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Odd News
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BAD 'FRESH PRINCE' RAP TRIGGERS PA. LOCKDOWN: AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) — Now this is a story all about how a high school student's life got turned upside down. But it was all just a bad rap.

The teen's voicemail greeting triggered a lockdown at his Pennsylvania school after a receptionist misheard his rendition of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" theme song.

While trying to confirm an appointment with 19-year-old Travis Clawson the receptionist thought the message said "shooting people outside of the school." The line is actually "shooting some b-ball," a reference to basketball.

The receptionist called 911 and Economy police arrested Clawson a short time later at Ambridge Area High School, but released him once he explained the message.

Acting police Chief James Mann says police acted "appropriately" out of concern for students' welfare.

Clawson's family has contacted an attorney.

DEFENDANT PUTS ON SCRUBS, WALKS OUT OF NM HOSPITAL: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A man arrested in a drug case is back in custody after donning scrubs and then walking out of an Albuquerque hospital where a police officer had left him unattended.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the officer didn't handcuff 39-year-old Jonathan Kahl at University of New Mexico Hospital because he had swollen hands.

Suspicions were raised when Kahl was seen pushing a hospital cart while wearing blue jeans under the scrubs, but he had already left the hospital by the time the exits were secured.

That happened last weekend. He was back in custody after being arrested Tuesday on suspicion of shoplifting.

POCKET DIALING CALLS POLICE TO OREGON DRUG DEAL: MOLALLA, Ore. (AP) — Police in the Oregon town of Molalla say a dispatcher received a cellphone call and overheard a drug deal taking place.

A phone in the woman's pocket inadvertently dialed 911 early Tuesday and dispatchers heard a conversation with a man about drugs.

KGW reports police tracked the GPS signal to a car in an alley about a block away. An officer who arrived at the scene could be heard over the phone by dispatchers.

The officer found methamphetamine and arrested a 25-year-old man on multiple drug charges. The 25-year-old woman was cited for possessing marijuana — and hung up her phone.

37-POUND TUBBY TABBY BISCUIT IN NEED OF HOME: ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — At 37 pounds, Biscuit is about the right weight for a 4-year-old — human, that is.

A St. Louis-area animal shelter is trying to find a new home for the sweet tabby with a sweet tooth.

Biscuit's salad days were spent pigging out, and now at roughly three times the weight of a healthy adult cat, he's restricted to about a cup of diet food per day.

His first owner, a disabled woman who fed him lots of treats, brought him to the St. Charles Animal Control shelter about a year ago because she could no longer care for him, Teresa Gilley, the shelter's lead animal control officer, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch..

"She didn't mean the cat any harm," Gilley said. "I just think she didn't know any better."

Another woman took him in but had to return him about a week ago because her new apartment doesn't allow pets, she said.

Gilley said the tubby tabby isn't crazy about his new low-calorie diet, but he has begun adjusting to it. When he arrived, Biscuit could only take a few steps before lying down and panting, but now he's showing increased energy.


UK'S 'NAKED RAMBLER' ARRESTED FOR NUDITY, AGAIN: LONDON (AP) — A British man who has spent most of the past decade naked — and in jail — was back behind bars Friday after defying an order to cover up.

Stephen Gough, known as the "Naked Rambler," was arrested Thursday as he left a court in Southampton, southern England, wearing only boots, socks and a knapsack.

A judge had just imposed an order that he must "wear sufficient clothing in public to at least cover his genitalia and buttocks."

The 54-year-old former Royal Marine appeared at the same court Friday, and was ordered detained until a hearing on March 25.

Since 2003 Gough has completed two naked walks the length of Britain, with frequent interruptions for arrests, court appearances and jail time.

Prosecution lawyer Roger Trencher said Friday that Gough "has caused much offense nationwide and he has used a considerable amount of police time in England, Wales and Scotland."

Gough has said he believes nudity is a human right. Defense lawyer Jeffrey Norie-Mille told the court that Gough "believes it is his right not to wear clothes and go about his normal activities in that state of undress."

POLICE: SPOKANE MOM CATCHES BABY GOING OUT WINDOW: SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A toddler who jumped on a bed and bounced out a second-story window was saved Friday by his mother, who leaped behind him, caught his foot and lowered him safely to his grandmother who was having a smoke on the porch below, police said.

The mother was just getting out of the shower when she saw the 14-month-old boy, who had been jumping on the bed, trip on a pillow and fly out the half-open window, Police Communications Director Monique Cotton said.

The mother smashed through the window and caught him by a foot as his head bounced on a small roof overhanging the front porch.

The momentum took them both out the window to the porch overhang. The mother was able to lower the baby to the grandmother just as his shoe came off in her hand, police said.

The grandmother heard the breaking glass and was in the right place at the right time to catch the baby before the mother fell into some bushes. She was taken to a hospital for treatment of cuts and a shoulder injury, Cotton said.

"The baby actually did fall," Cotton said. "Grandma caught him and mom fell in the bushes nearby. She's pretty scraped up."

The baby also was taken to the hospital with grandma to be checked out.

"The baby is going to be fine," Cotton said

SUSPECT UP SEATTLE TREE COMES DOWN AFTER 3 HOURS: SEATTLE (AP) — A man wanted by police after an assault climbed 40 feet up a tree next to railroad tracks and dangled precariously for three hours Friday, prompting officials to stop train traffic until he climbed down.

The 38-year-old man had earlier broken windows at his ex-girlfriend's home and injured her male roommate, police said. He was arrested for investigation of domestic violence burglary, property damage and felony assault.

The man had recently been released from prison, Seattle police said on their blotter.

As he was led away in handcuffs, a KIRO-TV reporter asked the man why he climbed the tree.

"I like to climb," he said.