“A California woman has her gold necklace back months after she accidentally flushed it down her toilet. San Rafael sanitation district employees were performing routine cleaning work on a pipeline last month when they came across Ann Aulakh’s necklace. Aulakh’s friend had left a message with the district after the chain was lost. Sewer Maintenance Supervisor Kris Ozaki said workers remembered the message and used it to trace the necklace back to Aulakh. A worker dropped it off at her home.” w/ photo

“Everyone knows if you don’t play the lottery, you can’t win the lottery. But a man in Sodeto, Spain is really struggling under the weight of that brutal truth after his entire town won a $950 million lottery jackpot without him. Costis Mitsotakis said he was overlooked when the Sodeto homemakers’ association went around collecting $26 from each family in town and from 17 nearby villages, to put toward the El Gordo, the fat one, Christmas lottery, which has been held since 1812, The New York Times reported. According to the publication, the town is made up of farmers and unemployed construction workers who were struggling in the current European economic crisis. But thanks to the lucky windfall, each participant walked away with at least $130,000, with same families netting millions.” w/ photo

“Each year thousands of thrill-seeking surfers enjoy battling Florida’s famous coastline – but here’s one wave they would struggle to get the better of. The amazing sight was captured from a helicopter, seemingly showing a tsunami of giant waves battering buildings along the world famous beach in Panama City. However residents of the Sunshine State will be relieved to find out that the stunning photograph actually captures a natural cloud phenomenon resulting from warm air coming in from sea before forming a low lying, sweeping fog. JR Hott, the pilot who took the amazing shots, revealed he faced a race against time to capture the breath-taking images.” w/ photos

“A 43-year-old man was charged with trying to rob First State Bank on Stock Island — while wearing shorts on his head. The Sheriff’s Office says Eli Escalera walked into the Maloney Avenue bank at 12:30 p.m. with the shorts on his head — not covering his face — and handed a teller a note that said: ‘Give me what are 20s and 50s.’ The teller asked, ‘What do you want?’ and Escalera said ‘never mind’ and walked out. The bank manager called Sheriff’s Office Detective Donald Catala and relayed descriptive information to him; Catala spread the word over police radios that the robber was a Hispanic man wearing a blue shirt and dark cargo pants. He has scars on his face. Deputy Matt Dowling was near the bank when that went out over the radio. He looked down the nearby 5th Street and saw a man fitting Escalera’s description who was taking off a pair of dark-colored pants. When he saw Dowling, he jumped on his bike and fled. He was caught near 3rd Avenue and 5th Street.” w/ photos

“Yet quite unbelievably three sisters and their mother have all been diagnosed with the rare genetic mutation which affects just one in every billion. The Sangli sisters- Savita, 23, Monish, 19, Savitri, 15- and their mother Anita Sambhaji Raut, all suffer from hypertricosis universalis, a disease which affects hair growth around the body and face. Also known as Werewolf Syndrome, the condition stems from cells which remain open in areas where hair growth is usually stunted, allowing for hair to grow in unusual areas. The girls suffer from a high volume of facial hair which continues to grow abnormally and is largely incurable.” w/ photos

“Qasim Khan waged the unlikeliest of battles with Pakistani authorities Thursday over the right to charge hundreds of curious visitors the equivalent of 22 cents each to see a roughly 40-foot whale shark he bought from a fisherman. Khan is in the business of buying fish, albeit usually much smaller ones, and jumped at the chance to pay about $2,200 for the 20-ton behemoth, which was discovered dead in the Arabian Sea off the southern Pakistani city of Karachi. Business was brisk, as several thousand people paid to see the brown and white-spotted shark, which Khan set up under a cloth tent next to the harbor. People crowded around to put their hands on the massive fish, and families snapped their picture with it — ignoring the pungent smell as it began to rot.” w/ photo

“Why yes, officer, that is a wood-burning stove in my glove box. It’s hard to imagine what led Pascal Prokop to install a wood-burning stove in his 1990 Volvo 240 station wagon. Though we’re safe to say that the trend won’t catch like wildfire.” w/ photos

