LEWISTON, Maine Army and Navy recruiters took one look at 330-pound Ulysses Milana and told him to forget about joining. "'You've got to lose weight,'" Milana remembers them saying. But Marine recruiters were willing to work with him as he began his weight-loss journey in December 2007.
NEW YORK This winter, New Year's Eve revelers will have a close-up view of Times Square's first environmentally friendly billboard powered entirely by wind and sun.
THIBODAUX, La. It's no 90210, but residents of a small, rural community in southern Louisiana are just happy to have any five-digit ZIP code.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. Talk about being lucky - a north Alabama man is alive after being run over by a train on Thursday afternoon. Huntsville Fire and Rescue officials said a train engineer spotted 61-year-old Arnold Romine lying across railroad ties. Witnesses said the conductor sounded the horn and tried to stop the train.
LYNCHBURG, Va. A prosecutor says greasy fingerprints led police in Virginia to a suspect with sticky fingers. Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Bethany Harrison said Lynchburg police matched prints on an orange juice bottle left at the scene of a breaking and entering to 33-year-old Bernard Wood.
ROCHESTER, Minn. The Cambodian Buddhist community in Rochester is abuzz over what they believe is a miracle: a wasp nest in the shape of a seated Buddha built in the eaves of their temple. The nest was spotted last week. Elder members of the community say they have never seen an apparition of the Buddha in their lifetimes.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. A couple recently had an unexpected reunion with an old housemate: their pet cat who went missing more than 13 years ago. George, who was last seen by Melinda Merman and Frank Walburg in 1995, was turned into an animal hospital after the manager of a mobile home park trapped the sickly feline.
JENSEN BEACH, Fla. Police in said they arrested a Connecticut man after he tried to steal communion wafers during a church service. The Martin County Sheriff's Office said 33-year-old John Samuel Ricci, of Canton, was cornered by fellow churchgoers when he grabbed a handful of wafers from the priest during communion services Saturday.
SUPERIOR, Wis. Jim Kotera said the challenge hit almost three decades ago and got the ball rolling, so to speak. He heard of people claiming to have amassed the largest ball of twine in the world and decided to beat them.
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. A $40 medical bill might seem small but a West Virginia man says his five-year battle over paying it was a matter of principle.
CALDWELL, Idaho Police are investigating after a woman leaving for work with her 9-year-old daughter on Sunday morning found a frozen pig head stuck on top of a pole next to a tree her yard.
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. This isn't music to anyone's ears: The restoration of a church's 130-year-old organ has been delayed because four delicate pipes were damaged when a visitor napped on them.
TOLEDO, Ohio Boxers have long complained about being robbed in the ring. Well, now the ring itself has been stolen. The ring at Glass City Boxing was swiped sometime Sunday, WNWO-TV reported. Trainer Tom Urbina said if the ring is not returned the gym may have to cancel upcoming boxing shows.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. Police said it wasn't the most well-thoughtout escape. They say a man handed over his license and registration at a sobriety checkpoint during the weekend, then peeled out and sped away, almost hitting an officer.
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. A contract beer truck driver has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his rig flipped over. Police said the man, 56, was eastbound on Colorado 58 about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday when he took an exit ramp for eastbound Interstate 70 too fast. The truck and its 45,000-pound trailer full of beer overturned.
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. A 35-year-old man faces charges after allegedly driving drunk and then urinating in the back of a squad car and on the arresting officer. A criminal complaint said the man was pulled over early Wednesday after an officer saw him driving erratically and striking a pole at a gas station.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. Heard the one about the guy who walked into a bar with an alligator?
BILLINGS, Mont. A Montana Highway Patrol trooper cited two men with drunken driving in one traffic stop. Trooper Darvin Mees stopped a suspected drunk driver Wednesday afternoon. While he had the driver out performing a field sobriety test, the passenger slid behind the wheel, started the truck and began to drive off.
MEDFORD, Ore. A woman will have to spend up to 90 days in jail and make restitution for sending her children door to door seeking donations for a trip to a volleyball camp.
MOSCOW Wanted: One missing Russian church. Last seen in July. Reward for its return. Orthodox officials in a central Russian region say an abandoned church building that was to be put back into use has been stolen by local villagers.
