Kaiser wins Miss OB pageant

DeSoto Central High School senior Katie Kaiser was crowned Miss Olive Branch 2009 following an annual pageant and Olive Twig Humanitarian Group fundraiser at Olive Branch High School on Saturday.

She competed against 32 other girls ages 14-18 for the title that comes with a full two-year scholarship to Northwest Mississippi Community College.

Rounding out the pageant’s Top 5 and receiving a half scholarship to the college were Sarah Mathis, fourth alternate; Cayce Brasel, second alternate; Kayleigh Richardson, first alternate; and Anna Ellingburg, third alternate and Miss Congeniality. Contestant Eryn Laine was named Miss Humanitarian.

As Miss Olive Branch, Kaiser, who also received the Miss Photogenic Award, will serve as a city ambassador at ribbon cutting and other events. She is the daughter of Robert and Kathleen Kaiser of Olive Branch.

Man flies to Boston in baggage compartment

A JetBlue employee says he took a free flight from New York to Boston — after falling asleep in a plane's cargo bin. The man was discovered by baggage handlers at Logan International Airport after the plane landed there Saturday. He told police he'd been accidentally locked inside the pressurized luggage compartment while taking a nap.

The 21-year-old man says he called JetBlue Airways officials when he realized he was no longer on the ground. A state police spokesman says the man wasn't charged with any crime and was returned to New York when it was determined he wasn't dangerous. JetBlue Airways Corp. says it's investigating.

Two men catch toddler after 40-foot fall

Two Massachusetts men are being hailed as heroes by police for catching a toddler who fell 40 feet from a home's third-story window. Robert Lemire tells the Eagle-Tribune that he was talking on his cell phone Sunday evening outside a pizza shop in Lawrence, about 25 miles north of Boston, when he saw the toddler dangling from a window across the street.

The 45-year-old father of two bolted across a busy street, where he met 23-year-old Alex Day, who had been inside the home at a Bible study meeting. Together, they caught the 18-month-old before she hit the ground. The child's father was caring for a newborn at the time.

Police Chief John Romero says "these guys are heroes, no question about it."

Bill banning teen texting while driving advances

JACKSON - Teens who text while driving should beware.

State senators on Wednesday approved a bill that would prohibit 15- and 16-year-olds with learner's permits or intermediate driver's licenses from indulging in their habit.

It previously passed the House and now is headed to the governor for consideration.

If signed into law, the bill would impose an up to $500 fine on teen drivers caught texting in non-accident cases or up to $1,000 if they are involved in an accident while texting.

It also would add six months to the minimum age for teenagers to get their driver's licenses. An intermediate license, which allows some unsupervised driving, would become available at 16, while an unrestricted license could be obtained six months later.

Southaven Police Chief Tom Long said he supports restrictions against texting while driving as the practice jeopardizes safety.

"You wouldn't want someone going down the road and on a typewriter, would you?" he asked. "Texting is like that, constant typed communication. You are looking away, having to read, having to respond."

College phone booth stunt just like old times

Twenty-two students at St. Mary's College of California have done something their predecessors famously did 50 years ago: cram into a phone booth. Teams competed to fit as many bodies as possible into a phone booth on the campus green Wednesday, a half-century after Life magazine published a now-famous photograph of 22 St. Mary's students stuffed into a phone booth, a popular college stunt in the 1950s.

Current students matched the number in the 1959 image, though they failed to break the campus record of 24 set in 1984. St. Mary's officials say a South African team set the world record of 25 set in 1958.

World's cheapest car

The world's cheapest car will retail for just over $2,000 and can be yours — if you live in India and are very lucky — by July, Tata Motors said Monday. The Nano, a pint-sized vehicle designed to make car ownership accessible to millions of the world's poor, finally goes on sale in India next month. Whether it will revolutionize the global auto industry — or turn around its manufacturer's fortunes — has yet to be seen, and other automakers will be watching closely to see how consumers respond to the car. So will environmentalists.

"We can do what most countries felt could not be done," Ratan Tata, chairman of the sprawling Tata group of companies, said at a launch ceremony Monday, as the swelling strains of the theme song to "2001: A Space Odyssey" died away in the warm night. Nothing is really impossible if you set your mind to it," he said. "What we have done is given the country an affordable car."

And, he pledged to go to Europe and America soon, with safer, cleaner but still ultra-cheap Nanos for the developed world.

The Nano was initially targeted at impoverished first-time car buyers in Asia and Africa, but the global economic meltdown has amplified Ratan Tata's export ambitions.

Tata Motors unveiled the Nano Europa, a slightly more robust version of the Indian model, at the Geneva Motor Show this month, with a planned launch of 2011.

Oops: Colbert wins NASA space station name contest

NASA's online contest to name a new room at the international space station went awry. Comedian Stephen Colbert won. The name "Colbert" beat out NASA's four suggested options in the space agency's effort to have the public help name the addition. The new room will be launched later this year. NASA's mistake was allowing write-ins. Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report" to write in his name. And they complied, with 230,539 votes.

That clobbered Serenity, one of the NASA choices, by more than 40,000 votes. Nearly 1.2 million votes were cast by the time the contest ended Friday. NASA reserves the right to choose an appropriate name. Agency spokesman John Yembrick said NASA will decide in April, but will give top vote-getters "the most consideration."

Romantic teen seeks prom date, gets cops instead

A South Carolina teen's romantic gesture has won him the attention of police and environmental officers. Authorities told The Island Packet of Hilton Head that the 18-year-old man was caught spray painting the word "prom" on the beach near the home Sunday of the young lady he wanted to take to the dance. A neighbor had called police.

Deputies made the teen clean the area, but did not file any charges. The spray paint cans were sent to environmental officials to see if the chemicals pose any harm to the beach. Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman Thom Berry said it is impossible to determine if the agency will fine the teen until the cans are analyzed.

Parrot honored for warning that girl was choking

A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honored as a hero. Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the local Red Cross chapter's Animal Lifesaver Award. In November, Willie's owner, Megan Howard, was baby-sitting for a toddler. Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.

Willie repeatedly yelled "Mama, baby" and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue. Howard saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich maneuver but said Willie "is the real hero." "The part where she turned blue is always when my heart drops no matter how many times I've heard it," Hannah's mother, Samantha Kuusk, told KCNC-TV. "My heart drops in my stomach and I get all teary eyed."

Willie got his award during a "Breakfast of Champions" event Friday attended by Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper.

DeSoto students to honor teen who lost cancer battle

SOUTHAVEN — Some DeSoto Central High students are hoping to flood the halls of their school with pink today.

They will wear the color, and observe a moment of silence, as tribute to a 17-year-old who recently lost her long battle against leukemia.

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Umberger died Saturday at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, leaving behind a sister, two brothers and her father and wife, Michael and Kathy.

She was a junior, choir member and office worker at the Southaven school who teacher Stephanie Scudder said couldn’t help but make an impression.

