TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES

[TexasStooge]

Dead man spends days unnoticed on highway

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - An elderly man spent at least three days in his vehicle on the side of a busy Canadian highway before anyone - including police who checked the car's license plate - realized he was dead.

A passing motorist discovered the man's body after deciding to check the vintage-model car on the Trans-Canada Highway near Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Sunday to see if it was for sale.

The car's license number was checked by passing police on Friday and Saturday to make sure it was not stolen, but the officers apparently did not stop to inspect it because it was not impeding traffic.

Officials believe the 75-year-old man became ill and pulled off to the side of highway, which is used by hundreds of Vancouver-area motorists each day. They say he then probably slumped down in his seat and died.

"A lot of people drove past that vehicle. It's just unfortunate that it took the circumstances that it did to find the gentleman," said Constable Steve Hiscoe of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The man's dog was also in the vehicle, but survived the ordeal unharmed.

[TexasStooge]

Van hits funeral procession, 25 injured

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - At least 25 people were seriously injured in Germany when a delivery van collided with a funeral procession in the Bavarian town of Jettingen-Scheppach Thursday, authorities said.

Police said the parcel courier drove into the train of mourners as it made its way from a church to a cemetery. Police said the cause of the accident was unclear, but suspected the vehicle's driver had suffered a heart attack.

A total of 35 people were rushed to nearby hospitals, with 13 helicopters deployed in the emergency.

[TexasStooge]

Bloody hell! Aussie ads censored...

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - The country that gave the world such risque comic acts as Benny Hill, the Two Ronnies and Little Britain has banned Australia's new "bloody hell" tourism ads from television because they are too rude.

Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey said Britain had banned the television ads, which end with a bikini-clad woman on a beach asking "so where the bloody hell are you?," although the ads would still be seen in British cinemas and appear in print.

"The regulators have clearly misplaced their sense of humor..." Bailey said in a statement Thursday.

She said she had written to Britain's Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell, to have the television ban overturned. Meanwhile, censored ads would run in their place.

But Tourism Australia was unfazed by the British TV ban, welcoming it as unexpected publicity for the campaign.

"It's a bit of a PR dream," Tourism Australia managing director Scott Morrison told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

"This is a great opportunity to really promote the campaign. We'll be driving people to the Internet like there's no tomorrow," he said. The ads are the centerpiece of a A$180 million ($133 million) campaign to lure tourists to Australia. The campaign, which is already running in the United States and New Zealand, will also target China, Japan, India and Germany as well as Britain.

The full advertisement can be seen at http://www.wherethebloodyhellareyou.com.

[TexasStooge]

Absence makes the glass glow fondly

LONDON, England (Reuters) - Researchers have come up with a novel way to keep long-distance lovers in touch -- high-tech wine glasses that glow warmly however far apart the pining couple are.

When either person picks up a glass, red light-emitting diodes glow on their partner's glass. When one puts a glass to their lips, the other glass glows brightly.

Distance is not a problem as liquid sensors and wireless links have been built in to the glasses.

Jackie Lee and Hyemin Chung, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's media lab in Boston, said communal drinking is a vital part of social interaction that lovebirds miss out on when separated.

Lee, whose findings were reported in New Scientist magazine Wednesday, said the wireless glasses really do "help people feel as if they were sharing a drinking experience together."

The loving cups are to be unveiled next month at a conference in Montreal on computer-human interaction.

[TexasStooge]

Tree said to contain divine image staying in Oak Cliff

By ALAN MELSON / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - An Oak Cliff tree that has drawn thousands of visitors because of what many believe is a likeness of the Virgin Mary in its bark has been sold in an online auction.

Yet, its former owner now says it's not going anywhere.

Gilbert Pena originally decided to sell the 50-foot tree because it was generating so many visitors to his home in the 2900 block of South Edgefield Avenue that his yard was getting damaged and his family felt trapped. However, he said he soon began having second thoughts about losing the leafy icon.

"To tell you the truth, I felt guilty and sad because if it sold, it was going to be gone," Pena said Thursday. "I didn't know how it was going to be taken care of."

Online casino GoldenPalace.com placed the winning bid of $5,000 and has agreed to help fix up his yard and provide new landscaping and a more permanent shrine around the base of the shade tree.

Pena said he believes the agreement to keep the tree in place was part of a higher plan.

