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In Morris County, New Jersey, 67-year-old NASCAR fan Dennis Zeglin was charged with several counts of animal cruelty after shooting his African grey parrot dead with a BB gun. It seems that "Mikey," the parrot, was chattering away during a NASCAR race that Zeglin was trying to watch on television. Peggy Wright, a staff writer for Morris County's newspaper, The Daily Record, reported that apparently Zeglin had been enjoying a few of his favorite adult beverages during the June 7 running of the Pocono 500, the first of two events at Pocono Raceway. Zeglin was in his chair in the...

Sisters Ashley and Katie Swan started fussing about taking their picture with Santa Claus when they were around 11 or 12 years old. But, with Ashley, 23, and working full time and Katie, 18, and a senior at St. Joseph’s Academy, the girls still haven’t gotten any relief from the family tradition. In fact, their mother, Merry Swan, is more determined than ever to have her little girls take their picture with Santa. She won’t let them have their Christmas presents until they do. “Now, it’s like bribery,” Merry Swan said. “This is how I feel — you have to...

A family road trip can be a great way to bring everyone together. However, it can also lead to squabbles over seat space, fights over how to drive and the wrong kind of family interactions. But the right vehicle might ease some of those tensions. Gabriel Shenhar, auto program manager for special publications for Consumer Reports gives a sneak peak at Consumer Reports' annual list of the top 10 vehicles for family travel. Shenhar said he and his colleagues compiled the list based on test scores which identified certain characteristics that would make the perfect family road trip vehicle. A...

WASHINGTON - House members have declared "Frank Sinatra Day," but did it their way. Lawmakers didn't get around to voting until Tuesday on a resolution supporting May 13, 2008 - last Tuesday - as the day honouring the late singer and Academy-Award-winning actor. Making up for lost time, the House voted 402-3 to do just that. Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., sponsor of the non-binding resolution and ostensibly the House's biggest Sinatra fan, told the House how he was introduced to the English language by listening to Sinatra records after his father returned from the Second World War. The Puerto Rico-born...

Not only is the Toyota Prius the top-selling hybrid vehicle, having recently topped 1 million units sold, but it is also the most fuel-efficient vehicle on the road. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the midsize Prius gets 48 miles per gallon in the city, eight mpg more than the runner-up, the Honda Civic Hybrid. Each car gets 45 mpg on the highway. The EPA's list includes both hybrid and gas-only cars, and rates the cars by category. The most efficient two-seaters are the Smart Fortwo convertible and coupe, which each get 33 mpg in the city and 41 on...

Do as I say, not as I do. That could be the lesson from Maj. Donald Lamar, a firearms instructor for the Bristol County Sheriff's Department, who was teaching a class on weapons safety last week when he accidentally fired the weapon while placing it into his holster. The bullet ripped through Maj. Lamar's pants leg and lodged in the floor, but amazingly missed his leg and foot. Just days earlier, a Marshfield police recruit accidentally shot himself in the leg while attempting to holster his weapon during a training session at the New Bedford Police Department's shooting range in...

ROCK ISLAND, Tenn. -- One moment, Justin Hill was turning into his driveway. Minutes later he was being flown to a hospital as his home went up in flames. Then he got a traffic ticket. Hill, 42, got into a crash after turning into the path of an oncoming car Tuesday evening, said Tennessee Highway Patrol Officer Monte Terry. Hill's wife heard the crash and ran outside, leaving the kitchen stove, where she had been cooking unattended. Within minutes, their Rock Island trailer was on fire, and firefighters who had responded to the accident found themselves fighting the blaze. The...

Victim Says Theme Park Was Negligent. ORLANDO, Fla. -- A woman beaten in an attack while waiting in line for a ride at Disney World is suing the theme park, alleging that its negligence has caused her permanent damage. Aimee Krause, of Clermont, was beaten by Victoria Walker, of Alabama, at the Mad Tea Party ride in May 2007. Krause claims in the lawsuit that security at Disney World failed to prevent the attack from occurring and did not do enough to investigate the incident. Walker was found guilty last month of battery and sentenced to 90 days in jail...

May 1, 2008 -- Anyone heard Condoleezza Rice use the word "jihad" lately? According to the Associated Press, the secretary of State hasn't publicly uttered that word, except when referring to the name of a specific group, for the past eight months. And she isn't likely to start again anytime soon. That's because the Bush administration has gone all PC in the War on Terror. Under guidelines issued for all federal agencies by the Department of Homeland Security and based on "recommendations from American Muslims," terms like "jihad" and "mujahedeen" are now off-limits in referring to Islamist extremists - because...

Employee Says Man Reminded Him Of 'Beavis And Butthead' Character A man accused of robbing a liquor store in Kentucky double wrapped his head and face in duct tape to disguise his identity during the crime, according to police. Employees at the Shamrock Liquors in Ashland reportedly laughed when the duct tape-wrapped bandit entered the store and demanded money. After the robbery, the store manager and employee tackled the man in a nearby parking lot and held him for police, Local 6 reported. The culprit, who police identified as Kasey Kazee, denied robbing the store even though police snapped photos...

