“A Long Island mail carrier is accused of pinching thousands of discount coupons intended for residents’ mailboxes. Police accuse 38-year-old Thomas Tang of Baldwin of stealing more than 7,000 J.C. Penney discount coupons he was supposed to deliver to the department store’s customers. Police say Tang then sold the coupons on eBay. The alleged theft occurred between October 2009 and January of this year. Tang was charged with grand larceny. He is to be arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead.” w/ photo

“The year the couple divorced was the year food rationing ended and Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile. An East Yorkshire couple aged in their 90s have remarried – 57 years after getting divorced. Leslie Harper, 93 and Elsie, 90, from Driffield, first married in 1941 but separated several years later and both went on to remarry. It was when the pair lost their partners that Mr Harper plucked up the courage to get back in touch with his ex-wife, leading to them reuniting. Mrs Harper said: “It’s much better this time. We laugh every day. The couple, who have one daughter, divorced in 1954. They blame the pressures of Mr Harper serving in the war for their marriage breakdown. They barely saw each other until 2004. Mr Harper said: “Something in my mind said why don’t you go and see Elsie”. This led to them reuniting and they remarried in Bridlington on Saturday. Mrs Harper said when they met again they ‘just clicked as though we’d never been apart.” w/ video

“It may sound like a bird-brained idea, but the mayor of a Mojave Desert city wants to brighten the streets by broadcasting recorded bird songs. Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris proposed the idea during his State of the City talk on Monday. The Antelope Valley Press says Parris wants to play the bird chatter from loudspeakers on Lancaster Boulevard. The mayor says there’s science to show that listening to birdsong makes people happier. Parris is known for his flamboyant ideas. He got a law passed giving the Southern California city the right to castrate pit bulls, ordered city officials to learn the Mandarin language in a bid to woo Chinese business, and riled some people by saying he was growing Lancaster into a Christian community.” w/ photo

“Everything old is new again for one Japanese manufacturer, which has unveiled an electronic version of a rickshaw. The ‘Meguru’ is a three-wheeled, three-seat compact vehicle whose single lithium-ion battery allows for a maximum speed and range of 40 kilometers per hour, although the number of batteries could be increased for a longer ride. “This is a true environmentally friendly car,” said Nobuyuki Ogura, the chief executive officer of Yodogawa Group, which built the vehicle in cooperation with three other small companies in western Japan. “Instead of an air-conditioner, it comes with a pinwheel, and we are also thinking of adding a wind chime because it gives a refreshing sound to cool you down without the need of electricity,” he told Reuters. “It doesn’t have a heater, but it’s equipped with blankets to keep you warm in the winter.” Devised as part of a project to revitalize small businesses facing economic hardship, the vehicle – which is 7.5 feet long, 3.9 feet wide and 5.2 feet tall – also showcases traditional Japanese crafts.” w/ photo

“The latest in airport security isn’t a fancy new scanner from the TSA, it’s a special plant that can sniff out would-be terrorists. Researchers at Colorado State University have manipulated the plants so that they turn white when it detects even trace amounts of TNT in the air. The technology, published in the peer-reviewed online science journal PloS One and financed by the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, could find its way into airports in just a few years. “The idea to make detector plants comes directly from nature,” said Professor June Medford, the lead scientist on the team. “Plants can’t run or hide from threats, so they’ve developed sophisticated systems to detect and respond to their environment.” Her team in the Department of Biology has found a way to rewire those systems so that the chlorophyll drains off from the plant, leaving them a stark white when they detect specific materials. Still relatively immature, the current technology has a response time of hours but Medford hopes to reduce this down to a few minutes over the next couple of years as they improve the process. The redesigned plants are also highly sensitive, 100 times more sensitive than a bomb-sniffing dog. With such practical applications, the team has already received a three-year $7.9 million grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in the U.S. Department of Defense.” w/ photo

“Smugglers using a catapult to launch marijuana across the border were observed on a remote video surveillance system, and National Guard troops coordinated with Mexican authorities to disrupt the far-flung operation. On Friday evening, National Guard troops operating a remote video surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station observed several people south of the International Boundary Fence preparing a catapult and launching packages over the International Border fence, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Border Patrol agents working with the National Guard contacted Mexican authorities, who went to the location and disrupted the catapult operation. The camera showed the individuals fleeing the area before they could be intercepted by Mexican authorities. The Mexican officials seized about 45 pounds of marijuana, a sport utility vehicle, and the catapult device.” w/ photo + video

“Dave Hockey’s wife isn’t as distraught as you might expect at the prospect of him keeping other female company on holiday – because his companion is a plastic doll. The father-of-two has taken ‘Bianca’ on road trips across the US and to Britain, including visits to Oxford and Stonehenge. But the 57-year-old insisted his wife Wendy – a retired doctor – doesn’t mind. ‘She knows I’m not going to run off with a piece of silicone shaped like a woman,’ he said. Weighing 90lb, Bianca has to be moved in a wheelchair. She is one of 14 dolls on whom Mr Hockey has spent $21,000 on travel and outfits, including $1,700 of lingerie.” w/ photos

“A car in Manhattan was trapped in a thick layer of ice from bumper to bumper like an ice sculpture. We’re told a private water service line ruptured under the street. All the water came up and caused a puddle. The cars going back and forth splashed the water onto parked cars. One car got the worst of it. To make matters worse, the owner of the car barely touched the back window and it collapsed. Crews eventually managed to steam the car out of its ice cube encasing.” w/ photos

“Call it the latest piano bar, a large-scale mystery, or a whole new set of Florida Keys. In Miami’s Biscayne Bay, a grand piano has appeared — perched on the highest point of a sandbar. “We don’t know how the piano got out there, we don’t know who’s responsible for putting the piano out there and at this point it’s clearly a mystery,” said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. And for now, it’s staying put. Authorities told CNN they have no plans to remove it. “What will probably happen is that the piano will just disintegrate because of the salt water and the salt air,” said Pino, adding that it will not harm the wildlife. The finding has struck a chord with residents and tourists, inspiring some to board their boats and check it out. But if they’re planning to perform a concerto, their hopes will likely fall flat. “This piano’s so banged up you can’t even bang out any tunes on it,” reported Andre Hepkins of CNN affiliate WSVN, as he stood on the sandbar attempting to tickle the ivories.” w/ video

“Think the London Underground gets hot in the summer? Well think again – it won’t be quite as hot as the world’s first tram sauna unveiled in Milan. Unfortunately this real tram is no longer in operation and sits in one place at the spa resort in northern Italy. But, created by public transport designers QC Termemilano, it has all the features of the original carriage – except now it’s a bit more wooden inside, a bit hotter, and a bit stuffier. It comes complete with hot coals and benches – as well as the tram’s trademark pitched roof and open window views of its surroundings. The designers claim the idea is to show commuters that public transport needn’t always be stressful. A spokesman said: ‘People can get very stressed traveling through a city center. ‘This innovative design is to show that not all public transport is frustrating. It can be somewhere to relax.’ The historical Carelli tram sits in the middle of a spa complex on a real track, all of its own.” w/ photos