The Odd Truth, March 2, 2005

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

Saving A Fish's Life: Now Legal

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Fishermen often utter obscenities and throw their catch back in the water after hooking the long, skinny, ugly fish known as a garfish.

What they probably don't know is that, according to Alabama law, they are supposed to suddenly become the garfish's executioner.

The Alabama House passed a bill Tuesday to repeal a 1943 law requiring fishermen who catch a garfish -- also called "junk fish" or "trash fish" -- to kill it rather than throw it back in the water to be caught again.

Rep. Jeff McLaughlin said he's not sure why lawmakers initially wanted to kill the garfish. But he said the bill he sponsored is part of his effort to highlight some of Alabama's archaic laws and outdated language in the state constitution.

"I just want to point out the odd laws we don't need anymore," he said.

McLaughlin has also introduced a bill to remove language from the constitution that requires the Legislature to regulate dueling.

Big Lobster Bailed Out

PITTSBURGH - Bubba is getting a fate better than butter. Bubba is a 22-pound lobster pulled from the waters off Nantucket, Massachusetts, and shipped to a Pittsburgh fish market. At market rates, Bubba would retail for about $350. Experts say the giant crustacean is around 100 years old. Bubba has been in a tank at Wholey's Market since last Thursday, while owner Bob Wholey figured out what to do with it. Yesterday, he decided to give the lobster to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The lobster will then go on display in an aquarium at a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. Wholey says eating such a magnificent crustacean would be a bit "shellfish."

Unusual Punishment

ORLANDO, Fla. - Erik Rivera is walking instead of driving and everybody knows why. He was busted for street racing in Orange County, Florida. Now he has to wear a sign that reads: "Don't Street Race. I Lost my Drivers License for Three Years." A county judge ordered Rivera to wear the sign at a shopping center parking lot where he used to race. He has to wear it for 50 consecutive Sundays from 1 to 2 a.m., hours popular with the illegal racers. Rivera's lawyer says there's a level of humiliation to the punishment, but it beats going to jail.

Forbidden Love

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. - A pregnant 34-year-old Michigan woman has pleaded guilty to having sex with a 14-year-old boy.

Her attorney says the boy is the father of Stephanie Bissell's unborn child. She has four other children with her husband, from whom she is getting a divorce.

But the attorney says Bissell is no Mary Kay Letourneau, the 34-year-old Seattle teacher who was a married mother of four when she began a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old student. After serving time for rape, Letourneau and her former student are now getting married. They have two children together.

Bissell's attorney says his client wants nothing to do with the boy.

Bissell faces up to 15 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct. She is due to give birth in late May, and sentencing is set for late June.

Foxx Takes Replay Title

LOS ANGELES - Viewers liked Jamie Foxx's acceptance speech so much at Sunday's Academy Awards that they watched it over and over.

His Best Actor win for "Ray" is the Oscar moment most replayed by subscribers to TiVo digital video recorders.

The company says the best-picture win by Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" was the second most-replayed moment.

The red-carpet shots most ogled were Cate Blanchett and Kate Winslet's arrivals. Blanchett wore a yellow Valentino gown and Winslet a blue Badgley Mischka dress.

The company says the audience analysis is based on a sample of 10,000 TiVo households.

Lost Pet Scam Exposed

ATLANTA - A woman whose dog is missing says there's nothing lower than preying on people who are desperate to get their pets back.

But that's what authorities in Atlanta say Andre Gould did.

Police say Gould used the Internet to find people who had posted classified ads seeking lost dogs, focusing on animals that had been implanted with a microchip that had identifying information.

Police say Gould would then pose as a truck driver who had found the lost pet on the side of the road and offer to fly the animal home.

Police say Gould got as many as 17 people in six states to wire him $85 for a pet carrier to fly their dogs home. He got $3,000 dollars since December but no one got a pet back.

Gould has been charged with wire fraud and racketeering.

There's A Really Dirty Joke In Here...

NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa - Police in Iowa report they've arrested a naked man for threatening his neighbors with a sword. Curtis Rarick of North Liberty has been charged with assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. Police say a nude Rarick was in his yard when his neighbors complained. Officers say the neighbors asked Rarick to put on some clothes. Instead of getting his drawers, officers say Rarick came back out with a sword and threatened the people. Rarick is out on $2,000. He faces up to two years in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted.