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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A woman known as the "butter cow lady" for her life-size butter sculptures of dairy cows says she wants to do a likeness of golfer Tiger Woods at the Iowa State Fair. "He's going to be sitting down with a club next to him and he's going to be scratching a live tiger, so to speak, on the head," said Norma Lyon on Wednesday. Lyon, 75, lives on a dairy farm near Toledo. She carves a full-size dairy cow out of butter at the fair each year. Her cows have been a highlight for nearly...

WASHINGTON – An increasing number of market professionals expect the dollar to rise in the month ahead, a new Kissinger McLarty/Zogby poll finds. International strategic advisory firm Kissinger McLarty Associates and Zogby International, a leading polling organization, regularly research and analyze public opinion and market reactions to geopolitical and economic issues through their Market Expectations Poll. The current Kissinger McLarty/Zogby Market Expectations Poll also finds: Optimism on the global economy remains strong There has been a slight drop in bullishness about the U.S. stock market Attitudes toward the dollar have reversed, partly in anticipation of tighter monetary policy from the...

NEW YORK - Burt Reynolds apparently slapped a CBS-TV assistant producer in the face at a New York screening of his new film, "The Longest Yard." The producer, who works for CBS News PATH, approached Reynolds on the red carpet outside a Chelsea theater Tuesday night. When he asked Reynolds to tell him about the film, the actor seemed annoyed. "You don't know anything about the movie?" Reynolds replied. The producer acknowledged he hadn't seen the movie or the original 1974 film. Reynolds then seemed to slap the producer. "What ... kinda of guy are you?" he asked. CBS aired...

ZURICH (Reuters) - A giant dominatrix teddy bear wearing a leather mask and brandishing hand-cuffs has been banned from sober Zurich's street display of man-sized model bears, the project's artistic director said Tuesday. While tourists pose for snaps next to a brightly-painted and benign array of models such as the "schoolteacher bear" and the "skier bear," "Baervers" -- a pun on the German for perverse -- has been deemed too steamy for the financial capital's streets. "This bear is perverse, dominatrix and hardcore. We had to ban it because of the children," Beat Seeberger-Quin, the project's art director, told Reuters....

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Mark Martin had no intention of taking a nostalgic ride around the track in his final All-Star race. He wanted to win it. Martin pulled it off Saturday night, winning the Nextel All-Star Challenge and its $1 million prize in what is supposed to be his final appearance in the dash-for-cash race. But after crossing the finish line at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Martin told his Roush Racing crew he's willing to come back for more. ``Thank you guys! Thank you!'' Martin screamed over his radio. ``I'll be back next year if you give me a ride!''...

ELKHART, Ind. - A 3-year-old boy upset that his mother wouldn't let him use a crane vending machine to try to win a small stuffed animal took matters in his own hands. He climbed up the chute to get the prize himself. Danielle Manges said she took her eyes off her son, James, for a moment to pick up a juice bottle he threw. When she looked up, he was in with the plush toys. "I bent over to clean it and within two seconds he had climbed through the hole, into the chute and pushed the door shut so...

NEW YORK - In the paperback edition of "My Life," former President Clinton acknowledges that his memoir may have been too long, recounts some friendly faces from his book tour and some odder ones sighted under the influence of anesthesia as he underwent heart surgery last September. ADVERTISEMENT I'm a: WomanMan Seeking a: ManWoman Age: to City or ZIP: "At first I saw a series of dark faces, like death masks, flying toward me and being crushed," writes Clinton, whose book comes out May 31 in both trade and mass market paperback. "Then I saw circles of light with the...

DENVER (AP) - Ross Hopkins still likes to drink Bud, even though he says a brief tryst with a Coors beer cost him his job at a Budweiser distributor. Hopkins, 41, is suing American Eagle Distributing Co., saying the company wrongly fired him for drinking Coors in a bar two years ago. "They flat-out told me: 'We're putting food on your table so you could put it on theirs?"' he said Tuesday. "I thought I could drink it, no problem." Hopkins' lawsuit, filed in a Greeley, Colo., court, seeks unspecified damages for lost wages and benefits. No trial date has...

NEW YORK - Former "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Jason Priestley has married longtime girlfriend Naomi Lowde, the actor's publicist, Marla Weinstein, said Tuesday. Priestley and Lowde wed Saturday on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Weinstein said. No further details were available. After several years together, the 35-year-old actor and Lowde, a makeup artist, became engaged last May. It is the second marriage for Priestley, who was married to Ashlee Peterson, also a makeup artist, for less than a year before divorcing in early 2000. Priestley, who played Brandon Walsh on the long-running teen drama, was seriously injured in an August...

FORT PAYNE, Ala. - After 15 years of being known as the city that created the world's largest birthday cake, Fort Payne may have to forfeit that title. Las Vegas created its own giant cake last weekend in celebration of the city's 100th birthday. The cake, assembled by 600 volunteers, weighed 130,000 pounds and measured 102 feet long, 52 feet wide and 20 inches high. Organizers said they expected Guinness Book of Records officials to confirm their cake as the world's largest within weeks. Fort Payne has held the title since 1989, when it created a 128,238-pound cake in the...

