Watercooler news from The Associated Press

Odd News

A koala named Ellin sits inside a habitat at Palm Beach Zoo Conservation Society in West Palm Beach...

Meet the baby koala hiding in its mom’s pouch at a Florida zoo’s new Outback habitat

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A zoo in Florida has two reasons to celebrate — the first birth of a koala and a newly renovated habitat for the cuddly creatures is opening to the public on Saturday. “For the zoo and for us here, it’s the very big deal,” said Amarylis Celestina, who oversees […]
5 months ago
FILE - This photo provided by the California Department of Insurance shows a bear costume allegedly...

California bear-suit luxury car scam ends in insurance fraud sentences for 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three people in California have been sentenced for insurance fraud in a bizarre scam that involved someone dressed in a bear costume damaging luxury cars. The California Insurance Department said the three used a person in a bear suit to stage fake attacks inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes in 2024, […]
5 months ago
In this photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, beekeepers work to contain a ...

1 million bees make for bumper-to-buzzer traffic on a Tennessee highway ramp

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Travelers on an East Tennessee interstate were forced to brake for workers — and drones, perhaps even a queen — when a truck carrying about 1 million bees crashed Friday. The swarm shut down an exit of Interstate 40 in Knoxville, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation regional spokesperson. There […]
5 months ago

Mounted New York police officer and his horse corner suspected purse snatcher in Manhattan

NEW YORK (AP) — A suspected purse snatcher was rounded up after being chased through the streets of Manhattan by a mounted New York police officer and his horse. The late Wednesday morning pursuit began when the victim reported the theft. The officer — whose name has not been released — and his horse quickly […]
5 months ago
This photo provided by Grady Adams shows the house at 113 McCann Street in Benton, Illinois, where ...

Before Beatlemania, George Harrison visited his sister in Illinois. The house is now for sale.

For the skinny British musician, it was an unassuming trip to visit his sister’s family in September 1963 in Benton, Illinois. He went camping. He jammed with local musicians. He drank root beer delivered on roller skates. He shopped for records. He bought a guitar. Then he went home. The next time people in Benton […]
5 months ago

Mount Holyoke’s corpse flower blooms again, drawing crowds to its ‘rotting flesh’ stench

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (AP) — One person entered the lush, green Victorian-era greenhouse and smelled rotting eggs. Another said the odor evoked the memory of dissecting a dead bird. A third compared it to a stinky diaper baking in the sun. “I was expecting it to smell bad, but it smelled genuinely like rotting flesh,” […]
5 months ago
Andrea "Mama" Avaloz holds up the package of fajita meat, beef sticks and pork chops that she won i...

Hot dogs and steaks and bacon, oh my! Meat raffles keep a beloved Midwest tradition alive

WACONIA, Minn. (AP) — In these polarizing times, Minnesotans have found something they can agree on — the thrill of a meat raffle. Meat raffles have been popular in pockets of the U.S. for decades, offering a fun way to raise money for charities while handing out prizes ranging from ground beef and hot dogs […]
5 months ago
FILE - In this photo provided by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, officers se...

A Buffalo-area man ends his fight to reclaim Albert, his 12-foot alligator seized in 2024

HAMBURG, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York man who had his alligator seized after sharing a home for more than three decades has given up his court fight to get back the reptile he affectionately named Albert. Tony Cavallaro sued the state Department of Environmental Conservation after officers met him with a warrant in […]
5 months ago
Visitors gather to take photos of an American woodcock as it pauses along its spring migration rout...

New Yorkers flock to Manhattan park for lovable woodcocks’ bobbing strut

NEW YORK (AP) — American woodcocks came to New York City looking to strut their stuff, and New Yorkers fell in love. The curious birds, known for their bobbing walks and kazoo-like calls, have drawn a crowd to Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan since arriving in late March. Dozens of spectators are gathering at the […]
5 months ago
Aadam Jacobs poses in front of LP (long play) record storage bookcase at his home in Chicago, Thurs...

Volunteers turn a fan’s recordings of 10,000 concerts into an online treasure trove

On July 8, 1989, a young music fan named Aadam Jacobs, with a compact Sony cassette recorder in his pocket, went to see an up-and-coming rock band from Washington for their debut show in Chicago. After a blast of guitar feedback, 20-year-old Kurt Cobain politely announced to the crowd at the small club called Dreamerz: […]
6 months ago
FILE - This Dec. 17, 2015 file photo shows a sign outside the building housing the Las Vegas Review...

Las Vegas Review-Journal will no longer print a competing newspaper

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Las Vegas Review-Journal announced Friday that it will no longer print its rival the Las Vegas Sun for the first time in decades, amid an ongoing legal dispute over the nation’s last joint operating agreement stemming from a 1970 law designed to preserve newspapers. Readers “will not find a printed […]
6 months ago
FILE - Sugar catches a wave in the first heat of medium dogs during the World Dog Surfing Champions...

