“Her scruffy short tufts of hair, protruding tongue and bulbous, bloodshot eyes have powered 14-year-old Chihuahua Yoda to victory at the coveted World’s Ugliest Dog Competition. The Chinese crested-Chihuahua cross named Yoda took home $1000, a trophy and lots of pet perks after stealing the hearts of judges and the audience alike. Owner Terry Schumacher of Hanford, California, revealed that when she first encountered the pooch, she was convinced that the animal was a rat. After realizing that the ball of hair and limbs was actually a dog, Miss Schumacher took the 2lb animal home and named her new pet after the pint-sized Jedi master from the Star Wars films, to whom the dog bears a resemblance.” w/ photos

“A 35-pound bag of human vomit was found in the parking lot of a Bed Bath and Beyond in Radnor – for the second time in a week. An employee of the Delaware County store found a big white bag containing a medical waste container full of vomit two Sundays in a row – The employee found the vomit-filled containers in the same spot each time: under a tree, 10 parking rows from the store entrance, police say. “Somebody needs to find where it’s coming from and deal with it,” Amy Ciment of Southhampton told NBC Philadelphia while walking through the vomit-drop parking lot. Because the human waste is a biohazard, police say that the containers are a danger to the public.” w/ video

“State regulators say a gambler won a $25,000 jackpot on a Pittsburgh casino slot machine that should have paid out only $12. The Gaming Control Board tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the false jackpot happened on May 29, 2010. The generous payout happened in one of five instances involving Rivers Casino machines that weren’t properly tested or certified. The board was to have levied an unspecified fine against the casino. But it nixed a consent agreement with the casino after some board members felt a stronger message needed to be sent.” w/ photo

“This incredible contraption – made by welding half a Renault Clio onto a motorbike – was invented by a Swiss 17-year-old, although he was later banned from riding/driving it on the road when he got stopped by the police. Markus Sell, from Jonschwil in Switzerland, turned heads on his first trip out with his magnificent machine, which sees the driver sitting on the back passenger seat of the Clio while steering using the front wheel of a bike. The seating arrangements probably weren’t what caught the eye, though – more the fact that he was reaching speeds of up to 70mph. But his maiden voyage was cut short when he was pulled over by traffic cops. The police gave him short shrift when he was spotted riding (or is it driving?) – mainly because he was breaking so many laws all at once, and because they couldn’t actually tell what it was.” w/ photo

“If you think your fast food deliveries take an age to arrive, you should try living at the top of a mountain in the Himalayas. Margheritas and meat feasts may soon be on the menu at a peak in Kashmir, however – if Britain’s ‘daftest motoring club’ can break the world record for the highest ever pizza delivery. Six members of the Extreme Trifle group will attempt to climb more than 18,000ft on their 40-year-old Royal Enfield motorcycles, then serve up a surprise meal to the Indian army at Marsimek La, in the world’s highest mountain pass.” w/ photo

“Xiang Zhen said she saw a parking sign with a direction arrow in the mall in Liuzhou, southern China’s Guangxi Province. But when she followed it, she found herself stuck halfway down a staircase that was clearly not designed for cars. “I saw a sign overhead saying ‘car park’ so I drove under it, but the road instantly plummeted and became so bumpy,” said Xiang. Local trader, Xie Xiangrong, who has a stand under the stairs, said: “I heard a loud noise, and when I looked up, a car was driving down towards me. “I ran for my life down the stairs with several other shoppers.” Xiang left her car on the stairs and called a local breakdown company to winch her car back onto solid ground.” w/ photo

“The driver of a garbage truck found a 6-foot Burmese python on its roof after he emptied a trash bin into the truck at a Cincinnati fast-food restaurant. Hamilton County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Barnett says deputies who were summoned around 11 a.m. arrived to find the snake on the ground with its tail wrapped around a broom belonging to the driver. A deputy lifted the snake into a cardboard box using the broom. Barnett says in a statement that the python appeared sluggish at first but revived once inside the box. Animal welfare workers took away the snake.” w/ photo

“A Kansas woman is giving new meaning to the phrase ‘taking the lord’s name in vein’. Audreanna Phelps says she was in the mall when she first spotted the word ‘god’ in her leg vein. Phelps says she was going through a tough time and the sign was a confirmation that everything was going to be okay.” w/ photo + video

“Firefighters were called to rescue a sheep after it was discovered on the roof of a house. Three crew from Bridgend was called to the terraced property in Pontycymer, near Bridgend, after the animal was seen wandering around on roofing tiles. Claire Walters, who lives in the house from which the sheep was rescued, said: “I was sitting in my lounge watching television when suddenly I could hear a noise out in the street, but didn’t know where it was coming from. “When I went outside and was facing the front of my house, I look up towards the roof and there was a sheep standing there.” It took the fire crew around 40 minutes to get the sheep down, using specialist equipment and the Large Animal Rescue appliance.” w/ photos

“Denise Thompson had a beautiful front lawn, thick and green. It was where her four children and two dogs played, and where she drank coffee on sunny mornings. Then someone stole it. They didn’t even leave a note. “Now my place looks like I’m a farmer who just plowed and is ready to put their seeds down,” Thompson and her children went to visit her husband in Stettler Friday morning. They returned to their Kilkenny neighborhood home. The family entered through the back door and everything seemed fine. Then Thompson opened the blinds on the large picture window in the front room. “Oh my God,” she thought. “Where is my grass?” She went outside to the swath of ugly, brown dirt that had replaced her lawn. She thought there might be a note to explain an accident, like when someone dings your car in the mall parking lot. There were no clues. Thompson canvassed neighbors and several reported a white truck and trailer parked at her house. No one thought it was suspicious. Just another landscaping job. Thompson believes that a landscaping company messed up the address on a job.” w/ photos