Off the Beat

Headlines

• Canadian farmer carves out a record in California with pumpkin weighing more than 1,500 pounds

• 50 years after hazing stunt created the 'Smoot,' MIT decides the man himself measures up

• R.I. driver pleads no contest after police say blood alcohol level was 6 times legal limit

• 'Bra bandit' accused of stealing another 160 bras in latest sting of burglaries in Fla.

• Animal shelter tries to find homes for 86 cats rescued from 2-bedroom condo in Colorado

• Idaho woman plans to find another route to work after having 2 accidents at same intersection

• Group of 9 from New Mexico step forward to claim a state-record $200 million lottery jackpot

• Great pumpkin piracy: 450-pound, unguarded gourd gets lifted from home near Flint, Mich.

• Restaurant's promotion angers town, so there's no more free lunch for skinny dippers in Maine

• Oooh! Aaah! Motorist's cigarette sets off fireworks in RI car, sparks criminal charge

• Fla. authorities say man shoots himself in the arm after his girlfriend refused him sex

• Texas homeowner discovers football-size fossil tooth in debris of her yard post-Ike

• Decoys wanted: Online ad drew look-alikes for Wash. robber who made away with bank loot

• Kazakhstan court drops drunken-driving charges against man who consumed fermented mare's milk

• World's heaviest man offers diet tips to another bed-ridden obese man in Mexico

• Wisconsin man burns his hands after using lighter while trying to siphon gas from a van

• Michigan woman asks her 92-year-old grandmother to be her matron of honor

• School board trustee accused of stealing a bottle of ketchup from cafeteria

• Hundreds say they see an image of the Virgin Mary at a Mass. hospital

• Twice the heist: San Diego-area bank hit by 2 different serial robbers on the same day

• Las Vegas officials play coy as they unveil name, logo of organized-crime museum

• With winning bid of $1.75, Chicago woman gets abandoned Saginaw home; she wants to resell

• Jury finds lingerie model guilty of trying to bribe police officer with money from her bra

• NY victim uses remote computer logon to help police find suspect in laptop theft

• Homeward bound: Lost Atlanta dog finds a way home 9 months later with Florida travel agency

• Human skeleton sells at auction for $500, buyer agrees to donate it to forensics center

• You gotta feline: Woman calls about 'kitty cat,' officer takes cover from mountain lion

• Man arrested after excessively blowing his horn to 'let people know he was in town'

• Man accused of stealing marked-up cash from Calif. restaurant's walls, using it to pay fine

• Neither snow, nor rain, nor _ aw, the heck with it: Feds say ex-carrier hid undelivered mail

• Make no bones about it: Human skeleton sells at auction in Indiana town for $500

• Man dives in to save dog from shark in Fla. attack, hits shark so hard it lets go

• W.Pa. firefighters free pooch from sink after its paw gets stuck in drain during bath

• '666' road sign thefts bedeviling roadways all across the country

• New York tenants say landlord used dead cats to push them out of building

• Elderly women win fight to keep crab apple tree, will not be evicted

• Iowa man faces several charges after hugging a police officer

• NY judge tosses lawsuit of movie muncher who says unpopped kernel broke his tooth

• Woman, 85, foils robbery attempt by suspect in ski mask at her Oregon home

• Oh, yes, it's ladies' night: NYC judge says it's OK if nightclubs offer discounts to women

• Fla. officials investigate whether firefighter took man's severed foot from scene of accident

• Neb. police arrest squatter who was illegally occupying apartment and growing pot

• Brazilian police reportedly catch motorist who owes nearly $2 million in unpaid traffic fines

• Schwarzenegger decides California lapdogs can stay just that while their owners drive

• 575-pound male bear relocated after stealing honey from commercial hives in Montana

• After morning brew, woman finds grounds for a gross-out in her coffee filter: a dead bat

• Hospital gives 71-year-old grandfather pain pills and paperwork for his 'pregnancy'

• AMAZING!: Sarah Palin carved into corn maze by farmer outside Whitehouse, Ohio

• Idaho man suffers minor injuries after being hit by truck, then gets citation for jaywalking

• Teen recovering after being impaled on a set of deer antlers after fall

• Whether or not you like her, raise a glass of Chilean red wine to the Palin Syrah

• Ben and Jerry’s asked to use breast milk instead of cow’s milk