Free Republic

Fayetteville, N.C. — Wildlife agents are scouring the woods near Cedar Creek after a man says he spotted what looks like a king cobra there last week. Vernon Byrd was on an all-terrain vehicle in a field off Johnson Road last Tuesday when he said an 8-foot-long snake reared up beside him – and the serpent's head was about shoulder high to him. "I caught something out of my eye, and this snake comes up beside me and looked at me," Byrd said. "I've seen every kind of snake in this part of the country, but I've never seen a...

LUNENBURG— There’s still no sign of Capy. The escaped capybara, a large rodent native to South America, has been on the run since Tuesday. The animal escaped from Marshall Farm in Fitchburg, near the Lunenburg line, and was spotted Tuesday on the property of Frank and Debra McDonald of Northfield Road. The property abuts the Maplewood Golf Course. Maryann Benevento, who owns the public course with her husband, Joe, said the exotic herbivore known as Capy is probably enjoying his surroundings too much to head back home. “He’s probably happy as a clam out there with plenty of water and...

Biologists have discovered giant invasive oysters that could threaten efforts to restore native oyster species in San Francisco Bay. Government staffers and volunteers removed 256 of the exotic mollusks last week after searching the mudflats between the Dumbarton Bridge and the San Leandro Marina, biologists said Thursday. Scientists have not identified the species, which grow up to 9 inches long and in a variety of shapes. They don't know how the exotic oysters got here or how they could affect the bay if their population expands. Biologists are concerned the monster oysters could take over the best habitat and form...

http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~28822~2888206,00.html Nearly 100 exotic birds stolen from home aviaryBy Angie Valencia-Martinez, Staff Writer May 26, 2005 Nearly 100 parrots and other orphaned exotic birds were stolen from an aviary in Box Canyon operated by an 85-year-old bird lover, officials said Wednesday. The birds, including Rosellas, Mexican Redheads and Patagonias, were stolen from the back yard of June Matthews' mobile home, where she has cared for rescued birds since 1984. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department said Matthews reported the birds stolen on Monday, but that an investigation showed they might have been taken from the aviary over the weekend. Matthews...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) --Shots were fired early this morning at an exotic night club in West Palm Beach. A woman went to the Flashdance Exotic Night Club after it closed today to talk to the owner about getting a job. She asked the owner if her two friends could go in with her. The owner let them in, and then the two male friends beat up the owner. The woman applying for the job beat and tied up the cleaning lady. The owner managed to pull out a gun while the men were kicking him. He fired shots...

SANTA CRUZ — The show will go on — just not for people walking down Pacific Avenue to see. The downtown lingerie and adult-products store Camouflage still plans to stage erotic dancers wearing Santa Claus-themed outfits, but you won’t be able to see them through the front window, as originally advertised. And the lap dances also promoted will be moved inside the store. Most of the store’s front window will be covered by butcher paper. Store owner Joan Levine changed her plans after being leaned on by city officials and hearing complaints from the public. "It’s really the same thing...

California's constitution is long, convoluted and filled with too much minutiae. But one section that deserves to be there, and is pretty clear, is the part that prohibits state government from borrowing money without a vote of the people. Article 16, Section 1 says that the state shall not create any public debt that exceeds $300,000 unless the money is for a "single object or work" and is approved by a majority of the voters in a primary or general election. The idea is that lawmakers and governors who come and go shouldn't obligate future generations to repay debts run...

Exotic relics found in ancient nomads' tombs in Inner Mongolia www.chinaview.cn 2003-10-28 17:13:28 ¡¡¡¡HOHHOT, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Judging from bronze articles unearthed from ancient tombs in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, archaeologists estimate that nomadic tribes in north China had contacts with Western civilizations approximately 2,500 years ago.¡¡¡¡Local archaeologists found a bronze mirror and a bronze plate at the two ancient tomb sites in Liangcheng county which can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) and the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), which they believed could not be the work of ancient northern peoples in...

Dancer's death earns man 10 years By DAVID GRIMES for The Hawk Eye MONMOUTH, Ill. — A Galesburg, Ill., man responsible for a deadly highway crash a year and a half ago received a 10–year prison sentence Monday from Judge Greg McClintock in Warren County Circuit Court. McClintock found Sonny Morris El, 32, guilty of aggravated DUI, cannabis, during the defendant's bench trial May 9. Morris El and Kristina Valerio, 25, an exotic dancer at a Gulfport, Ill., nightclub, were headed east on U.S. 34 just west of Monmouth in the early morning hours of Jan. 17, 2002. As a...