited us to drink," he added. "We had a beach completely to ourselves one day. We wondered why there was no one else around."

[TexasStooge]

Teacher reads mean paper on students aloud

TRENTON, Ohio (AP) - A teacher in southwest Ohio has been fired for reading students' nasty comments about classmates out loud.

Kevin Johnson had taught at Edgewood High School in Butler County for 15 years. Assistant schools superintendent Larry Knapp says the Edgewood district let him go last week after receiving complaints about the incident. Knapp says some of the essays were embarrassing or hurtful.

Johnson had asked students to write about what classmates might be doing 20 years from now. He wouldn't comment about his dismissal when contacted at home by The (Cincinnati) Enquirer newspaper.

But he planned to meet today with a lawyer to talk about a possible appeal.

[TexasStooge]

Bag prompts airport shutdown, evacuation

By BILL KACZOR, Associated Press Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A food writer's bag containing recording equipment, honey, an oyster shell and seasoning rub was blamed for a three-hour shutdown and evacuation of Tallahassee's airport Monday, authorities said.

The electronic gear and organic material looked suspicious to five Transportation Security Administration officers who examined X-ray images of the bag, said Quinten Johnson, TSA's security director at the airport.

The way that the honey, electronic gear and batteries were positioned looked like an improvised explosive device, he said.

Todd Coleman, food editor for New York-based Saveur magazine, was detained but later released after the bag was removed from the terminal and a robot opened it to disclose the contents.

"I was afraid they were going to blow my bag up," Coleman said. "It would have blown my story up."

Coleman said he was in Tallahassee to visit his parents, who live in the area, and to write about the food of nearby Apalachicola, Florida's oyster capital. The Apalachicola area also is famous for tupelo honey, which Coleman had in his bag.

The airport reopened at about 10 a.m.

[TexasStooge]

Wild weed on courthouse lawn eliminated

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - After reporters pointed out that wild marijuana, commonly called ditch weed, was growing on the lawn at the federal courthouse in Sioux Falls, the greenery was eliminated.

City officials and a developer said seeds in dirt brought in for construction must have sprouted.

KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls had it tested to be sure it was ditch weed and brought it to the attention of federal officials last week. None wanted to comment.

Low-grade, wild marijuana was initially grown as hemp to make rope in World War II. But it contains a small amount of the ingredient that makes marijuana smokers high.

Congress made it illegal in 1970 to grow any form of the marijuana plant.

[TexasStooge]

Mo. student wins yodeling competition

COTTLEVILLE, Mo. (AP) - Don't try to tell Catherine Bowler yodeling isn't cool. Around Francis Howell Central High School in St. Charles County, the 14-year-old who just completed her freshman year was already a celebrity — she won the school's talent competition earlier this year.

"It's been really flattering," she told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Even those who don't know her name, she said, still are apt to say "Hey! It's the yodeler." One student asked her to yodel for his cell phone ring tone. She obliged.

Now, Bowler is getting national recognition. She recently won the Patsy Montana Yodeling Competition in Pineville, Mo., a three-day competition drawing yodelers from across the country.

Catherine began yodeling a few years ago. During a family trip, the Bowlers heard yodelers perform and Catherine's mother, Mary, asked if she thought she could do it.

It turned out she had the talent, so the Bowlers found a tape on the Internet called, "So You Want to Learn How to Yodel?"

The first step, Catherine said, was to lock all the doors and windows. Why?

"Because it sounds really bad," Catherine said.

But slowly, Catherine learned how to switch between her "chest voice" and her "head voice" to produce the unmistakable yodeling sound.

She first entered the Patsy Montana competition three years ago. The event is named for the late recording star whose "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" hit the Top 10 of Billboard's Pop Chart.

Catherine said her parents — Mary and Bryan — have been very supportive, and her brother Victor, 8, is starting to yodel a bit.

So is a record in the works?

"I'd love to do that, but it's really expensive," Catherine said.
___

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

[TexasStooge]

Boy dies after horse kicks him in chest

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (DallasNews.com/AP) - A 5-year-old boy died after the family's horse kicked him in the chest.

The boy died Monday, before he could be airlifted to a hospital, Atascosa County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy David Soward said. He said no decision had been made regarding what to do with the horse, which the family said had a history of kicking.

The boy was kicked Monday in Atascosa County, about 20 miles southwest of San Antonio.