“Lizzie touched my life like no other student ever has,” she said. “There were times when I would go to tutor her at what should have been some of her toughest moments, but instead, Lizzie would be doing things that kept me laughing. Other times I would go to her house carrying my own heavy loads and leave feeling so uplifted wondering how she made that happen. I tutored Lizzie in her lessons for school, but she tutored me in lessons for life. I love her very much and will miss her terribly.”

Team gets uniform foul

An Illinois high school basketball team's jerseys may have cost it a shot at a state championship.
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No joke in April Fool's Day computer worm

A computer-science detective story is playing out on the Internet as security experts try to hunt down a worm called Conficker C and prevent it from damaging millions of computers on April Fool's Day.

The anti-worm researchers have banded together in a group they call the Conficker Cabal. Members are searching for the malicious software program's author and for ways to do damage control if he or she can't be stopped.

They're motivated in part by a $250,000 bounty from Microsoft and also by what seems to be a sort of Dick Tracy ethic.

"We love catching bad guys," said Alvin Estevez, CEO of Enigma Software Group, which is one of many companies trying to crack Conficker. "We're like former hackers who like to catch other hackers. To us, we get almost a feather in our cap to be able to knock out that worm. We slap each other five when we're killing those infections."

The malicious program already is thought to have infected between 5 million and 10 million computers.

Octuplets' mom fires free nursing service

(CNN) - Nadya Suleman, the Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets in January, has fired a nonprofit group of nurses charged with helping care for her children, CNN affiliate KTLA has reported.

Suleman accused the nurses, from a group called Angels in Waiting, of spying on her to report her to child-welfare authorities, the affiliate reported Monday.

The group was working for free, the affiliate said. Suleman instead will rely on nurses whom she is paying, Suleman's attorney said.

She now has four of the octuplets at home, along with her six other children. The other octuplets remain in a hospital, which is discharging them two at a time to ease the adjustment.

Jordan cries at son's game

Michael Jordan is reduced to tears after a high school game involving his son Marcus.
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Golfer looks for tee, finds grenade

A golfer looking for an errant tee shot found a half-buried hand grenade near the eighth fairway of the Augusta Municipal Golf Course. The Richmond County sheriff's bomb squad was called to the scene after Wednesday's discovery and detonated the war relic. Bomb squad investigator Charles Mulherin said recent heavy rains washing down a hill probably unearthed the Mk 2, or "pineapple" grenade, used by the U.S. military from the final months of World War I until the Vietnam War.

Mulherin said he did not know if the grenade was live, so the bomb squad detonated it. During World War I, the land that became the golf course was part of Camp Hancock, a sprawling Army base that included woods unsuitable for tents because of a ravine.

Used tires, beer kegs keep zoo animals healthy

A lion rips open a paper bag stuffed with hay and meat. Giraffes chew up old Christmas trees. Asian black bears claw on empty beer kegs. It's been a busy winter for zoo animals — and their schedules promise to be just as packed this spring. But this is not for show: Zoo keepers say games and other activities are essential to keeping animals physically and mentally healthy when they're out of their natural environments.

The so-called "animal enrichment" programs are part of a general change in zoo philosophy in the past several years. Not long ago, zoos thought keeping animals alive and healthy meant serving food in bowls and giving them limited physical activities out of fear of injury. During the cold weather, animals were kept off exhibit in warm buildings with little to do.

"But in an effort to keep them healthy, we almost made them unhealthy," says Tim French, deputy director for animal programming at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, R.I. "Zoo animals tended to be overweight, pretty much across the board. Behavioral issues were a much bigger problem because they were idle both physically and mentally."

Now all the nation's zoos have enrichment programs of some kind, some even mandated by the federal government.

$100,000 in the bank but on food stamps

A loophole in Ohio's public assistance plan allows wealthy people to collect food stamps. Affiliate WLWT reports

Computer model says UNC will win tournament

(CNN) - Here's a hot tip: The University of North Carolina is going to win the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

At least that's the prediction of Joel Sokol, a Georgia Tech professor whose statistical model correctly selected the Final Four, championship game and winner of last year's tournament.

Be glad he's not in your office's betting pool.

Finding some kind of rationality in March Madness, which starts in earnest Thursday, has been an American pastime for decades. Tournament brackets are everywhere, and from sports TV to the dinner table, everyone seems to have predictions about which team will claim the top spot, and why.

But in recent years, "bracketology," as sorting out the single-elimination basketball tournament is sometimes called, has increasingly become the scientific endeavor its name suggests. It's even something on which university professors and professional statisticians stake their reputations.

Like fathers, like daughters

Meghan McCain isn't the only daughter of a politician to make a public impression. Click for more

Student turns to Web for help getting to college

The 17-year-old high school senior recently launched http://iwanttogotonotredame.com to help her raise money to pay for an education at the school. The site includes copies of her Notre Dame application form, letters of recommendation and her high school transcript. Harris has applied for admission to the Roman Catholic school in South Bend, Ind., and expects to be accepted there. The problem is meeting its more than $46,000 annual cost of tuition, fees, room and board.

She hopes her Web site will generate enough in donations to help cover at least part of it. She has applied for at least 10 scholarships, she said. Inspired in part by President Barack Obama use of the Internet as a fundraising tool, Harris said, "I decided to try and use the power of the Internet to help me pay for my college education."

She carries a 3.97 grade-point average and is ranked 10th in her class at Reeths-Puffer High School in Muskegon County's Muskegon Township. She plans to pursue a degree in biomolecular engineering at Notre Dame and then attend medical school to become a pediatric endocrinologist, she said.

"The only thing that is keeping me from possibly going is the financial aspect to it, especially with these economic times," Harris said. "I'm just doing everything I can to not let that stop me from going there."

The real story of St. Patrick

Though he didn't banish snakes from Ireland, St. Patrick's real life was remarkable. Myths vs. facts

Shark circles 700 swimmers

A hammerhead shark is spotted near a swim competition in Sydney, Australia. ITN reports.

Girl Scouts say no to YouTube

A North Carolina Girl Scout's plan to use the Internet to generate more cookie sales is crumbling. Eight-year-old Wild Freeborn posted a YouTube video in the hopes of selling enough boxes to send her troop to summer camp. But scouting officials said it violated a ban on Internet sales and told her to take it down after she scored about 700 orders.

Freeborn told NBC's "Today" show Friday that she and her Web designer father, Bryan, had honorable intentions and took orders only from their hometown of Asheville. Her father says the ad was just promoting the cookies, so he thought it was OK.

Girl Scouts of the USA spokeswoman Denise Pesich says the organization wants to ensure fairness for all girls and the policy is to protect the girls' safety.

Student can't wear Obama mask in show

An elementary school principal is barring a fifth-grader from wearing a Barack Obama mask in the school's talent show because parents have complained it's inappropriate. Dru Lechert-Kelly, 11, hoped to dress presidentially and dance to a YouTube parody that features an Obama look-alike and a rap called "I Can Do Whatever I Like."