Sugar The Surfing Dog, the first canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, dies

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Sugar The Surfing Dog, the first canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, who spent her days outside the water comforting veterans as a dedicated therapy dog, died Monday after battling cancer. The 16-year-old rescue dog from Huntington Beach, California, who was a five-time dog surfing world champion, died […]
6 months ago
This image made from video provided by Debbie Marland shows Chesney the kangaroo near Sunshine Farm...

Chesney the kangaroo scales tall fence and flees petting zoo for three days on the lam

How does a kangaroo escape a petting zoo? It’s not the opening line to a dad joke. If you’re Chesney the kangaroo, you scale an eight-foot (2 1/2 meter) fence and go on the lam for three days, giving your keeper sleepless nights and sending residents of a small Wisconsin town on a search that […]
6 months ago

People ‘bathe’ in nature to get respite from chaotic news cycle

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — For two hours, Claire Jefferies wanted to get away from the war in Iran and the rising gas prices and just commune with nature. And, so, she treated herself to a little forest bathing. “When I’m here, it’s almost like a protective bubble around me,” the human resources director said amid […]
6 months ago
FILE - A sign is seen outside Tallahassee Memorial Hospital on Feb. 3, 2023, in Tallahassee, Fla. (...

Florida hospital sues to evict a patient who won’t leave room 5 months after discharge

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The patient in Room 373 refuses to leave. Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare earlier this month sued the patient, saying she has refused to depart her hospital room since being discharged last October. The hospital also has asked a state judge in Tallahassee for an injunction ordering the patient to vacate the hospital […]
6 months ago
Brothers Matt Taylor, left, and Craig Taylor talk with a visitor in one of their tiny pubs Wednesda...

A fleet of festive pubs on wheels bring a taste of Ireland to New England

READING, Mass. (AP) — Just before St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish pub appeared one night beneath a basketball hoop in a suburban Massachusetts driveway. Neighbors packed around the bar as music played and Guinness flowed — inside a tiny pub that had been towed in for the night. Instead of heading out to celebrate the […]
6 months ago
This undated photo released by the Willamette River Preservation Trust, shows the Abiqua Falls in n...

An iconic Oregon waterfall was put up for sale on Redfin. Lawmakers approved the money to buy it

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The state of Oregon may soon have some new public property: A spectacular waterfall, beloved by generations, that was recently put up for sale on Redfin. Abiqua Falls — known for its 92-foot (28-meter) vertical drop over a columnar basalt cliff — has been privately owned for over a century but […]
6 months ago
This Feb. 19, 2026, photo provided by the Bronx Zoo on Wednesday, March 11 shows a red fox that sto...

A red fox stows away on cargo ship, traveling from England to US

NEW YORK (AP) — This stowaway truly was sly as a fox. A red fox somehow slipped onto a cargo ship that traveled from Southampton, England, to New York, where the animal is now in the Bronx Zoo’s care. The zoo said Wednesday that the 11-pound (5-kilogram) male fox appears healthy after early examinations. “He […]
6 months ago
In this photo provided by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, an owl sleep...

Sleepy owl found resting among items on a New York antique store shelf

DURHAM, N.Y. (AP) — Shoppers in upstate New York earlier this month turned up a rare find while perusing a local antique store this month: tucked next to a cookie jar made in the shape of a chicken was a live owl resting peacefully on a shelf. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said Friday […]
7 months ago

Injured mother manatee and calf are rescued in Florida and taken to SeaWorld

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — An injured mother manatee and her calf were rescued this week from a river in Florida and taken to SeaWorld Orlando for rehabilitation, officials said. Drone pilots provided the rescuers with an aerial view, guiding their boat toward the manatees on Wednesday then buzzing overhead to document the animals being […]
7 months ago

Convicted stowaway arrested again after a new alleged ticketless flight from US to Italy

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman on probation for stowing away on an international flight has been arrested again after sneaking onto a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Milan, Italy, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter. Svetlana Dali, convicted in 2024 for flying to Paris without a passport or ticket, […]
7 months ago
This photo provided by Skye Marsh shows a toucan named Sam perched in a cage Wednesday, Feb. 25, 20...

Toucan seen flying around Sin City has been rescued

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A toucan that has been seen flying around Las Vegas for months has been saved, a bird rescue group said Wednesday. “We’ve all just been so worried about him,” said Skye Marsh, the president and co-founder of the SouthWest Exotic Avian Rescue. “It’s a relief.” Sam the toucan has been living […]
7 months ago
FILE - An eBay app logo is shown on a mobile phone, July 11, 2019, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee...

A settlement is reached in a case tied to eBay’s bizarre deliveries and harassment campaign

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts couple who were subjected to threats and bizarre anonymous deliveries — including live insects, a funeral wreath and a bloody pig Halloween mask — by former eBay Inc. employees reached a settlement Wednesday in their lawsuit against the company. In their 2021 lawsuit filed in Boston federal court, David and […]
7 months ago

Otters enjoy a snow day in Maryland during winter storm

BALTIMORE (AP) — A pair of otters slid into their week with an early morning romp in the snow at Baltimore’s National Aquarium. Security cameras captured the fun around 7 a.m. at the aquarium, which described the otters as “rolling, sliding and romping through the snow” on an outside deck near the city’s Inner Harbor. […]
7 months ago