Grandma Shuts Down Country’s Internet

Internet service in all of Armenia was cut off for several hours when a 75-year old Georgian woman inadvertently cut the main service line between the two countries. The woman was scavenging for scrap metal when she discovered the primary fiber-optic cable which runs through the two countries. Service went down when she apparently hacked into it with a shovel severing the line. “She found the cable while collecting scrap metal and cut it with a view to stealing it,” Georgian interior ministry spokesman Zura Gvenetadze told AFP. The damage was apparently so severe that 90% of Armenian users lost access for nearly 12 hours while neighboring Georgia and some areas of Azerbajian were also affected. More

Hero Dog Facing Pit-bull Discrimination

A dog credited with saving the lives of her California family is desperately looking for a new home.Her owner says that despite being named one of the nation’s top ten “Valor Dogs” by the Humane Society, landlords are turning away “Diamond” because she’s a pit bull. Darryl Steen says Diamond woke him up when his apartment caught fire last October. He was able to get one of his daughters to safety by dropping her out of a window, but couldn’t reach the second child. When firefighters finally got to her, Diamond was laying on top of the girl in an effort to protect her from the flames. The dog suffered severe burns, but has recovered. More

City to build bike trail through rattlesnake habitat

The site selected for a Chicago-area bike-pedestrian path is adjacent to a nest of now-hibernating eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. The city of Wheeling is planning to build a paved bike and pedestrian path from the Des Plaines River to an Interstate 294 overpass. The path, to cost $1.2 million, will connect with other bicycle paths in the area. Several state agencies are deciding what to do about the snakes. The Wheeling Village Board recently hired an environmental consultant for about $25,000 to study the area. More

3-Year-Old Girl Saves Dad After Fall

A Warren County father who fell out a tree, leaving him paralyzed, is praising his 3-year-old daughter for helping save his life. Tom Wadle was 15 feet up a tree trying to cut down a limb when he fell. The only person close was his daughter Cheyenne. She yelled for help when she saw daddy fall. Almost three weeks after the accident, Wadle remains at the Mercy Medical Center intensive care unit. “Her daddy told her to go get help so she knew that was what she needed to do,” said Melissa Wadle. “She ran up and down the sidewalk hollering for help.” A neighbor heard her calls for help and called 911. More

Dolphin leaps onto boat, on woman

Florida - Florida fire officials said a dolphin weighing 600 to 700 pounds jumped onto the deck of a boat traveling on the Marco River and landed on a woman. Isles of Capri Fire officials said a charter boat captain called about 2:44 p.m. and reported the dolphin had jumped out of the water and landed on a woman on the deck of the vessel, the Naples Daily News reported. Fire Lt. Keith Perry said rescuers determined the woman, who was not named, suffered a sprained ankle. More

7 people and 110 cats live in 900 square-foot house

California - Police seized 110 cats and two children from a single residence in Santa Ana leading to two criminal complaints against the residents. Police animal services officers went to the residence after neighbors reported a foul stench. But the occupants were uncooperative, so more police were called to the scene. Once inside, control officers found seven people and the 110 cats living in a 900 square-foot space. Two children, girls ages 7 and 12, were found living in the home with their parents, grandparents and an aunt. The girls were removed from the home and are now living with other family members. Courtney Lynn Howe-Perez, 22, and Sharon Lynn Howe, 64, were allegedly running a nonprofit pet rescue from the home, called Cat Connection Rescue Network Inc., even though proper paperwork had not been filed. More

Dog knew heart attacking was coming

Oregon - A fiercely protective elderly mutt is up for a national hero award for pestering her owner in the hours before he had a heart attack and then barking for help once it struck. Ceili, a 15-year-old Lab mix, usually spends much of her day lounging in her North Portland home. But one day she stuck by her owner, Danny Fincher, trotting behind him from room to room, sometimes blocking his path. When he sat down, she licked his arms and legs and then jumped on his easy chair, sniffing his breath. “She was driving me nuts,” he said. Moments later, Fincher suffered the heart attack. More

Hotel For Dogs

France - Actuel Dogs bills itself as France’s first luxury hotel for dogs, and founders Devi and Stan Burun, a dog behavior specialist and lifelong dog-lover, also offer training programs unruly hounds and dog walks in the woods. As well as a dip in the pool, or a massage, guests including Ulysse, a bumptious yellow Labrador sporting a smart red collar, enjoy “doggy jogging,” or simply relax on cushioned couches in their luxury suites. Their tiled-floor rooms smell fresh and clean and are adorned with framed prints of dogs and equipped with televisions so dogs can watch their choice of DVDs. Owners pay between $36-$48 to leave their lucky hounds for a full day. More