“Charlie Bigham is promoting his cock and bull pie as an alternative to asparagus and oysters and other traditional romantic food. ‘Ever since 1996 I’ve been making my delicious food with all the care that you would if you had the time. After all, there’s (almost) no better way to get together than over a delicious, freshly prepared meal,’ Mr Bigham said. The cooking instructions for the pie encourage people to ‘turn off the phone, light those candles [and] slip into something more comfortable’. ‘Tonight is for lovers, and Charlie’s smoothed the way with this very special aphrodisiac pie that will get you in the mood this Valentine’s,’ the pie’s maker claims. ‘So relax and let nature take its course.” w/ photos

“An 82-year-old rural South Dakota man said to have been lost in the fog was discovered more than 300 miles from his home. Leonard Johnson, of Britton, S.D., was found a six-hour drive away in Grand Rapids, Minn., After having been last spotted on Friday, police were on the lookout for his blue 1990 Ford F-150 truck… Officials said they believed Johnson made his epic wrong turn after encountering dense fog.” w/ photo

“Health bodies may complain but junk food lovers will celebrate after a new pop-up pizza you can cook in four minutes was launched by Marks and Spencer. The pizzas, the first of their kind on the high street, will be available for $2 and have a pre-cooked base. The appetizers come in a ‘pocket’ that will prevent the contents spilling out into the toaster. But critics have said the new snacks may lead to people over-indulging, with a typical slice of the pizza containing 190 to 250 calories, which is twice as much as that of a slice of toast. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘There is nothing that says that pizza can’t be healthy, and the ingredients look intriguing. The feature I like most about the idea is the portion size.” w/ photos

“A Port St. Lucie woman who said her big breasts hindered her ability to perform field sobriety tests was arrested on a DUI charge after starting to dance and disrobe, according to recently released records. During one of the tests, Maureen Raymond, 49, told a Martin County Sheriff’s deputy she couldn’t follow his instructions, saying ‘hell no not with these… not with her big boobies,’ an arrest affidavit states. The case that landed Raymond behind bars began around 9:20 p.m. Jan. 29 when a deputy went to a reckless vehicle call in the area of U.S. 1 and Jensen Beach Boulevard. A deputy spotted a Toyota Camry exceeding the speed limit and crossing the double yellow lines. The Toyota stopped in a Walgreens parking lot. A deputy ‘detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage about’ Raymond, the driver, and found a glass that smelled of booze. When another deputy said they were going to perform roadside tasks, Raymond told the deputy he ‘needed to understand that she is big chested,’ saying big breasts make balancing difficult. Asked if she had any injuries, Raymond said she had big breasts and whiplash.” w/ photos

“A Croatian hospital has framed and mounted a selection of objects that have been removed from patients’ bodies over the last 80 years. Needles, buttons, coins, animal bones and even a metal communist red star swallowed by patients have been carefully mounted in display boxes. They will now be put up on the wall in the main hospital in the southern town of Sibenik. Doctors decided to limit the display to items swallowed by patients. They also have a collection of items that patients had asked to be surgically removed after, they claimed, accidentally sitting on them.” w/ photo

“A woman who appeared to not have any teeth in surveillance photos from a western Pennsylvania bank robbery last month has confessed, apologized and told police she planned the heist because she needed the money for dentures. Evelyn Marie Fuller, 49, of Carmichaels, on Wednesday remained in the Greene County Jail unable to post bond on bank robbery and other charges filed Tuesday by police in Waynesburg, where she allegedly robbed the First National Bank on Jan. 20. Arresting Officer Tom Ankrom said Fuller explained her motives when she confessed to the crime.” w/ photo

“Police in Chile have arrested a man on suspicion of stealing ice from the Jorge Montt Glacier. Officials in the town of Cochrane found five tons of ice in the back of his truck, reports the BBC. Scientists say the glacier, in the Patagonia region, is retreating faster than any other in Chile. Police suspect the ice was destined for the capital, Santiago, to make gourmet ice cubes for use in upmarket bars and restaurants. Tourists in Chile are often served whisky chilled with glacial ice – which has an extra kudos because it comes directly from the glaciers.” w/ photo

“Tourists and Los Angeles natives alike were treated to show starring Catwoman, a Pirate and an Alien. But this time the performance was outside of the Kodak Theatre where a fight broke out between the characters that take the stage on Hollywood Boulevard sidewalks. Fire officials responded to a reported assault around 5:30 p.m. to learn that a fight between Catwoman and Jack Sparrow ended in his getting pepper sprayed. Another character wearing an alien mask was also involved in the brawl, which ended shortly after it began, LAPD officials said. Aerial footage showed a man on the ground surrounded by about half a dozen police.” w/ photo

