Watercooler news from The Associated Press

Odd News

Visitors gather around the Rocky Statue and the “Rocky Steps” during RockyFest 2024 at the Phil...

Philadelphians will channel their inner Italian Stallion at Rocky, Adrian look-alike contest

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Couples who look awkward on skates – and on dates – can celebrate their cute clumsiness as Philadelphia’s RockyFest on Friday features a Rocky and Adrian look-alike contest. The evening event at the University of Pennsylvania’s 1923 Ice Rink is meant to echo the pair’s first date in the classic 1976 film. […]
2 months ago
Wisdom, the legendary Laysan albatross or mōlī, stands at center over her recently laid egg with ...

World’s oldest-known wild bird lays an egg in Hawaii at age 74

The oldest known wild bird in the world has laid an egg at the ripe age of about 74, her first in four years, U.S. wildlife officials said. The long-winged seabird named Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, returned to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge at the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago and laid what experts […]
2 months ago

Stowaway who boarded New York-to-Paris flight claims she sought asylum in France

NEW YORK (AP) — A Russian woman with permanent U.S. residency who was returned to the United States after authorities said she snuck on board a flight from New York to Paris made her first appearance in court Thursday, claiming she has been abused. Svetlana Dali, wearing jeans, seemed agitated as she spoke through a […]
2 months ago

FBI investigating reports of large drones flying in New Jersey, seeks public’s help

The FBI is investigating reports about several mysterious nighttime drone flights that have recently occurred across central New Jersey and has asked the public for help. Witnesses have spotted a cluster of what appears to be drones — larger than those typically used by hobbyists — as well as a possible fixed-wing aircraft flying in […]
2 months ago

A missing Wyoming man with dementia is safe after being spotted on TV hundreds of miles away

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Wyoming man with dementia who wandered away from home and hitchhiked to Salt Lake City is safe after his wife spotted him in a TV news segment about helping those in need. Ninety-one-year-old Michael Black ended up at Rescue Mission of Salt Lake, over 200 miles (320 kilometers) away […]
2 months ago

More than 3,000 fake Gibson guitars seized at Los Angeles port

LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than 3,000 fake Gibson electric guitars shipped from Asia were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Los Angeles-Long Beach Seaport, authorities said. Had the guitars been authentic, they would have been worth $18 million, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. The agency said […]
2 months ago

‘It’s a bird! It’s a plane!’ In Alaska, it’s both, with a pilot dropping turkeys off to rural homes

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — In the remotest reaches of Alaska, there’s no relying on DoorDash to have Thanksgiving dinner — or any dinner — delivered. But some residents living well off the grid nevertheless have turkeys this holiday, thanks to the Alaska Turkey Bomb. For the third straight year, a resident named Esther Keim has […]
2 months ago

A Georgia city will blow up an old hotel to greet 2025

MACON, Ga. (AP) — One Georgia city will welcome 2025 with a larger-than-average bang. The Macon-Bibb County Commission on Tuesday approved a plan to implode a vacant 16-story hotel at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Macon-Bibb County spent $4.5 million last year to buy the hotel in a federal bankruptcy proceeding. The city-county agreed on […]
3 months ago
A pair of eagles that were followed by viewers worldwide on the Minnesota Department of Natural Res...

New eagle camera is going live in Minnesota to the delight of global viewers

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eagle lovers around the world who were crushed by the live-streamed collapse of a nest housing two birds and their chick will get another viewing opportunity when a new eagle camera goes live on Thursday. The new camera, operated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, is in a different location and […]
3 months ago

Washed-up carcass of endangered fin whale near Alaska’s largest city attracts crowds

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An endangered fin whale that washed up near a coastal trail in Alaska’s largest city has attracted curious onlookers while biologists seek answers as to what caused the animal’s death. The carcass found over the weekend near Anchorage was 47 feet (14.3 meters) long — comparable to the width of a […]
3 months ago
File - A woman looks at artist Maurizio Cattelan's piece of art "Comedian" during an auction previe...

How a viral, duct-taped banana came to be worth $1 million

NEW YORK (AP) — Walk into any supermarket and you can generally buy a banana for less than $1. But a banana duct-taped to a wall? That might sell for more than $1 million at an upcoming auction at Sotheby’s in New York. The yellow banana fixed to the white wall with silver duct tape […]
3 months ago
The winner, Ben Shabad stands in front to cheers while attendees vote during a Jeremy Allen White l...

