Watercooler news from The Associated Press

Odd News

How many ballerinas can dance on tiptoes in one place? A world record 353 at New York’s Plaza Hotel

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of young dancers in white tutus and tightly coiffed hair gathered in New York’s Plaza Hotel on Wednesday to break the world record for dancing on pointe in one place. The spectacle was organized by Youth America Grand Prix, a ballet scholarship program that is celebrating its 25th anniversary with […]
1 day ago

Mountain goat stuck under Kansas City bridge survives rocky rescue

An escaped mountain goat that somehow got stuck under a Kansas City bridge has survived a rocky rescue effort and now may be reunited with the owners who suspect he was stolen from their farm two months ago. “It’s the story that captured the hearts of Kansas City,” said Tori Fugate, of the KC Pet […]
10 days ago

Gray wolves hadn’t been seen in south Michigan since the 1900s. This winter, a local hunter shot one

MARSHALL, Mich. (AP) — An animal a Michigan hunter thought was a big coyote when he shot it in January has been determined to be a gray wolf, the first time the species has been found in southern Michigan in more than a century, wildlife officials say. The hunter shot the wolf in Calhoun County, […]
13 days ago

Where have you been? A California dog missing since the summer is found in Michigan

HARPER WOODS, Mich. (AP) — A dog missing in California since the summer turned up more than 2,000 miles away in Michigan. Police in Harper Woods, a Detroit suburb, responded to a call about a stray dog last week, picked up the terrier mix and contacted an animal welfare group. Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society […]
14 days ago

Children race to collect marshmallows dropped from a helicopter at a Detroit-area park

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) — It rained marshmallows at a suburban Detroit park on Friday as children raced to snatch up thousands of the gooey treats being dropped from a helicopter. The annual Great Marshmallow Drop took place at Catalpa Oaks County Park in Southfield, hosted by Oakland County Parks. Hundreds of children waved and cheered […]
20 days ago

This stinks. A noxious weed forces Arizona national monument’s picnic area to close until May

COOLIDGE, Ariz. (AP) — It literally stinks that visitors to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in south-central Arizona might not be able to use the attraction’s picnic area until May. Monument officials announced Wednesday that the picnic area will be closed from March 28 through April 30 due to the density of an invasive and […]
22 days ago

Firefighters in New Jersey come to the rescue of a yellow Labrador stuck in a spare tire

FRANKLINVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Firefighters in southern New Jersey came to the rescue of a dog who got stuck in a spare tire. The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company crew found Daisy, an 11-month-old yellow Labrador, when they responded to a Franklin Township home last Thursday. Her neck was deep in the middle of the tire […]
24 days ago

Double-swiping the rewards card led to free gas for months — and a felony theft charge

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman allegedly found a lucrative quirk at a gas station pump — double-swipe the rewards card and get free gas! Unfortunately for her, you can’t do that. The 45-year-old woman was arrested March 6 and faces felony theft charges accusing her of a crime that cost the gas station […]
1 month ago

Rare 2-faced calf born last month at a Louisiana farm is flourishing despite the odds

ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) — A rare calf born with two faces — four eyes, two noses, two mouths and two ears — continued to flourish Thursday, eight days after its birth at a southwest Louisiana farm. The owners of Breaux Farms LLC in Cossinade, a community about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Baton Rouge, […]
1 month ago

A small earthquake and ‘Moodus Noises’ are nothing new for one Connecticut town

Donna Lindstrom was lying in bed and looking at her phone Wednesday morning when she heard a loud bang that rattled her 19th-century house in the central Connecticut town of East Hampton. Soon, the 66-year-old retired delivery driver and dozens of other town residents were on social media, discussing the latest occurrence of strange explosive […]
1 month ago

4 are charged with concealing a corpse, evidence tampering in Long Island body parts case

BABYLON, N.Y. (AP) — Four people were charged Wednesday with concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence in connection with the discovery of body parts in parks on Long Island. The four — Amanda Wallace, 40, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, Steven Brown, 44, all of Amityville, and Alexis Nieves, 33, who police said is homeless […]
1 month ago

Venus flytrap poachers face arrest warrants in taking of hundreds of rare plant

BOILING SPRING LAKES, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in North Carolina have obtained arrest warrants for two people in a poaching case involving hundreds of Venus flytraps, which grow naturally in the eastern part of the state. Officers with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission obtained arrest warrants for two people accused of stealing nearly 600 […]
2 months ago

2 police horses on the lam cause traffic jam on I-90 in Cleveland area

CLEVELAND (AP) — Drivers on an Ohio interstate came upon an unusual traffic hazard over the weekend — a pair of police horses trotting against traffic on the highway. The two animals on the lam caused an unusual traffic jam Saturday afternoon as they wove through slowing traffic and then stopped it on Interstate 90 […]
2 months ago
This image provided by Tyler Watts shows Florida Man Games competitors, from left, Joshua Barr, Mic...

