MAN SHOWING OFF OnSTAR ARRESTED

(ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.) - A man showing off his OnStar system in his Cadillac Escalade found out the system worked too well. Ralph A. Gomez, 38, was being held Wednesday on $15,000 bond on charges of possession of an illegal narcotic within 1,000 feet of a church and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Gomez was showing off his OnStar system to his girlfriend, but the volume was set so low that he couldn't hear the OnStar operator. OnStar comes on many new General Motors vehicles and allows a customer to contact an OnStar representative in an emergency or to get directions.

If there is no response, OnStar contacts police.

That's what happened with Gomez on Friday night, Tom Clements, a spokesman for the St. Augustine Police Department, said Wednesday.

When police located Gomez' car, they determined there was no problem. But Clements said cocaine was clearly visible on the car's center console.

In addition to seizing $1,900 in the case, the Cadillac equipped with the OnStar system was also seized, Clements said.

There was no information available from Clements or the jail on whether Gomez has a lawyer.

POLICE: HOMELESS MAN TRIES TO STEAL SHEEP

(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) - A homeless man who police say tried to take a sheep from the Little Rock Zoo has been arrested on numerous charges. A security guard at the zoo called police Tuesday evening after spotting a man carrying a trash can with a sheep in it, a police report said.

When officers arrived Grady Allen Carnahan, 32, told them he was a doctor and the sheep was sick. He said he was taking the animal to a veterinary clinic, the report said.

Carnahan fought with officers as they were trying to take him into custody, police said.

He was arrested on a felony charge of violating an animal facility and on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass, cruelty to animals, resisting arrest, and theft of property.

The animal was returned to its pen at the zoo.

MAN KILLS ROOMMATE OVER TOILET PAPER

(MOSS BLUFF, Fla.) - A man accused of fatally beating his roommate with a sledgehammer and a claw hammer because there was no toilet paper in their home has been arrested.

Franklin Paul Crow, 56, was charged Monday with homicide in the death of Kenneth Matthews, 58, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Capt. Thomas Bibb said Crow initially denied his involvement, but confessed during questioning.

Crow told investigators that the men were fighting about the toilet paper over the weekend when Matthews pulled out a rifle. Crow said he then began beating Matthews with the sledgehammer and claw hammer, according to an affidavit.

Matthews was beaten so badly he had to be identified through his fingerprints, detectives said.

Crow was being held at the Marion County jail without bond. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney.

BIGFOOT HUNTERS CONVERGE ON CENTRAL ILLINOIS

February 14, 2006 - Bigfoot may be roaming central Illinois, at least that's what some hunters hope.

A Bloomington man claims he spotted an 8-foot tall, 400 pound Sasquatch last year in McClean County while he was driving home from work.

Word of the possible sighting reached a group of Bigfoot hunters in California who are now in Illinois for the next few days with their equipment to catch a glimpse of the big and hairy creature.

"What more can be said that hasn't been said? I've been ridiculed, but the proof is in the pudding, Jack, and that's the reason why myself and my team are out here now investigating across this great United States of America," said Tom Biscardi, Bigfoot hunter.

The hunters believe they might be onto something.

WOMAN WHISTLES THROUGH HER TOES

An Oklahoma woman takes whistling to a whole new low -- she whistles through her toes.

Betty Bell learned to whistle through her toes as a kid. She said she started her strange talent when she found she couldn't whistle through her fingers.

Bell is in New York trying to get a spot on David Letterman's late-night TV segment "Stupid Human Tricks." A friend painted a likeness of Letterman on one of her toes in hopes of bringing her luck.

OREGON MAN BUILDS FOAM HOME

January 30, 2006 - An Albany, OR man is living inside a volcano, one which he built himself out of recycled materials. Steve Fletcher has made a career out of using foam for insulation. Now he isn't just taking his work home with him, he's building a home out of foam.

This foam home even comes with a hot tub made of foam. Fletcher, who owns a spray foam business, was looking for a way to recycle leftover foam when the idea for this house came to him.

"When we moved here, it was a gravel pit, so it looks better than it did," said Markus Fletcher.

Now, with its waterfalls and 30 foot pond, Fletcher's foam volcano has become a local landmark. He's not done with it yet and says the foam home is a work in progress.

Someday Fletcher hopes to give the property to the city. In the meantime he's planning another project: a floating car made of foam which he could drive into the Willamette River.

INVESTORS BUY FAKE MILLION DOLLAR BILL

February 17, 2006 (TOKYO) - Bad news for some Japanese investors. There's no such thing as a $1 million greenback.

According to a Japanese newspaper, eight people are out more than $1.25 million. They were duped into buying supposedly rare U.S. million-dollar bills from the 1920's. But the mil notes are fakes.

The largest denomination bill ever produced by the U-S treasury was a 100-thousand-dollar note in the mid 1930's.

The news reports say three of the bilked investors have had to file for bankruptcy. The man who promised them huge returns has disappeared with their real money.

GIRL WEDS DOG TO WARD OFF 'EVIL EYE'

February 22, 2006 (NEW DELHI) - A 7-year-old girl wed a stray dog as part of a ritual to ward off the "evil eye" on her and her family in eastern India, a news agency reported Wednesday.

Shivam Munda's upper teeth appeared before her lower teeth considered a bad omen by members of the Santhal ethnic group to which she belongs, the Press Trust of India said in a report from Dhanbad, a coal mining town in the eastern state of Bihar.

Kundan Munda, a coal mine worker, said his daughter married the dog only to "remove the evil eye," a superstitious belief that some misfortune could befall her and the family, and that she would be free to marry a man later.

Friends and family participated in three days of traditional ceremonies and festivities that are part of a Santhal tribal marriage, Munda said, according to the report.

TWO TEENAGERS CRASH PLANE THEY STOLE

March 1, 2006 (BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif.) - Two 14-year-old California boys have escaped with just minor injuries after crash-landing an allegedly stolen plane.

Authorities in Big Bear Lake, California, say the plane belonged to the parents of one of the boys. The boys had had some sort of disagreement with them and, according to investigators, took the plane from a hanger at the Big Bear Airport to run away.

The airport does not have a control tower and pilots are not required to check in with anyone before taking off.

The boys ditched the plane in the Joshua Tree National Park after apparently running out of fuel. Neither boy has a pilot's license but the airport manager says the one youngster has flown regularly with his dad.

Both boys now face possible charges of burglary and airplane theft.

TWO WOMEN OK AFTER BEING ATTACKED BY SQUIRREL

February 27, 2006 (CRETE, Ill.) - Authorities say two women in the Chicago suburb of Crete are fine after being attacked by a squirrel.

Crete Police Chief Paul VanDeraa says one woman was scratched in the leg and bitten by a squirrel February 16th as she walked from her porch to her car. Three days later, a squirrel scratched another woman.

VanDeraa says the women live several blocks from each other. Will County Animal Control set traps in the victims' yards and caught a squirrel.

He says the squirrel didn't have any signs of rabies, but it is being held as a precautionary measure