Grinch steals Christmas from nuns, but they get it back

COLUMBIA, Md. (AP) — The Little Sisters of the Poor have a theory about how they got Christmas back from the Grinch who stole half...

North Carolina woman given wrong lottery ticket wins $277K

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina woman who was given the wrong lottery game ticket is celebrating that mistake. The N.C. Education Lottery said...

Steer too beefy to become burgers reprieved to life on farm

LAKE PRESTON, Australia (AP) — Knickers the steer is huge on the internet — for being huge. The black-and-white Holstein Friesian won social media fame...

Court: Man put clothes, ID on stand-in corpse in $2M scheme

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man accused of faking his own death seven years ago to collect a $2 million life insurance policy arranged for...

Teen freed after being stuck in vault at abandoned bank

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Officials say a teen has been freed after spending more than three hours in the vault of an abandoned Florida bank....

Officials: Woman passes gas, pulls knife on offended man

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman faces an aggravated assault charge after authorities say she passed gas in line at a dollar store...

Hawk native to South America wows crowd in Maine park

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A hawk that is native to Central and South America drew a lot of attention from Maine’s birding community Friday after...

FanDuel pays out bets on Alabama to win title ahead of game

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Roll in dough, Tide! FanDuel sportsbook is paying out bets from people who picked Alabama to win the college football...

Royal Mail delivers: Postman, can you take this to heaven?

LONDON (AP) — A 7-year-old Scottish boy who sent a birthday card to his father in heaven has received a heart-warming reply. A Royal Mail...

Minnesota church ends 70-year tradition of lutefisk dinner

FOREST LAKE, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota church has ended its 70-year tradition of serving a dinner of lutefisk, a Nordic dish of dried cod...

DC clerk stalls marriage over ‘foreign’ New Mexico ID card

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A District of Columbia clerk and a supervisor refused to accept a New Mexico man’s state driver’s license as he...

Stranded camel entertains motorists along snowy roadway

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The surprisingly powerful winter storm that swept across Pennsylvania brought some surprising sights with it, including a camel stranded along a snowy...

Iowa council gives final approval to ‘toy’ firearms ban

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A city council in northwest Iowa has banned people from carrying some types of “toy” firearms. The Sioux City Council...

Dog snarls Phoenix freeway traffic, bites state trooper

PHOENIX (AP) — A German shepherd snarled traffic as it loped on and off two Phoenix freeways during Tuesday morning’s commute before it was captured...

Canadian scientist names beetle after Jose Bautista

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jose Bautista has a new namesake buzzing around. Entomologist Bob Anderson of the Canadian Museum of Nature has dubbed a newly...

Bedazzled pigeon found in Arizona city reunited with owners

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — A pigeon that had flown the coop with only its bedazzled vest is nesting back home in Phoenix. The Arizona Republic...

Money laundering: Dutch police find cash in washing machine

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Dutch police who found 350,000 euros ($400,000) hidden inside a washing machine have detained a man on suspicion of — what else?...

19-year-old Yorkshire Terrier retires from ‘The Nutcracker’

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — After more than 125 performances in “The Nutcracker” in Rhode Island, a 19-year-old Yorkshire terrier named Archie is leaving the stage....

2 Utah teens accusing of stealing small airplane

VERNAL, Utah (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies arrested two teenage boys they say stole a small airplane at a private airstrip in rural eastern Utah and...

State trooper who stopped speeding van helps deliver baby

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Here’s one way to get out of speeding ticket: A North Carolina state trooper helped deliver a baby on the side...

Burger joint closes after video appears to show rat cooking

HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii-based burger chain has closed a Honolulu restaurant for cleaning after a video posted to social media appeared to show a...

Houston-area ATM mistakenly dispenses $100 bills, not $10s

HOUSTON (AP) — An ATM in the Houston area has been shut down and was temporarily guarded by law officers after mistakenly dispensing $100 bills...

Police officer rescues chicken from fire

OSSINING, N.Y. (AP) — A police officer who saved a chicken from becoming a roaster is taking a ribbing from his fellow officers. Body cam...

Vermont couple looking for family peacock among the turkeys

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont woman whose family peacock ran off with a flock of turkeys says she’s hopeful to get close enough to...

Sleeping pilot overflies Australian island destination

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A commercial pilot is under investigation after falling asleep in the cockpit of a freight plane and overflying his Australian island...

What a break! Man’s fall leads to hospital lottery pool win

STRATFORD, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man walking to buy a lottery ticket for this week’s massive Mega Millions jackpot fell and broke his...

