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Watercooler news from The Associated Press

Odd News

FILE - Alcatraz Island is seen in San Francisco, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)Credit: A...

Male coyote swam 2 miles to Alcatraz Island, twice as far as biologists had expected

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A lone coyote stunned biologists and others when it paddled its way to remote Alcatraz Island earlier this year, a former federal prison in the San Francisco Bay surrounded by swift, choppy waters notorious for thwarting prisoners’ escapes. At the time, biologists guessed the coyote swam from San Francisco, which is […]
1 day ago
Wet snow falls on flowers Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Fort Collins, Colo. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver)Credit...

Spring plans meet snow in Denver as a late storm could be the season’s biggest

DENVER (AP) — While some Americans are gazing at tulips and mowing lawns, people in Colorado and Wyoming are getting out their snow shovels. A late snowstorm is set to sweep over the Rocky Mountains and High Plains, bringing rain that’s expected to turn to snow in the Denver area by Tuesday night, with up […]
1 day ago
FILE - A photo of the cast members of the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" sits in a window at the home ...

A real WKRP radio comes to Cincinnati, decades after the sitcom about a fictional station

CINCINNATI (AP) — WKRP isn’t dead — as of Monday, it’s living on the air in Cincinnati. The call letters from the fictional radio station featured in a CBS sitcom were adopted by a trio of real “adult hits” stations in time for Monday’s morning drive, and co-owner Jeff Ziesmann described listeners as “stoked.” “Our […]
2 days ago

Chonkers the sea lion draws crowds to San Francisco’s Pier 39

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An intrepid sea lion nicknamed Chonkers is waddling his way into the hearts of tourists and locals who have flocked to San Francisco’s Pier 39 for a glimpse of the massive pinniped. On Thursday morning, visitors snapped photos as the Steller sea lion flopped on the pier, surrounded by dozens of […]
6 days ago
A giant statue of Nipper the dog sits atop a building in the warehouse district in Albany, N.Y., Tu...

Nipper, stay! The future of a beloved dog statue on a New York warehouse is up in the air

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Albany loves its giant dog statue. Nipper, a 28-foot (9-meter) tall white dog with black ears has sat conspicuously atop a warehouse for almost seven decades — recreating the famous image of a terrier listening attentively to a phonograph that was long used by electronics and communications company RCA. Over time, […]
6 days ago
FILE - Romer Derr rings a replica of the Liberty Bell outside the Federal Building 49 times, signif...

Meet the Liberty Bell fans visiting little-known replicas scattered across the country

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Want to see the Liberty Bell this semi-quincentennial but don’t have the time or cheese for a pilgrimage to Philadelphia? Have no fear: Chances are, there’s one at a state Capitol, museum or even a fire station near you. It won’t be the original, but it’ll be a dead ringer. For […]
7 days ago
FILE - A U.S Border Patrol badge is displayed as Gregory Bovino, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Bor...

Mexican man pleads guilty to impersonating Border Patrol agent to ‘disrupt deportation missions’

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Mexican man in the United States has pleaded guilty to impersonating a Border Patrol agent and following federal immigration officers to divert them while they were out on immigration enforcement missions in Southern California. Jamie Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez admitted to following a Border Patrol agent on Jan. 8 while he was […]
8 days ago
baby on delta flight...

Baby on board: Paramedics help passenger give birth just before Delta flight lands

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta gave birth to a healthy 5 1/2 pound (2.5 kg) girl just before the Boeing 737 landed in Portland.
9 days ago
A rare split-color lobster is seen at the Wellfleet Shellfish Company, in Eastham, Mass., April 17,...

Rare two-colored lobster caught by fishermen off Cape Cod donated to aquarium

It might be a divided lobster, but it has united New Englanders in fascination. A Cape Cod seafood company has donated a rare two-colored lobster to a science center, sparing the critter from the kettle because of its remarkable coloration. The lobster found is the typical brown color on one side and bright orange on […]
9 days ago
In this photo provided by the Clover and Bee Farm, a ewe and her sextuplet lambs rest at the farm i...

Farmers in Vermont expected a sheep to have twins. She ended up having rare sextuplets

UNDERHILL, Vt. (AP) — Anne O’Connor just kept counting sheep, and it made her anything but sleepy. A sheep owned by O’Connor, who runs Clover & Bee Farm in Underhill, Vermont, with her husband, Gunnar, gave birth to a rare batch of six lambs earlier this month. The sextuplets and their mother are all doing […]
9 days ago
A koala named Ellin sits inside a habitat at Palm Beach Zoo Conservation Society in West Palm Beach...

Meet the baby koala hiding in its mom’s pouch at a Florida zoo’s new Outback habitat

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A zoo in Florida has two reasons to celebrate — the first birth of a koala and a newly renovated habitat for the cuddly creatures is opening to the public on Saturday. “For the zoo and for us here, it’s the very big deal,” said Amarylis Celestina, who oversees […]
12 days ago
FILE - This photo provided by the California Department of Insurance shows a bear costume allegedly...

California bear-suit luxury car scam ends in insurance fraud sentences for 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three people in California have been sentenced for insurance fraud in a bizarre scam that involved someone dressed in a bear costume damaging luxury cars. The California Insurance Department said the three used a person in a bear suit to stage fake attacks inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes in 2024, […]
18 days ago
In this photo provided by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, beekeepers work to contain a ...

