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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A South African anthropologist said Thursday his research into the death nearly 2 million years ago of an ape-man shows human ancestors were hunted by birds. "These types of discoveries give us real insight into the past lives of these human ancestors, the world they lived in and the things they feared," Lee Berger, a paleo-anthropologist at Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand, said as he presented his conclusions about a mystery that has been debated since the remains of the possible human ancestor known as the Taung child were discovered in 1924.

Woodstock, Conn. -- The body of a woman who disappeared while jogging was found Tuesday on property owned by the performer who plays Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on the television show "Sesame Street," a town official said. The body of Judith Nilan, 44, was found in a storage building during a search by state police, tracking dogs, volunteers and a helicopter. Police said her death was a homicide and an autopsy was scheduled. First Selectwoman Delpha Mae Very cautioned against drawing conclusions, saying the property owned by Caroll Spinney is a very large tract of remote wooded land....

Spider Control Made Simple A 34 year-old German woman decided to rid her garage of spiders- so: First she attacked the pesky critters with hair spray – lots of it. The spiders were unimpressed , so the annoyed hausfrau grabbed a cigarette lighter , and attempted to burn them out. Hair spray being quite inflammable , there was a sort of popping noise,and, within minutes , flaming material was oozing down the garage wall , and setting a nearby hedge ablaze. The woman grabbed her garden hose , and tried to put the blaze out ; but it spread to...

Muslim Big Bird Goes Berserk! Advocates Violence on Palestinian Version of Sesame Street!

Villanova University seniors, who spent up to $112,000 on tuition in their four years, are underwhelmed by news that the actor who plays Big Bird will be this year's commencement speaker. Caroll Spinney, who has portrayed the tall yellow-feathered bird for more than 30 years on "Sesame Street," will address the class on May 16. Senior Joe Mordini, a columnist for the Villanovan, the student newspaper, said there are "other people who also embody truth and loyalty and love and other values of the university without also being iconic to the pre-school class." School officials said Spinney, who published a...

Vineyards border the enclosed pasture where Michele Mussen imagined an emu grazing, rescued from the Sonoma County Animal Shelter. Before she finalized plans to transport the stray bird, Mussen learned that someone else was about to take it home. The details came later from an anonymous caller: The emu had been given to a shelter worker who shot it, dressed it and was about to serve it up at a staff barbecue. "The whole thing is disgusting," Mussen said. "That was a domesticated emu. It could have been part of a petting zoo, and instead it was eaten." Barry Evans,...

Big Bird Tells All, Ruffles FeathersApril 29, 2003STEPHEN M. SILVERMANNot surprisingly, Big Bird has a big mouth. Actually, it's the man behind the "Sesame Street" Bird -- Caroll Spinney, 69, who's been the overgrown fine, yellow-feathered friend for the past 34 years on the children's show, which is an institution on PBS. Now, Spinney's autobiography, "The Wisdom of Big Bird," is hitting book stores Tuesday. It's anything but feather-brained, and Spinney -- sensitive to what his young fans might think -- is entering the tell-all arena carefully. "For years I've kind of hidden from the public because I've seen disappointed...

Hi I Am SmokeyWelcome to my establishment!

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What Is the Huge Bird Flying Over Manokotak, Alaska? (c) 2002 by Linda Moulton Howe [map of Manokotak, Alaska region] Interviews: John Bouker, Pilot and Owner, Bristol Bay Air Service, Dillingham, Alaska: "I looked out the window there ­ there are no roads here, so we get around by air. There has been numerous mid-airs in Alaska that you don't ever hear about in the United States, the lower 48. MEANING MID-AIR COLLISIONS? So we're always having to look around. Instead of cars, we have airplanes up here. And so, it looked like another airplane, small airplane of some kind....

Tale of big bird catches some air SOUTHWEST: Letterman, radio stations have some fun with Alaska sighting. Southwest Alaskans see bird they say is Super Cub-sized Steller's sea eagle By Peter Porco Anchorage Daily News (Published: October 18, 2002) A newspaper story this week about the sightings of a large bird in Southwest Alaska turned out to have wings. The tale of villagers seeing an eaglelike bird with a wingspan as long as a Dodge van brought dozens of e-mails from readers in Alaska and the Lower 48 and one from the Netherlands. The online newsmagazine Drudge Report posted links....

A proposed transit hub linking a rebuilt PATH station with downtown subway lines could be completed as soon as 2005, officials said yesterday. At a news conference announcing the release of $4.55 billion in federal aid for downtown transportation projects, Port Authority and Lower Manhattan Development Corp. officials said the cash infusion could allow most projects now on the drawing board to become reality in three to five years.(See link for full story.)