"Sure enough, the Virgin Mary did something to them, and this is where she's going to stay," he said.

GoldenPalace.com has used a strategy of unusual eBay purchases, including William Shatner’s kidney stone and a Volkswagen formerly owned by Pope Benedict XVI, to generate publicity.

Pena said officials from the site announced the sale Tuesday at a news conference at his home. They used the occasion to display a glass case containing a grilled cheese sandwich also said to show an image of the Virgin Mary, which the casino bought online in November 2004 for $28,000.

Downplaying any suspicion of ulterior motives on the part of the buyer, Pena said he is just happy the tree will remain a part of the community. A portion of proceeds from the sale will go to his church and two local charities as originally promised, he said.

"Since we announced it was going to stay, people have been coming back with happiness and joyfulness," he said. "She means a lot to a lot of people here."


DEBORAH TURNER / Al Día
Visitors began leaving mementos at the tree in November.

[TexasStooge]

Cat Comforts Grieving Orangutan at Zoo

By The Associated Press

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. - Tondalayo, a 45-year-old Sumatran orangutan, and T.J., a stray tabby cat, became an inseparable duo after a zoo employee introduced them late last year.

Stephanie Willard, Education Director at Zoo World in Panama City Beach, said Tondalayo was depressed since losing her mate two years ago.

Her age prevented her from moving to another zoo or taking another mate. The ducks and turtles swimming in a moat around her island were not enough, Willard told the Panama City News Herald for Thursday's editions.

When the sweet-natured orange cat wandered into Willard's life, the solution became clear.

"It's an unbelievable match," Willard said. "This has worked out a lot better than I expected it to. She's got brighter eyes now. He's brought a lot of light to her."

Zookeepers named the cat, T.K. — short for "Tondalayo's Kitty."

They play together, cuddle and sleep together each night. They have been together constantly for more than a month.

"He's perked up Tonda more than anything," Willard said.

[TexasStooge]

Dog Survives After Fall Into Icy Channel

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (AP) - A dog that was presumed drowned after falling into an icy river channel that feeds Lake Michigan was found alive hours later and returned to its grateful owner.

Robert Chavez was walking two of his dogs alongside the Grand River around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday when his German shepherd fell into the channel and broke through the ice.

The ice prevented Chavez from getting the dog out of the water, so he ran to a nearby home and called 911. When he returned to the river, he could not find the dog.

Officers from the Public Safety Department and the Coast Guard station searched, but they also could not find the animal.

Around 9:45 p.m., a woman reported that she and her friends had heard a dog barking as they walked along the channel's south pier.

Responding officers also heard barking that appeared to be coming from a tunnel beneath the pier, but they were unable to remove a 12-inch service cover to gain access to it.

Two hours later, a man reported that he had also heard barking sounds, and he managed to remove the cover and found a dog trapped in the tunnel.

Sheriff's Deputy Mike Petroelje used a leash to free the dog, The Muskegon Chronicle reported. The dog was not injured.

Strangely, officials said they believe the German shepherd gained access to the tunnel by swimming through a hole created in the channel's seawall when it was rammed by a Mackinaw while the new icebreaker was on a tour of Great Lakes ports.

The Mackinaw's captain was removed from his post after the accident, which also left an 8-foot-by-3-foot dent in the bow of the $90 million ship.

[TexasStooge]

The sun is going away, but don't panic...

ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - The Nigerian government, anxious to avoid a repeat of riots that marked a solar eclipse in 2001, warned citizens they may suffer "psychological discomfort" during a new eclipse this month but urged them not to panic.

Information Minister Frank Nweke said an eclipse five years ago caused riots in northern Borno state because people did not know why it happened.

"Some people even felt some evil people in their communities were responsible for the eclipse," he said in a statement on Thursday aimed at reassuring Nigerians that the eclipse is expected to darken parts of the country on March 29.

"The eclipse is not expected to have any real damaging effect, only social and psychological discomforts are envisaged," Nweke said.

He did not explain what the discomforts might be.

[TexasStooge]

Man collects dead brother's pension for 26 years

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - A 67-year-old German man who drew his dead brother's pension for 26 years after taking on his identity was unmasked after police stopped him for driving without a seatbelt, authorities said Thursday.

"During checks it emerged that just after his death the man assumed the identity of his older brother, who has been resting in peace in a Regensburg cemetery since he passed away in 1979," police in the central city of Kassel said.

