The Odd Truth, Jan. 21, 2005

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Joey Arak.

Critter Cookin' In Class

THOMPSON, Ohio - A high school principal promises he's going to give the living skills curriculum an extreme makeover after a student skinned and cooked a Guinea pig and a rabbit during class.

The student, a 16-year-old boy, told the principal, Beto Gage, that he killed the animals at home before bringing them to Ledgemont High School. Gage said living skills teacher Diana Stevens lets students prepare a meal of their choice on Wednesdays.

Students who didn't want to watch were allowed to go into another room, Gage said.

The student had asked Stevens if he could catch and cook a wild rabbit and she approved, provided he gut the carcass before class, Gage said. He said the student, whose name was not released, is an active hunter.

The animals, however, apparently were purchased at a pet store.

"Something irrational and wrong happened," said Geauga Humane Officer Sarah Westman.

Polite Robber Snubbed

MILWAUKEE - Sometimes saying please just doesn't work.

A man trying to rob Marine Land Pets got locked inside the pet store because of some fast action on the part of two clerks. The sisters, Wendy and Crystal York, triggered alarms that notified police and locked the store's front door.

The man can be heard on the store's security tape demanding that the clerk's open the door, only to hear them say, "We can't."

Then he asks again, "Open the door ma'am. Please open the door."

He finally found his way out a back door and fled. Police were looking for him.

Unlimited Beer, Unfortunate End

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - It will be the most expensive keg of beer he's ever had.

A 32-year-old Czech man got himself locked up in a pizzeria in the town of Brno late Wednesday to have free access to beer overnight. When the restaurant's staff left, he broke into a cooling box containing a keg, disconnected the pipes leading to the tap, put them in his mouth and drank as much as he could.

The man, drunk and fast asleep, was found by cleaners in the early hours of Thursday.

Police spokesman Vit Cvrcek said he will now have to pay for the beer he drank and faces prison time or a fine for the damage he caused to the cooling box.

The Lord Can't Save Porn Shop

PUTNEY, Ky. - Dirty books sell a lot better than the Good Book. At least according to a Kentucky man who turned his sex shop into a Christian bookstore. Now, Mike Braithwaite is giving up because of poor sales. He's asking $55,000 dollars for the store and five surrounding acres near Putney, Kentucky. Braithwaite says he had a conversion in 2002, after being busted for obscenity. He burned all his adult toys and dirty videos, then reopened his Lover World store as a Bible bookstore. The charges were dropped. But Braithwaite says people in the community wouldn't patronize a shop with an X-rated history. He says he's done all he can and now it's in God hands.

Beefy Baby Born

SALVADOR, Brazil - That's one big baby!

Doctors at a Brazilian hospital have delivered a boy weighing 16 pounds, eleven ounces. The baby is the fifth child born to a 38 year-old woman.

Doctors say the baby was delivered by Caesarean section Tuesday at a hospital about 900 miles northeast of the city of Sao Paulo.

The baby is the largest born in the hospital's 12-year history.

A hospital spokeswoman says the mother is diabetic, and women who suffer from the condition often have large babies.

The woman's other four children ranged in weight from seven to eleven pounds at birth. But the hospital spokeswoman says the size of this newborn surprised everybody.

Saved By A Nose

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A Florida restaurant worker knows how to call for help. Authorities in Pensacola report an employee at Sonny's Real Pit Bar-B-Q was tied up and left by robbers. He managed to summon help by dialing 911 with his nose. Authorities say the man then hopped to the door and was able to open it for a sheriff's deputy. Deputies are still looking for two or three suspects in the robbery. They say the crooks got away with an undisclosed amount of money.