Uniform proves he was no Marine

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) – A man who lied to his probation officer about having served in the military was ordered to stand outside the courthouse wearing a sandwich board that says: “I am a liar. I am not a Marine.”

William C. Horvath, 35, of Whitefish, pleaded guilty to making false statements.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced him to four months of house arrest and four years of probation. He also ordered him to stand outside the courthouse for 50 hours wearing the sandwich board with the message. On the back, it read: “I have never served my country. I have dishonored veterans of all wars.”

Molloy, a veteran himself, also ordered Horvath to write letters of apology to newspapers, the U.S. Marine Corps, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion in Kalispell. The judge said Horvath must admit in the letters that he lied repeatedly.

According to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office, Horvath claimed during an interview with a probation officer on Aug. 9, 2001, that he had served in the Marine Corps. The officer was gathering information on Horvath on a prior charge of being a fugitive in possession of firearms or ammunition.

The probation officer then attempted to verify Horvath’s military service, but was told by the Marine Corps that there was no record of Horvath ever having served.

Horvath then presented the probation officer with evidence of his time in the military, including photographs and decorations. However, Marine Corps representatives told the probation officer that the evidence contained a variety of inconsistencies. One of the problems: He was wearing his uniform improperly.

Losing weight by mowing lawns

COON RAPIDS, Minn. (AP) – A man who has struggled to lose weight is hoping a lawn mower will help him shed between 30 and 50 pounds.

After working up quite a sweat mowing his own lawn this summer, Darrell Nelson thought that he could get a good workout by mowing lawns for other people as well.

So he placed an ad on the Web site Craigslist.org offering to mow lawns for free. “This is no joke or gimmick,” he wrote on the Web site. “I need to lose weight. I have struggled on sticking to exercise programs, including just walking, for quite a while now.”

He figures if he eats better and mows a lawn per day nearly every day of the week, he will be able to keep an exercise program going. He said he has a hard time keeping commitments to himself, but he will stick to commitments he makes to others.

Nelson is a former power-lifter who’s about 5-foot-9 and 258 pounds. Since news of his ad spread, he has fielded calls from the media, strangers – even some women who have asked him out on dates.

“My life has been turned upside down, man, unbelievable,” he said. “I was planning on doing five lawns: Mine plus four others. Now, I’m doing six lawns: Mine plus five others. … I was just trying to do some yards and lose some weight, and it just – voila – away it went.”

5th baby gorilla born in Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) – A Zoo Atlanta gorilla gave birth to the fifth western lowland gorilla born at the zoo in the past eight months.

The baby was born Thursday while the mother, Sukari, was on exhibit around 3 p.m., and a few zoo visitors who witnessed the birth alerted zoo staff, spokeswoman Susan Elliott said. “It appears average in size and extremely healthy,” Elliott said.

Gorilla mothers keep babies close to their body, so officials probably won’t know the sex for three to five weeks. The baby will remain unnamed until they do.

Sukari and baby are expected to be on public exhibit this weekend, Elliott said.

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