Married Couple First Dance

Bank Robber 1 - Armed SWAT Team 0

It appeared to be a real emergency that hit in the middle of the night in Montgomery, New Jersey. It started when an alarm went off in a local bank, sending cops to the scene in a hurry. When they peered inside through the closed blinds, trying to see what might be going on inside the darkened building, they spotted someone inside.
They ordered him out, but he stubbornly refused to move, standing his ground, seeing to almost defy them to take him on.
The situation quickly became a tense standoff, as heavily armed police rushed to the neighborhood, sealing off the area and evacuating three apartment buildings in case things went wrong.
Specially trained SWAT officers pulled out bullhorns and demanded whoever was inside emerge. And still no one came out.
After numerous phone calls went unanswered, this dramatic robbery in progress took a final turn, as SWAT teams broke through the doors and stormed the bank, finally smashing through the locks.
And that's when they finally got their first look at the 'suspect' who caused so much commotion. It was a full-sized cardboard cutout of a person used for promotional purposes, left standing near the window.
Red faced cops quickly withdrew after realizing the cardboard man wasn't likely to do much more than give them a paper cut. But at least he didn't offer any resistance.
But this investigation still isn't over - authorities are trying to figure out what set off the alarm in the first place.

Thanksgiving on a Cupcake

A little culinary confection art for Thanksgiving.

Yeah, that’s a cupcake!

Mystery piano in woods perplexes police

Was it a theft? A prank? A roundabout effort to bring some holiday cheer to the police? Authorities in Harwich, Massachusetts, are probing the mysterious appearance of a piano, in good working condition, in the middle of the woods.
Discovered by a woman who was walking a trail, the Baldwin Acrosonic piano, model number 987, is intact -- and, apparently, in tune.
Sgt. Adam Hutton of the Harwich Police Department said information has been broadcast to all the other police departments in the Cape Cod area in hopes of drumming up a clue, however minor it may be.
But so far, the investigation is flat.
Also of note: Near the mystery piano -- serial number 733746 -- was a bench, positioned as though someone was about to play.
The piano was at the end of a dirt road, near a walking path to a footbridge in the middle of conservation land near the Cape.
It took a handful of police to move the piano into a vehicle to transport it to storage, so it would appear that putting it into the woods took more than one person.
Harwich police have had some fun, though. Among the photos they sent to the news media is one of Officer Derek Dutra examining the piano in the woods. The police entitled the photo "Liberace."

Unusual Friendship

Coco the parrot massages Lucky's head and face.

Both are curious about one another

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Proposal at Best Buy

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Offenders iron out bad behavior

Ironing has been added to a list of punishments for young offenders to complete their community service orders.
A scheme in Wrexham has seen 14-17-year-olds ironing clothes donated to Salvation Army charity shops.
Wrexham Youth Justice Service (WYJS) said the project had been so successful there were plans to extend it.
One 16-year-old offender said he enjoyed giving something back to the community, but added: "I didn't tell any of my friends."
The offender, from Wrexham, added: "We had to collect clothes from the charity shop and then iron them to be sold.
"I did it for a couple of months. At first I thought 'This is mad.' I expected to be doing painting or something like that.
"But it wasn't that bad. It's about giving something back to the community.
"I didn't tell any of my friends because they'd probably all laugh. It's a girl's thing, isn't it?
"I've done some of my own ironing as well."
It said a common response among offenders was: "I'm not ironing, that's women's work."

Dad tells 5-year-old, 'You did the crime, you walk the line'

5-year-old boy was made to walk two-and-a-half hours to school.

A Northern Territory man has been making his five-year-old son walk two-and-a-half hours to school every day, after he was kicked off the school bus. When Jack Burt confessed that he'd been banned for five days for hitting the bus driver in the head with an apple core, dad Sam thought he should learn the hard way. He and Jack last week were getting up at 5.10am for the 13km-hike from the Darwin rural area of Herbert, all the way to Humpty Doo.
At the end of the old-fashioned punishment, Mr Burt, 38, took out a public notice in the Northern Territory News. "Jack Burt and his dad wish to thank all the kind people who stopped to offer them lifts in the past week," the ad read. "It's good to see a number of good people in the community. Jack hopes to be allowed back on the bus on Monday."
But in the battle of wills between tall and short, the smart money's on Jack. "Shame it didn't work," Mr Burt said. "He got back on the bus Monday, and within three stops he was in trouble again. I couldn't believe it. I don't understand - he's good at school, he gets awards all the time." So it was back on the road again the next day - with seven-year-old sister Caitlyn, who was fighting with Jack on the bus at the time, in tow.
Mr Burt, who owns a crash repair shop in Palmerston, has also been sacrificing his nights, working back late because his morning starts have been delayed. "But I'm doing it for a good cause," he said. However, a breakthrough might be in sight.

When Money Is Not A Problem

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The world's most luxurious dog kennel to be built at cost of £250k

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This is the incredible home to the soon-to-be world's most pampered pooches.
A dog lover has turned half of her £1.4 million home into a luxury "kennel" for her Great Danes - complete with their own plasma screen TV, lounge and spa, it was revealed today.
The surgeon, who wants to remain anonymous, told her architect the hi-tech bungalow on the Lower Mill Estate in Gloucestershire must include separate deluxe living quarters for her two pets.
The plush kennel, estimated to cost more than £250,000, will be the latest eccentric build on the Cotswold Water Park, already famous for its futuristic, sustainable designs and its population of beavers.
Sheepskin-lined, raised beds will allow the dogs to keep guard out of the windows, while in the lounge they can listen to a £15,000 sound system or enjoy shows on a 52in plasma screen TV.
A retina-controlled "dogflap" system allows them to come and go from the zinc, glass and limestone home with ease, keeping out undesirables.
A temperature-regulated Dogspa (with saline purification system) will ease their muscles and clean their coats after a hard day.
Cameras all around the property will allow the owner to watch her dogs online, wherever they roam.
The Dog House is divided into two bedrooms, and living room, all with the heat controlled remotely via the internet.
It also has its own adventure play area. Self-cleaning food and purified water bowls dispense top-of-the-range dinners and breakfasts automatically.
Designed by architect Andy Ramus, the work is expected to begin on the main three-bedroom house near Cirencester in spring.
The dogs will have some unusual neighbours on the 500-acre estate in the shape of 12 beaver kits, which appeared after three pairs were successfully reintroduced more than 13 years ago.
Lower Mill's publicist Dee McCourt said today: "It's amazing. This lady obviously cares an awful lot about her dogs. We offer a bespoke service but it is the first animal request we've had.
"We've got outline planning permission and the dogs' quarters have been designed with all their needs in mind."
Estate owner Jeremy Paxton told the Gloucestershire Echo: "It's a very interesting house with fabulous architecture and unusual requirements. "Most houses are built with human specifics in mind then animals fit in around that, but this is the other way round."
The Great Dane Adoption Society said the breed was demanding and should not be left alone for more than four hours at a time.
Lower Mill is a sustainable housing complex with homes designed by 30 of the world's leading architects.

What’s the gas price where you live?

$1.37 per gallon here in St. Louis
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$1.80 per gallon here in Seattle.
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$1.56 per gallon here in this part of OK.

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$1.66 per gallon here in Waterloo

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$2.40 per gallon near Buffalo, NY