Strange News

LOS ANGELES (AP) - How much is an empty dog food can worth? How about 1.5 million bucks, when it's Paris Hilton's can of gourmet pet chow. Enterprising scavengers from the Web site Hollywood Star Trash.com are auctioning off some of Hilton's garbage. They say they were stunned when someone submitted the enormous bid in an eBay auction. The trash guys say the bidder's profile appears legit, but they've asked eBay to investigate. Other Hilton trash items up for auction include a used toothbrush, an autographed postcard and a fan letter.

ATM ANNIVERSARY

LONDON (AP) - Next time you need a hundred bucks in the middle of the night and get it, thank John Shepherd Barron. He created the first ATM, which went into service 40 years ago at a Barclays bank branch in London. Barron came up with the idea after being locked out of his bank. You can thank Barron's wife for the four-digit PIN number. Barron wanted to make the personal ID numbers six digits long. But his wife Caroline complained that was too much to remember, so he cut it to four. Today, there are some 1.5 million AM-Ts around the world, including one at the bottom. The cash machine at the McMurdo station at the South Pole serves a small group of Antarctic researchers.

UPHILL RACE

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Life is more than an uphill climb for 87-year-old George Etzweiler. It's an uphill run. He recently completed the Mount Washington Road Race in New Hampshire. It's a gruelling 7.6 miles up a more than 11.5% grade. He didn't have any competition, either. The State College, Pennsylvania, senior citizen was the only starter in the plus-85 age group. He recommends uphill running for other seniors. Etzweiler says going uphill is easier on the aging joints.

OFFICER-SEX SHOW

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - It sounds a little like a cheesy porno movie. But the Philadelphia Police Department is firing an officer for ordering two women to put on a "sex show" in a jail cell. Internal Affairs investigators charge Norberto Cappas made two women kiss and touch each other and expose their breasts in the September 2003 incident. The women had been picked up for suspicion of drug possession, but they didn't have drugs and weren't charged with a crime. A police tribunal found Cappas guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and lying to investigators. He has denied doing anything wrong.

JAPAN-SPACE FOOD

TOKYO (AP) - It's Japanese take-out, for a very long trip. Japan's space agency, known as JAXA, has approved some special food for use on the International Space Station. Japanese astronauts can look forward to ramen noodles, rice balls, simmered mackerel and green tea. But there won't be any fresh sushi in orbit. Space food must have a shelf life of at least a year and be easy to eat in a zero-gravity environment. Civilians on Earth will also get to try the out-of-this-world rations. Officials say the products will also be sold to consumers as "Japanese Space Food."

SASQUATCH SEARCH

MANISTIQUE, Michigan (AP) - Researchers are going to be visiting Michigan's UP looking for something really BIG. The woods of the UP, or Upper Peninsula, are said to be home to Bigfoot. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization is sponsoring an expedition this summer. The group's Matthew Moneymaker says they hope to find evidence confirming the mythical creature's existence and talk to people who have claimed to have seen Bigfoot. Most mainstream scientists dismiss Bigfoot reports as rumor or hoaxes.