Watercooler news from The Associated Press

Odd News

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: […]
5 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 […]
5 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 […]
5 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 […]
5 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 […]
5 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 […]
5 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 […]
5 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 […]
6 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 […]
6 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, […]
6 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 […]
6 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 […]
6 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. […]
6 months ago
Feral chickens wander around near downtown Honolulu on April 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kel...

Hawaii residents sick of early crowing and aggressive pecking could be allowed to kill wild chickens

HONOLULU (AP) — The crowing starts well before the sun rises over Mason Aiona’s home in Hawaii. But the 3 a.m. rooster alarm isn’t what bothers the retiree the most. It’s spending most of the day shooing away wild chickens that dig holes in his yard, listening to constant squawking and feather-flapping, and scolding people […]
6 months ago
FILE - The New Yorker Hotel, center, is seen in New York, Nov. 8, 2013. A man who succeeded in usin...

Man who lived rent-free in New Yorker Hotel, then claimed to own it, pleads guilty to fraud charge

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man who attempted to claim ownership of the New Yorker Hotel has pleaded guilty to fraud, ending a lengthy legal saga involving an obscure tenant law that allowed the man to live rent-free for years in the storied Manhattan hotel. Mickey Barreto entered the plea on Wednesday, […]
6 months ago
In this August 2025 photo provided by the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society, Daniel Terblanche ...

‘Ridiculous’ plan developed at Florida zoo saves wild rhino’s eyesight in Africa

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Corralling a wild rhinoceros into a small chute to give it eyedrops might seem like a crazy plan. But if it’s crazy and it works, then it’s not crazy. Animal behaviorists partnering with the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society in Florida traveled to Africa in August to help […]
6 months ago
Barack Obama talks to Julius Erving during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, ...

Obama shuts down alien buzz and says there’s no evidence they’ve made contact

Former U.S. President Barack Obama said he did not see evidence that aliens “have made contact with us,” after sending social media abuzz by saying aliens were real on a podcast over the weekend. During a lightning round of questions with podcast host Brian Tylor Cohen, Obama was asked, “Are aliens real?” “They’re real,” he […]
6 months ago

Pickleball argument sparks a brawl at a Florida country club

PORT ORANGE, Fla. (AP) — A dispute over a rule led to a brawl during a pickleball game at a central Florida country club, authorities said, with one player hitting his opponent in the face with a paddle and punching him on the ground before others got involved. A 63-year-old man was charged Sunday with […]
6 months ago
Firefighters with the Norwalk Fire department hoist a swan up a ladder on a stretcher after freeing...

Firefighters rescue swan stuck in frozen Connecticut river

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — Firefighters came to the rescue of a swan that was stuck in a frozen Connecticut river this week. Norwalk Fire Department crews donned cold-water rescue suits and used ropes to carefully move out onto the Norwalk River on Tuesday. They soon found the swan’s feet were frozen into the ice, and […]
7 months ago
Penny, a doberman pinscher, gets a kiss from handler Andy Linton after winning Best in Show of the ...

Photos of the Westminster dog show

NEW YORK (AP) — The Westminster Kennel Club hosted its 150th annual show. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
7 months ago