Balloon rides come to New York's Central Park
(AP) - Want to look down on the rich and famous? Go eye to eagle-eye with a winged predator? See the sun rise over Queens? How better to do this than from a balloon 30 stories above Central Park?
The opportunity arises, so to speak, on Friday when a private company begins offering rides over the 843-acre park for $25 per adult and $17.
Boy, 11, bites pit bull to fend off attack
(AP) - An 11-year old boy is in Brazil's media spotlight after sinking his teeth into the neck of a dog that attacked him. Local newspapers reported on Thursday that Gabriel Almeida was playing in his uncle's backyard in the city of Belo Horizonte when a pit bull named Tita lunged at him and bit him in the left arm.
Deputies intercept text message to capture suspect
(AP) - After catching one of two people wanted in a series of break-ins, deputies in North Carolina let their fingers do the chasing to catch a second suspect.
Catawba County sheriff's Maj.
Peacock hitches ride with pair along Pa. roadway
(AP) - Picking up hitchhikers can be risky, but this one in northeast Pennsylvania was a bird of a different feather. Jerry Dimick and a friend were driving along Route 307 near Clarks Summit on Wednesday when they spotted a peacock standing by the edge of the road.
In Portland, Ore., parking laws include police
(AP) - Portland police are not above the parking laws, even if they're hungry.
Officer Chadd Stensgaard, who parked his patrol car illegally while making a dinner-break stop at a Japanese restaurant, must pay a $35 fine, Traffic Court Judge Terry Hannon ruled Wednesday.
Judge: Girl's name, Talula Does The Hula, won't do
(AP) - A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.
Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
In Portland, parking laws include police
(AP) - Portland police are not above the parking laws, even if they're hungry.
Officer Chadd Stensgaard, who parked his patrol car illegally while making a dinner-break stop at a Japanese restaurant, must pay a $35 fine, Traffic Court Judge Terry Hannon ruled Wednesday.
Bubble burst? Off-Broadway show's suds stolen
(AP) - The bubble might have burst for off-Broadway's "Gazillion Bubbles Show. " Someone has stolen the show's specialized soapy bubble solution, which takes two months to make.
A show spokesman says 3.
Pet rabbit credited with saving couple from fire
(AP) - A pet rabbit is credited with saving a couple from a fire that swept through their home in the southern city of Melbourne.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Mick Swift said the husband returned home from a night shift early Thursday and heard the family pet, named "Rabbit," scratching at the couple's bedroom door half an hour after he had gone to bed.
'Pantyhose Bandit' causes sheer annoyance in Mass.
(AP) - Dozens of pairs of pantyhose have been left near a Milford school bus stop _ causing sheer annoyance in the neighborhood. The pantyhose _ sometimes new, sometimes used _ has been left on Camp Street for more than two years.
Couple claim mysterious noise plagues their house
(AP) - Bob and Leona Ehrfurth say the noise that's been plaguing them for two years sounds something like a rumbling motor, with a subtle vibration that won't quit. Then it stops _ especially when they try to show city officials or acoustic experts what they're hearing.
117 cats, raccoon, and rabbit found at Omaha home
(AP) - Humane society workers have found 117 cats, a raccoon and a rabbit in a north Omaha house. The discovery came Wednesday after Council Bluffs, Iowa, police caught the 54-year-old woman who lives at the house reportedly stealing cat food.
Stolen motorcycle found after 34 years in N.J.
(AP) - Prosecutors say a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was stolen nearly 34 years ago in Rhode Island has surfaced in central New Jersey. The 1971 Sportster was purchased on eBay for $2,400 by Michael Meistrell of Cranford.
Teacher lasts 20 hours on carnival ride, wins $1K
(AP) - A Minnesota high school teacher has lasted 20 hours on a carnival ride to win the Ride the Tide Challenge at the Mall of America.
Jim Salava, 40, of Oakdale, was declared the winner at the Nickelodeon Universe theme park when his final opponent stepped down at 2:35 a.
R.I. police say man had 0.491 blood alcohol level
(AP) - State police say they arrested a man early Tuesday whose blood alcohol level was 0. 491 percent _ the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn't dead.