The Odd Truth, March 26, 2003

Skinned Coyote Debacle; Whale Tale; Monkey-Suit Melee; Sweet Tea?

(CBS)  The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

Amateur Taxidermist

MIDDLETON, Mass. - A teacher who found a coyote on the road and skinned it in front of his students - potentially exposing them to rabies - was suspended without pay while two students underwent rabies vaccinations.

North Shore Technical High School carpentry teacher Miles Dowling, an amateur taxidermist, found the coyote on Route 24 in the Bridgewater on March 15 and decided to toss it in his pickup and show students how an animal is skinned, said superintendent Amy O'Malley.

He later brought students outside and skinned the animal, O'Malley said.

“Of course, this was not a school-sanctioned activity,” O'Malley told The Salem News.

The state Department of Public Health was notified after the school nurse heard students talking about the skinning. The coyote's brain was too deteriorated for a rabies test to show if the animal had rabies, but officials didn't want to take a chance. Five of the students were possibly exposed and two are undergoing vaccinations, O'Malley said.

O'Malley said the incident remains under investigation.

Dowling's phone number could not immediately be located and attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

Tailor-Made For Politics

CEDAR GROVE, N.J. - The youngest person ever charged by federal regulators with stock manipulation is looking toward a future in politics.

Jonathan Lebed has filed paperwork to run for one of two council seats in Cedar Grove. The Essex County town has a nonpartisan election on May 13th.

Three years ago, the then-15-year-old managed to earn close to $1 million by buying penny stocks, talking them up on the Internet and selling them as their value rose.

Lebed agreed to pay the government $285,000 while making no admission or denial of wrongdoing.

He kept more than $800,000 in legal stock trades. He used some of the proceeds to purchase stock and save for a house.

Lebed graduated from high school last year, but is skipping college and running two small businesses he started. He runs an online subscription service offering stock advice to customers and operates Lebed and Lara LLC, a company that manages investor relations Web sites for 15 publicly traded companies.

The 18-year-old registered Independent lives with his parents.

Drug Raid Cheered By Neighbors

COQUITLAM, British Columbia - Royal Canadian Mounted Police who raided a suspected marijuana growing operation in a Vancouver house got a surprise: cheers.

“Much to the members' surprise, there were about 25 local residents who were cheering and applauding the officers,” Cpl. Pierre Lemaitre said Monday. “Some neighbors even offered some cold sodas to officers while they were doing their work.”

Lemaitre said police searched a total of seven homes in Coquitlam on Sunday, seized more than 3,900 plants and arrested 11 people, including a 43-year-old Vancouver woman.

The house was occupied in December without the usual arrival of a furniture-filled moving van. Lights in the house seemed to go off and on at the same time each day.

Neighbor Bruce Gray said he was excited when he pulled over to let a police car pass as he was driving home and got even more delighted when he saw officers at the suspect house moments later.

“I just called a couple of neighbors and told them it looks like they're taking down the grow-op,” Gray said. “Of course, everyone was excited to get rid of it.”

Fishing For Cod, Man Catches Whale

OSLO, Norway - Nikolai Almklov has a whale of a tale.

Almklov, 69, was fishing Friday off the west coast town of Aalesund, 375 miles northwest of the capital, Oslo, when something big got caught in his net.

Instead of the usual cod, he found a 2,000-pound minke whale that had followed a school of fish into the fjord.

The 13-foot-long mammal suffocated in the net because it couldn't surface for air. Whales breathe air.

“I tied a rope to its tail and towed it to the harbor,” Almklov told The Associated Press Tuesday.

He gave the whale to a local eatery, Restaurant XL, which planned to barbecue it. But the Norwegian Food Control Authority canceled the Saturday feast citing health concerns, restaurant manager Roar Aarseth said.

Whale meat is considered a delicacy in the Nordic country of 4.5 million residents. Norway is the only country that commercially hunts whales, but it is limited to minke, which are found in the western North Atlantic.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center said approximately 800,000 minke whales exist worldwide.

DUI Coordinator Charged In DUI

SAVANNAH, Ga. - A DUI coordinator in a Georgia court has resigned after being charged with drunken driving, officials said.

Police said Brian P. Harrell, 24, was arrested Friday in Athens after being stopped about 1:30 a.m. while driving without his headlights on.