The skit features him in a navy blue suit, white shirt, red tie, black shoes and an Obama mask purchased at a costume shop — one like Obama himself once donned for a Saturday Night Live sketch. The choreographed routine rehearsed Thursday ends with Dru on the floor in the splits and was met with applause from students and teachers.

But some parents objected.

"I talked to the parents who are coordinating the talent show, and they feel it's inappropriate and potentially offensive," said Steve Powell, principal of Llewellyn Elementary School in Portland.

He declined to say specifically why it might be offensive. Dru's parents, Scott Lechert and Paul Kelly, suggest it's race.

"There was obviously no intent to harm here or really any possibility of offending anyone," Kelly said.

Dru said he didn't think performing without the mask was an option.

"If I don't have the mask," he said, "it's just some kid up there dancing around."

Model auditions cause riot in New York City

"Top Model" audition ends in chaos with six people injured. Click for video.

'Witch' is box office surprise

An unexpected audience sends the kids' flick, "Race to Witch Mountain," to the No. 1 spot. Reasons why

Student sues airline for $1 million over lost Xbox

A Yale University student from Ohio has filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million from US Airways for a video game console he says was taken from his luggage. Twenty-one-year-old Jesse Maiman alleges that during a flight from New Haven, Conn., to Cincinnati in December, his Xbox 360 with a specialized hard drive disappeared from his luggage.

Maiman says he got what he called "an unconscionable run-around" from the airline. He's asking $1,700 for the loss of the gaming system and for the maximum damages allowable, or $1 million. Maiman filed the suit Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. A US Airways spokeswoman said the airline was unaware of the suit but noted that the government limits liability for lost luggage to $3,300 per bag.

4-day school week gains momentum amid recession

With the nation's school districts strapped for cash, more are considering a schedule that delights students and makes working parents cringe: Class only four days a week. By extending school hours and eliminating a day of classes each week, education officials say they could save busloads of money on transportation and utilities.

That's all fine by Layla Bahabri, a 10th-grader at South Florida's Charles W. Flanagan High School, who likes the idea of sleeping in and studying on the extra day off.

"We could catch up on whatever we want to do," she said.

Introduced by New Mexico during the 1970s oil crisis, the abbreviated school week is gaining fresh momentum in states and districts hurt by the economic downturn. Select districts in about 17 states already follow a four-day week and legislators in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Missouri and Washington have introduced similar proposals.

"It's happening primarily because of the economic situation," said Gale Gaines, vice president for state services at the Southern Regional Education Board. "Schools and districts are trying to work as efficiently as possible."

While there's still debate about how much districts will save, proponents say the shortened week can improve attendance and teacher retention. As for academics, studies have shown the four-day schedule does not hinder student achievement, and may even help improve test scores.

Some districts have even reported fewer disciplinary referrals and more classroom participation.

Apple's small new 4GB iPod shuffle can talk

Apple Inc. unveiled a minuscule new iPod Shuffle on Wednesday that takes its "smaller is better" mantra to a whole new level. The third-generation Shuffle, a slim aluminum rectangle less than 2 inches long, takes up about half as much space as the previous version even as it doubles music storage space to 4 gigabytes. To achieve such a tiny form, Apple had to remove most of the buttons from the body of the $79 device and build them into the headphone cord instead.

"Smaller has tended to work very well for us," said Greg Joswiak, a marketing vice president at Apple.

The trade-off for a sub-$100 Shuffle always has been the lack of a screen to visually navigate the music stored on the device. The first-generation Shuffle, which launched in 2005, could hold about 240 songs, arguably not enough to warrant a screen.

Now that the device can carry 1,000 songs, Apple has come up with a way for people to identify the music they're listening to or find songs they want. A new feature called VoiceOver can, at the push of a button, speak the song and artist name or rattle off the list of custom mixes — called playlists — that the owner has loaded onto the device.

Iraqi who threw shoes at Bush jailed for 3 years

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at then-President George W. Bush was convicted Thursday of assaulting a foreign leader and sentenced to three years in prison, lawyers said. He defiantly shouted "long live Iraq" when the sentence was read.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi's bold act in December electrified many across the Middle East who consider him a hero for expressing his anger at a president who is widely disliked for his decision to invade Iraq in 2003.

The 30-year-old journalist pleaded not guilty to the assault charge Thursday, telling the three-judge panel that "what I did was a natural response to the occupation."

Reporters and family members were then ordered out of the courtroom for the verdict, which was relayed to them by defense attorneys and a court official.

Some of al-Zeidi's relatives collapsed after the ruling was issued and had to be helped out of the courthouse. Others were forcibly removed by guards after shouting "down with Bush" and "long live Iraq."

"This judiciary is not just," al-Zeidi's brother, Dargham, said tearfully after Thursday verdict was announced.

3 deer make beer run, exit back door

Three deer dashed into a beer store and wreaked havoc on a display case. WTAE's Wendy Bell reports. Click for video

German killer's warning: I'm going to give them hell

WINNENDEN, Germany (CNN) - The teenager who killed 15 people in Germany issued a warning about the attack on the Internet the night before his rampage, saying: "I have got a weapon here and... I am going to go to my former school and give them hell."

Police said Tim Kretschmer, 17, made the threat during an online conversation with another teenager before Wednesday's attack.

Kretschmer said: "Everyone laughs at me. No one recognizes my potential. I mean this seriously. I have got a weapon here and tomorrow I am going to go to my former school and give them hell.

"Maybe I would escape, keep your ear to the ground. You'll hear from me tomorrow morning. Just notice the name of the place, Winnenden. Don't say anything to the police."

The other teenager replied: "Laugh out loud, course you will."

"I need to see some pictures before I believe it," the teenager added.

Heribert Rech, interior minister of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, told journalists that media reports indicated a teenager from Bavaria reported the Internet conversation to his father.

Nickelodeon stands by Chris Brown as nominee

Nickelodeon said it has no plans to remove Chris Brown as a nominee for its annual Kids' Choice Awards, despite the singer's felony charges for allegedly beating up his girlfriend Rihanna.

Brown is nominated for favorite male singer and favorite song for "Kiss Kiss." Rihanna, who police say was allegedly punched, bitten and choked by Brown in the early morning hours before last month's Grammy Awards, is nominated for best song, too.

An online petition asking Nickelodeon to remove Brown and Rihanna as nominees had 4,655 signatures Tuesday.

"Like all our KCA nominees, Chris Brown was nominated by kids several months ago based on his body of work as a performer, and the kids who vote will ultimately decide who wins in the category," Dan Martinsen, Nickelodeon spokesman, said.

Teen gunman dead after killing 15 at German school

WINNENDEN, Germany – A 17-year-old gunman dressed in black opened fire at his former high school in southwestern Germany on Wednesday then fled in a hijacked car, killing at least 15 people before police shot him to death, state officials said.

The gunman entered the school in Winnenden and opened fire, shooting at random, police said. He killed nine students, three teachers and a passer-by outside the building, officials said.

"He went into the school with a weapon and carried out a bloodbath," said regional police chief Erwin Hetger. "I've never seen anything like this in my life."

