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 […]
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Scotty’s Castle, a 1920s vacation home for a millionaire couple and the domain of a famous con man, was a top attraction in Death Valley National Park before it closed from a flash flood. After 10 years of repairs, the landmark is offering limited tours. The castle nestled […]
JUNO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Cheers rose from a bundled-up crowd as a loggerhead sea turtle that survived a likely shark attack trundled back into the ocean after months of rehabilitation in Florida, carrying a satellite tracker to see how she fares with only three flippers. The air on the beach was chilly, with temperatures […]
A NASA research plane malfunctioned and had to touch down in Texas without landing gear on Tuesday, sliding across the runway on its belly and sending plumes of flame behind it, a video posted to social media showed. The crew landed the plane at Ellington Airport, southeast of Houston, and are “all safe at this […]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — It’s been no small potatoes that Rhode Islanders have been able to choose the image of Mr. Potato Head as a specialty license plate for decades. Yet with Hasbro’s decision to move its headquarters from the smallest state in the U.S. to Boston, two lawmakers say it’s time to hash out […]
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida deputy has captured a runaway emu and safely returned the large flightless bird to its home. A St. Johns County deputy responded last Friday to a rural area west of St. Augustine following reports of the bird’s escape, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. The deputy […]
Multiple monkeys are on the loose in St. Louis, and AI-generated images are complicating the effort to find them. The Vervet monkeys were first spotted Thursday near a park in the northern part of the city, prompting “rumor after rumor,” said city Department of Health spokesperson Willie Springer. It’s unclear who owns the monkeys, how […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A contest that celebrates the much-maligned but enduring mullet hairstyle will get underway Monday at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. The short-in-the-front, long-in-the-back coiffure, once the province of Canadian hockey players and hair metal bands, was expected to attract dozens of competitors for the day’s “mane” attraction. Categories included children under 5, […]
ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — A huge black bear that made its den in the crawl space under a Los Angeles area man’s house for more than a month has finally been evicted. Altadena resident Ken Johnson said the animal began denning beneath his home around Thanksgiving, twisting gas lines and toppling bricks as he came […]
Bones and skulls visible in the back seat of a car near an abandoned cemetery on Philadelphia’s outskirts led police to a basement filled with body parts, which authorities say were horded by a man now accused of stealing about 100 sets of human remains. Officers say a Tuesday night arrest culminated a monthslong investigation […]
A Detroit suburb has agreed to a $3.25 million settlement with the family of a young woman who had been declared dead at home but then gasped for air and opened her eyes when her body bag was unzipped at a funeral home. Southfield paramedics were accused of gross negligence in how they responded to […]
WESTERLY, R.I. (AP) — A yellow Labrador out for a walk with his owner in Rhode Island had to be rescued by firefighters on New Year’s Day after he wandered onto a thin layer of ice covering a pond and fell through the center. According to the Misquamicut Fire Department, volunteer firefighters and other emergency […]
