STRANGE BUT TRUE

NJ gov., mayor channel Seinfeld in video parody

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and the mayor of New Jersey's largest city are channeling the Seinfeld-Newman rivalry in a video parody that spoofs the mayor's heroics and Christie's vice presidential potential. ...Read More

Workers go trash-picking for Mass. woman's rings

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) — An Attleboro, Mass., woman is praising the city's trash collection company after its workers helped her dig through mountains of stinking garbage to find five valuable rings she inadvertently threw away, including her engagement and wedding bands. ...Read More

Calif. woman apparently burned by rocks in pocket

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in Southern California are investigating what appears to be the spontaneous combustion of rocks scooped from a San Clemente Beach that left a woman with third-degree burns. ...Read More

Orangutans at Miami zoo use iPads to communicate

MIAMI (AP) — The 8-year-old twins love their iPad. They draw, play games and expand their vocabulary. Their family's teenagers also like the hand-held computer tablets, too, but the clan's elders show no interest. ...Read More

Fla. city uses robocalls to fight nuisance signs

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — The cheap signs smashed into lawns and along the corners of busy intersections are hard to miss. "We Buy Junk Cars!" ''Cash for Your House!" ''Computer Repair." The eyesores have vexed Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober for the past few years as he wastes valuable resources plucking up the signs only to watch them pop up in even greater numbers. ...Read More

Baby red crabs invade Cayman Islands

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of baby red crabs are invading the Cayman Islands in an annual migration that residents say is more pronounced this year. ...Read More

Ex-teacher charged with stealing Ohio prom money

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — A former high school teacher in southwest Ohio has been charged with stealing money meant for a school prom in a cash-strapped district. ...Read More

Truck crashes on NY highway, spills tons of yogurt

CHENANGO, N.Y. (AP) — A tractor-trailer crash in upstate New York has sent 18 tons of Greek yogurt spilling alongside a highway. ...Read More

A man and his monkey pulled over in Florida

LARGO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man is charged with felony drunken driving and wildlife violations after police discovered a small monkey in his truck. ...Read More

National Christmas Tree has died near White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials say the National Christmas Tree planted near the White House a year ago has died and is being removed. ...Read More

Ky. counties building ambu-buses for disasters

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — Behold the ambu-bus. ...Read More

AP Photos: Supermoon glows around the globe

It may have been only an optical illusion, but what a sight. The biggest and brightest full moon of the year arrived Saturday night and glowed around the world. ...Read More

Chihuahua costume party falls short of record

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hundreds of tiny tacos, ballerinas and other costumed dogs fell short of a world record Saturday morning in Kansas City, but organizers said they were encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade. ...Read More

Gorilla gets jaw surgery after scuffle at Neb. zoo

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — It was a bit of a zoo at the Nebraska Medical Center over the weekend, when a special patient came in for jaw surgery. ...Read More

Teen points out inaccurate map to NYC's Met museum

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut seventh-grader says workers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City didn't believe him when he pointed out an inaccuracy with a map that was on exhibit. The map purported to show the Byzantine Empire at its largest size in the 6th century, but he noticed that Spain and part of Africa were missing from the depiction. ...Read More

Loch Ness monster ordered to leave Wisconsin river

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) — The Loch Ness monster is on vacation in Wisconsin — and state officials want the legendary lady to leave. ...Read More

Stradivarius cello broken in accident in Spain

MADRID (AP) — A Stradivarius cello housed at the Spanish Royal Palace was broken in an accident, an official said Monday. The instrument could be worth more than $20 million. ...Read More

Another testicle ticket written in South Carolina

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — For the second time in a year, a motorist has been ticketed in South Carolina for displaying a replica of testicles on a vehicle. ...Read More

Medvedev era as seen on Twitter

MOSCOW (AP) — It was the end of an era, the kind of moment when a Twitter buff might unleash a barrage of 140-character spurts of sentiment, humor or self-aggrandizement. ...Read More

Van Gogh museum unveils new willow watercolor

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A young Vincent van Gogh was so struck by a dead willow leaning "lonely and melancholy" over a pond near The Hague that he knew at once he had to paint it. ...Read More

Up next on TV: The weather with Prince Charles

LONDON (AP) — If this king thing doesn't work out, Prince Charles may be able to fall back on a budding career as a weather man. ...Read More

