Elyria

Alaska moose-hunter can 'rev up' his hovercraft, court rules

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The National Park Service improperly banned an Alaska moose hunter from using a hovercraft on a river through a national preserve, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a unanimous decision.

To kiss pope's hand - or not - enters the Catholic culture wars

On Monday, when Pope Francis visited a Catholic shrine in Loreto, he repeatedly withdrew his right hand as a long line of people bowed and tried to kiss the ring on it. Rorate Caeli, a website read by Catholic traditionalists, Tweeted: "Francis, If you don't want to be the Vicar of Christ, then get out of there!" Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, a supporter of Francis, countered by Tweeting: "He's making sure that they engage with him, not treat him like a sacred relic. Some Vatican watchers noted that even former Pope Benedict, a hero to nostalgic conservatives, and his predecessor John Paul, did not like having their hands kissed - at least not by long lines of people, for the sake of expediency.

Baby boom: 9 labor unit nurses pregnant at Maine hospital

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Nine nurses who work in the labor and delivery unit at the largest hospital in Maine are expecting babies in the next few months. Maine Medical Center announced the bonanza of babies with a Facebook post on Monday featuring eight of the nine nurses and their respective bumps.

An 'extreme stalker' has a Utah family's home under siege

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah family has become the victim of extreme stalking involving unwanted service providers repeatedly being sent to their home, according to the homeowner and police.

UK prison guards smell a rat and find rodents stuffed with drugs

Suspected organized criminals have been stuffing the bodies of dead rats with drugs, phones and cash and throwing them over the walls of a British prison to get contraband to inmates, the government said on Monday. Guards at Guys Marsh prison in Dorset, southwest England, grew suspicious when they found the bodies of three rats with long stitches along their stomachs, officials said. "This find shows the extraordinary lengths to which criminals will go to smuggle drugs into prison, and underlines why our work to improve security is so important," Britain's prisons minister, Rory Stewart, said.

Philly chilly in September, so nude bike ride set for August

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Naked bicyclists say they were so cold riding around Philadelphia last September that this year they'll do it in August.

Reel-y? New beer can double as motion picture film developer

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Kodak says a new beer hitting the market can be used to develop its Super 8 movie film.

Illinois governor's schedule includes recommended attire

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — What if you were governor of Illinois and didn't have a thing to wear?

A rare albino penguin makes its debut at zoo in Poland

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An extremely rare albino penguin has made its debut at Gdansk Zoo in northern Poland.

Dozens of rattlesnakes removed from under Texas home

ALBANY, Texas (AP) — A Texas homeowner who reported seeing "a few" snakes under his home actually had dozens of rattlesnakes living beneath his house.

LA-area pursuit suspect breakdances before surrendering

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Law-breaking turned into breakdancing at the end of a Southern California vehicle pursuit.

Police: Unicorn-costumed robbery suspect has been unmasked

BALDWIN, Md. (AP) — The robbery suspect wore a unicorn costume, and police in Maryland say he has been unmasked.

Berlin zoo shows off new polar bear cub

BERLIN (AP) — The Berlin Tierpark zoo is showing off its new polar bear cub, a three-month-old with a cuteness and playfulness that could make her the German capital's next animal celebrity.

Hip hop best bet for a cheese that will please: Swiss study

Nine wheels of Emmental cheese weighing 10 kilos (22 pounds) each were placed in separate wooden crates last September to test the impact of music on flavor and aroma. The cheese was exposed 24 hours a day to A Tribe Called Quest's hip hop track "We Got it From Here", Mozart's 'Magic Flute' opera or Led Zeppelin's rock classic "Stairway to Heaven". "The hip hop sample topped the list of all cheese exposed to music in terms of fruitiness...(it) was the strongest of these in terms of smell and taste." Benjamin Luzuy, a Swiss TV chief and jury member, told Reuters TV: "The differences were very clear, in term of texture, taste, the appearance, there was really something very different." The experiment, instead of using loudspeakers, used mini transmitters to conduct the energy of the music into the cheese.

Escaped lion spends night in jail cell in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A lion that escaped a wildlife park and was captured weeks later spent the night in a South African jail cell, until authorities could send him back to the place he's meant to call home.

Moving day: Bear family living in highway median relocated

TEMPLETON, Mass. (AP) — A portion of a Massachusetts highway was shut down while state wildlife officials moved a family of bears that had set up a den in the median.

Tel Aviv deploys 'zombie lights' for mobile-obsessed walkers

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Tel Aviv has taken a small step toward protecting the lives of "smartphone zombies."

Germany: Crematorium goes up in flames, bodies survive

BERLIN (AP) — A fire at a crematorium in southern Germany has caused significant damage to the building — but the 20 bodies stored inside remained intact.

Hit by an arrow, mobile phone dies saving Australian man

An Australian man had a lucky escape while confronting a man armed with a bow outside his home, as a loosed arrow pierced the mobile telephone he was holding to take a photograph of the incident, Australian police said on Thursday. "The resident held up his mobile phone to take a photo of the armed man who then engaged the bow and was ready to fire," a police statement said. "It’s alleged the man fired the arrow at the resident which pierced through the man’s mobile phone causing the phone to hit him in the chin.

Winter rescue: Stranded dog winched to safety on helicopter

LONDON (AP) — It was a routine winter training mission in northeastern Scotland until the Maritime and Coastguard Agency crew spotted a stranded dog on the snowy Cairngorms mountains below.

Woman picks matching numbers 30 times to win lottery game

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia woman parlayed a feeling to purchase 30 lottery tickets with the same numbers to win $150,000.

Painting sow Pigcasso hogs the limelight at South Africa farm

Brandishing a paintbrush in her snout, Pigcasso enthusiastically tosses her head to create bright, bold strokes across a canvas propped up in her sty. The sow was rescued from an abattoir as a piglet and brought to an animal sanctuary in Franschhoek, in South Africa's Western Cape region in 2016, where her new owners noticed her love of color and paint brushes.  "Pigs are very smart animals and so when I brought Pigcasso here to the barn, I thought how do I keep her entertained?" said Joanne Lefson, who runs Farm Sanctuary SA. "We threw in some soccer balls, rugby balls and of course there were some paintbrushes lying around because the barn was newly build ... She basically ate or destroyed everything except these paintbrushes ... she loved them so much," Lefson added.

German yachtsman inflates trousers to survive 3 hours in sea

Knocked overboard in rough seas off New Zealand, a German yachtsman credited his jeans with saving his life after fashioning them into a make-shift life jacket that kept him afloat for over three hours before his rescue by coastguards. Arne Murke, 30, was sailing with his brother in Tolaga Bay, on the east coast of New Zealand's north island, on March 6, when the yacht's boom swung unexpectedly, whacking him into the water. Unable to reach the life jacket thrown by his brother, Murke was soon carried far off by the swell.

Michigan man receives congratulatory telegram 50 years later

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A man who graduated from the University of Michigan in 1969 has finally received a congratulatory telegram from family friends that was sent more than 50 years ago.