English police shut down a major highway Friday — to retrieve a child's toy.
Amy Osborn, 10, was riding in her family's car as it sped down the M11 (search) between Cambridge and London when Tyrone, her stuffed tiger, flew out of the open sunroof.
"There must have been some sort of vortex which whipped him off Amy's lap and shot him out of the car," her father Simon told London's Daily Mirror. "She started bawling."
The family got off at the next exit and doubled back, but found that Tyrone had landed in the central median, right in the middle of six lanes of speeding traffic.
"In desperation, we thought we would call the highway police," Simon Osborn told the BBC. "They called us when we got home and said they had managed to retrieve the little thing — and popped it in the post for us."
Essex county Police Constable Al Cuthbertson was on highway patrol when he got the call, a police spokesman told British reporters.
"Having children of his own and knowing the importance of soft toys to their owners, PC Cuthbertson kept his eyes peeled," the spokesman said. "A short time later Tyrone was spotted on the motorway and successfully captured."
Cuthbertson called in other officers to set up a rolling roadblock, which gave him space to dart out of his patrol car and pick up the doll.
"Tyrone continues his adventures as he travels from Essex to Ramsgate, Kent, courtesy of Royal Mail," said the police spokesman.
Amy was told he would reach her at home in Ramsgate, about 50 miles east of London, by Monday.
— Thanks to Out There reader Peter L. from Scotland.
World's Top Eater Continues Digestive Dominance
HONG KONG (AP) — That's a lot of roast pork buns to swallow.
Japan's Takeru Kobayashi (search), the five-time defending champion at the Nathan's Famous (search) hot dog-eating contest at Coney Island, ate 100 pork buns in 12 minutes to defeat five other contestants Sunday.
First runner-up Johnny Wu, 34, managed to finish a mere 47 buns.
Kobayashi, 27, has said the pork buns posed more of a challenge than the 83 vegetarian dumplings he downed in eight minutes Saturday.
"I'm only an amateur and he's a professional," said Wu after Kobayashi bested him in the earlier contest. "He's really impressive.
For his efforts, the professional competitive eater pocketed $2,574 in cash.
Kobayashi won his fifth straight title at Nathan's on July 4 in New York. He also holds the record of wolfing down 53½ frankfurters in 12 minutes.
A native of the Japanese city of Nagoya, he weighs just 144 pounds.
Click in the photo box above to see Kobayashi going to town on some vegetable dumplings.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Commission on Judicial Qualifications (search) has publicly reprimanded Douglas County Judge John Huber for snide comments he made from the bench.
The commission said in one case, Huber made a litigant cry and, after the case was resolved, told her, "Stop it. Grow up. That doesn't make me feel bad for you in any way."
Huber also was accused of expressing doubt that a witness would tell the truth.
Huber's remarks came during a May 2004 civil trial in which a real estate company sought to evict two tenants from an apartment.
The reprimand said: "Judge Huber expressed impatience and displayed snideness in his tone of voice to witnesses and parties ... all of whom remained courteous to the court."
Huber was found to have violated the Nebraska Code of Judicial Conduct (search), which requires a judge to "be patient, dignified and courteous."
Huber, a judge since 1998, has taken steps to correct his conduct, the commission noted.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Bartender Brandy Tuczynski knew the $100 bill a customer gave her was fake when she held it up to the light and saw Abraham Lincoln's face instead of Benjamin Franklin's on the watermark.
The bartender's attention to detail helped lead investigators to a Lafayette man who police say had been passing the bogus bills since June.
Earl H. Devine, 22, faces four counts of forgery and four counts of theft. He was released from the Tippecanoe County Jail on $10,000 bond Wednesday, a jail officer said Thursday.
Police first arrested Devine July 31 after he allegedly used a counterfeit $100 bill to pay for drinks at Chumley's. He was arrested again Tuesday on charges he tried to pass a similar bill at a Lafayette drugstore.
"The watermark on the bills don't correspond with the correct president's face," said Jeff Rooze of the Lafayette Police Department. "They all have Abe Lincoln's watermark, which is on the $5 bill."
Security features such as color shifting ink in the lower right-hand corner and a security thread also were missing, and the paper had red and blue dots indicating they had been made with an inkjet printer, police said.
No telephone listing was available in the Lafayette area for Devine to obtain comment.
Insects Swarm to Join Drama Club
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. (AP) — It was the buzz that killed Saddleback College's stage production of the musical "Babes in Arms."
Thousands of bees invaded an early matinee at the college's McKinney Theatre, stinging the lead actress and forcing cancellation of the 16-show run after just three performances.
Julie Dixon Jackson was stung when the bees suddenly appeared at a matinee, said cast member Shanon Mills, 20, of Long Beach. As the show continued, the actors and the audience could see more and more bees under the stage lights.
That evening's show was canceled as fine art division dean Rocco Cifone and others tried to figure out when the 400-seat theater's fly loft could be cleared of thousands of bees. An exterminator armed with a vacuum had to be brought in.
Some cast members joked the 1937 Rodgers & Hart musical be renamed "Bees on Arms."
"It's the first time we've had to cancel the run of an entire production because of, essentially, an act of God," Cifone said.
Boils, Locusts, Darkness Expected Soon
BIG SANDY, Mont. (AP) — Thousands of quarter-sized toads have invaded this north-central Montana farming community, causing slippery streets and raising the entrepreneurial spirits of some.
The toads started showing up in the southeast portion of town in the past couple of weeks.
"I have no idea how many thousands of toads are in town," said Charlie Foussard. "At times, you just about can't take a step."
Karen Jesperson said some lawns in town are filled with so many toads, it looks like the grass is moving.
"They're pretty cute," she said.
Breezy Baumgarn, who works at the grocery store on Main Street, said driving in town is a little sticky because the roads are filled with tiny, smashed toads.
"Poor little toads," she said. "Everyone keeps running them over. They have nowhere to go."
Some are collecting the toads with plans to sell them to pet stores. Others are talking about trying them out as fish bait.
Larry Ophus, chief of the volunteer fire department, said the toads seem to be migrating from east to west and believes they will soon be on their way.
It was just two years ago that the town's streets were blocked by 10-foot drifts of tumbleweeds. Firefighters hauled the tumbleweeds away and burned them.
"The tumbleweeds were a hazard," Ophus said. "The toads are just a nuisance."
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Paul Wagenseil.
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