Triggering a land and air manhunt, he hijacked a car, freed the passengers and drove about 25 miles (40 kilometers) before police found him. When confronted, he killed two bystanders in a shootout with police before he was slain, Baden Wuerttemburg governor Guenther Oettinger said. Two officers were seriously injured, but there was no immediate information on other casualties.

Four hours after the shootings began, police announced the teenager's death.

It was the nation's worst shooting since another teenage gunman killed 16 people and himself in another high school in 2002.

Gator accused of starting fire at school:

A four-foot alligator rescued in an abandoned school on fire in western Pennsylvania may have also started the blaze. North Beaver Township officials are not identifying the owner of the former elementary school that burned Thursday afternoon near New Castle, about 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

But they said the man was living with a menagerie of animals in the building, including the alligator, about 70 rabbits and unspecified "aquatic animals." The Pennsylvania Game Commission was involved in caring for the animal. Fire Chief Paul Henry said the building's owner believes the alligator started the fire by knocking over a portable heater. Firefighters removed the animal, but only after taping its mouth shut.

Can NASA take a joke? Try space station Colbert

Earth to Space Station Colbert: The cosmic joke may be on NASA. Comedian Stephen Colbert, who couldn't get his mock presidential campaign off the ground, is polling better by aiming higher. He's convinced his many fans to write in his name in NASA's online public vote to name a new room to be added to the international space station.

So instead of NASA's suggested choices — Serenity, Legacy, Earthrise or Venture — the space station's new addition may wind up with the name "Colbert."

The count by mid-Tuesday had votes for the comedian just shy of 115,000 and Serenity trailing at 98,641. More than 451,000 people have voted.

The to-be-named space station room, currently called Node 3, is scheduled to be delivered to the space station near the end of this year. It will have lots of big windows and a machine that will turn astronauts' urine into drinking water.

The name Colbert doesn't quite fit with NASA's theme, said agency spokesman John Yembrick. Other U.S. rooms in the international orbiting outpost are named Unity, Harmony and Destiny. However, the space agency hasn't made any decision and voting continues until March 20.

College player blackballed by voters

Binghamton's D.J. Rivera is denied all-conference honors on purpose by other coaches.
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Teen's naked pix led to suicide, mom says

A teen's mom says she committed suicide after kids at school harassed her over a naked photo that spread around.

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Report: 1 in 50 U.S. children face homelessness

(CNN) - One in 50 children is homeless in the United States every year, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report, by the National Center on Family Homelessness, analyzed data from 2005-06 and found that more than 1.5 million children were without a home.

"These numbers will grow as home foreclosures continue to rise," Ellen Bassuk, president of the center, said in a statement.

The study ranked states on their performance in four areas: the extent of child homelessness, the risk for it, child well-being and the state's policy and planning efforts.

The states that fared the poorest were Texas, Georgia, Arkansas, New Mexico and Louisiana.

Connecticut, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island and North Dakota performed the best.

Homeless children have poor health, emotional problems and low graduation rates, the study found.

"The consequences to our society will play out for decades," Bassuk said. "As we bail out the rest of our nation, it is also time to come to their aid."

Miracle shot amid tragedy

Alabama's Anthony Brock hits a stunning game-winner a day after dealing with heartbreak.
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'Watchmen' conquers box office with $55.7 million

LOS ANGELES - " Watchmen " clocked in with $55.7 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office, making director Zack Snyder 's comic book adaptation about a team of twisted superheros the biggest opening of 2009 so far.

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Students post videos of schoolyard brawls

In schoolyards across the country, all it takes to attract a crowd are the words "Fight! Fight! Fight!" But students are increasingly showing up with cameras to record the brawls, then posting the footage on the Internet. Some of the videos have been viewed more than a million times. Now school officials and cyberspace watchdogs are worried that the videos will encourage violence and sharpen the humiliation of defeat for the losers.

"Kids are looking for their 15 megabytes of fame," said Parry Aftab, executive director of the Internet safety group WiredSafety.org. "Kids' popularity is measured by how many hits they get, how many people visit their sites."

Not all of the fights are spontaneous or motivated strictly by animosity. Some are planned ahead of time by combatants who arrange for their own brawling to be recorded. Scores of bare-knuckled fights appear on YouTube or on sites devoted entirely to the grainy and shaky amateur recordings, which are usually made with cell phones or digital cameras.

In one recent video, two girls are egged on by friends and soon begin punching and choking one another. In other videos, a boy appears to be knocked unconscious by a well-placed haymaker, and a second boy spits out blood after suffering a blow to the mouth.

"One of the reasons for doing this is to attract attention," said Nancy Willard, executive director of the Oregon-based Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use. "The more vicious the fight, the greater the attention."

On YouTube, viewers rate the action by brutality level and sometimes make profanity-laced observations.

Anchor caught on camera singing Jacko

Inspired by Michael Jackson, CNN's Tony Harris breaks out in song.

Click for video.

Smuggler with broken leg wears cocaine cast

MADRID, Spain (CNN) - Spanish police arrested a man arriving at Barcelona's airport from Chile after determining that the cast on his fractured left leg was made of cocaine, the Interior Ministry said in a statement Friday.

The 66-year-old Chilean man had an actual fracture of two bones below the knee, but the police suspect that he, or accomplices, may have intentionally fractured it, so that the cocaine cast could be applied.

The plan, police say, was to get past police controls because of the leg cast, meant to elicit sympathy, but also to have a real fracture in case police decided to X-ray it.

Police were scrutinizing passengers arriving on the flight late Wednesday from the Chilean capital, Santiago, when they became suspicious of the man. They quickly discovered cocaine hidden in his luggage, in a six-pack of beer and also in the aluminum legs of two stools he was transporting.

Then they applied a substance to the cast, which showed that it was made of cocaine, the statement said.

In all, police said they seized 4.8 kilograms (10.5 lb) of cocaine.

The suspect, identified only by his initials J.S.P.F., was taken to hospital to have his leg properly treated. He remains there, under police guard, a police spokesman told CNN.

Boy makes thousands off McDonald's memorabilia

A British boy made a big deal out of Happy Meals. Luke Underwood, 11, had his 5,000-piece collection of posters, Happy Meal boxes, toys, and promotional displays auctioned Wednesday night, selling for 8,130 pounds ($11,500), which includes a 15 percent buyer's premium. Luke, who is from South Clifton, Nottinghamshire, 140 miles (220 kilometers) north of London, said Thursday it was tough to put the collection under the hammer.

"It was sad to see it go," he said on a telephone interview on his way home from school. "We just needed the room. It was on the landing. It was everywhere."

Unique Auctions' owner Terry Woodcock said he had no idea the memorabilia would sell.

"I didn't think people would be interested in McDonald's toys. I've never been so wrong about an auction in 20 years," he said.

Woodcock said that people from around the world — including the U.S., Germany and Australia — bought pieces of the collection. One man paid 300 pounds ($420) for a 101 Dalmatians toy to finish his own collection. Luke's father, Philip, had bought most of the collection for his son four years ago for 250 pounds ($350), and they've been adding to it.

