ALBION, Mich. (AP) - Wayne Bond isn't just the big man on campus -- he's the big wolf man on campus. Bond is a senior biology major at Albion College in Michigan. He plays center on the basketball team. But over the summer he got a different sort of thrill, working with wolves at an Indiana animal park. He says he enjoyed giving the wolves a workout by having them chase his car while feeding them meatballs.
OBSCENE GESTURE SUIT
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The issue of the middle finger salute will be in a Pittsburgh
federal court today. David Hackbart is suing over his arrest in April of 2006
for disorderly conduct. He flipped the bird at another driver, then made the
gesture again when he heard someone yelling at him. That second person was a
police officer. A judge later tossed out the charges, ruling that giving the
finger is protected by the Constitution. Jurors will now determine if Hackbart
is entitled to damages for his arrest. The American Civil Liberties Union
contends city police officers aren't properly trained on free speech -- or
finger -- issues.
WATERMELON-ETHANOL
LANE, Okla. (AP) - Imagine running your car on watermelons. And your carburetor
wouldn't have to spit out the seeds either. Researchers at a Department of
Agriculture lab in Lane, Okla., are working on a way to create ethanol from
watermelons. But don't expect to shove a fat melon into your gas tank.
Watermelons unfit for market would be fermented to produce ethanol, a form of
alcohol that can be mixed with gasoline. But the researchers say cost is a major
hurdle. The big melons are expensive to transport. So, the scientists are
working on mobile fermenters that could be taken right to the farm.
VIDEO GAME CLASSES
HOUSTON (AP) - Playing video games for college credit? It's more than a dream
for students at the University of Houston. Students are now able to earn an hour
of credit for playing Wii (wee) sports games. It's the same credit they would
get for traditional classes like basketball, soccer or weight lifting.
Instructor Ben Hoffman says his students must log between 20 and 30 minutes per
class -- and there's no cheating. The Nintendo Wii console records just how much
time each student spends doing the high tech workout.
PACIFIC ROWER
SYDNEY (AP) - Roz Savage is taking an ocean cruise -- the hard way. The British
environmentalist is trying to become the first woman to row alone across the
Pacific Ocean. She's completed the second leg of her journey, arriving safely in
the tiny South Pacific nation of Kiribati. It's the first time she's set foot on
dry land in more than three months. Savage began her voyage in San Francisco in
May 25 of last year and rowed 2,900 miles over 99 days to Hawaii. She hopes to
complete her marathon row by reaching Australia next year. Savage says she wants
to raise awareness about plastic garbage in the ocean.
CRICKET SPITTING
MARSHFIELD, Wis. (AP) - Cricket spitting must run in the family. Brian Johnsrud
spat a thawed cricket 22 feet, 8 inches at the Central Wisconsin State Fair over
the weekend. Minutes later, son Jared won the 9-to-11 age division, with a shot
that went 10 feet, 5 inches. Dad says the key is to pick the biggest cricket and
take a deep breath. One other word of advice -- don't swallow the bug. Father
and son say they'll be back next year to defend their cricket-spitting titles.