Butterfly facts

Their taste sensors are located in the feet, and by standing on their food, they can taste it!
All butterflies have six legs and feet. In some species such as the monarch, the front pair of legs remains tucked up under the body most of the time, and are difficult to see. They, along with most moths have a long straw like structure called a proboscis which they use to drink nectar and juices. When not in use, the proboscis remains coiled like a garden hose.All butterflies have six legs and feet. In some species such as the monarch, the front pair of legs remains tucked up under the body most of the time, and are difficult to see. More

Girl Scouts fear arrest for cookie peddling

Georgia - A Girl Scout leader says young members of her troop thought they were headed to jail when a Georgia police officer told them to quit selling cookies. The girls had set up a stand at a strip mall in Villa Rica about 30 miles west of Atlanta when the officer asked them if they had a peddler’s permit. They didn’t. Troop Leader Kathy Crook was stunned. She says the scouts were told to pack it up. The younger members thought they would be taken to jail. The city’s police chief and mayor spoke with the officer. They say he did nothing wrong and that it was a misunderstanding. More

Two-Year-Old Trapped for 4 Hours in Bank Vault

Georgia - The girl was at a Wells Fargo bank branch in Conyers around closing time with her mother and grandmother, who worked at the bank. Investigators said the child wandered into the bank vault, which shut behind her, and was spotted on security cameras. Police and firefighters arrived at the scene, but were unable to open the vault because it was on a timer and had locked for the night. Conyers Police Chief Gene Wilson told reporters it was a very tense scene as authorities stood by along with the relatives, and rescue workers pumped fresh air into vents leading to the vault. The ordeal ended when an emergency locksmith was called in to open vault and free the 2-year-old. More

Maria, the goose, is Mario

A Los Angeles goose famous for flying alongside a frequent visitor’s motor scooter has been renamed from Maria to Mario. The Los Angeles Zoo, which took custody of the bird ahead of a two-year renovation project at Echo Park Lake, said its experts determined Maria the Goose was actually Mario the Gander. “He’s Mario now. But I’ll call him Maria if he doesn’t respond to Mario,” said Dominic Ehrler, 65, whose daily visits to the park included riding his scooter side-by-side with the flying goose. More

Tiny spy planes could look like birds, insects

Nutty News Washington DC - The Pentagon has poured millions of dollars into the development of tiny drones inspired by biology, each equipped with video and audio equipment that can record sights and sounds. They could be used to spy, but also to locate people inside earthquake-crumpled buildings and detect hazardous chemical leaks. One type is the hummingbird and engineers in the growing unmanned aircraft industry are working on drones that look like insects and the helicopter-like maple leaf seed. Researchers are even exploring ways to implant surveillance and other equipment into an insect as it is undergoing metamorphosis. They want to be able to control the creature. More

2 black bears trash Ford Taurus

Nutty News Florida - When Ford’s ad agency came up with the slogan “Built Ford Tough,” they may not have anticipated one of their vehicles having a run-in with two Florida black bears. Seminole County resident David Swerdlow, 63, awoke to find two Florida black bears had wreaked havoc on his 2004 silver Ford Taurus, caving in the roof and puncturing a tire. Swerdlow’s neighbor saw two bears cuddling up to the car. The neighbor saw one bear climb on top of the car, and the other lean against it. Swerdlow said there was no food inside. More

Roof collapse blamed on bird poop

Nutty News California - Vacaville Fire Department officials are blaming pigeons for the collapse of a gas station awning that nearly struck a woman who had just finished filling her tank. Vacaville resident Chris Doss had stopped at Quick Way Gas when a quarter of the station’s metal roofing came thundering down next to her under the weight of several inches of bird droppings. “It just went ‘boom’ and then it all came down,” said Doss, who had just finished putting gas in her car. She had just gotten back into her car on one side of the island and hadn’t even had a chance to put the key in the ignition when the entire roofing section on the other side of the island collapsed, giving way to an avalanche of bird droppings. More

Man sues neighbours over rude bird

Nutty News Taiwan - The offensive squawks of a pet bird so enraged a Taiwanese man that he sued its owners — his neighbours — for inflicting emotional stress and injuries. Wang Han-chin accused five neighbours of teaching their mynah, a parrot-like bird, to curse at him as revenge after he complained to the police that they were too loud. More

Cell phone keeps ringing after eaten by crocodile

Nutty News Ukraine - Gena, a 14-year-old crocodile at the Dnipropetrovsk Oceanarium, has been refusing food and acting listless after eating a cellphone dropped by a woman trying to photograph him last month. The phone kept ringing inside the crocodile for some time. Phone owner Rimma Golovko says she wants her SIM card back as it contains her photos and contacts. More

Bus-riding dog reunited with owner

A dog that boarded a Scottish bus in frigid temperatures and refused to leave has been reunited with its owner. The Cairn terrier boarded the bus at the Dumbarton Road stop in Glasgow. Witnesses said the canine had icicles hanging from his fur and refused to budge from a warm spot on the vehicle. The dog was taken to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ building in Glasgow. More