Luke said he wants to continue to buy and sell collector's items. Batman and James Bond toys are on his shopping list.

"They are going to be the biggest sellers in the future," he said.

Obama surprises daughters with new swing set

First daughters Malia and Sasha Obama got a big surprise after school Wednesday: a brand-new swing set. They squealed with delight upon seeing it, a spokeswoman for the first lady said. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, went to work while the girls were at school, having the set installed on the south grounds of the White House within sight of the Oval Office, where their father spends plenty of time.

Late last year as the couple planned the family's move to Washington, they had discussed with the chief usher at the White House ways to make the historic residence feel more like home for their girls, said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama.

Malia and Sasha, ages 10 and 7, had never lived anywhere but Chicago.

"Many first families have made these sorts of changes to make the White House feel like home," McCormick Lelyveld said. "This one is like their little mark."

The 100 percent cedar and North American Redwood structure has four swings, including a tire swing, a slide, a fort, a climbing wall and climbing ropes. There's also a picnic table with brass plates etched with the names of all 44 presidents, she said.

"They ran right for it. They were really, really excited. All four of them," McCormick Lelyveld said.

School mistakenly sells classroom for $1:

Officials in one eastern Pennsylvania school district are red-faced after a costly mistake on eBay. The East Stroudsburg School District was attempting to sell seven used classroom trailers, but an error in its ad on the online auction site allowed someone to bid and buy one trailer for only a dollar. The district had purchased the trailers three years ago for about $46,000 each.

With transportation and setup costs, the total came to around $60,000. Officials say they were expecting to get around $5,000 to $10,000 per trailer on eBay. District superintendent Rachel Heath says officials tried to back out of the eBay sale but couldn't. Heath says the remaining trailers won't be sold on eBay.

Lawmaker seeks ban on Barbie dolls

Just in time for Barbie's 50th birthday, a West Virginia lawmaker wants to outlaw the doll. Democratic Delegate Jeff Eldridge is proposing to ban the sale of the Mattel doll and others like her in West Virginia. He says the dolls influence girls to place too much importance on physical beauty, at the expense of their intellectual and emotional development.

He joins others who have criticized the doll over the years for promoting materialism and an unnatural body image. Barbie turns 50 on March 9, and the toy maker has made big plans this year to mark the anniversary.

14-year-old fake Chicago cop drove patrol car

Chicago police said Tuesday that the 14-year-old who posed as an officer drove a patrol car and aided in an arrest, and that seven officers face disciplinary reviews for the "lax" behavior that allowed the teen's escapade to happen. "They weren't paying attention," Superintendent Jody Weis said at a news conference announcing the completion of the investigation. "They were lax. I'm very upset. This whole incident is very disturbing."

The teenager, an aspiring police officer, allegedly wore a uniform and entered a South Side police station through an unlocked back door around 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 24. He was issued a radio and rode with a patrol officer for more than five hours, at times using the terminal in the squad car and responding to five assignments, Weis said.

Authorities previously said the teen did not drive a squad car, but Weis said Tuesday that the boy — who is too young to drive in Illinois — spent two hours behind the wheel. The boy also helped in the arrest of a suspect who allegedly violated a protection order.

"He brought the arm into the middle of his back so handcuffs could be placed on him," Weis said.

The boy returned to the station at 7:37 p.m., when a supervisor discovered the teen was not wearing a complete uniform and had no weapon, Weis said. The teen was arrested at 7:40 p.m.

"This is absolutely unacceptable," Weis said. "We were very fortunate that a lot of tragic things didn't happen."

The boy has pleaded not guilty in juvenile court to impersonating an officer. He is no longer in custody but must wear an electronic monitoring device.

Lawmakers to hold hearing on youth camp injuries

DENVER (AP) — State lawmakers will hold a hearing Thursday concerning allegations of child abuse at a youth detention facility in Greeley.

Loveland Republican Rep. B.J. Nikkel says she wants to know how children got injured at the Platte Valley Youth Services Center.

The Associated Press reported last year that a girl's wrist was broken while she was being restrained. Another youth claimed he was injured when a counselor sat on him while he was handcuffed.

Neither incident was reported to police.

The Joint House and Senate Health & Human Services Committee asked state officials to appear before the committee Thursday to explain their policies.

'Talking trash' with Obama

A Washington fan recounts his playful exchanges with the president at an NBA game.
Click for more.

The Disney Channel is going back to school with "High School Musical 4"

The fourth iteration of the popular musical franchise will begin production later this year and premiere in 2010.

The Disney Channel said in a statement Tuesday that the new movie will introduce a new cast of characters and will focus on a cross-town school rivalry. "High School Musical" drew an audience of 7.7 million when it debuted in 2006. "High School Musical 2" more than doubled viewership of the original with 17.2 million in 2007. "High School Musical 3" was released in theaters in 2008 and made more than $40 million its opening weekend

Cat saves elderly owner from smoky fire

A Bremerton Fire Department official said an elderly woman has her cat to thank for saving her life in a smoky house fire. The woman's smoke alarm was going off as smoke billowed through the vents from her home heater but she slept through it. Her cat jumped up on the bed and pawed at her face until she woke up.

Says Fire Lt. Charlie Rinard, "If the cat hadn't woken her up, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have made it."

Rinard said the woman showed signs of smoke inhalation after the fire early Saturday but both she and her cat are OK.

The fire was contained inside the heater and firefighters cleared the smoke from the home.

Arsonist targets 1990s green Ford Escorts

An arsonist is apparently on the prowl for green Ford Escorts from the 1990s. Three of them have been burned in recent weeks, a series that Medford police Sgt. Mike Budreau described as "pretty bizarre." A 1995 green Ford Escort was destroyed by flames early Sunday morning after someone broke a window and poured flammable liquid into it. A similar fire was set in a 1993 green Ford Escort parked in a driveway on Feb. 22.

Investigators have also uncovered a Feb. 2 case of a 1992 green Ford Escort damaged by a plastic container filled with flammable liquid placed next to a tire that burned without setting the car afire. Budreau told the Mail Tribune newspaper in Medford, "I think this person really doesn't like Ford Escorts."

Coast Guard suspends search for NFL players, friend

(CNN) - The Coast Guard ended its search Tuesday for two professional football players and a third man lost at sea, leaving the families to cope with unknown fates of the men and to organize a private search.

Loved ones of one of the missing boaters react Tuesday to the news the Coast Guard's search would end.

"There's a lot of things we have to come to grips with -- we've all agreed unanimously we won't give up hope," said Bruce Cooper, father of Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper.

Cooper, NFL free agent Corey Smith and former college football player William Bleakley are missing, with authorities believing a fishing boat carrying them and a fourth man overturned Saturday in the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard search was called off at sundown Tuesday, about 6:30 p.m.

The fourth man, Nick Schuyler, was found alive and sitting atop the overturned boat about 40 miles west of Egmont Key, Florida, on Monday afternoon.