The general manager of WHDH Channel 7 was arrested after an allegedly drunken, obscenity-laced tirade at Logan International Airport in which she threatened to call a news crew and put a state trooper "on TV and ruin [his] life," according to a police report. Randi Goldklank flailed her arms and screamed at State Police when they took her into custody after her Delta flight landed Sunday night, according to the report. She had to be helped off the plane by two crew members, according to the report, and struck a trooper in the chest, breaking the prescription glasses in his...

A single mom of four from Long Island whose fruitless quest for the multi-purpose bra led to her first invention sued Victoria's Secret Monday for ripping off her idea. Katerina Plew says she walked into a Victoria's Secret near her Selden, L.I. home in June 2007 and was stunned to see an exact knockoff of the bra she'd patented in 2004 hanging from a rack. "I actually cried," Plew, 38, told The News yesterday as her kids wolfed down ice cream at a Long Island Friendly's. "I bought one. I took it home. I couldn't believe it," she said. One...

Internal funds cover the $13,500 tab for filets and drinks, they say. Auditors call it 'abusive.' WASHINGTON - When the U.S. Postal Service rang up a $13,500 tab at an Orlando steakhouse, it spared no expense during a five-hour meal that government investigators are calling "abusive" in its extravagance. The order -- charged to government credit cards -- included more than $3,000 for drinks, more than $500 for shrimp cocktails and almost $900 for mini crab cakes, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigate arm of Congress. And then there's the steak. "The better question is probably what they...

COCOA, Fla. -- A 12-year-old Central Florida girl is missing after apparently meeting with a 19-year-old man, police said. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office said Tiffany Tyson may be with James McClish Lynch because she left a note that they were together. Investigators said the two were having an online relationship, Local 6's J.R. Stone said. Authorities believe they left from the city of Cocoa in a gray 2001 Chevrolet Blazer with Florida tag number G95-7FR. Tyson is about 5 feet tall and weighs 125 pounds. She has dark red hair and a black stripe on the left side. Lynch...

PALM BAY, Fla. -- A 43-year-old woman is accused of attacking her estranged husband in the shower with a bar of unwrapped soap. Cheryl Ann Lunderman, of the 900 Raleigh Road, was charged with battery and burglary to an occupied dwelling after Palm Bay Police were called to a home located on the 2200 block of Oklahoma Avenue to investigate reports of a disturbance, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported. Lunderman, listed by police as a registered nurse, is expected to have a hearing on the charges May 16, records show. Last week a judge ordered Lunderman not to...

FORT MORGAN, Ala. -- Several unmanned military drones with U.S. Air Force markings washed ashore in Alabama and forced the closure of a portion of at least one beach. Two men on spring break in the area found the first 20-foot-long drone on the shore near Fort Morgan. An official said the drone was a target that was apparently shot down in the Gulf of Mexico as part of a weapons system evaluation program, WKRG reported. Beachgoers first thought the drone was a swimmer in distress or a downed aircraft. "We couldn't tell what it was a first," a beachgoer...

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. -- A black Labrador happily wagged its tail at Ken Griggs' home Wednesday night, but there's just one problem. The family told Portland television station KPTV that the dog, recently picked up at a local kennel, doesn't belong to them. The Griggs family said the Tail Wag Inn in Dundee gave them the wrong dog when they picked it up after spring break. "I've got five kids," Griggs said. "She's like the sixth kid, and everybody wants the dog back." Griggs took Callie, his pet of seven years, to the kennel for boarding. When he returned the...

Fido and Rover are 'so' yesterday. When it comes to naming dogs, Americans are opting for names that are downright human. A survey using data from the computers of Veterinary Pet Insurance says the top four male dog names are Max, Buddy, Rocky, and Bailey. For female canines, it's Bella, Molly, Lucy, and Maggie. The trend is no accident, according to those who work with dogs and humans at the Animal Humane Society. "What strikes me most about the list is the amount of people names on that list, and it all just gets back to the human/animal bond," commented...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas' marriage-age crisis is over. A law that mistakenly allowed anyone — even toddlers — to marry with parental permission was repealed by a measure signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Mike Beebe, ending months of embarrassment for the state and confusion for county clerks. Lawmakers didn't realize until after the end of last year's regular session that a law they approved, intended to establish 18 as the minimum age for marriage, instead removed the minimum age to marry entirely. An extraneous "not" in the bill allowed anyone who was not pregnant to marry at any...

LIMA, Ohio (AP) ― A judge who ran out of prospective jurors in a child rape trial sent sheriff's deputies to a Wal-Mart, a supermarket and a mall to issue jury summonses to surprised shoppers. Three deputies questioned mall walkers and shoppers whether they were Allen County, Ohio residents and registered voters, and then issued summonses on the spot if answers to both questions were 'yes,' sheriff's Sgt. Brian Winegardner said. Deputies handed orders to appear to 12 potential jurors on Monday and eight on Tuesday, he said. "In 20 years on the bench this is only the second time...