Thanks to the physical similarity between the siblings, the impostor pulled off the switch by renewing his dead brother's passport. But he continued to use his real name on occasion.

Police uncovered the ruse because of records showing the younger man was wanted for repeatedly failing to settle a minor bill. Although the car, his driving license and other particulars were made out to his brother, the man's surname aroused police suspicions and he eventually confessed the scam.

Police said it had likely netted him at least 100,000 euros ($119,400).

[TexasStooge]

Buddhist priest arrested for underage sex

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - A Japanese Buddhist priest who was arrested on suspicion of having paid sex with a teenage girl said he was under stress and had given in to lust.

Itsushi Ehara, 73, chief priest at a temple in the western Japanese prefecture of Hiroshima and also head of a nursery school, paid the 15-year-old girl 80,000 yen ($675) to have sex in a hotel in downtown Tokyo, a police spokesman said on Friday.

"I could not resist my lust. A lot of stress built up from running the school," Ehara was quoted by Kyodo news agency as telling police.

Ehara, who is believed to have met the girl through a prostitute-dispatch service, is also suspected of having paid for sex with several other teenage girls over a period of two to three years, Kyodo quoted police as saying.

Japan has long had a relatively lax attitude toward sexual exploitation of young people. Teenage prostitution -- known as "compensated dating" -- was outlawed in 1999, but it still goes on, though less openly than before.

[TexasStooge]

Texas Town Welcomes Rattlesnakes, Handlers

SWEETWATER, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/AP) - James Wells and his 1,200 pounds of rattlesnakes were first in line for the annual Rattlesnake Roundup in this small West Texas town.

Wells, from nearby Roscoe, has been collecting Western Diamondback rattlesnakes for 25 of the roundup's 48 years and was waiting before 7 a.m. to garner premium prices — $5 per pound — for the first 2,000 pounds of rattlers turned in.

"It gets in your blood," said Wells, 73. "If you're doing it for the money, you're going to go into the hole. We do it more for the sport."

The event, officially known as the World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup, started as a way to control the poisonous reptiles in the area but has grown into a four-day attraction that brings about 30,000 visitors and an economic impact of more than $5 million.

Besides the roundup, there's a parade, a snake charmer pageant, a snake meat eating contest and snake-handling demonstrations, which are aimed at educating adults and children about the ways of rattlers. There's also a demo on how to skin a rattler in preparation for cooking or to use the skins.

People come from across the nation and from other counties to take in the event. Hotel rooms are booked about a year ahead of the roundup, which is always the second weekend in March.

"It's what we're known for," said Lynn Adams, executive director of the Sweetwater Chamber of Commerce. "Nobody bad-mouths the roundup."

The roundup is organized by the Sweetwater Jaycees, and the money funds events the group sponsors throughout the year.

Since 1958, those who've rounded up the snakes have brought in more than 132 tons of the reptiles. The record came in 1982 when 17,986 pounds were tallied.

Texas A&M University researchers have said the roundup pulls about 1 percent of the state's Western Diamondback population.

[TexasStooge]

Man Wins 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' Contest

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - It all came down to this: Jason Wood threw a "rock," crushing Erin Smith's "scissors" and earning him a trip to Las Vegas.

Wood, a 34-year-old server at an oyster bar, emerged from a field of 29 competitors to win the southwest Florida regional finals of the "Rock, Paper, Scissors" tournament Thursday night at a local country music nightclub, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported in Friday's editions.

Now he's off to Vegas to compete in the national tournament and a chance to win $50,000.

In case you missed it, "Rock, Paper, Scissors" — that same hand-to-hand game used to settle childhood disputes — is an organized sport now. The rules are the same: Rock smashes scissors. Paper smothers rock. Scissors cut paper.

In the finals, Wood took the first round, Smith the second. Wood went with the "rock" and took the rubber match.

"I'm on top of the world!" he said.

More than 300 people from across the country will compete in the April 9 tournament at the Luxor Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

[TexasStooge]

S. Dallas woman turns 111 today

S. Dallas: 8 generations of relatives, friends celebrate woman's life

BY JON NIELSEN / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Arbella Perkins Ewing has her roots planted in three centuries, and like the flowers in her garden, they weather the changes.

She lived through the Great Depression. She was in her 60s during the height of the civil rights movement. And as Mrs. Ewing was approaching 100 years old, computers became a household necessity.