Cooper's father and his friend, Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson, praised the Coast Guard for its efforts, but said they would move forward with plans to organize their own search.

Amazon unveils Kindle Application for iPhone

NEW YORK (AP) — You may not have the latest $359 Kindle electronic book reader from Amazon.com, but if you own an iPhone or iPod Touch, a new application will let you access the same content on your Apple device.

In a bid to increase its slice of the e-book market, the Seattle-based online retailer plans to roll out a free program Wednesday that brings several of the Kindle's functions to the iPod and iPhone's smaller screen.

The program, which can be downloaded from Apple's online application store, lets iPhone and iPod Touch users read the same electronic books, magazines and newspapers that Kindle owners can buy on Amazon.com. As with the Kindle, the iPhone app lets users change the text size on the screen, and add bookmarks, notes and highlights.

The application does not connect to the Kindle store, however, so users must access the Web browser on their iPhone, iPod or computer to buy the content.

If you happen to have a Kindle and an iPhone, Amazon's program will handily sync the two so you can keep your place in the same book on both devices.

The Kindle program isn't the first e-book reader for the iPhone, but it marks the first time Kindle content is available on a cell phone — a move Amazon recently said it would be making, and something that rival Google Inc. is also doing.

It arrives a few weeks after Amazon unveiled the second-generation Kindle, which has the same price tag as its predecessor but is skinnier and includes updated features like more storage space for books and a longer battery life.

840-pound emerald mystery

After months, detectives locate a huge stolen emerald. Now, if they could only figure out who owns it. Click for more

Facebook users hit by new worm threat

CNN's Errol Barnett looks into a new worm infecting users of Facebook and other social networking sites. Click for video.

NYC's West 53rd Street briefly to become 'U2 Way'

NEW YORK (AP) — Rock band U2 is getting official recognition for its stint this week on David Letterman's show.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is temporarily renaming part of West 53rd Street "U2 Way" on Tuesday, the day the group's latest CD is being released.

The band is performing an unprecedented five consecutive times this week on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman."

It's the first time a musical guest has performed a full week on the show, which is taped at The Ed Sullivan Theater near the intersection of West 53rd Street and Broadway — near the spot being renamed.

The Dublin, Ireland band has sold tens of millions of records and has taken up several political and social causes.

Jimmy Fallon makes his debut as 'Late Night' host

NEW YORK (AP) — As Jimmy Fallon prepared to debut as host of NBC's "Late Night," he found his predecessor, Conan O'Brien, in his dressing room, still packing up.

"I'm about to start my first show," Fallon told him eagerly.

"Oh, is that tonight?" O'Brien replied. "I was gonna TiVo it, or something."

A new era began Monday in the time slot commonly known as "12:30" (more accurately, 12:37 a.m. EST) as Fallon arrived with a new-era version of "Late Night," flush with his wired-up personality, a classy, comfy set and a super-cool house band, the Roots.

After the O'Brien bit, Fallon stepped on stage with a brisk, if forgettable, monologue, followed by a cleverer "Slow Jam" presentation of the news (bluesy and romantic, as accompanied by the Roots). After that came a comic tribute to the show's designated target demographic: Blonde Mothers.

A possibly recurring game-show spoof, "Lick It For Ten," invited three "contestants" from the audience to lick something — a lawn mower, a photocopier and a bowl of goldfish — for a $10-dollar prize.

And all that was before the first guest, Robert De Niro, who was game to play off of his reputation as a difficult interview.

"I wrote some questions with one-word answers," said Fallon helpfully. Consulting his list, he asked De Niro, "How are you?"

"I'm OK."

"Are you happy to be here?"

"I don't know yet," De Niro replied.

Fallon did his De Niro impression and got De Niro to do a Jimmy Fallon impression. Then they appeared in a sketch together.

Justin Timberlake came on next and plugged a new reality series with a film clip that seemed like yet another spoof, but is actually for real.

Finishing up was Van Morrison, who performed a song amid a huge band of his own.

And that's how the hour went. Whew! No one could say the pace ever dragged or the energy lagged.

Search narrows for NFL players off Fla. Gulf Coast

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Two NFL players and a third man missing since their boat capsized off the Florida coast face dwindling odds of survival after more than two days in the water, though their size and good health could help them fend off hypothermia, authorities said.

Coast Guard officials wouldn't speculate on the men's chances of being rescued alive as the search continued Tuesday morning. There was some hope, even though hypothermia can set in after 18 hours in 64-degree water. Water temperatures were in the mid- to upper-60s.

"With all of these men being past, present football players, they do have a much larger physique than a lot of people," Petty Officer Robert Simpson said. "So their odds are going to be definitely in their favor."

The lone survivor so far, Nick Schuyler, was conscious but appeared weak as he was loaded onto a stretcher Monday. His father, Stuart Schuyler, said the former University of South Florida player was bruised and dehydrated but "looks OK." He said his son was in serious but stable condition.

Crews had narrowed their search Monday for Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper, 26, who owned the 21-foot boat; free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith, 29; and former South Florida player William Bleakley, 25. Cooper is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, and Smith is 6-foot-2, 250 pounds. Bleakley had played tight end.

Nick Schuyler told rescuers that the boat the four good friends were aboard was anchored when it flipped Saturday evening in rough seas, said Coast Guard Capt. Timothy M. Close. Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been hanging onto the hull that a Coast Guard cutter discovered 35 miles off Clearwater.

Teens seek to save old water tower

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Grand Forks teenagers are trying to save the city's old smiley water tower.

The City Council decided last month to get bids to demolish the tower because it would be too expensive to maintain. It has not held water for nearly 10 years and large chunks of lead paint are flaking off.

Kyle Beck and David Combs have started up a petition drive to save the tower. They estimate about 700 people have signed. The teens also held up "Honk if you love Smiley" signs. They plan fundraisers.

Beck says the tower, with its painted smile and wink, is "the Statue of Liberty of Grand Forks."

High school female dunker honored

Internet sensation Brittney Griner proves herself to be the nation's best HS hoops player.
Click for more

Oldest college basketball player forced out

It looks like Ken Mink's collegiate basketball career is over - at age 73. Mink is believed to be the oldest college basketball player in history. But the Tennessee Junior College Athletic Association has declared him ineligible to play for Roane State. The association says there are problems with the school's reporting a change in his academic courses.

Roane State will also have to forfeit a game in which the senior citizen scored two points. Mink first played college ball 52 years ago. But he was expelled after someone soaped the coach's office.

Coast Guard got no SOS from 2 missing NFL players

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — The Coast Guard received no distress signal from a fishing boat that disappeared off Florida's Gulf Coast while carrying two NFL players and two former college players.

The Coast Guard is searching a wide area for the 21-foot vessel carrying Corey Smith, a Detroit Lions free-agent defensive end, and Marquis Cooper, an Oakland Raiders linebacker. Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler, both former University of South Florida players, were also aboard.

