Hood Ornament?

Husband drives 100 mph with wife on hood

A man high on methamphetamine drove with his wife on the hood of their minivan for more than 40 miles, hitting speeds of 100 mph, police said on Wednesday.

The woman climbed onto the hood early on Saturday morning, outside the couple's home in Manteca, California, because she wanted to keep her husband from driving off, said the city's police spokesman, Rex Osborn.

But instead of stopping, Christopher Carroll, 36, sped away with his wife clinging to the hood, Osborn said.

Police said they would not identify the woman because she is the victim of domestic violence, but Osborn said she is in her 30s and a mother.

In Pleasanton, the woman rolled off the hood when Carroll slowed down, police said.

Carroll was arrested back at his Manteca home, and charged with attempted murder and domestic violence, Osborn said.

No charges were filed tied to Carroll's methamphetamine use, which the woman described, he said.

Bird Power?

Train driver attacked by seagull

The driver of the 8.15am train from Hastings to London yesterday morning was walking along the platform when a seagull flew down and struck his head

He was checked over by first-aiders following the attack and resumed his duties around 15 minutes later, but not before an announcement had been made explaining the reason for the train's delay.

One waiting passenger, foster carer Liza Donaghue, told the newspaper: 'No one had really taken any notice until that point, then everyone looked and started looking at each other and saying, "Did he just say what I thought he said?"

'Then everyone started laughing. People could not believe it.

A spokesman for Southeastern Trains said that while seagull attacks are rare, they can be very dangerous.

Safety First?

'Safety' wall built across motorway

Road officials who built a wall across a 70mph motorway at night without warning motorists are being sued by crash victims.

The five feet high wall - which had no lights or signs - had been built to protect road repairers working further down the highway.

But officials are facing an inquiry after dozens of cars slammed into the wall in Xian, Shaanxi province, western China, without realising it was there.

Survivor Zou Tieqin, 42, said: "I had my family in the car and I suddenly saw the wall in my headlights. I braked but it was too late and I went straight through.

"We were saved by our airbags but when we got out of the car we saw lots of other vehicles piling in. Some weren't so lucky.

"The people responsible cannot get away with this and we are demanding compensation," he added.

But far from apologising - workers kept rebuilding the wall every time it was hit - saying they had put lights up but they had been pinched.

Tits Up?

Human breast milk ice cream banned

A London ice cream parlour has been forced to stop selling a flavour made with human breast milk.

Westminster Council officials took away samples for testing and later ordered The Icecreamists to stop selling the dish, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Matt O'Connor, the founder and owner of the parlour, said the £14 'Baby Gaga' ice cream dish had proved to be popular with the customers.

He claims the ban is an overreaction, claiming the key novelty ingredient was screened and tested before being used.

"We followed exactly the same screening process as any blood donor does, as any mother donating to a milk bank does," he said..

Westminster Councillor Brian Connell said officials had visited the parlour and removed the breast milk ice cream following two complaints from the public and concerns from health and food safety officials.

"Selling foodstuffs made from another person's bodily fluids can lead to viruses being passed on and in this case, potentially hepatitis," he said.

"As the local authority we will support small businesses and applaud innovative ideas wherever possible, but we must protect the health of consumers."

The breast milk was provided by mothers who answered an advertisement on online mothers' forum Mumsnet.

The Baby Gaga recipe blends breast milk with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest, which is then churned into ice cream.

Stripper Woes?

Patron claims stripper's flying shoe chipped his teeth

A patron of an Indiana strip club is suing its owners after claiming he was hit in the face with a stripper's shoe when she performed a high-kick.

Jake Quagliaroli, 34, of Indianapolis, is suing PT's Showclub in nearby Lawrence after he was allegedly injured last month when the shoe struck his mouth and chipped four teeth.

"The strip club had a duty to protect its customers and it did not do that," Quagliaroli's attorney Syed Ali Saeed told News. "[They] need to make sure people are wearing the right kind of clothes and [that those clothes] are not flying off."