Harrell - who has worked for two weeks as coordinator for the Chatham County State Court's newly developed DUI program - said he had been drinking but “not much,” police said.

Tests indicated Harrell's blood-alcohol level was 0.13. The limit in Georgia is 0.08.

The State Court DUI program is a pilot project intended to help offenders avoid incarceration by following probation.

Teen Fined For Monkey-Suited Rollerblading

REGINA - Regina police are laying down the law when it comes to any monkey business that might be too distracting for motorists.

That was the case recently when a teenager clad in a monkey suit was fined $130 for roller-skating down the street.

The youth was an employee of Hillybilly Vac Shack and was working as the store's cavorting gorilla mascot.

However, he was fined for stunting - an activity likely to distract or startle drivers.

Store owner Joe Dupuis feels the fine is excessive, and the mascot should have just been given a warning.

Dupuis is no stranger to traffic court.

Earlier this month, the province dropped a case against him, which was brought after a motorist complained of flashing lights at the store.

If this latest ticket isn't paid the case will also go to court, but Dupuis says his employee will not get stuck with the fine.

3-Year-Old Wanders Woods For 21 Hours

EL DORADO, Ark. - “Tadpole Pete With the Big Stinky Feet” is back home safely, and so is the family dog that stayed with the 3-year-old boy as he wandered through woods for 21 hours.

Guided by new information from a truck driver who realized he had seen the dog-and-boy due the day before, searchers found Robert Lee Bennett on Tuesday. The boy was not injured.

Lee, as he's called by the family - disappeared Monday with a Chinese pug named “Sassy.” Officials said the boy was found about 11 a.m. Tuesday along an old pipeline north of El Dorado.

“He just wandered away from the house with his dog,” Union County Sheriff Ken Jones said. “He got a good way. He swam some creeks and marshes and was in a little wooded area.”

Lee's grandmother, Cathleen Graham, said her grandson disappeared into the woods because he was upset with his mother that he did not get to go on a trip to the store.

“I don't know how he ended up where he did. I can't tell you what he was thinking for sure. I'm not 3 years old,” Graham said.

Initially, searchers began looking for the boy on one side of U.S. 167 but truck driver Kenny Hamilton told deputies Tuesday morning that he had seen a small dog and a young child cross the highway in front of his truck about 2:30 p.m. Monday, before the search got under way.

“I blew my horn at this little, curly tailed dog. He ran across,” Hamilton said. “Then this little boy ran across the road after him, right there in front of me.”

What Is Sweet Tea Anyway?

ATLANTA - For some Georgia lawmakers, a meal wouldn't be complete without sweet tea. Now they could put that into law.

Rep. John Noel, D-Atlanta, and four co-sponsors filed a bill Tuesday that would make it a misdemeanor “of a high and aggravated nature” not to offer sweet tea in any Georgia restaurant that serves iced tea.

Noel acknowledged the bill was an attempt to bring a little humor to the Legislature. But he said he wouldn't mind if it became law.

Under the bill, restaurants could still serve unsweetened tea, but must serve sweet tea as well. The proposed bill specifies the tea must be sweetened when it is brewed.

Misdemeanors can carry a sentence of up to 12 months in jail.

Noel got the idea when he wasn't able to order sweet tea at a restaurant in Chicago. It wasn't on the menu.

Dog Returns 7 Months After Disappearance

LE MARS, Iowa - A retired school teacher couldn't believe her eyes last week when her dog, Taffy, returned home after disappearing seven months ago.

“When I went out to do the chores, he was standing on the deck waiting for me just like he always did,” said Betty Jordt, who lives just north of Sioux City. “I thought, 'It can't be Taffy, it can't be.' But as I got closer, he looked up at me as if, 'I waited for you.”'

The dog, a taffy-colored Labrador mix, returned March 19 - just in time for Jordt's birthday.

Jordt, a widow, found Taffy at the Siouxland Humane Society about five years ago. The dog always came when called, until he vanished seven months ago, she said.

In an attempt to find her pet, Jordt placed advertisements in local publications and enlisted the help of the sheriff's office.

Jordt didn't get a new dog, because she didn't want to risk losing another companion.

Taffy showed up last week wearing the same collar, but no tags.

“I must say he's in excellent condition,” Jordt said. “Whoever took him or took care of him did take very good care of him.”