The boat was reported missing Sunday, one day after it left Clearwater Pass and did not return as expected Saturday evening as the weather became increasingly rough, with heavy winds and high seas.

Coast Guard Capt. Timothy M. Close said there was no communication with the men even before the weather started to pick up and no SOS call was received.

"That's not to say they didn't send one out," he said. "We didn't receive anything."

The Coast Guard used a helicopter and an 87-foot ship to search a 750-square mile area west of Clearwater Pass, but poor weather on Sunday made the search difficult.

There was no sign of the men or the boat by Sunday evening. Relatives told the Coast Guard the men had lifejackets and flares onboard.

Cooper owns the boat and he and Smith have been on fishing trips before, said Ron Del Duca, Smith's agent. The pair had been teammates on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004.

'Madea' locks up top spot at weekend box office

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" locked up $16.5 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office for a second straight weekend, beating out "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience."

The Jonas Brothers film, featuring the band on stage and off, took in $12.7 million, the second-biggest opening for a concert film behind 2008's "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert." That 3-D film, chronicling fellow Disney idol Miley Cyrus, premiered at the top of the charts after playing in just 683 theaters. "Jonas Brothers" opened in 1,271 theaters.

"'Hannah Montana' set a bar so high it's going to take forever to knock it off," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. "Everything about it worked. She was coming off a great album and tour and three years on the Disney Channel. I don't think any set of circumstances will ever be quite what 'Hannah' had."

Feisty, pistol-packin' granny Madea remained unstoppable at the box office. The two previous films centering on Perry's foul-mouthed character — 2005's "Diary of Mad Black Woman" and 2006's "Madea's Family Reunion" — also debuted at No. 1, and they grossed more than $150 million total.

SBEC Senior Katelyn Nichols is a Next Step Magazine Super Teen

“What’s good about your day?” Katelyn Nichols often asks people she encounters.

The SBEC senior says it fosters positive responses. It is a tactic she has learned through Imagine Memphis, an organization she helped found that is dedicated to civic engagement and making a positive impact in the community. This and other accomplishments contributed to her recent selection as Super Teen for "Next Step Magazine," which helps students prepare for life after high school.

Nichols has been involved in the performing arts since age 6, when she started taking Irish step dancing and voice. She has performed in numerous school and community productions and taken acting classes in New York and Los Angeles. Last spring the Hernando teen attended the iPOP acting competition in Los Angeles and placed fifth in the Top Actor of the Year category for the 13-17 age group. She will play Dorothy in SBEC’s spring production of The Wizard of Oz under the direction of drama instructor Judy DeFrehn, who speaks of Nichols’ leading-lady and leadership qualities.

“Katelyn is one of the hardest working young ladies I have ever had the privilege of working with,” DeFrehn says. “She has a wealth of natural ability, yet she is always willing to learn more and perfect her skills. Always the team player, Katelyn is a true encourager to every member of the team.”

Her experience in theater has bolstered her confidence for community work. For Imagine Memphis, she and other participants interview civic leaders and citizens to discuss ways to improve the city. “We call it appreciative inquiry,” she says. “We ask them what they like about Memphis, and it makes them realize what’s important. It’s cool to see how that changes perspective, and people come up with new ideas.”

Nichols is also working on an appreciative inquiry project for Bridge Builders, a leadership program that provides experiential learning for youth and adults in fighting racism, poverty and educational challenges.

President of the Thespian Society at SBEC and senior-class historian, Nichols squeezes in voice and dance lessons, play rehearsals and board meetings. She is also organizing a spring talent show at the school. College is next, to study theater and journalism, but she is not sure where.

Bismarck girl cited after cell phone photos

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Police say a Bismarck teenager has been cited for being an unruly juvenile after her mother found the girl sent explicit pictures of herself to a boy through her cell phone.

Authorities say the sending of such photos, called "sexting," is becoming more widespread.

Police say the 16-year-old Bismarck girl's mother reported the incident after an argument with her daughter.

Bismarck Police Lt. Randy Ziegler says such reports are becoming more common, probably because of technology.

Jerry Seinfeld bringing reality series to NBC

NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Seinfeld is returning to NBC as producer of a comic reality series where celebrities and a referee try to help squabbling couples make peace.

That's the good news for Seinfeld's fans.

The bad news? Seinfeld said he has no plans to step in front of the cameras for "The Marriage Ref" or, for that matter, to ever star in a television series again.

"It's a young man's game," said Seinfeld, 54. "Nothing could surpass the experience I had."

That would be "Seinfeld," of course, the sitcom that ended its nine-year run in 1998, a big part of NBC's golden era. The fourth-place network has since fallen on hard times, and jumped at the chance to welcome back one of its top names.

The idea came from personal experience.

Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica, were arguing one day — he doesn't remember the topic — while a friend was visiting. The friend became uncomfortable and wondered if she should leave.

"I said, 'You know what, I need some help to settle this right here. I need a marriage ref,'" he said, and the friend obliged.

Seinfeld helped develop the idea with a friend, Ellen Rakieten, who had just left Oprah Winfrey's production company after working there for 23 years.

Facebook to let users give input on policies

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is trying its hand at democracy.

The fast-growing online hangout, whose more than 175 million worldwide users could form the world's sixth-largest country behind Brazil, said Thursday that those users will play a "meaningful role" in deciding the site's policies and voting on changes.

Facebook is trying to recover from last week's policy-change blunder, which prompted tens of thousands to join online protests. At issue was who controls the information, like photos, posts and messages, that people share with their friends on the site.

As Facebook becomes an integral part of its users' daily lives, a place to muse about everything from relationships to root canals, they understandably worry about who gets access to their private information and whether it could end up in the wrong hands.

On Thursday, founder Mark Zuckerberg sought to reassure users that they own their information, not Facebook. And in a broader step, the company also said its users will get a hand in determining the various policies — such as privacy, ownership and sharing — by reviewing, commenting and voting on them before they are put in place.

If more than 7,000 users comment on any proposed change, it would go to a vote. It would be binding to Facebook if more than 30 percent of active users vote. Based on Facebook's current size, that would be nearly 53 million people. By comparison, a group created to protest Facebook's new terms has roughly 139,600 members as of Thursday.

"As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship is created between Internet companies and the people they serve," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "The past week reminded us that users feel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information they share."

Fox renews 'The Simpsons' through season 22

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fox says it's renewing "The Simpsons" for another two seasons, which will secure its place as TV's longest-running prime-time series.

Now in its 20th season, "The Simpsons" already had tied record-holder "Gunsmoke." The Western drama series aired for two decades on CBS before it ended in 1975.

"The Simpsons" will pass that mark next season. The two-year, 44-episode pickup announced Thursday by Fox will bring the total number of "Simpsons" episodes to 493.

The animated comedy about Homer and Marge Simpson, their children and the town of Springfield is not only enduring but much-honored: It's received a Peabody and 24 Emmys among other awards.

SoCal aquarium blames flooding on curious octopus

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California say the trickster who flooded their offices with sea water was armed. Eight-armed, to be exact.