“A prison inmate who makes stationery and license plates pulled a fast one on state police by adding the image of a pig to the state decal on their cruisers. On the 16-inch car door decals, made by prisoners in Windsor, one of the spots on a cow in a scene with mountains and a pine tree has been changed to the shape of a pig, a derogatory term for police. A Vermont state trooper discovered the pig while inspecting his vehicle on Wednesday. State police say they believe the decals have been added to about 30 cruisers in the past year. About 60 altered decals were made over the last couple of years, said Andy Pallito, commissioner of the Department of Corrections, which is looking into who made the modification and when.” w/ photo

“A firm of private investigators in Australia has been advertising for a $65,513-a-year ‘brothel inspector’. The post involves ‘partaking of sexual services’ undercover on behalf of local councils in New South Wales. The Lyonswood Investigations and Forensic Group in Sydney placed the ad for a ‘Brothel Buster Investigator’ in My Career magazine. Applicants were required to be unmarried and preferably single, willing to have protected sex with prostitutes and to provide sworn evidence in court.” w/ photo

“A German pensioner who had kept a tub of lard in his cupboard for 64 years, took it to authorities who pronounced it very much fit for consumption — if a little tasteless. Retired chemist Hans Feldmeier, 87, told AFP he had received the pig fat as a student in 1948 near the northern city of Rostock as part of the post-war US aid programme. Feldmeier said he had been given the tub together with two tins of noodles and some milk. “I just didn’t want to throw it away,” he explained. Finally, after 64 years, he took it to food safety agents and was astonished at their appraisal.” w/ photos

“There’s a brand new internet craze sweeping the globe. ‘Breading’ is when a cat owner places a piece of bread around their feline friend’s face before snapping the unusual shot and posting it online. It may be hard to believe but cat lovers everywhere are beginning to embrace this crazy trend. Breading fans first take a slice of bread, drill a large round hole in the center before placing it around their pet to create a mane effect.” w/ photos

“Sainsbury’s has changed the name of their tiger bread to giraffe bread after a suggestion from a three-year-old girl. Lily Robinson wrote a letter to the supermarket chain telling bosses their patterned loaf should be renamed giraffe bread. The letter, sent in May 2011, was received by Sainsbury’s customer manager Chris King, who loved Lily’s ideas. He replied: ‘Renaming tiger bread giraffe bread is a brilliant idea – it looks much more like the blotches on a giraffe than the stripes on a tiger, doesn’t it?… Yesterday, the supermarket chain decided to trial the name change, implementing it in stores across the country.” w/ photo

“An Australian footwear company has reported ‘amazing’ sales after launching a new pair of flip flops made of fake grass. The bizarre footwear, made by KUSA, features fake turf stitched into the soles so owners get the same sensation as strolling barefoot on a freshly mowed lawn. The company’s website shows sun seekers walking along the beach in the grass slippers which occasionally need to be fluffed for added comfort. The KUSA website explains: ‘Love the feeling of bare feet on freshly mowed grass? Why not have that feeling anywhere, anytime. KUSA flip flops give you the opportunity to do just that.” w/ photo

“An Austrian stag had a weekend to forget after he became trapped in a freezing waterfall close to an Alpine ski resort. Rescuers and volunteers sprang into action when the stag became stranded near the mountain resort of Dienten am Hochkonig after apparently slipping while trying to protect the female deer in his herd. But when mountain rescue experts, firemen, skiers and a vet winched him from the river bed the stag slipped back off the waterfall into the icy water below, taking two members of his rescue team with him. Luckily neither stag nor rescuer was hurt in the fall and after being anesthetized the stag was lifted to safety by a road maintenance team. A fire-fighter said the stag’s ultimate cold shower would have seen him die of exposure if he had not been spotted when he was.” w/ photos

“This is the Biblical scene that met Northern Ireland farmer Gordon Flinn after a lorry overturned into his field, spilling tonnes of fish. The ‘fish farm’ accident caused an overnight internet sensation this week, as this photo taken by Mr Flinn’s daughter Louise went viral. ‘It was like a catastrophe, as though the fish had fallen out of the sky,’ the civil servant said today. ‘We really couldn’t believe it until we saw it. ‘It really was like something out of the Bible.” w/ photo

