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"M*A*S*H"'s Major Charles Winchester has stepped out of the tent. Actor David Ogden Stiers tells Gossipboy.com, "I am [gay]. Very proud to be so." Later in the interview, he said, "I wish to spend my life's twilight being just who I am."

A home-owner using a blowtorch to melt ice on his back porch accidentally set fire to his North End triple-decker Monday, officials said. The blaze at 107 Davis St. caused $20,000-$30,000 worth of damage and displaced several residents, Fire Capt. Scott Kruger said Capt. Kruger said the building's owner was trying to melt the snow and ice on the back porch using a large torch hooked up to a 20-pound propane cylinder. He got too close to the building's wood frame and ignited the vinyl siding. The fire quickly spread into the building's uninsulated exterior wall and chased into the...

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, 46-year-old Lindsy Whitfield got worked up when his friend told him she didn't like Obama. Police said Whitfield slammed a picture frame on the floor of the woman's apartment, and then picked up the shattered frame, threw it and hit her in the face. The enraged man then began beating the victim with his fists before telling her he was going to kill her, according to a police report. The victim told police that after Whitfield stopped hitting her he grabbed her stun gun and ran out of the apartment.

The sign at a Citgo station in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin advertised for $3.49 a gallon, but pump was set for $0.349 per gallon. One motorist filled up her 1998 Ford Expedition for $8.85; normally it would cost over $100.00. About 30-40 motorists filled up for about 90 minutes before the error was discovered; many customers were also filling gas cans.

Two Sebastian River Middle School eighth-graders have been charged with lewd or lascivious molestation and attempted sexual battery on a child, in connection with an incident on a school bus while the school's soccer team returned home from a game. Rodolfo Rodriguez, 14, and Jose Zamora, 15, both of Fellsmere were arrested at their homes Sept. 17, according to arrest affidavits released Tuesday. The two eighth-graders attempted to insert an apple pie box in a sixth-grade teammate's buttocks, while others tried taking photos with cellular phones, according to an incident report released Tuesday .

WASHINGTON - Hard times and higher fuel prices will follow kids back to school this fall. Children will walk farther to the bus stop, pay more for lunch, study from old textbooks and wear last year's clothes. Field trips? Forget about it. This year, it could cost nearly twice as much to fuel the yellow buses that rumble to school each morning. If you think it's expensive to fill up a sport utility vehicle, try topping off a tank that is two or even three times as big. At the same time, costs for air conditioning and heating, cafeteria food...

Maryland State Police have a strange case to solve: A man walked into a Frederick County 7-11 Wednesday morning and tried to rob it. His weapon of choice? A banana. The 7-11 on Fingerboard Road in Monrovia has been robbed before, but never like this. At 12:45 a.m., a masked man walked up to the counter and grabbed--a banana. He aimed it at the clerk and demanded cash. "What's he think he's going to do with a banana?! Ain't much you can do with a banana! Throw the peel down and hope he slips on it," said resident Michael Benton....

McALLEN - A woman accused of robbing two banks this month gave investigators a vital clue to her identity Monday, when she passed a threatening note to a teller with her name and address on the back. Investigators believe Maria Garcia, 33, scrawled the hold-up message on the back of a completed food stamp application moments before entering the Capital One Bank branch in downtown McAllen and making off with an undisclosed amount of cash. Officers arrested her less than two hours later by tracking her to the address on the form. They also linked her to a similar robbery...

EDWARDS, Colorado — A drunken man bit off part of his brother-in-law’s ear after an argument, according to an Eagle County Sheriff’s Office report. Henry T. Benites, 24, bit off part of the ear of Crisoforo Q. Reyes, 27, March 28, the report said. Benites said the fight started after he had slapped the hand of Reyes’ son when the boy dropped a milkshake, the report said. Benites said Reyes then pushed him twice, the report said. Benites also cursed several times and said he had beaten up Reyes, the report said. He said he drank seven beers that night,...

A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference. According to the lawsuit, the student's art teacher asked his class in February to draw landscapes. The student, a senior identified in the lawsuit by the initials A.P., added a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love" in his drawing. His teacher, Julie Millin, asked him to remove the reference to the Bible, saying students were making remarks about it. He refused, and she gave him a zero on the project....