They blame the soaking they discovered Tuesday morning on the aquarium's resident two-spotted octopus, a tiny female known for being curious and gregarious with visitors. The octopus apparently tugged on a valve and that allowed hundreds of gallons of water to overflow its tank.

Aquarium spokeswoman Randi Parent says no sea life was harmed by the flood, but the brand new, ecologically designed floors might be damaged by the water.

Hernando students to star in 'High School Drama'

HERNANDO-Hernando High School Theater students are gearing up to take the stage as the star of their own play.

Next month, the group will unveil “High School Drama,” a compilation of six, one-act plays written and directed by none other than each other.
Each play was chosen for the production from a pool of 36 judged in a student playwright contest at the school in October.

The winning plays are:

“Pretty Down to Your Bones” by Leerin Campbell. The play has been granted permission to use music by “The Hush Sound,” an Indie quartet originating in DuPage County, Ill. The name of the play is the title of one of the quartet’s songs.

“First” by Karina Popp is a reflection of four different people’s perspective of their first kiss. The play features James High, an HHS chemistry teacher who was heavily involved in his high school theater some 20 years ago.

“Judgment Day” by Amber Sims. The play takes place in a courtroom setting and is loosely based on Biblical characters Adam, Eve and the serpent, who were at fault from taking from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Book of Genesis.

“Principles of Enforcement” by Justin Veech is a parody based loosely on three HHS principals.

“Kiss by the Book” by Kylee Chisolm. The play takes place in a classroom setting and tells the story of two students who perform a piece from “Romeo and Juliet,” and through the words of Shakespeare, find true love themselves.

“Mr. Huxtable’s Super, Fantastical, Wonderous Adventure” by Brandon McAninch is a Monty Python genre production full of silly antics and intelligent humor.

The plays will be performed in the student titled “High School Drama” production March 5-7 at Hernando Performing Arts Center on the HHS campus. Performances begin at 7 p.m.

Woman hangs by armpit above 50-foot cliff

A dog takes off after an animal causing the dog's owner to slip and fall off a cliff.
WPTZ's Stewart Ledbetter reports.

Nick Mitchell has 'American Idol' judges laughing

NEW YORK (AP) — "American Idol" hopeful Nick Mitchell didn't win over the judges with his singing, but his over-the-top style clearly qualified as comedy.

Mitchell left the judges laughing and nearly speechless Wednesday after he wailed a show-stopper from the musical "Dreamgirls." He came on as the flamboyant alter ego he has christened Norman Gentle.

Simon Cowell called the performance "atrocious" and "horrific," and his three fellow judges didn't argue.

The acerbic Cowell had no kinder comments for Matt Giraud: "verging on a horrible performance."

And Jeanine Vailes moved the gentler Randy Jackson to say that her performance's "best part was the end, when it was over."

But all wasn't lost.

Red-haired, full-throated Allison Iraheta wowed the judges.

"This is a funny show tonight," marveled Jackson when the 16-year-old Los Angeles native was done. "First, we had comedy, we got some bad singing. You just blew it out the box!"

"From now on, you can be sure you're great," raved Kara DioGuardi.

On Wednesday's live broadcast, the second group of 12 contestants were vying to be among this season's dozen finalists. The night's top three vote-getters will be revealed on the Fox series' Thursday episode.

Injured good Samaritan ticketed for jaywalking

DENVER (AP) — A good Samaritan who helped push three people out of the path of a pickup truck before being struck and injured has gotten a strange reward for his good deed: A jaywalking ticket.

Family members said 58-year-old bus driver Jim Moffett and another man were helping two elderly women cross a busy Denver street in a snowstorm when he was hit Friday night.

Moffett suffered bleeding in the brain, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder and a possible ruptured spleen. He was in serious but stable condition Wednesday.

The Colorado State Patrol issued the citation. Trooper Ryan Sullivan said that despite Moffett's intentions, jaywalking contributed to the accident.

Moffett had been driving his bus when the two women got off. In the interest of safety, he got out and, together with another passenger, helped the ladies cross.

Moffett's stepson, Ken McDonald, said the driver of the pickup plowed into his stepfather, but not before Moffett pushed the two women out of the way.

When he awoke in intensive care, he learned of the ticket. "His reaction was dazed and confused. I was a little angry," said McDonald.

10-year-old designated driver crashes car

After a 10-year-old crashes a car into a house, her grandfather is charged with drunken driving. WBNS' Glenn McEntyre reports.

Obama tells nation: 'We are not quitters'

WASHINGTON (AP) - To a nation reeling from recession and facing long-festering problems, President Barack Obama has a simple reminder: "We are not quitters."

Whatever the problems, the new president promised in the first prime-time speech of his term, "We will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."

Click for full story

Octuplet mom fears hospital may not release babies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nadya Suleman apparently has bigger worries than taking care of her 14 children. Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw says she may have to prove she can handle the load, or else have hospital officials withhold her newborn octuplets.

McGraw said the 33-year-old unemployed mother called him Tuesday, distraught that Kaiser Permanente officials told her they were concerned about the babies living at her home in suburban Los Angeles.

"What she is telling me is that unless and until she has a better living arrangement, that they are not likely to release the children to her," McGraw told the Los Angeles Times.

Suleman has taped two episodes of McGraw's "Dr. Phil" show. The first was scheduled to air Wednesday.

Suleman gave birth to the octuplets Jan. 26 in Kaiser's hospital in nearby Bellflower. She has six other children, lives in her mother's three-bedroom home in Whittier and relies on food stamps and disability income to provide for them. The home is under threat of foreclosure and could be sold at auction beginning May 5 because Suleman's mother is $23,225 behind in her mortgage payments, property records show.

Kaiser officials declined to comment on Suleman's case.

"Any conversations that the mother may or may not have had on this topic are private and we could not discuss them," said Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson.

Just a joke: Cowell has no deep-freeze plan

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A spokeswoman for Simon Cowell says reports that the "American Idol" judge wants to be frozen after death are greatly exaggerated.

Cowell was making a tongue-in-cheek remark at a dinner in London two weeks ago with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other guests, spokeswoman Lisa Dallos said Tuesday.

But the cryogenics comment that Dallos said was meant as a joke was trumpeted in a number of news reports as a serious plan by Cowell, a music industry executive and TV producer ("America's Got Talent," Britain's "The X Factor").

Schwarzenegger to play himself in Stallone film

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Art will imitate life when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spends a few hours playing himself later this year in a movie by Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone's publicist, Sheryl Main, revealed more details Tuesday of Schwarzenegger's rare big-screen appearance. The governor said he has done just three cameos for friends since becoming governor in 2003.

Shooting on the film, "The Expendables," will begin March 28 in Brazil and move to New Orleans for two months. Main says the governor will shoot his scene in Los Angeles.

His role will be a familiar one: California governor.

Stallone writes, directs and stars in the movie, a film about a group of mercenaries trying to overthrow a South American dictator. It also stars Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker.