Esquimalt is looking into a bylaw that would regulate the use of mascots, while also checking whether the municipality can ban a “bong” mascot from the township’s streets.

Only Coun. Lynda Hundleby voted against the motion, which calls on staff to research bylaw options regarding mascots. While there is merit to discouraging anything contrary to the image of a family-friendly town, Hundleby said she didn’t believe any regulation would withstand a court challenge. A bong is a pipe typically used for smoking marijuana.

“A bong in and of itself is a legal device. Tobacco used in a pipe is legal, as is medical marijuana,” she said, adding that stores that sell bongs are also legal.

The mascot issue was brought up by Coun. Tim Morrison, after the Bong Warehouse deployed a mascot dressed as a bong after opening on Esquimalt Road in December.

Morrison said he received more complaints from residents about the mascot than about sewage.

http://www.timescolonist.com/esquimalt-wants-to-ban-bong-mascot-1.117290

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant.

An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people — including 13 women working as corrections officers — who face racketeering and drug charges. Twenty of the accused also face money-laundering charges.

It alleges that Tavon White, an inmate known as "Bulldog," took control of the prison gang soon after his arrival in 2009 on an attempted-murder charge.


Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-ci-bgf-jail-indictment-20130423,0,1619914.story#ixzz2ROw59Qnt

THERE was a happy hen-ding for the story of a plucky chicken which hitch-hiked more than 40 miles from Derbyshire to Yorkshire.

Agatha the hen, who lives in Derby Road, Morley, took flight on a delivery van that visited her owner, Melanie Brookes.

Melanie Brookes is reunited with her hen Agatha, who went on the run for two weeks and ended up 40 miles from home in Hathersage.

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She gave the driver a fright when she jumped out of his van further along his route – after winging it more than 40 miles to Hathersage.

And that was the last Mrs Brookes had heard of her feathery pet's adventures until she paid a visit to the village and was reunited with the egg-straordinary creature.


Read more: http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/week-adventure-proves-Agatha-s-chicken/story-18778668-detail/story.html#ixzz2ROv3HG12
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Boston's only semi-pro women's basketball team, the Boston Bombers, has decided to rename their franchise in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three and injured over 200 last week.

The team, affiliated with the Women's Blue Chip League, holds regular player-development clinics and maintains a summer league. Their logo was a cartoon-style bomb with basketball seams and a lit fuse.

"We changed it due to the events Monday," a spokesperson told Gawker over email. “Our fans [were] not happy with the name." The team plans to announce a new name sometime this week.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/04/24/Boston-Bombers-basketball-team-changes-its-name/8671366805663/#ixzz2ROtqDVJ5

Homeless man injured in arrest

BY MATT TROUTMAN mtroutman@record-eagle.com


TRAVERSE CITY — A highly intoxicated, homeless Traverse City man received nine stitches on his forehead after a struggle with police when he refused to leave a bathroom at the Grand Traverse County Civic Center.

Anthony Gerard Ciccone, 56, is the brother of famed pop musician Madonna. He is expected to be charged with felony resisting and obstructing a police officer.

Traverse City Police Capt. Brian Heffner said Ciccone resisted a female police officer late Sunday when she attempted to restrain and arrest him on an outstanding trespassing warrant.

"He pulled away, turned around and confronted the female officer in an aggressive manner," he said. "She turned him around and brought him to the ground, which is when he struck his face on the bathroom floor."

Ciccone was transported to Munson Medical Center where he received several stitches. Heffner said the hospital recorded Ciccone's blood-alcohol level at .40, or five times the level for intoxication in Michigan.

http://record-eagle.com/local/x266752875/Homeless-man-injured-in-arrest

SAN FRANCISCO -- The commemorative plaque honoring home run king Barry Bonds' record 756th clout has gone missing from AT&T Park.

San Francisco Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter said Tuesday night that the reigning World Series champions are in the process of replacing the plaque, which hung on the brick facade inside the ballpark beneath the flag court area in right-center field until a few days ago. The team is investigating where the missing hardware might be, Slaughter said.