‘The Bear’ has a mirror image: Chicago crowns lookalike winner for show’s star Jeremy Allen White

CHICAGO (AP) — “The Bear” has a mirror image. More than 50 contestants turned out Saturday in a Chicago park to compete in a lookalike contest vying to portray actor Jeremy Allen White, star of the Chicago-based television series “The Bear.” Beyond the renown of being named White’s unofficial body double, the winner walked away […]
3 months ago
FILE - Whoopi Goldberg attends an event, July 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/...

NYC politicians call on Whoopi Goldberg to apologize for saying bakery denied order over politics

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City politicians are calling on Whoopi Goldberg to apologize for suggesting on air that a local bakery had declined to make “The View” co-host a batch of desserts for her birthday because of her political beliefs. Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella was among the local leaders and supporters […]
3 months ago
Adoption coordinator Lexi Giannopoulos cradles one of nearly 1,000 fancy mice that were surrendered...

New Hampshire shelter faces enor-mouse problem after man surrenders nearly 1,000 rodents

STRATHAM, N.H. (AP) — A group of mice is called a nest, but what do you call 1,000 of them in one animal shelter? “Crippling,” said Lisa Dennison, executive director of the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which is scrambling to care for an overwhelming influx of rapidly reproducing rodents. […]
3 months ago

Video ‘bares’ all: Insurers say bear that damaged luxury cars was actually a person in a costume

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has seen its share of bears breaking into cars. But bears caught on camera entering luxury cars tipped off insurers that something wasn’t quite right. In what it’s dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Insurance Department said four Los Angeles residents were arrested Wednesday, accused of defrauding three insurance companies […]
3 months ago

A wayward sea turtle wound up in the Netherlands. A rescue brought it thousands of miles back home

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — An endangered sea turtle that was found about a year ago some 5,000 miles (8,047 kilometers) from its native waters has been released into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Houston Zoo. The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, named Boeier after the boat that rescued it, was found off the coast […]
3 months ago
In this Friday, Nov. 10, 2017 photo, a rhesus macaques monkey observes kayakers as they navigate al...

24 more monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina lab are recovered unharmed

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — More than half of the monkeys bred for medical research that escaped from a compound in South Carolina last week have now been recovered unharmed, officials said Sunday. Twenty-four monkeys were captured on Sunday, a day after another of the 43 escaped monkeys was recovered. A “sizeable group” remains active along […]
3 months ago

1 monkey recovered safely, 42 others remain on the run from South Carolina lab

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — One of 43 monkeys bred for medical research that escaped a compound in South Carolina has been recovered unharmed, officials said Saturday. Many of the others are still located a few yards from the property, jumping back and forth over the facility’s fence, police said in a statement. The Rhesus macaques […]
3 months ago

43 monkeys remain on the run from South Carolina lab. CEO says he hopes they’re having an adventure

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Forty-three monkeys bred for medical research that escaped a compound in South Carolina have been spotted in the woods near the site and workers are using food to try to recapture them, authorities said Friday. The Rhesus macaques made a break for it Wednesday after an employee at the Alpha Genesis […]
3 months ago

43 monkeys escape from a South Carolina medical lab. Police say there is no serious danger

Forty-three monkeys escaped from a compound used for medical research in South Carolina but the nearby police chief said there is “almost no danger” to the public. “They are not infected with any disease whatsoever. They are harmless and a little skittish,” Yemassee Police Chief Gregory Alexander said Thursday morning. The Rhesus macaque primates escaped […]
3 months ago
FILE - Ruby slippers once worn by Judy Garland in the "The Wizard of Oz," are displayed at a news c...

Ruby slippers from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ are for sale nearly 2 decades after they were stolen

DALLAS (AP) — A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” are on the auction block nearly two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, convinced they were adorned with real jewels. Online bidding has started and will continue through Dec. 7, Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced in […]
3 months ago

Florida’s convicted killer clown released from prison for the murder of her husband’s then-wife

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A woman who pleaded guilty to dressing as a clown and in 1990 murdering the wife of a man she later married was released from prison Saturday, ending a case that has been strange even by Florida standards. Sheila Keen-Warren, 61, was released 18 months after she pleaded guilty to […]
3 months ago
This undated image provided by the Bureau of Land Management shows the bat Hoary Potter. (Emma Busk...

He’s fast, feisty and could play Quidditch. Meet the bat that won a beauty contest

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) — A winged creature from Oregon was crowned this year’s winner Thursday in an annual bat beauty contest put on by the Bureau of Land Management. On Halloween, which was also the last day of International Bat Week, a hoary bat with a feisty personality named “Hoary Potter” defeated “Lestat”, the western […]
3 months ago

Instagram-famous squirrel named Peanut seized by New York state authorities

A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also yielded a raccoon named Fred. Multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut — also spelled P’Nut or PNUT — brought at least […]
3 months ago