World's Tallest Man Struggles to Fit In

Leonid Stadnik's phenomenal height has forced him to quit his job get different means of getting around and to stoop around his house.

But Stadnik, who Guinness World Records says is the world's tallest human, says his condition has also taught him that there are many kindhearted strangers.Ukrainian veterinarian, Leonid Stadnik, 2.59 meter (8,5 feet) tall, the world's tallest living man according to the Guinness Book of Records, rides a bicycle specially made for him, in the village of Podoliantsy, Ukraine's northwestern Zhytomyr region, 212 kilometers (131.74 miles) west of the capital Kiev, Sunday, March 23, 2008.

World's Tallest Man Is Riding High

Stadnik's growth spurt started at age 14 after a brain operation apparently stimulated his pituitary gland. Stadnik, 37, is still growing up.Since his recognition by Ukrainian record keepers four years ago, and by Guinness last year, people from all over Ukraine and the world have sent him outsized clothing, provided his home with running water and recently presented him with a giant bicycle. And on Monday, he got a new car, courtesy of President Viktor Yushchenko.

Yesterday, he traveled to Kiev to get a new, shiny-blue car. Stadnik struggled to squeeze himself into the passenger's seat, his knees nearly reaching up to his face. Yushchenko then briefly took the beaming Stadnik for a drive.

£1.3m lottery winner goes back to work at McDonald's

It's not the natural habitat of the millionaire. But if you visit a particular McDonald's store in Cardiff, you've every chance of being served by one. Luke Pittard, 25, won £1.3million on the National Lottery 18 months ago. He celebrated in the usual way; buying a new home and splashing out on a lavish wedding and holiday in the Canary Islands.
Then he realized that he really missed his job. So he asked to go back and couldn't be happier, getting up at the crack of dawn to flip burgers for £5.85 an hour. "They all think I'm a bit mad but I tell them there's more to life than money," he said.

Doctors ordered woman to stop eating fruit and vegetables

Doctors ordered dieter Jane Crook to stop eating fruit and veggies — as they were making her fat. Jane, 39, weighed 378 pounds, and kept piling on pounds despite a healthy diet — even when she only ate cabbage soup. Then medics realized she had polycystic ovarian syndrome — which means her body cannot process natural sugars. They told her to cut down on the fruit and veggies and also fitted a gastric band so that Jane, of Clutton, Somerset, could lose enough weight to start fertility treatment for a longed-for baby. She lost 140 pounds, and she and fiancé Andrew Hay, 43, are now expecting son Charlie in July.

"ALMOST"

Florida Amber Alert Issued For 2 Missing Homestead Girls

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- A Florida Amber Alert has been issued for two young girls reported missing in Homestead.

Authorities say the girls may be accompanied by a white or Hispanic man in his 50s who is 5 feet tall and has salt-and-pepper hair.

Vanessa Rivas is 3-years-old and has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a tan hoodie jacket, pink pants and pink shoes.

Frida Gonzalez is 7-years-old and has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a white and red shirt, a red skirt and black sandals.

Anyone with information about the girls should contact Homestead police.

Albino Deer

Like Father, Like Son...

Alien Images Appear On Wall In Western Canada

Some Believe Images Are Just Reflection From Window

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CALGARY, Alberta -- Some believe aliens have landed in western Canada after seeing strange reflections appear almost nightly on the wall of a Calgary home.
"I looked out and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I've lost my mind,'" resident Karen Henuset said of the first time she saw the specters. "So I asked our nanny to come and take a look at this, and the hair on her arms just stood straight up."

It's as "clear as day. You see two eyes on each of them; they both have this little thing over their head. It's a little weird," said resident Reid Henuset.

A neighbor said he believes the image is a reflection off of a window. And it only happens every afternoon between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The only sure way the image goes away -- clouds.

Although some adults may be skeptics, ask the neighborhood kids what they think and the answer is unanimous.

"There's aliens, real-life aliens on a wall," one unidentified girl said. "No one believes us."

Alien Images Appear on Canadian Home The image looks like the heads of two aliens. "Clear as day, you see two eyes on each of them, they both have this little thing over their head, it's a little weird," said Reid. Most everyone believes the images are not real aliens but the sun's reflection off a nearby window. The images show up daily in the late afternoon unless there are clouds.

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21-YEAR-OLD MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE DRIFTS 1,735 MILES

SEATTLE, Washington — Merle Brandell and his black lab Slapsey were beachcombing along the Bering Sea when he spied a plastic bottle among the Japanese glass floats he often finds along the shore of his tiny Alaskan fishing village.
He walked over and saw an envelope tucked inside. After slicing the bottle open, Brandell found a message from an elementary school student in a suburb of Seattle. The fact that the letter traveled 1,735 miles without any help from the U.S. postal service is unusual, but that's only the beginning of the mystery.
About 21 years passed between the time Emily Hwaung put the message in a soda bottle and Merle Brandell picked it up on the beach.
"This letter is part of our science project to study oceans and learn about people in distant lands," she wrote. "Please send the date and location of the bottle with your address. I will send you my picture and tell you when and where the bottle was placed in the ocean. Your friend, Emily Hwaung."

Bits of News

Orlando Police Installs 60 Security Cameras In Downtown Area
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando police said they were going to show off a new high-tech crime fighting tool on Monday. The Orlando Police Department will place security cameras in high crime areas. "It's going to be like a cop standing on every street. Where there is a camera you are going to be watched," said Cpt. Jeffrey Goltz of the Orlando Police Department. Police said they will be installing 60 new cameras. The first batch will be installed in the Parramore area. Almost 10-percent of the city's crime happens there.
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Connecticut Driver Caught Speeding Blames an Oreo
SALISBURY, Conn. — Police say a man's excuse for speeding through a small Connecticut town takes the cake — or, at least, the cookie. A state trooper who stopped the 1993 BMW says its driver, 28-year-old Justin Vonkummer of Millerton, N.Y., blamed the driving problems on an errant Oreo. Police say Vonkummer told the trooper that an Oreo had just slipped from his fingers as he dunked it in a cup of milk, and that he was trying to fish it out.