Today, Mrs. Ewing turns 111 years old. The South Dallas woman celebrated the occasion Saturday with friends and eight generations of family. Sitting next to her at the party was her sister, 100-year-old Annie Lee Perkins.

While Mrs. Ewing's hearing has faded, and she no longer lives alone – she was independent until she was 106 – she still manages to get around with her walker.

She picks fruits and vegetables from the grocery store and sometimes prepares her meals.

Her secret to life as a supercentenarian?

"I really don't know. I don't know what the Lord is leading me for," Mrs. Ewing said.

The Gerontology Research Group keeps a database of supercentenarians, those who live to be 110 years or older. The group estimates there are 300 to 450 worldwide and 60 to 75 in the U.S. In December, the Guinness Book of Records recognized Maria Esther Capovilla of Ecuador as the oldest living person at 116 years.

Those close to Mrs. Ewing attribute her long life to positive thinking.

"She doesn't let negativity rule her life," said Hayward McMurray, a former case manager for the Texas Department of Human Services and now a family friend. "She doesn't have many negative thoughts. When she hears of bad things happening in the world, she says 'It's just one of those things.' "

Mrs. Ewing doesn't let the world around her dictate how she lives her life, said her longtime South Dallas neighbor, Ken Smith. Although times have changed, Mrs. Ewing manages to live in a structured and organized environment. Mr. Smith said when he goes into her house, it's always in immaculate condition.

"She keeps the house that never has a speck of dirt or paper or trash ever. It's as neat as neat can be," he said.

Relatives keep her front lawn manicured, Mr. Smith said. When spring arrives, the flowers bloom, displaying Mrs. Ewing's many years of gardening.

"There are trees and flowers growing out of there. It's always colorful," Mr. Smith said. "The representation of being neat and clean, I really think that's part of her longevity."

When Mr. Smith introduced new neighbors to the area, he always told them about Mrs. Ewing.

"We'd say that's Mrs. Ewing right there, she doesn't play. So you've got to keep it down and do the right thing because she's always looking."

Relatives say Mrs. Ewing's daily routine has helped her live long and healthy. She takes no prescription drugs, but takes vitamins every day. She watches The Oprah Winfrey Show, the news and Wheel of Fortune. And she never smoked or drank alcohol.

Mrs. Ewing was born March 13, 1895, in Freestone County, the fourth of 12 children. She grew up in Streetman, Texas, and married Frank Ewing in 1915.

In 1936, the couple moved to Dallas, where she worked as a housekeeper until her retirement in the late 1960s. In retirement, she devoted time to her hobbies, gardening and fishing.

Every Sunday she walked to her church, Porter Temple C.M.E. Church in South Dallas, where she served on several boards.

Her husband died in 1977, and their only daughter, Claudia, died in 1970. But with hundreds of relatives – eight generations worth – family has always been close.

"She's a diamond to this family," said Terrance Perkins, her great-great-great grandnephew. "She's a precious jewel that we have to cherish and try to keep polished.

"We try to go by and keep her spirits up and encourage her and thank her for the life and the legacy for the lifestyle she's lived before us all."

[TexasStooge]

India urges chicken-wary eaters to "go for it"

By Kamil Zaheer

NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) - A chicken stands proud in an Indian government newspaper advertisement, a speech bubble coming from its beak: "Chicken! Egg! Here we come again on the dining table!"

Slowly but surely, chicken and eggs are returning to dinner tables and restaurant menus after a bird flu outbreak last month in a western town scared millions of Indians off poultry and cost the industry more than $120 million (70 million pounds).

Authorities said last week that the H5N1 avian flu infection among poultry in Navapur, Maharashtra state, had been contained and no human cases had been reported in the country.

Since then many Indians have returned to chicken curry and "tikka", chunks of chicken marinated in spices and cooked over burning coal.

Like Sanjay Singh, a pharmaceutical executive in his thirties, who -- like millions of others -- stopped eating chicken after news of the bird flu broke in mid-Febrary.

Now he sits in an airconditioned restaurant in Delhi's popular Pandara Road market where more than half a dozen restaurants compete to serve a range of chicken dishes.

"Listen, planes crash but we still fly. Likewise, I can't change my eating habits forever because of an occasional outbreak of bird flu," he says, scooping up a piece of tikka as a vegetarian colleague looks on.