The Oct 18 and 20 concert dates with Dixie Chicks/Eagles at Nokia Theatre LA Live were sold out in a few minutes.

The DVDs contain intimate moments between 33-year-old David H. Feltmeyer and his former girlfriend. He made numerous copies of the sex-play on his home computer, then randomly distributed them on cars, police said. Even worse, the DVDs included the former girlfriend's name, address and phone number. That prompted men to begin calling the woman or showing up at her house, police say.

Darren Hayes, co-founder of the 1990s pop band Savage Garden, is announcing he has married his homosexual boyfriend of two years, Richard Cullen. The civil union took place June 19 in London. "I can honestly say it was the happiest day of my life," said the Australian singer. While noting, "I very rarely make comments about my private life," Hayes said he feels lucky to live in an era where his relationship can be considered legally legitimate. (snip) Hayes formed Savage Garden in 1994 with Daniel Jones. The pair, known for hits including "I Want You" and "Truly, Madly, Deeply,"...

On a typical day at Tellme Networks Inc., Jackson snores, Penny spends time learning Chinese and the bosses and workers are delighted. Penny, a Labrador Retriever, and Jackson, a bulldog, are part of an effort at many U.S. companies to allow pets in the workplace. One survey shows nearly one in five U.S. companies allow pets at work. Millions of Americans believe pets on the job lower absenteeism. Tellme project manager Jaymer Delapena said co-workers know Jackson, famed for his loud snores, by name, and some like to take the dog into meetings. "I'll be walking past a conference room...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. // A former handyman has won more than $400,000 in a lawsuit over a penile implant that gave him a 10-year erection. Charles "Chick" Lennon, 68, received the steel and plastic implant in 1996, about two years before Viagra went on the market. The Dura-II is designed to allow impotent men to position the penis upward for sex, then lower it. But Lennon could not position his penis downward. He said he could no longer hug people, ride a bike, swim or wear bathing trunks because of the pain and embarrassment. He has become a recluse and is...

Gretchen Wilson and Josh Gracin were among the performers appearing Monday night (June 19) in Washington at a fundraiser that generated $27 million to be used by Republican candidates in the November elections. President Bush provided a speech for more than 5,000 supporters attending the President's Dinner at the Washington Convention Center. The event raised money for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

First they came for the workplace, then for people’s homes and cars, and then the great outdoors. Now the anti-tobacco jihadists, having helped ban smoking in most public and many private places, have turned their attention to the most private space of all — the womb. John Banzhaf, the heavyweight George Washington University law professor who for years has led the anti-smoking brigade is setting his sights on fetal rights related to their smoking mums. While it is legally defensible to abort a fetus up until moments before birth, it is apparently inconceivable that a woman would expose her unborn...

Five of the top ten conspiracies the author received about white people: 5. “The voting machines in Florida were built by white supremacists. They may well be able to distinguish between black and white voters. Who knows what they are capable of making those machines do?” (college professor). 4. “Newt Gingrich’s election as Speaker of the House, limiting affirmative action, limiting welfare, the Republican tax cuts, and the balanced budget are all part of the same idea. Everything the Republicans do or discuss is about racism. Everything is a well-orchestrated effort to keep the black man down.” (college professor). 3....

She's a former first lady, a United States senator, and a potential 2008 presidential candidate. But to hear Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton tell it, all of that pales in comparison to her real childhood dreams. "I wanted desperately to be an Olympic athlete," Clinton said Monday at a Purchase College symposium on Title IX, the 1972 law outlawing sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. "I tried everything. I ran every race, and if I was really lucky I finished second to last...I couldn't jump, I couldn't run, I couldn't swim." After determining she'd never be an athlete,...

The last time "Basic Instinct" man-eater Catherine Tramell prowled the big screen, the studio erotic thriller was hitting box office heights. The first "Instinct" took the top spot when it debuted in 1992, with an opening weekend of $15.1 million, the equivalent of $20.45 million in today's dollars. By comparison, "Basic Instinct 2" limped into 10th place upon its arrival this weekend, grossing just $3.2 million. In the years between the two films, a string of high-profile flops, including MGM's "Body of Evidence," United Artists' "Showgirls" and Paramount Pictures' "Jade," have all contributed to the cooling off of the erotic...