Soap believed to be cocaine lands dealers, buyer behind bars

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Police say the only clean part of an intended drug deal at a North Carolina airport was the fact that the...

UK police hunt shoplifter who looks like David Schwimmer

LONDON (AP) — British police are hunting a shoplifter who bears a striking resemblance to Ross Geller, the character played by David Schwimmer on the...

Goodwill workers in NJ find original 1774 ‘rebel’ newspaper

BELLMAWR, N.J. (AP) — A quick eye by Goodwill workers in southern New Jersey turned up framed pages from an original 1774 Philadelphia newspaper with...

‘French Spiderman’ barred from climbing UK buildings

LONDON (AP) — French urban climber Alain Robert has been banned from climbing any building in Britain after scaling one of London’s tallest skyscrapers without...

‘Corpse flower’ that smells like dirty diapers to bloom

HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — Just in time for Halloween, a rare “corpse flower” that gets its nickname from its putrid smell is expected to bloom...

Look what we found: Tiny female lion cub in French garage

PARIS (AP) — France’s customs agency says it’s made an extremely surprising discovery in a garage in Marseille: a lion cub. Marseille’s customs brigade found...

100s of Oregon ‘witches’ paddle down river, minus the brooms

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of “witches” traded in broomsticks for paddles in Oregon during the last weekend before Halloween. The costumed coven paddled six...

Police: Men arrested in pumpkin smashing crime spree

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — Police in the southern Oregon town of Grants Pass have arrested two men suspected in a pumpkin-powered crime spree, ending...

Philadelphia’s decadent ‘Wing Bowl’ no more after 26 years

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s annual decadent display of binge eating and bad behavior known as Wing Bowl is over after 26 years. The event hosted...

Bare buns: Half-naked woman falls through Cook Out ceiling

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee say a half-naked woman fell twice through a restaurant’s ceiling and landed in its kitchen. News outlets report...

Drunk baggage handler falls asleep in hold, flies to Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) — Police say a baggage handler told them he was drunk when he fell asleep in a cargo hold and flew from Kansas...

Relief: Police recover stolen inflatable colon

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — There was a sigh of relief after police recovered a giant inflatable colon that is used to teach about the...

Huge squirrel population chomps crops, driving farmers nuts

There’s a bumper crop of squirrels in New England, and the frenetic critters are frustrating farmers by chomping their way through apple orchards, pumpkin patches...

Missouri town gets new newspaper, The Uranus Examiner

URANUS, Mo. (AP) — Cue the giggling: A small Missouri town has a new newspaper called The Uranus Examiner. KYTV reports that the newspaper’s launch...

Police in New Jersey search for alligator on the loose

MULLICA TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Police in New Jersey are warning residents about an alligator that’s on the loose. Authorities say the 3- to 4-foot...

Man who walked near boiling-hot Old Faithful geyser ticketed

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park officials have ticketed a man caught on video wandering close to Old Faithful geyser, where he risked burns...

Delaware DMV selfie zones aim to discourage license photos

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware’s Division of Motor Vehicles has installed “Safe Selfie Zones” at its four locations, to allow newly licensed drivers to share...

Driving lesson ends with car landing in a swimming pool

MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. (AP) — A driving lesson went off the deep end in Maryland when authorities say the car jumped a curb, crashed through...

Too soon? Fans find Red Sox division title banner in street

SOMERVILLE, Mass. (AP) — The Boston Red Sox have not clinched this year’s American League East division championship, but a banner marking the accomplishment has...

Fishmonger offers lobsters some herb before the butter

SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine (AP) — These lobsters are going to pot in more ways than one. A Maine lobster pound is banking on using marijuana...

Get ready for ‘Bongzilla,’ selfie frenzy at Vegas pot museum

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A glass bong taller than a giraffe. Huggable faux marijuana buds. A pool full of foam weed nuggets. Las Vegas’ newest...

Plants, but no pants: Florida man gardens in the nude

STUART, Fla. (AP) — Being in touch with nature is one thing. But gardening au naturel is quite another for some neighbors of a Florida...

Dog running on interstate can’t resist lure of stuffed teddy

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A dog could not resist being lured away from a busy Massachusetts highway by a teddy bear. The Massachusetts State Police...

Man donates to firefighter drive, leaves wedding ring behind

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Massachusetts firefighters say a man who donated to their muscular dystrophy drive accidentally dropped his wedding ring into their boot. The...