At the Florida Man Games, big crowds cheer competitors evading police, wrestling over beer

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — They rose up by the dozens from across Florida, caricatured competitors in tank tops and cutoff shorts, for a showdown that treats evading police and wrestling over beer like Olympic sports. Promoted as “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth,” the Florida Man Games poke fun at the state’s reputation […]
2 months ago
Andie Nelson, right, embraces Brian Jaskot, both of Virginia, after their race during the 25 meter ...

‘Totally cold’ is not too cold for winter swimmers competing in a frozen Vermont lake

NEWPORT, Vt. (AP) — Plunging into a frozen lake and swimming laps may not be everyone’s good time but for winter swimmers who return year after year to a northern Vermont lake near the Canadian border, there’s nothing better. The 10th annual Memphremagog Winter Swimming Festival kicked off Friday with the 200-meter (218-yard) freestyle race […]
2 months ago

Caught at border with pythons in his pants, New York City man fined and sentenced to probation

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York City man who admitted to smuggling three Burmese pythons in his pants through a U.S.-Canadian border crossing was sentenced Wednesday to a year of probation and fined $5,000, federal prosecutors said. Calvin Bautista, 38, crossed into northern New York with the hidden snakes on a bus from Montreal […]
2 months ago

CBP dog sniffs out something unusual in passenger’s luggage — mummified monkeys

BOSTON (AP) — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection dog sniffed out something unusual in luggage from a traveler returning from Africa — mummified monkeys. The passenger returning from a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo reported that the luggage contained dried fish, but an inspection at Boston Logan Airport revealed dead and dehydrated […]
2 months ago

An Oklahoma judge who sent more than 500 texts during a murder trial resigns

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma judge who sent more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial will resign, according to a court filing. In a proposed settlement agreement filed Thursday with the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary, District Judge Traci Soderstrom agreed to resign on Friday and never again seek a […]
2 months ago

Sheriff’s deputies corral wayward kangaroo near pool at Florida apartment complex

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A wayward kangaroo was corralled safely by sheriff’s deputies Thursday after it was spotted hopping around the pool area of a Florida apartment complex. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office released video and still photos of the kangaroo, including some footage shot from a helicopter. The agency also released audio of a […]
2 months ago

Police: Inert Cold War-era missile found in garage of Washington state home

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) — An inert rocket of the type used to carry a nuclear warhead has been found in the garage of a home of a deceased resident in Washington state, police said. Bellevue police responded Thursday to a report of a military-grade rocket in the garage of a home in the city across […]
3 months ago

Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring at Groundhog Day festivities

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring Friday at Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania, the scene of the largest and best-known Groundhog Day celebration in the United States. The annual event is a tongue-in-cheek ritual in which Phil’s handlers, members of a club with roots in the late 19th century, reveal whether the […]
3 months ago
This photo provided by David Lei shows Flaco the owl, April 28, 2023, in New York. As Flaco enters ...

Who freed Flaco? One year later, eagle-owl’s escape from Central Park Zoo remains a mystery

New York (AP) — This New York love story begins with a criminal act of sabotage. Under cover of darkness a year ago Friday, someone breached a waist-high fence and slipped into the Central Park Zoo. Once inside, they cut a hole through a steel mesh cage, freeing a majestic Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco who […]
3 months ago

Woman tossing trash falls into dumpster, survives getting compacted in garbage truck

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — A woman fell into a dumpster while throwing out her garbage and was later rescued from a trash truck that had compacted the contents while she was inside, fire department officials in New Hampshire said. Luckily, neighbors heard her screams and the trash compartment was equipped with a camera. The driver […]
3 months ago
FILE - Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating gro...

Groundhog Day’s biggest star is Phil, but the holiday’s deep roots extend well beyond Punxsutawney

KUTZTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The spotlight will be on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania early Friday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce whether he saw his own shadow and predicts there’ll be six more weeks of winter — or didn’t, which signals an early spring. Thousands are expected to attend […]
3 months ago