SmallPickin: August 2008

AUGUST 29, 2008
TOP NEWS OF THE DAY!!!
*Man Gives NYC Church $3M Lottery Ticket*

PORT JEFFERSON, N.Y. (AP) ― A Long Island pastor says one of his congregants donated a lottery ticket to his church just after scratching it off and realizing it was worth $3 million.

Pastor Bertrand Crabbe of the True North Community Church of Port Jefferson says the donor, who asked to remain anonymous, said, "This was why God put the ticket in his hands."

A state Lottery official said Wednesday that the church will get at least $102,225 a year through the year 2028. The amount could be higher if withheld taxes are refunded because of the church's nonprofit status.

Crabbe says the independent Christian church will give away the first year's proceeds to other charities.
Source

AUGUST 29, 2008
*Dog Registered To Vote Jailed in Legal DogHouse*

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (AP) - A judge has decided that a suburban Seattle woman who registered her Australian shepherd-terrier mix to vote has spent enough time in the legal doghouse.

Jane Balogh (BAY'-loh) had been charged with making a false statement but entered into a plea agreement last year. A King County judge dismissed the charge Monday after Balogh showed that she had paid $240 in court costs and completed community service.

Balogh says she registered her dog Duncan to protest a loophole in the law that she says makes voter registration so easy a nonexistent person could be added to the voter rolls.

She says she made no secret of her action after the fact, telling a number of elected officials she had registered her dog.

And she says Duncan never voted.

Source

AUGUST 29, 2008
*Mad About In-Laws Man Destroys Wife's Bra*

A 26-year-old Chandler man was arrested Sunday after police say he tore up his wife's new bra during an argument over his in-laws.

Carlos Salazar called police to his residence on East El Pardo Court in Chandler to settle a verbal dispute with his wife's family, according to a police report. Salazar wanted his wife's family to leave and his wife did not want her family to leave.

Salazar announced he was angry, went upstairs and tore up his wife's new bra valued at $28, according to the report. He then called his wife upstairs to show her the bra in pieces.

Salazar was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

Source

AUGUST 29, 2008
*Men Sail Raft Of Trash Across Pacific In 3 Months*

HONOLULU (AP) ― Tanned, dirty and hungry, two men who spent three months crossing the Pacific on a raft made of plastic bottles to raise awareness of ocean debris finally stepped onto dry land. Full Story

AUGUST 29, 2008
*Ad for a live-in nanny: 'My kids are a pain'*

NEW YORK (AP) - It was an unusually honest ad for a live-in nanny, a 1,000-word tome beginning, "My kids are a pain." But it worked, attracting a brave soul who's never been a nanny before. Full Story

AUGUST 29, 2008
*Small puppy "Pawlee" scares off 3 bears in NJ backyard*

WYCKOFF, N.J. (AP) - If only Goldilocks had a cockapoo.

A 15-pound cocker spaniel-poodle mix named Pawlee scared off a mother bear and her two cubs Sunday morning after they strayed into his owners' back yard. Full Story

AUGUST 29, 2008
*Raccoon Commits Crime in Courthouse, Gets Captured*

ATLANTA (AP) - The evidence in his office gave the judge pause: a half-eaten apple and some very distinctive footprints.

Federal bankruptcy Judge Paul W. Bonapfel reported the break-in last week at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in downtown Atlanta. Full Story

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AUGUST 28, 2008
*Texas police say 12-year-old girl drove mom to bar*

LONGVIEW, Texas - A 35-year-old Texas woman has been jailed after police say she made her 12-year-old daughter drive her to a bar. Full Story

AUGUST 28, 2008
*Scientists Prove That People Look Better When You Drink*

For the first time, scientists have proven that "beer goggles" are real - other people really do look more attractive to us if we have been drinking. Full Story

AUGUST 28, 2008
*Woman Caught Shoplifting Ham, Turkey Breast In Large Purse*

CARROLLTON, Ga. -- A Georgia woman was arrested and charged with shoplifting after police said she stuffed a bag of yellow rice, sliced ham, and turkey breast into a large purse. Full Story

AUGUST 28, 2008
*Stockholm apartment complete with live-in stepfather*

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - For sale: Apartment in sought-after area of Stockholm - complete with live-in stepfather. Full Story

AUGUST 28, 2008
*Man Attacks and Robs Two People For Staring at his Custome*

Masayuki Ishikawa was hanging out on a Tokyo street corner after midnight, accompanied by two friends dressed as a mouse and a panther, Japanese police said. Full Story

AUGUST 28, 2008
*Bare Breasts Parade Takes Over City*

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Tens of thousands of people crowded the downtown area of New Zealand's biggest city Wednesday to watch about 30 topless young women riding motorcycles and open-topped cars along the main street. Full Story

AUGUST 27, 2008
*Authorities Find Marijuana Grow Operation At Miami Mall*

MIAMI -- The Mall of the Americas in Miami was home to a business not usually found among the food courts, retail stores and movie theaters of similar locations: a hydroponic nursery with more than 200 marijuana plants. Click here for full story

AUGUST 27, 2008
*Italian priest organizes beauty contest for nuns.*

ROME (AP) - An Italian priest and theologian said Sunday he is organizing an online beauty pageant for nuns to give them more visibility within the Catholic Church and to fight the stereotype that they are all old and dour.

Click here to view full story.

AUGUST 26, 2008
***SAT scores stay at lowest level in nearly a decade***

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - For a second straight year, SAT scores for the most recent high school graduating class remained at the lowest level in nearly a decade, a trend attributed to a record number of students now taking the test.

View the full story here

AUGUST 26, 2008
***Drug Smuggling Pigeon Put in Jail***

"The guards suspected the animal might be involved in drug smuggling once they noticed four prisoners visibly intoxicated shortly after the pigeon landed on a prison window," Zenica prison official Josip Pojavnik said.

View the full story here