Quagliaroli was standing about 20 feet (7 meters) away from the stage when a dancer's shoe flew off during a performance, his lawyer said.

"He was bleeding [and] his front four teeth were chipped," Saeed said. "It was not a situation where it was a light tap on the face. It hit him with quite a bit of force. You can imagine the velocity at which the shoe must have come out when it hit him in the face."

Quagliaroli is claiming battery and negligence by the club and is asking a jury to grant him unspecified damages.

Slip Up?

Woman sues after slipping on banana peel

A banana peel, the torment of many a cartoon character, has allegedly become the real-life downfall of a woman in California.

Ida Valentine, 58, is suing the 99 Cents Only store where she slipped on one last April.

She said that she suffered a herniated disk and tissue damage, spent $9,000 on medical bills and is seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

"She fell and landed on her backside," said Courtney Mikolaj of the Quirk Law Firm in Ventura, California, which is representing her.

Mikolaj said the 99 Cents Only store in Fontana, California, refused a proposed settlement of $44,000. Executives from the company, a deep-discount retailer with hundreds of stores in western states, were not immediately available for comment.

The image in popular culture of an unwary pedestrian tripping head over heels on a banana peel stems from the late 19th century, when bananas were a popular street food in American cities and the press portrayed them as a public nuisance.

In 1879, Harper's Weekly groused that "whosoever throws banana skins on the sidewalk does a great unkindness to the public, and is quite likely to be responsible for a broken limb."

Phew..One’s Enough!!

Man has 39 wives, 94 kids

The more, the merrier is certainly true for Ziona Chana, a 66-year-old man in India’s remote northeast who has 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren — and wouldn’t mind having more.

They all live in a four storied building with 100 rooms in a mountainous village in Mizoram state, sharing borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, media reports said.

“I once married 10 women in one year,” he was quoted as saying.

His wives share a dormitory near Ziona’s private bedroom and locals said he likes to have seven or eight of them by his side at all times.

The sons and their wives, and all their children, live in different rooms in the same building, but share a common kitchen.

The wives take turns cooking, while his daughters clean the house and do washing. The men do outdoor jobs like farming and taking care of livestock.

The family, all 167 of them, consumes around 91 kg (200 pounds) of rice and more than 59 kg (130 pounds) of potatoes a day. They are supported by their own resources and occasional donations from followers.

“Even today, I am ready to expand my family and willing to go to any extent to marry,” Ziona said.

“I have so many people to care (for) and look after, and I consider myself a lucky man.”

Ziona met his oldest wife, who is three years older than he is, when he was 17.

He heads a local Christian religious sect, called the “Chana,” which allows polygamy. Formed in June 1942, the sect believes it will soon be ruling the world with Christ and has a membership of around 400 familie

Cookies Cooked!

Dispute over cookies gets physical

Police say a brawl between roommates over Girl Scout cookies led to assault charges against one of them. According to the Naples Daily News, the Collier County Sheriff's Office reports that 31-year-old Hersha Howard woke up her roommate early Sunday and accused her of eating her Thin Mints.

They argued and deputies say that it turned physical with Howard chasing her roommate with scissors and hitting her repeatedly with a board and then a sign.

Police say the roommate's husband tried to separate them. The roommate said she gave the cookies to Howard's children.

Howard is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She was released Monday on $10,000 bail.

Here Boy!!

 

Dog Tosses Owner’s Weed To Police

WHEN Sherman County cop Sgt. John Terrel pulled over Joel Dobrin’s1998 GMW with California plates, a sock flew out of the window.

Dobrin tells police that as he tried to hide the sock, his passenger, a dog, grabbed hold of it in his teeth and pulled. Dobrin pulled. The dog pulled harder. The dog won and with a flick of its head tossed the sock out of the vehicle.

The sock was full of marijuana and hashish.

The dog denies possession with intent to supply…