Squirrel attacks teacher

A teacher in Michigan was attacked by a mother squirrel after she tried to help the babies she thought were in danger.

The 52-year-old Detroit Public Schools teacher was with a group of students touring the campus at about 11:30 a.m. when she spotted some baby squirrels that were outside of their nest at the Student Activities Building at the 500 block of Jefferson Street, according to the U-M's Department of Public Safety.

The teacher noticed the mother squirrel appeared to have left behind one of her babies and also noticed a crow was starting to take interest.

The teacher tried to scare the crow. When that didn't work, the woman tried to alert the mother squirrel. Instead, the mother squirrel turned on the teacher, DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said.

Brown said the woman tried to escape to a school bus, but fell to the ground and injured her ankle. The mother squirrel then attacked and either scratched or bit the teacher on her leg. The bus driver then took her to the emergency room for treatment.

That would be why they always tell you to call the experts and not to help wild animals yourself.

Woman told to put clothes on her gnome

A British woman was told to cover up her naked gnomes because they upset her neighbor.

The naked gnomes - which have been pride of place in her West Midlands garden for 15 years - now sport an extra layer after a call from a council officer.

The gnomes, one male and two female, are just a small part of the front-garden display of 200 novelty statues and figures.

The collection has been the talking point with Hunnington villagers, but one nearby neighbour took exception to the display of nudity and complained to the council.

An officer from Bromsgrove District Council then called Mrs Smith last week and asked her to clothe the two foot clay creations.

Mrs Smith, 64, said:'I've got grandchildren and they all love the gnomes.

'They have been here for around 15 years and everyone who visits me finds them funny and a bit harmless fun.

'They're proper cheeky chappies with their little smiley faces looking up at you.

'Whenever people come up to the door delivering parcels they ask if they can have a little look under their T-shirt.'

The offended neighbour confirmed she had made the complaint.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she thought the gnomes were 'pathetic'.

'I don't think they should be in a garden with my young kids running around nearby,' she said.

'They are childish and I think it pathetic that they are in a front garden in full view of everyone.'

Other neighbors probably think the offended neighbor is prudish. Next she's going to ask for all the male dogs in the neighborhood to wear pants so the kids don't see their naked boy pants.

Woman Fired for Surfing the Internet on a Sick Day

A woman in Sweden lost her job after her employer found out that she was surfing the internet after telling them she was so sick she couldn't use a computer.

The woman said she could not work in front of a computer as she needed to lie in the dark but was then seen to be active on Facebook, which insurer Nationale Suisse said in a statement had destroyed its trust in the employee.

"This abuse of trust, rather than the activity on Facebook, led to the ending of the work contract," it said.

The unnamed woman told the 20 Minuten daily she had been surfing Facebook in bed on her iPhone and accused her employer of spying on her and other employees by sending a mysterious friend request which allows access to personal online activity.

Nationale Suisse rejected the accusation of spying and said the employee's Facebook activity had been stumbled across by a colleague in November, before use of the social network site was blocked in the company.

Now that's what you get for lying about being sick and getting caught.

Woman hit by car after fleeing bear

A pregnant Colorado woman was hit by a car after running away from a black bear.

Twenty-6-year-old Ashley Swendsen says she thinks the bear followed her more out of curiosity than malice because it kept a distance of about 10 feet the whole time she was running away from it at a hiking trial this morning.

The Division of Wildlife says the incident occurred in an open space area where bears are common on the northwest side of Colorado Springs. The bear was later euthanized after Swendsen identified it.

Officials say Swendsen had managed to scramble up an embankment and was crossing the street when she was hit by a slow-moving car. She wasn't seriously injured.

She's also said that she's going to give her child the middle name bear.

Couple have shrek wedding

A British couple dressed up like Shrek and Princess Fiona for their wedding.

Mr Green, 44, and his 40-year-old bride were covered in green paint and full costume and wigs and married in front of 100 guests also dressed as characters from the film, including the Donkey and the Gingerbread Man.

The new Mrs Green, a hospice nurse, of Barnstaple, Devon, said: "Every girl wants a fairytale wedding and I got one - with a bit of a twist. It was a real laugh.

"The idea just came to me. I knew what we would go as them because Keith looks just like Shrek. It was funny because when we said our vows Keith had these green ears sprouting from the top of his head.

"I tried to convince my teenage son to dress up as the Donkey but he wasn't having any of it."

Mr Green, a builder, said: "It was a very strange experience to say the least, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. We love the films and my wife tells me I have resemblance to Shrek."

The couple hired a make-up artist to make them look like the characters - voiced by Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz - in the hit films.

Well, if you're not going to get married in white I suspose getting married in Green works. At least she didn't make him dress up like the donkey.

Woman fakes miscarriage with animal tissue

A Florida woman may be charged after she used animal tissue to fake a miscarriage after she lied to her boyfriend about being pregnant.

The Broward Sheriff's Office said just before 8 a.m. the Oakland Park Fire Rescue department received a 911 call about a woman who allegedly had a miscarriage in a bathroom. When firefighters arrived at the woman's apartment, located at 95 N.E. 41st Street, they found the woman and what looked like a placenta, but no baby or fetus.

