The Odd Truth, Jan. 8, 2004

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.

SYDNEY, Australia - "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin snapped back at critics who have accused him of endangering his month-old son's life by holding him while hand-feeding a crocodile, saying Monday that he would even do it again.

"What I would do differently is I would make sure there were no cameras around," Irwin told Network Nine television's nationally broadcast "A Current Affair" program.

"When I was a very small boy, my dad did the same for me. In fact when I was 9 years old, he let me jump, restrain and capture my first crocodile."

Child welfare advocates have said the TV hero endangered his son, Robert, in the incident Friday, drawing comparisons with pop star Michael Jackson who dangled his infant out of a hotel window in Berlin in November 2002.

Police said Sunday that Irwin would not be charged with violating any laws.

Irwin promised to give "A Current Affair" a videotape from his Australian Zoo reptile park where he staged the act, which he said would prove it was not as dangerous as the public believed.

"(The tape) will give you another angle so all that ugly stacked-up vision of me looking like I endangered my child will be put to bed very quickly," he said.

The celebrated animal lover, who has survived tussles with pythons and crocodiles, fed a 13-foot croc while cradling his baby during a media event at his reptile park in northeastern Australia.

' ... Child Stuck In A Toy Machine'

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - The joystick-operated toy crane used to snare a prize in this supermarket game could've nabbed more than just a cheap stuffed animal - how about a shot at Timmy Novotny?

Authorities said the 7-year-old boy somehow crawled into the glass enclosure and got stuck.

Sheboygan Fire shift commander Mark Zittel said the call came in Saturday from a Piggly Wiggly as a "child stuck in a toy machine." The boy had to be rescued with the help of a locksmith.

"You expect to see an arm or a finger. But here's a 7-year-old boy sitting with the stuffed animals," Zittel said.

He said the boy crawled through about an 8-inch-by-10-inch chute where the toys come out. When he tried to get back out his way was blocked.

"His dad was three feet away at a pay phone," Zittel said. "He was talking on the phone and he said the next thing he turned around and the kid was in the thing."

Zittel said the boy stayed calm as firefighters moved the game machine to the back of the store and a locksmith opened the main loading door. The process took about an hour.

"There was no panic," Zittel said. "We could have broke the glass if there was an emergency."

Rescuers haven't figured out how the boy was able to crawl into the game.

Jailer And Prisoner Go On Drunken Joyride

PIKEVILLE, Kentucky - A Knox County, Kentucky, official says the next step is likely an appearance on "The Jerry Springer Show."

The county's judge-executive is apologizing for humiliating the county and state, after a county deputy jailer and a burglar went on a drunken road-trip.

He says the jailer was taking the convict to prison when the convict somehow ended up out of his handcuffs and in the front seat of the law-enforcement vehicle, drinking.

Police caught the pair after getting reports of a drunken duo making false traffic stops and demanding cash bribes from drivers.

Thieves Steal 3,000 Pounds Of Meat

RUFFS DALE, Pa. - It would be one big barbecue.

Thieves with an apparent hankering for hog and red meat stole as much as one-and-a-half tons from a packing plant over the weekend, according to state police.

The pork and other meat was pilfered Saturday night or Sunday morning at the Alfery's Sausage Co. in East Huntingdon Township, about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, when thieves pried open a door and ransacked the building.

Ben Alfery, the third-generation owner of the meat company, said the thieves made off with as much as 3,000 pounds of meat, including hot dogs, hams, kielbasa, steak and bacon. They also took $50,000 and a pickup truck to help cart away the take.

Alfery said the carnivorous criminals couldn't have chosen a better time, since the plant was working to restock after the holidays. State police found the truck abandoned in a nearby Mount Pleasant on Tuesday.

Michael Alfery, general manager of the company, said the thieves drove less than 30 miles roundtrip in the truck, meaning they may not have gone far.

"Mount Pleasant is a small town, and these people didn't go far. We're getting little tidbits from people living there," Alfery said. The thieves also left behind fingerprints, state police said.

Those responsible also broke into a U.S. Department of Agriculture office but apparently found nothing to their liking, police said.

Hot Time In The Outback

PERTH, Australia - The only pub in Australia's hottest Outback town has shut down after its temporary manager quit.

The Iron Clad Hotel has been serving icy cold beer in Marble Bar, a town of 300 people, for 111 years.

But residents say it hasn't opened its doors since Sunday night.

Western Australia state's Department of Gaming, Racing and Liquor said the establishment's operators were on a European vacation and its temporary manager simply decided he'd had enough.

One restaurant in the town is serving beer with meals. But the nearest pub is at Port Hedland, a thirsty 120 miles to the west.

Marble Bar earned its title as Australia's hottest spot when in 1923-24 it clocked up 161 consecutive days with temperatures of at least 100 degrees.

Last week, the mercury hit 113. This week it hovered at around 104, according to Lyn Towes, who records temperatures for the Bureau of Meteorology.

You're In The Army Now ...

BAQOUBA, Iraq - Laughter and wisecracks. That about sums up some of the reaction from soldiers stationed in Iraq on word they could earn up to $10,000 for agreeing to stay there for a while.

The AP talked with nearly two-dozen soldiers in Iraq since the Army announced increased bonuses for re-enlisting to continue serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.

One Army specialist manning a checkpoint outside the city of Baqouba put it this way, "Man, they can't pay me enough to stay here."

And a staff sergeant who runs a re-enlistment program for a battalion with the Fourth Infantry Division says only about ten of 80 eligible soldiers have jumped at the extra pay.

Sentiments were more split among soldiers still stateside.

And remember this: griping about Army life is a tradition among soldiers.

Russian May Have Solved Math Mystery

SAN FRANCISCO - There's growing evidence that a Russian researcher may have solved a problem that's puzzled mathematicians for a century.

Experts think they'll know soon whether Grigori Perelman has solved the mystery, known as the Poincare Conjecture. They're analyzing his use of various esoteric concepts.

The problem was first posed by a French mathematician in 1904. It involves explaining the geometry of three-dimensional space.

Others have thought they solved it before, but their work didn't stand up to mathematical scrutiny.

Mathematicians around the world have been checking Perelman's work in search of flaws. So far, it looks good.

If his solution is upheld, Perelman could be eligible for a $1 million prize offered by the Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The institute was formed to identify the world's toughest math problems.