A North Carolina man decided to check up on some Virginia property he owned — and immediately called police.
"He called to say that his house was missing," Danville, Va., Police Lt. Mike Mondul told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "We were like, 'What?'"
Joseph Martin, of Eden, N.C., about 20 miles from Danville, was in the middle of selling the house at 242 Cleveland St., but all he found was a grassy field.
"He went to where his house was supposed to be, and it wasn't there," said Mondul.
It turned out a wrecking crew had come by over the summer to tear down the house at 212 Cleveland St., but had demolished the wrong building. Each house had been next to a different building with a red roof.
Martin told police he hadn't visited his property since July.
Mondul said no charges will be filed and that the demolition was entirely accidental.
— Thanks to Out There reader Jeannie L.
City Fines Woman for Hitting Potholes
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — A motorist near Akron received a $134 ticket after she hit two potholes and her van swerved into a creek bed that swallowed the vehicle.
Cuyahoga Falls police said the ticket given last week to Melissa Thomas for failing to control her vehicle was appropriate, despite the potholes. They estimated that she was going five miles over the 35 mph limit.
Cuyahoga Falls said it has filled 10,000 potholes this winter.
The family of five was treated for bumps and bruises at the emergency room.
— Thanks to Out There reader Greg M.
CONCONULLY, Wash. (AP) — Organizers of the Cowboy Caviar (search) festival in Conconully are auctioning off the titles of "King and Queen of the Ball" on eBay.
The winning royal couple will receive free lodging, entertainment and food in the north central Washington town for three days.
They will reign over a contest to see which of three restaurants can cook up the best bull testicles.
The town of 200 hopes to attract more attention to the June 18 event, which sold 60 tickets last year.
Marilyn Church of the Chamber of Commerce says some people plan their summer vacations around testicle festivals.
— Thanks to Out There reader Susan A.
Robber Fended Off With French Fries
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch cafeteria owner used piping hot french fries to fend off a gun-wielding would-be robber, police in the southern city of Helmond said Friday.
Fries, or "frites," are a national snack in Holland and Belgium, where they are deep-fried in oil and then salted and eaten with mayonnaise and chopped onions.
It was not known if the culprit, whose age was estimated at 16, was burned. He had threatened the owner and his wife with a handgun Thursday night, police said.
"He wanted money," a police report said. "But once he had hot frites coming his way, he decided he had had enough."
The fries were cooling in a pot when the owner threw them at the intruder.
Police described the youth, who is still at large, as "thin, white, and with a plump nose."
Wyoming May Ban Facial Piercings for Restaurant Workers
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — As if the hair in your salad wasn't bad enough, a city health inspector said there had been "several cases" of tongue rings and other facial jewelry found in the food in the city's restaurants.
It was enough to persuade the Governor's Food Safety Council to recommend banning facial jewelry for restaurant workers who prepare food — perhaps becoming the first state in the country to do so.
"We've had several cases of old ladies finding tongue rings and rings and whatnot in their food," Jon Cecil of the Cheyenne Health Department (search) testified in a Jan. 25 hearing before the Food Safety Council. "We actually had a lady at one of our finer restaurants in town and ... she found a tongue ring."
The council voted 5-3 to recommend the changes, which could go into effect as early as this spring.
But despite his testimony, when contacted by The Associated Press, Cecil couldn't cite a single documented case of facial jewelry falling into a restaurant dish.
Cecil said he learned of the incident from the restaurant, not from the customer, so no formal complaint was ever filed. He would not release the name of the restaurant.
Dr. John Townes, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at Oregon Health Sciences University (search), said a nose ring would have to sit in a plate of food for hours before a sufficient population of bacteria built up to spread disease.
"I think it would be vastly more important for [food workers] to wash their hands," he said.
Court Rules Tongue Piercing Doesn't Change DWI Test
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court says that having a pierced tongue doesn't invalidate a drunk-driving breath test.
The court ruled in the case of Brenna Guy, an Indianapolis woman who argued that her tongue stud was a "foreign substance" in her mouth, which invalidated the test.
She was given a breath test in 2001 after being pulled over for driving on the wrong side of an Indianapolis street.
State law says no foreign substance can be placed in a person's mouth during the 20 minutes before a breath test is administered because it might skew the results of the test.
But the court ruled 4-0 against Guy, saying she had the stud in her mouth for more than 20 minutes before the breath test.
Compiled by FOX News' Paul Wagenseil.
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