The Odd Truth, June 9, 2004

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

Sweet Sorrow

WASHINGTON - In honor of President Ronald Reagan, the Bush White House switched from M&Ms to jelly beans as the office candy staple for the week.

The San Francisco Bay-area maker of Jelly Belly started supplying Reagan to help him quit smoking during his first term as California governor, and the jelly beans became a favorite at Reagan's White House Cabinet meetings.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist also has made the switch for this week.

A bowl of M&Ms has long been kept just outside the White House mess where staff and guests eat. Frist keeps dishes in his office reception area on Capitol Hill.

Massive Pig's Blood Spill

BREMEN, Germany - German police closed a stretch of superhighway for hours Wednesday after a truck spilled 9,000 gallons of pig's blood, making the road a slippery mess.

The truck hauling the waste blood from the Netherlands for disposal was pulling onto the autobahn near Sittensen at about 4:15 a.m. from a rest stop when it was rear-ended by another truck, police spokesman Klaus-Dieter Kroll said.

The entire load of pigs' blood mixed with heavy rain formed a large slick, causing another truck to crash, Kroll said.

The highway was closed, creating traffic jams 13 miles long on either side.

The driver of the truck that crashed into the vehicle hauling the blood suffered minor injuries. Damage is estimated at $221,000, Kroll said.

Don't Try This At Home

SAN RAFAEL, California - Ten-year-old Michael Gerhold's try at stunt riding ran into the law - literally. The San Rafael, California, kid attempted to jump his bike from his driveway into the street. At that very moment, a California Highway Patrol cruiser happened to drive by. Michael hit the CHP patrol car with his bike. Now, he's nursing some minor injuries but is otherwise OK. Officials say luckily, Michael was wearing a helmet when he slammed into the trooper's cruiser.

Flying Toilet Damages Car

HAMBURG, Germany - A 32-year-old woman's car was badly damaged Wednesday after a portable toilet was whisked into the air in a storm and flung down onto the Audi's hood, police said.

The accident occurred as the woman was driving toward downtown Hamburg, police spokesman Ralf Kunz said.

The woman was not injured, but the impact caused damage estimated at $6,000 to her car, Kunz said.

'X' Marks The Spot

DRESDEN, Tennessee - Investigators made a quick hit finding 150 marijuana plants along the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.

The suspected growers left maps in their car that led to the pot plot. As many as 120 plants were found in a cornfield, Weakley County sheriff's investigator Marty Plunk said.

Robert Pounds, 49, and Joseph Beard Jr., 45, were arrested Monday. The pair were charged with manufacturing and possessing marijuana with intent to resell and tampering with evidence.

The tampering charge is for tossing marijuana cigarettes out of their car, authorities said.

Kentucky police searched Beard's residence in New Concord, Kentucky, and arrested his wife, Joan Beard, on charges of growing the plants inside their home, officials said.

Half Million Bees Removed From Home

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Lake Worth resident Norm Gitzen didn't mind the more than half-million bees living in the roof of his house until recently.

Rather, he said, they were "kind of mesmerizing," and he often sweetened his morning coffee with honey dripping from the hives.

But when the bees started coming into the house, stinging him and his nephew, his love of that cohabitation changed. Local beekeepers started removing at least 700,000 bees from a tower above his breakfast nook on Tuesday, filling four buckets with honey weighing close to 65 pounds.

"This will become a fantastic nuisance ... because they will grow and grow," said Palm Beach County Beekeepers Association President Ute Hartmann.

The weight of the hives could collapse Gitzen's roof, while the honey could attract ants and rodents, Hartmann said.

Valentine Toncz, who helped remove the bees, will keep half of them, Gitzen said, while the rest will be returned to his house - in bee boxes.

State law requires bees to be kept in boxes with movable frames, inspected annually for mites and other honeybee pests.

The Senior Prank Is Alive And Well

LANSDALE, Pa. - North Penn High School students trying to revive the venerable custom of the senior prank stuck about 35,000 plastic forks into two grassy areas at the school in time for school Monday morning.

Even some teachers were impressed.

Senior Tom McDonald said the group set about collecting 30,000 forks - a target they ultimately passed - during lunch time and from businesses. McDonald said he sent out a phony date in February - partly to get recruits and also to throw off school officials. Then there was the matter of figuring out how to get everyone in and out without getting caught after the effort began at midnight Sunday.

"Imagine coordinating 50 men in 10 cars going in different routes to the school. It was a strategic battle plan," McDonald said.

Getting out proved to be more difficult than getting in. Police arrived after about an hour and a half of work and took 10 teens, including McDonald, into custody.

"They were very mad because they thought we were vandalizing the school," McDonald said. "Once we told them what we were doing, they said they never laughed so hard in their life."

McDonald speculated that authorities took the event in such good humor because it didn't do any damage and it was cleaned up by 11 a.m. Monday.

"I thought it was very wonderful. It was well-coordinated. It brought us a moment of laughter," teacher Tom Lemon said.