Firefighters then contacted the sheriff's office. After questioning the woman reportedly confessed to BSO detectives that she had staged the incident to fool her boyfriend who thought she was pregnant and used 'animal tissue' to fake a miscarriage.

Prosecutors are considering charging her with falsifying a police report.

Women everywhere are considering charging her with being extremely pathetic. And really, why couldn't she have just told him she miscarried while he was at work.

Woman saved by her bra

A Michigan woman has her bra to thank for saving her from a bullet.

Police said Leola Brock-Reese wasn't home at the time of the burglary, but her 57-year-old neighbor was and saw men breaking into the home on the city's west side.

Police said when the burglars noticed the woman watching, one of them fired a shot into the woman's living room. The bullet shattered the woman's living room window but barely grazed her skin. Police said it was the underwire in her bra that deflected the bullet."I should buy more underwire bras," Brock-Reese joked.

The woman's daughter, who is also a Detroit police officer, said her mother's minor injuries are from the broken glass.

Who'd of thought that a bra could not only save your figure but save your life.

Lake with really long name is misspelled

Officials in a small town in Massachusetts have agreed to fix the spelling of their famously named lake.

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchaugg-
agoggchaubunagungamaugg in Webster has one of the world's longest place names. It's been spelled many different ways over the years. Some locals have given up and simply call it Lake Webster.

But after researching historical spelling combinations, the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester said local Chamber of Commerce officials agreed that some signs were wrong. There was an "o" at letter 20 where a "u" should have been, and an "h" at letter 38 where an "n" should go.

There are many stories and legends about the origin of the Indian name. One popular myth — later debunked — holds that the name translates roughly to 'You fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fish in the middle.'

Wow, now that's a name. I don't even know how you'd pronounce that, and really do people have nothing better to do than research letter 38?

It pays to attend this church

The Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nebraska used a secret shopper like program and paying individuals for their opinions on the service and take a survey.

"I was just beside myself. I thought what church would pay you to come and do an assessment. And I thought, well, I'm retired, I need a little money, I'll do it -- so I called," said West.

The survey asked questions like does the church convey a meaningful message?The senior pastor told KETV NewsWatch 7 that there's always room for improvement.

"We come here every week, and we're used to this congregation and the way it operates, how does someone else see this?" said Jeremy Grant.

I suppose if they need the service and people are willing to provide it for a fee then it works out for everyone. I was paid to sing in a church choir when I was in college.

This wedding sponsored by Dr. Pepper

A Virginia woman got a little help to have her dream wedding from Dr Pepper after auctioning off a spot in her wedding party on e-bay.

Last year, one of her five bridesmaids suggested Gray auction on eBay a spot in her wedding party to raise funds for her Sunday nuptials. Imagine Gray's surprise when the winner was not a person, but a company: Plano-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

Dr Pepper Snapple placed a winning bid of $5,700 but decided Gray deserved a bit more for her creativity and increased the payout to $10,000 after the auction. The company also agreed to donate drinks for Gray's rehearsal dinner and wedding.

The eBay auction and subsequent corporate bid sparked interest in Gray's hometown, prompting several vendors to donate their services. In a large display of local support, bridesmaids' dresses, groomsmen's attire, videography, photography, flowers and the programs all have been donated.

The auction money has been used to pay for the venue, catering, wedding party gifts, the guestbook, and other miscellaneous items, Gray said.

And what about that empty spot in Gray's wedding party? At one point, it was rumored that Dr Pepper Snapple would fill the bridesmaid slot with a celebrity. But that idea never came to fruition.

"It started turning into ‘who's the celebrity' instead of being about me and Karl," Gray said.

"We talked to Kelly and the focus became making the wedding of her dreams, not filling the wedding party spot with someone she doesn't know," said Christine Danuser, a company spokeswoman.

Gray's wedding on Sunday will involve more than just one perfect match. The wedding is specifically being covered by the Diet Dr Pepper division of the company, and Gray happens to be an avid Diet Dr Pepper fan.

"I drink about two cans a day," Gray said. "That's all my mom drinks. Once as a kid, I got her Peanut M&Ms and Diet Dr Pepper for Christmas because I knew that's what she'd like!"

In a show of affection for the drink, when Gray was offered a free ice sculpture, she asked for it to be shaped like an old Diet Dr Pepper bottle.

Works out for everyone, she gets a great wedding and Dr Pepper gets lots of media attention. I don't know about having a sponsored wedding though.

Canididates fear shoe attacks

Candidates in India have asked for more security because they are worried about being hit by shoes thrown by disgruntled voters.

Lal Krishna Advani, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate was the latest politician to be at the receiving end Thursday, as an angry party worker threw a slipper at him during an election meeting in a central state.

The slipper missed Advani, but was enough for authorities to step up security for all leaders across the country.

The incident was the latest episode of shoe-throwing as a mark of protest against political leaders, including former U.S. President George W. Bush and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Throwing a shoe at someone is considered an insult in India.

Indian politicians have asked party workers to remove shoes at meetings and alerted police and their security staff to keep a tab on people, including journalists in news conferences.

"The security is extremely tight for politicians, and we are keeping a close watch on everyone," a Delhi Police spokesman said.

Perhaps our former president should teach shoe ducking classes. He did such a good job of evading when one was thrown at him.