"We're in the process of replacing it," Slaughter said. "We're not sure what happened. We're reviewing video, but haven't found anything yet."

There is still white glue on the brick wall where the plaque used to be.

Bonds, the seven-time NL MVP, broke Hank Aaron's home run record on Aug. 7, 2007, at home in San Francisco. The slugger hasn't played since that season, finishing his 22-year major league career with 762 total home runs. He has been back to the ballpark as a fan in recent seasons, receiving standing ovations from the crowd that still cheers him despite allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs to fuel his pursuit of Aaron's mark.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9205681/barry-bonds-756-home-run-plaque-missing-att-park

The pop star’s management have asked authorities to find a "safe and sheltered place, or a zoo" for the baby monkey, which was taken from its mother at just a few weeks, The Sun reports.

The tiny Capuchin monkey has been keep in quarantine since it was seized from Bieber, who tried to bring it into Germany without any paperwork or health certificates on March 28. The monkey was a 19th birthday gift from a music producer friend of Bieber's, and was taken from its mother at just nine weeks - which experts say is far too young.


Bieber has been given until May 17 to claim Mally or give him up to be rehomed. He recently thanked the animal clinic looking after Mally for their help, but has not made any plans about its future, Bild reports.

The animal centre boss said the lonely ape is at risk of suffering severe psychological problems if it is continued to be kept in isolation in quarantine. It repeatedly cries out from its cage, calling for companionship, vets say.



Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/justin-bieber-gives-away-lonely-monkey-mally/story-e6frfmqi-1226628254922#ixzz2RKmARS00

Video games and marijuana may have a rich shared history, but the two came together in an unexpected combination last week in Orangeburg, S.C., when local and federal authorities apprehended a man for smuggling 55 pounds of marijuana that had been stashed inside an arcade cabinet. A Pac-Man arcade, no less.

Authorities first arrested Luis Tyler on April 16 following an undercover investigation, Keisa Gunby, director of media relations for Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office, told NBC News.


"We knew that he was going to be receiving this video game and it was going to have narcotics in it, so we did a traffic stop before he was able to get where he was going with it," Gunby said.

Gunby said she couldn't remember another case involving such a machine, and told us that the Pac-Man cabinet was so tightly packed with pot, it was inoperable as a game console.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/high-score-man-busted-pot-stuffed-pac-man-arcade-game-6C9566306

An evening with malt liquor and plenty of gunfire ended with poop and a trip to the Indian River County jail for an Orlando man, according to a recently released arrest affidavit.

An Indian River County sheriff's deputy about 9:20 p.m. April 9 went to the Gifford Docks in Vero Beach after a report of shots fired.

He found Michael Johnston, 44, who said he'd had eight drinks, including two cans of Colt 45, which he said was "too many apparently!" Another man was with him.

Johnston, of Orlando, verified they'd been firing weapons, and said the guns were his and in his vehicle's trunk. A .40 caliber Glock pistol and a .45 caliber black powder handgun turned up in the trunk.

Colt 45 is a malt liquor beverage that became associated with the actor Billy Dee Williams, who played the suave Lando Calrissian in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." Colt 45 was advertised with the slogan, "It works every time."

http://blogs.tcpalm.com/off_the_beat_will_greenlee_blog/2013/04/an-evening-with-colt-45.html

A tiger briefly escaped at the Shrine Circus in Salina, Kan., on Saturday night.

No one was injured, but the tiger did give a woman a fright when the two found themselves face-to-furry-face in the ladies' room.

According to the Salina Journal, Jenna Krehbiel had just finished watching the big cat show when she excused herself to visit the restroom. Around that same time, one of the cats managed to escape and wandered into the restroom ahead of her.

"I went in to use the bathroom, and a lady came in to get her daughter out and said there was a tiger loose," Krehbiel told the Salina Journal. "I didn't know it was in the bathroom, and I walked in the (open) door, which closed right after I had walked in. I saw the tiger; it was at most two feet in front of me, and I turned around calmly and walked back toward the door. Someone opened the door and said, 'Get out.'"

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/tiger-escapes-circus-wanders-restroom-201504555.html