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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The spotlight is on Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania on Monday morning, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil announce whether he saw his own shadow, thereby predicting six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Thousands attend the annual event that exploded in popularity after the 1993 Bill Murray movie, “Groundhog Day.” […]
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are gathering for Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog that lives in a tree stump, to predict if the already long and cold winter across much of the United States will go on for another six weeks or if an early spring is around the corner. The meteorological […]
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — It’s already been a long, cold winter across much of the United States, and on Monday, Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers will announce whether the weather-predicting groundhog says there’s more of the same to come. When Phil is said to have seen his shadow upon emergence from a tree stump in rural Pennsylvania, […]
The groundwork has been laid for a sunrise ceremony Monday when international woodchuck celebrity Punxsutawney Phil’s annual long-term weather forecast will be announced — six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Tens of thousands of revelers will be descending on Gobbler’s Knob in rural Pennsylvania to witness this year’s prognostication, which will be […]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Wildlife officials say a “lizard in a blizzard” has been rescued after a man discovered the large cold-blooded reptile buried in snow in Rhode Island, somehow surviving the frigid temperatures. According to the New England Wildlife Center, the Providence man spotted the tegu lizard from his driveway on Tuesday. The reptile […]
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky family battling extreme cold temperatures on their farm over the weekend opened their home to a newborn calf that was struggling in the deep freeze. Hours later, the calf, fed and fluffed, took a spot on the couch with the Sorrell family’s two children. Their mom, Macey Sorrell, snapped […]