1 million bees make for bumper-to-buzzer traffic on a Tennessee highway ramp

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Travelers on an East Tennessee interstate were forced to brake for workers — and drones, perhaps even a queen — when a truck carrying about 1 million bees crashed Friday. The swarm shut down an exit of Interstate 40 in Knoxville, said Mark Nagi, Tennessee Department of Transportation regional spokesperson. There […]
19 days ago

Mounted New York police officer and his horse corner suspected purse snatcher in Manhattan

NEW YORK (AP) — A suspected purse snatcher was rounded up after being chased through the streets of Manhattan by a mounted New York police officer and his horse. The late Wednesday morning pursuit began when the victim reported the theft. The officer — whose name has not been released — and his horse quickly […]
19 days ago
This photo provided by Grady Adams shows the house at 113 McCann Street in Benton, Illinois, where ...

Before Beatlemania, George Harrison visited his sister in Illinois. The house is now for sale.

For the skinny British musician, it was an unassuming trip to visit his sister’s family in September 1963 in Benton, Illinois. He went camping. He jammed with local musicians. He drank root beer delivered on roller skates. He shopped for records. He bought a guitar. Then he went home. The next time people in Benton […]
20 days ago

Mount Holyoke’s corpse flower blooms again, drawing crowds to its ‘rotting flesh’ stench

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (AP) — One person entered the lush, green Victorian-era greenhouse and smelled rotting eggs. Another said the odor evoked the memory of dissecting a dead bird. A third compared it to a stinky diaper baking in the sun. “I was expecting it to smell bad, but it smelled genuinely like rotting flesh,” […]
21 days ago
Andrea "Mama" Avaloz holds up the package of fajita meat, beef sticks and pork chops that she won i...

Hot dogs and steaks and bacon, oh my! Meat raffles keep a beloved Midwest tradition alive

WACONIA, Minn. (AP) — In these polarizing times, Minnesotans have found something they can agree on — the thrill of a meat raffle. Meat raffles have been popular in pockets of the U.S. for decades, offering a fun way to raise money for charities while handing out prizes ranging from ground beef and hot dogs […]
22 days ago
FILE - In this photo provided by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, officers se...

A Buffalo-area man ends his fight to reclaim Albert, his 12-foot alligator seized in 2024

HAMBURG, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York man who had his alligator seized after sharing a home for more than three decades has given up his court fight to get back the reptile he affectionately named Albert. Tony Cavallaro sued the state Department of Environmental Conservation after officers met him with a warrant in […]
27 days ago
Visitors gather to take photos of an American woodcock as it pauses along its spring migration rout...

New Yorkers flock to Manhattan park for lovable woodcocks’ bobbing strut

NEW YORK (AP) — American woodcocks came to New York City looking to strut their stuff, and New Yorkers fell in love. The curious birds, known for their bobbing walks and kazoo-like calls, have drawn a crowd to Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan since arriving in late March. Dozens of spectators are gathering at the […]
28 days ago
Aadam Jacobs poses in front of LP (long play) record storage bookcase at his home in Chicago, Thurs...

Volunteers turn a fan’s recordings of 10,000 concerts into an online treasure trove

On July 8, 1989, a young music fan named Aadam Jacobs, with a compact Sony cassette recorder in his pocket, went to see an up-and-coming rock band from Washington for their debut show in Chicago. After a blast of guitar feedback, 20-year-old Kurt Cobain politely announced to the crowd at the small club called Dreamerz: […]
29 days ago
FILE - This Dec. 17, 2015 file photo shows a sign outside the building housing the Las Vegas Review...

Las Vegas Review-Journal will no longer print a competing newspaper

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Las Vegas Review-Journal announced Friday that it will no longer print its rival the Las Vegas Sun for the first time in decades, amid an ongoing legal dispute over the nation’s last joint operating agreement stemming from a 1970 law designed to preserve newspapers. Readers “will not find a printed […]
1 month ago
FILE - Sugar catches a wave in the first heat of medium dogs during the World Dog Surfing Champions...

Sugar The Surfing Dog, the first canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, dies

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Sugar The Surfing Dog, the first canine inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame, who spent her days outside the water comforting veterans as a dedicated therapy dog, died Monday after battling cancer. The 16-year-old rescue dog from Huntington Beach, California, who was a five-time dog surfing world champion, died […]
1 month ago
This image made from video provided by Debbie Marland shows Chesney the kangaroo near Sunshine Farm...

Chesney the kangaroo scales tall fence and flees petting zoo for three days on the lam

How does a kangaroo escape a petting zoo? It’s not the opening line to a dad joke. If you’re Chesney the kangaroo, you scale an eight-foot (2 1/2 meter) fence and go on the lam for three days, giving your keeper sleepless nights and sending residents of a small Wisconsin town on a search that […]
1 month ago

People ‘bathe’ in nature to get respite from chaotic news cycle

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — For two hours, Claire Jefferies wanted to get away from the war in Iran and the rising gas prices and just commune with nature. And, so, she treated herself to a little forest bathing. “When I’m here, it’s almost like a protective bubble around me,” the human resources director said amid […]
2 months ago