ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Rosalie James' dance partner has two left feet - or make that paws. And two right ones. James and her 7-year-old Australian Labradoodle Rocky are champion canine freestylers. She also helped to organize the Rio Grande Canine Freestylers, an Albuquerque, N.M., group of doggie dancers. James says your pooch doesn't have to be a wall flower. She says just about any dog can learn to dance. All it takes is practice and patience. She tells the Albuquerque Journal the most important thing about dancing with dogs is to have fun.
BIKINI BOYS
MERIDIAN, Idaho (AP) - No more bikini-top fundraisers for students at one Idaho
high school. But the students wearing the bikinis weren't girls - they're
members of the boys' wrestling team. For the last three years, the guys from
Centennial High wore bikini tops for their benefit car wash. The guys would lift
their tops to attract attention. But Meridian School District officials say the
stunt offended some people. Now, the district is ordering a change in their
outfits. The mother of one wrestler says the boys are instead wearing T-shirts
with bikinis drawn on them.
WORLD'S LARGEST CUPCAKE
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - It's big, it's sweet and sets a new Guinness record. The
world's largest cupcake was on display at the Minneapolis Mall of America over
the weekend. The 151-pound cupcake had 15 pounds of fudge filling and 60 pounds
of yellow icing. It's a foot tall and two feet wide. The giant treat was made by
cakes.com. The company had considered giving pieces of it away. Instead,
cakes.com gave mall visitors 4,000 smaller cupcakes. That big cupcake is now
going to a pig farm. The Guinness people have certified the cupcake as the
world's largest.
WATER AND BEER
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - What's on tap at the Vermont Brewers Festival? How about
water? A tanker truck filled with 4,200 gallons of cool water was on hand at the
weekend festival. Patrons could fill their pint glasses with H-2-O, if they
weren't in the mood for a brew. Festival director Laura Streets says volunteers
were sick of dealing with all those empty plastic water bottles. So, this year's
festival had tap water to drink. Streets tells the Burlington Free Press that
bottled water doesn't fit with the festival's mission of providing
artisan-crafted beer.
CASTLE CONSTRUCTION
FARMINGTON, Wis. (AP) - Dr. Dale Roznik home soon will be his castle. The
Milwaukee-area oral surgeon and his wife are building a castle on what had been
farmland. They got the idea of a castle home while visiting Germany about six
years ago. It's taken years of planning and construction, but the couple hopes
to move in by the end of the year. The castle is topped by four towers. But
Roznik tells the Watertown Daily Times his castle doesn't have a dungeon, just a
conventional basement.
CHECKERS CHAMP
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) - Thirteen-year-old Erica Brewer is the new checkers champ of
Fremont, Neb. She took on all comers at the recent Fremont Days celebration.
While she wasn't the youngest competitor, Erica is relatively to the game. She
tells the Fremont Tribune she's surprised she got so far in the competition. But
Erica knows the secret of checkers. She it's "all about thinking."