The government is pitching in to reassure consumers.

"Isn't it tempting?" a government advertisement in a newspaper says, showing a well-cooked chicken surrounded by vegetables and half-cooked eggs. "So go for it".

In Kolkata in eastern India, chicken sellers are giving away a kg of onion for each bird to boost sales.

"With word spreading about the offer, people are slowly coming to buy chicken," said Sampad Sahu, a chicken seller.

A popular return to chicken would be a relief for millions of eateries and butchers, who have seen business plunge. The poultry industry estimates it lost about 400 million rupees ($9 million) a day for two weeks and is still losing millions of rupees a day.

"It has been a bad dream. My sales of chicken fell 99 percent," said Javed, who runs an open-air food outlet in New Delhi's swanky Khan Market, where succulent pieces of chicken, mutton and fish are skewered and cooked over red-hot coals.

"In the past three to four days, thank God, a few people have started to eat chicken again, but it is nothing like the rush earlier," Javed, a burly man in a checked apron and white skull cap, says as he puts tikkas into a thinly-rolled roti bread.

(Additional reporting by Bappa Majumdar in KOLKATA)

($1=44.50 rupees)

[TexasStooge]

Beer flows from house taps in Norway

OSLO, Norway (Reuters) - A woman thought she was in heaven when beer instead of water flowed from the taps in her apartment in west Norway.

"I turned on the tap to clean some knives and forks and beer came out," Haldis Gundersen told Reuters from her home in Kristiansund, west Norway. "We thought we were in heaven."

Beer in Norway is among the most expensive in the world with a 0.4 litre (0.7 pint) costing about 50 crowns (4.3 pounds) in a bar.

Gundersen said she tried the beer but that it tasted a bit odd and was not fizzy.

It turned out that a worker in a bar two floors below had mixed up the pipes on Saturday evening, wrongly connecting a new barrel to a water pipe leading to Gundersen's flat. The bar got water in its beer taps.

"If it happens again I'm going to order Baileys (coffee liqueur)," she said.

[TexasStooge]

Pakistan nabs 1,000 for kite flying

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Police in Pakistan's second city detained more than 1,000 people at the weekend for flying kites in defiance of a newly imposed ban on the popular traditional sport.

However, the vast majority of those detained in the city of Lahore during the annual kite-flying festival of Basant were released after brief appearances before magistrates and most were discharged, police spokesman Athar Ali Khan said.

The local government announced a ban on kite flying ahead of Sunday's festival to prevent deaths and injuries caused every year by metal and glass coated string that enthusiasts use to cut the string of rivals in aerial duels.

Kite flying is also opposed by Islamist groups and Mullahs who see it as a Hindu tradition and because gamblers often bet on the outcome of duels.

The provincial chief minister in Lahore had warned last week that offenders could be tried under anti-terrorism laws, but police said these were not invoked.

The kite-flying ban was largely ignored in Lahore despite a large police presence in the sprawling city to enforce it.

Police estimated about 500 people received minor injuries during the festival, some from sharp kite strings and others from stray bullets or pellets fired into the air to celebrate the festival.

There was one death -- of a young man shot dead by another in an altercation over a kite duel -- compared with 19 reported last year.

Every year, Pakistani media report dozens of deaths and injuries caused by kite flying, mainly of children and motorcyclists whose throats are sometimes cut by strings.

Lahore resident Khurram Ali said he was watching the kites on Sunday from his rooftop when the sharp string of a falling kite wrapped around his neck causing a cut that needed seven stitches.

One of those arrested on Sunday, Sadiq Shah, said he had only been watching the spectacle from his home.

"I was standing on the rooftop when police knocked the gate of our house. My mother opened it and they came upstairs and took me away."

He said he was released because there was no trace on his hands to show he had been flying kites -- often kite-flyers' fingers have cuts or other marks left by sharp strings.

(Additional reporting by Raja Asghar in ISLAMABAD)
_____________________________________________________________

What kind of nonsense is this?

[TexasStooge]

Court upholds "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Reuters) - An Alaska high school violated a student's free speech rights by suspending him after he unfurled a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street from the school, a federal court ruled on Friday.

Joseph Frederick, a student at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska, displayed the banner -- which refers to smoking marijuana -- in January 2002 to try to get on television as the Olympic torch relay was passing the school.

