The Odd Truth, Dec. 28, 2004
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Joey Arak.
Paging Nancy Kerrigan
ESSINGTON, Penn. - Know someone who can beat up Tonya Harding?
Main Line boxing promoter Damon Feldman has booked the former figure-skating champion-turned-bad girl for a bout at the Lagoon nightclub in Essington on Jan. 19.
All he needs is an opponent to go three one-minute rounds with Harding in exchange for $1,000. Aspiring challengers must weigh 125 pounds or less and have what Feldman calls "a following."
Harding, 34, is 3-3 as a pro boxer, not including a televised 2002 TKO over President Clinton nemesis Paula Jones. She recently fired her trainer/manager and has made noise about returning to skating. The U.S. Figure Skating Association banned her for life for her role in the kneecapping of rival skater Nancy Kerrigan in 1994.
Oh, Deer: It's Just A Rumor
PITTSBURGH - Did you hear the one about the insurance agent and the coyote?
So have the Pennsylvania Game Commission, wildlife agencies in other states and insurers.
They all dismiss as urban legend claims that insurance companies and wildlife agencies are releasing coyotes into the wild to reduce deer-car collision claims.
"There's a lot of people that seriously believe that the agency has been doing this," said Carl Graybill, director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's bureau of information and education. "The whole thing's pretty absurd."
While the agency doesn't track such claims, Graybill said wildlife conversation officers are occasionally questioned in the field about it.
It's illegal for anyone to release animals into the wild without a permit and the agency hasn't issued any permits to insurance companies, Graybill said Monday.
"No one ever comes forward with any proof that it occurred," Graybill said "People can be very gullible, too."
Over the last several weeks, Erie Insurance Group has had calls about the issue.
"It's just a fallacy. It's just not true. That's just not a way that we would manage our risks," said spokesman Mark Dombrowski.
To be sure, deer-car collisions are costly for insurers; about 150 people are killed in deer collisions annually and collisions cause more than $1.1 billion in vehicle damage, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Landing On Your Wheels
MEDINA, Ohio - A man whose car plunged 30 feet off a highway overpass and landed wheels down in the snow-covered median between lanes of freeway traffic escaped with only minor injuries.
"The front air bag deployed and right after that I felt a floating sensation," Michael Doner said. "I thought, 'I'm either dreaming or I'm falling."'
Doner, 60, of Medina, was making the three-hour drive to visit his mother on Christmas when a car skidded into his and a second car slammed into him, sending his car over railing of the bridge over Interstate 71 about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland.
Doctors told Doner his Honda's side air bag minimized his injuries. He had a broken collarbone and cracked ribs, and was sent home less than six hours after the fall.
"I'm very lucky," Doner said. "The guy upstairs was looking out for me."
Want To Be A Royal Taster?
BELMONT, N.C. - Wade Jones likes Elvis, but he insists he's just a casual fan.
That's why, after watching a grilled cheese sandwich thought to be embedded with the image of the Virgin Mary fetch $28,000 on eBay, he decided to part with three tablespoons of water from a cup he says Elvis Presley used during a concert.
"It's one thing to be an Elvis fan, but then you tell them you have this cup and water and they think you're a fanatic," he said. "I'm not like the people bidding on this water."
Jones was 13 when he went to see the aging Elvis in February 1977 at the old Charlotte Coliseum, which is now Cricket Arena. He saw the pop icon drink from the cup and, after the show, asked a police officer for it.
As proof of its authenticity, Jones provides photos of Elvis during the concert in which cups can be seen.
The cup stayed in Jones' parent's deep freezer for eight years, until he moved out. He then decided to melt the ice and keep the water in a sealed glass vial.
Jones' latest eBay posting, in which he is auctioning the chance to "exhibition" the cup for one day on Presley's birthday, said the water sold for $455 on Christmas Day.
Car Comes Homes ... Eventually
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A vintage 1963 Ford Fairlane stolen 23 years ago from Greenville, S.C., has turned up some 2,600 miles away in California.
California Highway Patrol officers called Terry and Robin Smith last week to tell them authorities had recovered the vehicle.
"What a wonderful gift at Christmastime ... After 23 years to receive news that they'd found our car." Robin Smith said.
A few weeks ago, a person brought the car into the CHP's San Bernardino office for inspection. A sharp-eyed officer noticed the car's identification numbers didn't match and began investigating.
CHP's Lt. Greg Williams said authorities don't believe the people who brought the car in had anything to do with the theft.
Smith said the car was a wedding gift from her parents, but the couple have not decided whether to bring it home or sell it in California.
Canine Canned
CARSON CITY, Nev. - Carson City's lone canine cop is out of a job after Sheriff Kenny Furlong nixed the department's drug-dog program.
The future of the black lab named Luke was put in limbo in October when city supervisors awarded a former canine deputy $63,000 dollars after she sued for overtime pay.
Furlong says the settlement prompted his department to review the program. He decided it wasn't proving to be effective.
No other nearby agencies were interested in a drug-sniffing dog.
So Luke -- whose full name is Cool Hand Joe Luke -- now lives with the man who fired him and accompanies the sheriff to his office every day.
2004's Most Important Election?
CHICAGO - Illinois residents have a few more days to decide a slippery question: garter snake or painted turtle?
The state Legislature next year will consider adopting an official state reptile and state amphibian to add to a list of 17 other state symbols, from state tree (white oak) to state fossil (Tully monster).
More than 25,000 people have voted since the finalists were announced in August.
So far, the Eastern tiger salamander has slithered to a comfortable lead in the amphibian category, garnering 7,000 more votes than the gray tree frog and the American toad.
The reptile race is tighter -- just 2,000 votes separate the painted turtle from the garter snake, while the Eastern box turtle plods along in third place.
The overseer of the election says he thinks snake people have gotten out the vote in the last month or so.
Put Him On The Naughty List
DENVER - The operator of a Web site billed as a way to let people turn his Christmas lights off and on now says it's all a hoax.
Alek Komarnitsky of Lafayette, Colorado -- a self-described computer geek -- says he just wanted to spread some holiday cheer and hopes most people will understand.
He says he started the site two years ago to see if it would be possible to use computer tricks to make it look like the lights were being turned off and on.
His secret was taking lots of photographs of his house from various angles with the lights on and off, and with varying amounts of snow on the ground.
So when people clicked on the site they saw the lights turn off on a Web cam but nothing was actually happening at the home. Word of the site spread through news reports this year.