Cops: NY man with $5,000 refuses to pay $12 fare

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Police say a New York man who refused to pay a $12 taxi fare was carrying more than $5,000 when the cabbie drove him around looking for cheap cigarettes. ...Read More

NIreland judge jails man for taking call in court

DUBLIN (AP) — Letting your telephone ring in a courtroom is rarely a good idea. Taking the call is worse. ...Read More

NYC con artist posed as dead mom in fraud scheme

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City con artist has been convicted in a bizarre scheme that involved dressing up as his mother and collecting her Social Security benefits for six years after she had died. ...Read More

Ginseng poaching on the rise at Ky. national park

MIDDLESBORO, Ky. (AP) — Rangers at a national park in Kentucky say they are seeing more visitors trying to take away more than memories. ...Read More

Vacuum robot is trilingual, knows witty dialect

TOKYO (AP) — It looks just like iRobot's Roomba vacuuming machine, except the new circular roaming vacuum cleaner from Sharp Corp. is trilingual, and even knows a hip humorous dialect. ...Read More

Photo before prom leaves Wis. students drenched

MILWAUKEE (AP) — You could call it a cautionary tale about what can go wrong when high school students exert too much "pier pressure." ...Read More

Fla. author's book confused with '50 Shades'

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The author of a book called "Shades of Gray" says her work is being confused with that of a chart-topping erotic fiction writer. ...Read More

Phoenix-area man hits $1 million jackpot six times

PHOENIX (AP) — A suburban Phoenix man made a lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky guess in a recent multistate lottery game. ...Read More

Conn. teen's body spray sets off school fire alarm

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) — Officials say a fire alarm that went off at a Connecticut high school was activated by a student's "overabundance" of body spray in a locker room. ...Read More

Nebraska man changes name to Tyrannosaurus Rex

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A 23-year-old southeast Nebraska man has legally become Tyrannosaurus Rex. ...Read More

Trailer loaded with Corona is stolen in Pa.

CARLISLE, Pa. (AP) — Somebody is a few thousand limes away from one big party. ...Read More

Teen's sweet prom dress made of Starburst wrappers

ISHPEMING, Mich. (AP) — A northern Michigan teen put together one sweet prom dress, thanks to the help of classmates who collected thousands of Starburst wrappers for her. ...Read More

NJ test asks 3rd graders to reveal a secret

Some New Jersey parents are steamed about a question on a statewide standardized test this week that asked some third-graders to write about a secret and why it was hard to keep. ...Read More

Naked unicyclist charged for distracting drivers

KEMAH, Texas (AP) — Police say a man arrested in a Southeast Texas city for riding his unicycle in the nude was distracting drivers and creating a hazard. ...Read More

NJ to no longer ask 3rd-graders to reveal a secret

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — State education officials will no longer use a standardized test question that asked third-graders to reveal a secret and write about why it was difficult to keep. ...Read More

Man makes amends for stealing plants _ in 1958

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — No matter how much digging investigators did, the crime remained open until a thief turned himself in and returned the fruits of his theft. ...Read More

No border dispute here: Vt., NH reaffirm boundary

NORWICH, Vt. (AP) — In case you were wondering, the Vermont-New Hampshire border hasn't changed. ...Read More

Cocaine in wheelchair's seat cushion at AZ border

NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — Federal authorities say a Mexican man tried to smuggle more than 7 pounds of cocaine into Arizona by hiding it in his wheelchair's seat cushion. ...Read More

Colo. boy, 6, suspended for reciting 'Sexy' lyric

AURORA, Colo. (AP) — A 6-year-old boy was suspended from his suburban Denver school for three days after school officials said he told a girl "I'm sexy and I know it," a line from a popular song. ...Read More

Dog custody battle costs NYC man more than $60,000

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man has spent more than $60,000 in lawyers' fees trying to win custody of his dog after his ex-girlfriend took the pooch to California. ...Read More

Wash. man bitten by rattlesnake at Idaho Wal-Mart

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — A man says he reached down to pick up a stick lying in the gardening aisle of a Wal-Mart in Idaho, only to discover that it was a rattlesnake that then bit his hand. ...Read More

Ohio man's luck changes with signed Picasso print

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An unemployed Ohio man was browsing at his local thrift store for items he could restore and resell when he spotted a Picasso poster with the word "Exposition" written across the front, some French words, and the image of a warped round face. He handed over $14.14 for what he saw as a nice commercial print. ...Read More