Post insane / odd / unique news releases here

[LWM]

Marilyn Monroe chest X-rays auctioned for $45,000 (June 27th, 2010 @ 7:32pm)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The apparently endless market for images of Marilyn Monroe now extends to inside the bombshell's body.

A set of three Monroe Chest X-rays from a 1954 hospital visit sold Sunday for $45,000 at the Hollywood Legends auction at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Julien's Auctions, which sold the X-rays, estmated that they would only fetch a total of about $3,000.

Other Monroe-abilia that sold included a chair from her last photo shoot that went for $35,000.

The auction included items from other actresses, including a pair of earrings worn by Kate Winslet in "Titanic" that sold for $25,000 and a dress Audrey Hepburn wore when she starred opposite Fred Astaire in the musical "Funny Face" that fetched $56,250.

[LWM]

Double diplomas: 2 NY schools, 19 sets of twins (June 28th, 2010 @ 9:36am)

BALDWINSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - People attending graduation ceremonies at a pair of upstate New York high schools couldn't be blamed for thinking they were seeing double.

Twelve sets of twins graduated from Baker High School in Baldwinsville on Sunday, the same day seven sets of twins received their diplomas during ceremonies at nearby Jamesville-DeWitt High School in the Syracuse area.

Representatives from Guinness World Records say Baker High's graduating class with 12 sets of twins breaks the previous record of 10, set by a Massachusetts high school in 2007.

Principal Joseph DeBarbieri, himself a twin, says four of his school's 12 sets of twins plan to attend the same college as their sibling.

[LWM]

Camo-wearing bowhunters marry in tree in Iowa (June 28th, 2010 @ 11:09am)

ANAMOSA, Iowa (AP) - An Iowa couple whose passion for bowhunting encouraged Cupid's arrow to strike wore camouflage to blend in with the wooded backdrop at their treetop wedding.

Forty-two year-old Kim Silver dressed in a silk gown made by camouflage specialists Mossy Oak, and her 61-year-old groom, Marvin Hunter, was dressed in camo shirt and pants at the Saturday nuptials.

They said their vows atop a tree stand hunting platform at the Anamosa Bowhunters Archery Club in the state's northeast. The bride and groom occasionally punctuated the ceremony by firing arrows at targets.

Hunter said the couple had always joked about getting married on a tree stand. Silver said the pair they hunt together so much that the camo wedding "just seemed like the right thing to do."

[LWM]

Wis. chief forester fined $263 for shooting turkey (June 28th, 2010 @ 2:33pm)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The chief forester in Wisconsin has turned himself in and paid a $263 fine for shooting a hen turkey out of season.

Paul DeLong says he made a mistake this spring when he mistook a tuft of feathers on the bird for a beard. He thought it was a male bird that could be shot legally.

DeLong heads the Department of Natural Resources' Forestry Division, which manages Wisconsin's forests.

DNR Chief Warden Randy Stark says DeLong turned himself in. Stark says a member of the public likely wouldn't have been cited, but he decided to cite DeLong because he was a DNR employee and DeLong asked to be treated like any other agency worker. The DNR says he won't be reprimanded, though.

DeLong says he wanted to take responsibility for his error.

[LWM]

Mass. school district tests rife with errors (June 29th, 2010 @ 9:00am)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - The school superintendent in Springfield, Mass., has taken responsibility for tests given to the district's 11th- and 12th-graders that were rife with spelling, grammatical and factual errors.

Two tests given in May to about 2,600 students contained about 100 errors combined.

The mistakes included the phrases "truning around" and "For God's skae," as well as a note on one test that read "This is the end of the Test," when there were two more pages.

The district contracts with an outside company to develop the exams. Superintendent Alan Ingram said Monday it wasn't that company's fault. He said the district's own proofreaders dropped the ball. He said he would make sure the district does a better job of checking the tests in the future.

[LWM]

Okla. inmates not tickled pink with new jumpsuits (June 29th, 2010 @ 10:35am)

MANGUM, Okla. (AP) - A southwestern Oklahoma sheriff is dressing county inmates in hot pink jumpsuits as a deterrent to crime and to make them easier to spot.

Greer County Sheriff Devin Huckabay says the new suits replace the faded and tattered orange jumpsuits worn until now.

Huckabay says male inmates "don't like wearing them" and that the snazzy jumpsuits therefore are an incentive to not break the law and wind up in jail.

He says the prisoners wearing pink are also "hard to miss" and so can be easily managed when working on community projects or being transferred.

[LWM]

Man, 81, accused of machete chase near taco stand (June 29th, 2010 @ 1:20pm)

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Police said an 81-year-old man was arrested after he chased another man around a Salem taco stand while armed with a machete. Salem police said Monday the man accused the taco stand owner of stealing a drill from his nearby business. When the taco stand owner denied it, the suspect left and returned with a machete.

Lt. Dave Okada said the suspect chased the unidentified man around the stand several times before officers arrested him on accusations of menacing and attempted assault. He was booked into the Marion County Jail.

There were no injuries in Sunday's incident.

[LWM]

Calif. woman says Chihuahua died saving her kids (June 29th, 2010 @ 3:56pm)

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) - A Northern California woman says her Chihuahua died protecting her children from two pit bulls that got into her apartment.

Mayda Estrella, of Richmond, says the family's Chihuahua, named Manchas, jumped in between the canine invaders and her 4-year-old son Sunday. A pit bull grabbed Manchas with its jaws and carried the Chihuahua away.

Contra Costa County animal services officials say the Chihuahua was killed, and the pit bulls are now in custody.

The pit bulls' owner says they had escaped their yard by chewing through a fence. Estrella says her front door was open when the dogs came in.

She says when she saw the dogs come in, she ran into a bedroom with her other child, a newborn baby.

County officials say the owner won't face criminal charges.

[Adondo]

Anyone heading to the West Coast Camp Commander in Silverton this year, and coming from the west, WATCH OUT! There may be vampires!! You have to drive right thru Fruita to get to Ouray.

From here: http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-vampir...,4980779.story

FRUITA, Colo. - If a Western Slope woman is to be believed, vampires may be lurking in Colorado's Grand Valley.

The woman claims she spotted a vampire in the middle of a dirt road near Fruita, Colo. Sunday night. She told Colorado State Troopers she was startled by the undead being, threw her SUV into reverse, and crashed into a canal.

She was not injured.

State Troopers say the woman's husband arrived at the scene and took her home. The vampire, which was not seen by anyone else, apparently let her get away.

Troopers do not suspect drugs or alcohol to be factors in the crash.

[LWM]

9-year-old Conn. girl gets stuck inside chimney (June 30th, 2010 @ 10:32am)

NEW CANAAN, Conn. (AP) - A 9-year-old Connecticut girl who climbed to the roof of her house and attempted to crawl back inside through the chimney has been rescued after getting stuck.

Assistant Fire Chief Jack Hennessey says the girl climbed up a house painter's ladder Wednesday morning, walked across the roof and tried to climb down the chimney.

She almost made it to the fireplace before getting stuck in the flue at about 6:30 a.m.

Family members heard her cries for help and called rescue workers, who tried to take apart the flue.

Hennessey said after about 20 minutes, the girl was able to wiggle herself down through the hole and out the fireplace.

She was not injured.