“Following a test run of the of the UK’s newest rollercoaster, due to open in just 49 days, some of the test dummies were left ‘alarmingly’ damaged following collisions with some of the rides ‘extreme “near miss” spots’. The theme park, located in Surrey, have confirmed ‘drastic measures’ have been taken to amend the problems after an emergency response team were called out to fix the ride. Some of the mannequins were left without any arms or legs following the hell-raising ride which promises to leave thrill-seekers ‘exposed and vulnerable to the extreme near misses and gut-wrenching inversions as it rips through the sky on its mission of complete annihilation.” w/ photos

“A man in Dorset has been left mystified after tiny blue spheres fell from the sky into his garden. Steve Hornsby from Bournemouth said the 1-inch diameter balls came raining down late on Thursday afternoon during a hail storm. He found about a dozen of the balls in his garden. He said: ‘[They're] difficult to pick up, I had to get a spoon and flick them into a jam jar.’ The Met Office said the jelly-like substance was ‘not meteorological’. Mr Hornsby, a former aircraft engineer, said: ‘The sky went a really dark yellow color. ‘As I walked outside to go to the garage there was an instant hail storm for a few seconds and I thought, ‘what’s that in the grass?” w/ photos

“These woodpeckers from California spend their day boring holes in granary trees before placing nuts into the empty spaces. The busy birds were snapped storing thousands of acorns by photographer Michael Yang at Stanford University. He said: ‘I spotted a family of Acorn Woodpeckers hard at work storing acorns for the winter. ‘They carefully pick acorns from oak trees and fly them to nearby storage/granary trees which sometimes hold up to 50,000 acorns. ‘The woodpeckers bore holes in the trees with their beaks to store their acorns in.” w/ photo

“An encounter between a snake and a baby ended in a surprising outcome, when the infant’s mother walked into his room to find him chewing on the dead reptile… According to Imad’s grandfather, Shaheen Shaheen, who recalled the family’s tumultuous morning, the boy woke up when his father left for work at 6:30 am. The 1-year-old left his parents’ bed and headed to his room, where he found the 13-inch snake. He then grabbed it and bit its head off.” w/ photo

“A Seattle community rights activist is going to the extreme to try and save a building in her neighborhood: she’s marrying it. Babylonia Aivaz has invited the Seattle public to attend what she calls the “gay wedding” to the building on Sunday. The building is an abandoned warehouse that is in the process of being demolished, according to ABC affiliate KOMO. Aivaz hopes to save the space for a community center. “Yes, I’m in love with a 107 year old building! Yes, ITS A GAY MARRIAGE! How is that possible? Well there must obviously be a deeper story,” Aivaz wrote on her Facebook invitation to the wedding.” w/ photo + video

“A Fond du Lac man was arrested after he told police a ‘ghost’ punched and strangled his wife. Michael F. West, 41, of 281 Fond du Lac Ave., was charged with strangulation and misdemeanors of battery, disorderly conduct and resisting or obstructing an officer. At about 8 p.m. Jan. 15, police arrived at West’s home to find the woman crying and bleeding from her nose. According to allegations contained in the criminal complaint: The woman was upset after West blamed her for the house being foreclosed. When the woman pointed out that she works while West sits on the couch, he became angry… Officers had to struggle with an intoxicated West to place him in handcuffs after he made the ghost comment.” w/ photo

“An inch long piece of dried glue that vaguely resembles soft hearted Simpson’s patriarch Homer Simpson is attracting bids of over $2,600 on eBay. Seller Christopher Herbert noticed its uncanny resemblance to the balding character, and immediately listed it on the auction site as the ‘missing piece’ in any Simpsons fan’s collection. To help sell the globule – which shares many of Homer’s attributes including his goggly eyes and inane gurn – Christopher wrote a glowing sales pitch. ‘This is a true to life likeness of Homer Simpson’s head made naturally by an overflowing tube of Uhu glue! ‘It is very small – about a centimeter from the bottom of his neck to the top of his head but it does have Homer’s trademark bald head, big eyes and grinning mouth. ‘The missing piece in any Simpson enthusiast’s collection.” w/ photos