SAN FRANCISCO - Five decades after Gumby first captured the nation's imagination, the little green guy and his chums are starring in a new art exhibit — the first in a series of events to mark the 50th anniversary of the television icon's creation and launch his comeback. "Gumby and Friends: The First 50 Years" attracted fans of all ages at Saturday's opening at the historic Lynn House Gallery in Antioch, about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco. Creator Art Clokey, now 83, signed Gumby figurines at the two-story exhibit, which featured photographs, toys and other memorabilia. "Gumby is an...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Kasey Kahne raced to his first victory on NASCAR's premier series Saturday night, putting the domination of Roush Racing and Hendrick Motorsports to rest -- at least for a night. While points leader Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon had miserable nights and Roush's Kurt Busch struggled, Kahne finally finished a race that he started with one of the strongest cars. Kahne, a six-time pole-sitter and six-time runner-up in his career, just beat Tony Stewart off pit road after all the leaders pitted under caution with about 67 laps to go. The Evernham Motorsports driver...

LOS ANGELES - Paris Hilton likes her burgers spicy. The hotel heiress, actress, jewelry designer and entrepreneur will star in a television commercial next week in which she will slap suds on the side of a Bentley automobile and chomp on a thick burger while clad in a skimpy black bathing suit. ADVERTISEMENT Hilton will perform the feat to a rock version of the song "I Love Paris in the Springtime." The ad for the fast-food chain Carl's Jr. will feature Hilton's signature tag line, which doubles as a reference to the barbecue sauce and jalapenos-pepper laden sandwich — "that's...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - What price a silver spoon, the proverbial passport to a life of luxury and power? Auction house Sotheby's is hoping up to $60,000 for the spoon that belonged to the first president of the United States. The tablespoon with the George Washington crest is among the highlights of a New York auction on May 19 of silver and other items being sold by a direct descendant of Washington, Sotheby's said on Thursday. There is also a silver wine cooler with an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000 and the sellers are hoping to raise another $40,000 to...

Action/Adventure and Comedy Set in present day, the story follows the adventures of "good old boy" cousins, Bo (Seann William Scott) and Luke (Johnny Knoxville) Duke, who with the help of their eye-catching cousin Daisy (Jessica Simpson) and moonshine running Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), try and save the family farm from being destroyed by Hazzard County's corrupt commissioner Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds). Their efforts constantly find the "Duke Boys" eluding authorities in "The General Lee," their famed 1969 orange Dodge Charger that keeps them one step ahead of the dimwitted antics of the small southern town's Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane...

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- Greg Biffle's chances of winning a race he dominated appeared gone after his Roush Racing team made some late-race changes. But a timely spin by Mark Martin and four fresh tires were all Biffle needed to win Saturday night's Nextel Cup race at Darlington Raceway in overtime. Credit: Autostock Unofficial Results Dodge Charger 500 Pos. Driver Make 1. Greg Biffle Ford 2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 3. Kasey Kahne Dodge 4. Mark Martin Ford 5. Ryan Newman Dodge Complete results, click here Unofficial standings, click here Victory LaneGreg Biffle celebrates his third win of the season Second...

Dangerous Curves Richmond Times-Dispatch Wednesday, May 4, 2005 In 2002 jurisdictions in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads held regional referendums regarding transportation and taxes. Democrats generally supported the referendums as a device to measure local sentiment; many urged citizens to vote yes. Anti-tax absolutists not only opposed the packages but considered the referendums themselves examples of insufficient zealotry for their cause. If they had had their way, the referendums would not have occurred. The referendums played a role in the 2001 statewide campaign. Tim Kaine, for instance, laid into his Republican opponent for opposing them. Kaine even called Jay Katzen's...

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the Michael Jackson trial after more than two months of dramatic testimony in which they sought to prove that the pop star molested a teenage cancer patient and conspired to hold his family captive at his fairy-tale estate. ADVERTISEMENT The defense immediately filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal on grounds the prosecution did not prove its case. Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville said the motion would be heard first thing Thursday. District Attorney Tom Sneddon closed his case pending the judge's decisions on whether to admit various...

LONDON (Reuters) - A British boy sitting down to breakfast had a nasty surprise when he discovered a two-foot long snake inside his box of cereal. ADVERTISEMENT Jordan Willett, 5, thought he had found a toy when the serpent -- a harmless corn snake -- slithered out of the packet of "Golden Puffs" his parents had bought from discount store Netto in Telford, central England. "It was quite long and popped its head up. I've seen snakes on TV before but never in a box of cereal," he told the Daily Mail newspaper. Netto said Wednesday it was talking to...

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) -- There was a time when Jeff Gordon didn't like restrictor-plate racing. No more. Gordon proved again Sunday he is NASCAR's new king of racing at plate tracks, fighting off challenger after challenger on the way to winning the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway in overtime. ``This is the type of racing where experience is really key,'' Gordon said. ``The more that I get used to watching my mirror, using the air and having the kind of car I had today, I feel like I get better at restrictor-plate racing.'' That's bad news for the rest of...