Principal Deborah Morse seized the banner and suspended the 18-year-old for 10 days, saying he had undermined the school's educational mission and anti-drug stance.

Friday's ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco overturned a decision by a federal court in Alaska that backed Frederick's suspension and said his rights were not violated.

The appeals court said the banner was protected speech because it did not disrupt school activity and was displayed off school grounds during a non-curricular activity.

"Public schools are instrumentalities of government, and government is not entitled to suppress speech that undermines whatever missions it defines for itself," Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote in the court's opinion.

The court also cleared the way for Frederick to seek damages, saying Morse was aware of relevant case law and should have known her actions violated his rights.

[TexasStooge]

Newlywed Gets Cuddling Ticket Tossed

McMINNVILLE, Oregon (AP) - Here's a tip for couples on a romantic drive to Oregon's Coastal Mountain range: feel free to cuddle up close in the car. And for that privilege, thank newlywed Faith Miller, who likes to snuggle up next to her husband when the two head out for a drive.

The couple owns a spacious 1988 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, which means that if Miller wants to snuggle up, she has to slide into the middle of the car's front seat, wearing a lap belt instead of a shoulder harness.

That position drew a warning last summer from Sheriff's Deputy Darren Broome, who pulled over the couple last summer and gave them a warning: Safety before snuggling.

Miller admitted that she disregarded the warning.

"I just went back to sitting next to my husband," she told The McMinnville News-Register. "I have always sat next to him since we were married."

Then, just two days before Valentine's Day, the Millers crossed paths with Broome once again.

Spotting Miller in her accustomed position next to her husband, he lit up his overheads and pulled the couple over.

This time, she got a citation, for $97, the first ticket Miller said she had ever gotten in her whole life.

And she felt chastened enough to move back over to the passenger side.

"Now I'm stuck way over by the window, and can barely even reach my husband," she said.

Then she began looking through Oregon's seat belt laws.

Miller found a provision requiring shoulder harnesses for children, whenever one is available, but no comparable provision for adults. As far as she could tell, harnesses were recommended, but not required.

When Miller told Lt. Paul May at the sheriff's office about her findings, he did some research of his own and verified her findings, voiding the ticket.

"I can't find a statute that supports that violation," May told the News-Register. "It certainly does for children, but not for adults. "There's a recommendation that if a shoulder belt is available, to use it. But it's not in the statute. It's a traffic recommendation."

That means Miller won't have to appear in Willamina Municipal Court the week of March 21. She said she sees a special bit of silver lining in that, as she'll be celebrating her second wedding anniversary that week.

[TexasStooge]

Team to Hold Cheney Hunting Vest Night

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) - A minor league hockey team is spoofing Vice President Dick Cheney's recent hunting mishap with a plan to distribute bright orange hunting vests printed with the words, "Don't Shoot, I'm Human."

The Las Vegas Wranglers plan to distribute 1,000 vests to fans arriving for Friday's game as part of a promotion dubbed "Dick Cheney Hunting Vest Night" at the Orleans Arena.

"It was sort of too juicy not to do," said Billy Johnson, Wranglers president and chief operating officer. "It's one of those events in pop culture."

He referred to Cheney accidentally wounding a hunting partner while quail hunting Feb. 11 on a Texas ranch.

Cheney's office in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment.

The Wranglers, of the East Coast Hockey League, are scheduled to play the Alaska Aces on Friday. The 7,000-seat arena is at the Orleans hotel-casino.

[TexasStooge]

3-Year-Old Boy Shoots Mom in the Knee

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A 3-year-old boy shot his mother in the knee with a 9mm handgun he had found under a couch cushion over the weekend, police said.

It was the second time the boy had handled the gun on Sunday. The mother had taken the gun away from the child and removed the bullets — apparently overlooking one in the chamber — and put the weapon back on the couch.

When the boy picked the gun up a second time, it fired. "It appears to be accidental," said St. Paul police spokesman Pete Crum.

The woman was taken to Regions Hospital, with non-life-threatening injuries. "It could have been much more tragic had the child shot himself or hit the woman in a more vital area," Crum said.

The boy was put in the care of his father.

Authorities removed several guns from the home. Crum said they were all legal.

Police said they would forward the case to the Ramsey County Attorney's office for possible child-endangerment charges.

"There are two lessons to learn: Don't let your children play with guns. Always treat a gun as though it's loaded," Crum said.