Free Republic

Authorities said a man wearing a yellow dress who had just been released from Western State Hospital first stole a school bus and later drove a piece of heavy equipment through the home of his estranged wife. Employees of Osprey Rafting on Saturday said they saw a man wearing a yellow dress drive away in the company’s yellow school bus from an area east of Leavenworth on SR 2 around 7:40 p.m. Chelan County sheriff’s deputies responded and found the bus heading eastbound. Deputies said the driver ran a red light near Monitor and they tried to pull the driver...

Science-fiction is well on the way to becoming science fact with engineers from Activelink, a Kyoto-based subsidiary of Panasonic, developing an exoskeleton suit inspired by the "Power Loader" suit Ripley wore in her climactic battle with the Queen Alien in Aliens. And, just like in the movie, the Power Loader suit is designed to give its wearer superhuman strength for the lifting of heavy objects – in the movie it was cargo, but Activelink also has construction and disaster relief operations in its sights. The suit is constructed from an aluminum-alloy frame and weighs 230kg (507 lbs). Similar to...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- The leader of an artists' cooperative has been sentenced to probation for illegally setting up a secret apartment inside the Providence Place Mall that was equipped with furniture and a video game system. Alerts Michael Townsend, 36, said he and seven other artists built the apartment in a 750-square-foot loft in the parking garage four years ago and lived there for up to three weeks at a time while documenting mall life.