LONDON (AP) – Fiery horses and a cloud of dust, but no hearty “Hi-Yo Silver.” A British horse racing track said Thursday it asked the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to give a recital at its finishing post, hoping to wow spectators and spur the animals to quicken their pace. Kempton Park race course, just south of […]

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Authorities say a prankster persuaded a married couple to smash their Florida hotel window after falsely telling them the room had a gas leak. Police say a person claiming to be a front-desk clerk at an Orlando hotel convinced the couple to break a wall mirror and use a lamp to […]

NEW YORK (AP) – A runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport was shut down briefly Wednesday morning after at least 78 turtles emerged from a nearby bay and crawled onto the tarmac. Ground crews eventually rounded up the wayward reptiles and deposited them back in the brackish water farther from airport property, but not […]

SAN ANTONIO (AP) – A robber left his mark on a San Antonio victim by biting her left arm. San Antonio police are seeking the man who robbed 65-year-old Rita Cervantes after she cashed a check at a bank and was getting into her van. Cervantes told police that a man with a towel over […]

STRATFORD, Conn. (AP) – Police say a Connecticut man has been arrested because he showed up at a dental office naked. Police say 41-year-old Christopher Hoff, of Stratford, also was five days late for his appointment. Authorities say Hoff entered Optimus Dental’s office Monday with nothing on. A startled female receptionist screamed, and he ran […]

PARIS (AP) — French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt, who was recently banned for betting on matches, has died. He was 24. The French tennis federation said Tuesday that Montcourt died overnight but the cause of death is not yet known, and an autopsy will be conducted. French media reported the 119th-ranked Montcourt was found dead […]

Tuesday Buckfield: Selectmen, 6:30 p.m., Municipal Building Greenwood: Selectmen, 5 p.m., Town Office Paris: Recreation Committee, 6:30 p.m., Town Office Paris: Oxford County Commission, 5 p.m., commissioners’ office Wednesday Bethel: Board of Assessors, 8 a.m., Town Office Bethel: Planning Board, 7 p.m., Town Office Buckfield: Recreation Committee, 6:30 p.m., Municipal Center Fryeburg: SAD 72 Board […]

READING, Ohio (AP) – The owner of a suburban Cincinnati barbecue restaurant is appealing an order to put more clothes on a busty, scantily clad mannequin outside his door. Kenny Tessel says the eye-catching, life-size figure has boosted his business 40 percent. But officials in Reading (REH’-ding) objected to her skimpy halter top and tight […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Money doesn’t grow on trees, but a tree-care supervisor in New York City’s Central Park found an old wallet inside a dead one. The blue leather wallet had been stolen by a pickpocket 27 years ago. It was found in the hollow of a dying cherry tree. It was near where […]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Police in Albuquerque say the father of a 5-year-old girl has been charged with child abuse after the girl was spotted behind the wheel of a speeding pickup truck. KRQE-TV reports that Daniel McCoy was arrested Thursday when police saw his truck speeding and swerving on the city’s west side. Police […]