MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man was accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn’t start. Keith Walendowski, 56, was charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and misdemeanor disorderly conduct while armed.

According to the criminal complaint, Walendowski said he was angry because his Lawn Boy wouldn’t start Wednesday morning. He told police quote, “I can do that, it’s my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want.”

A woman who lives at Walendowski’s house reported the incident. She said he was intoxicated.

Walendowski could face up to an $11,000 fine and six years and three months in prison if convicted.

A call to Walendowski’s home went unanswered Friday morning.

NEW YORK - Want to look down on the rich and famous? Go eye to eagle-eye with a winged predator? See the sun rise over Queens? How better to do this than from a balloon 30 stories above Central Park?

The opportunity arises, so to speak, on Friday when a private company begins offering rides over the 843-acre park for $25 per adult and $17.50 for kids.

Other than the wicker basket accommodating a pilot and four passengers, there’s not much to suggest the Jules Verne classic, “Around the World in 80 Days.” No roaring flame providing hot air; instead the balloon is filled with helium, an inert, nonflammable gas. And no soaring for miles; the 45-foot-diameter envelope is tethered to the ground and raised and lowered by a winch for a 10-minute hover above the park. Read the rest of this entry »

A passenger’s video captures dramatic footage of the Qantas jet’s mysterious emergency.

Yeah, you really can find EVERYTHING on Ebay — even public toilets! LOL! According to reports, Seattle’s five expensive and much-maligned automatic public toilets will show up on eBay as soon as next week. The city’s officials recently decided to pull the plug on the multimillion-dollar self-cleaning toilet stalls as the unisex facilities attracted drug users and prostitutes, and were less cost-effective than regular public restrooms. The toilets can be found at Victor Steinbrueck Park near Pike Place Market, on Pier 58 at Waterfront Park, in Occidental Park in Pioneer Square, in Hing Hay Park in the International District and at 1801 Broadway on Capitol Hill. Read the rest of this entry »

AGHDAD (AP)—Just two weeks before the start of the Olympics, Iraq was told Thursday it’s not welcome in Beijing because of a political feud in Baghdad that angered the games’ guardians and exiled a country that arrived to a roaring ovation at the opening ceremony four years ago.

The International Olympic Committee told Iraqi sports officials in a letter that it would uphold its ban imposed in June after the government in Baghdad replaced its national Olympic panel with members not recognized by the IOC.
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The WASP knife is more lethal than any other. Created for hunting dangerous animals, it kills on impact by injecting a frozen ball of compressed gas into the body of the prey, exploding the organs of the animal. Available to buy online, the British police is worried about the implications the weapon could have if it falls into the wrong hands. Read the rest of this entry »

Filmed from inside airplane.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rapper and hip-hop mogul 50 Cent sued Taco Bell on Wednesday, saying the restaurant chain made him the star of its hip-hop themed ad campaign without his permission and without paying him a fee.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, accused the Mexican-style fast food chain of “diluting the value of his good name” and employing a guerrilla advertising campaign to fool consumers into thinking he had endorsed the chain, said the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court.

“Without seeking or obtaining Jackson’s authorization, defendant Taco Bell made him the star and focus of its nationwide advertising campaign by using his name, persona and trademark to promote Taco Bell’s business and products,” court papers said.

The lawsuit accuses the chain of disseminating a letter, addressed to 50 Cent, that encourages the rapper to change his name to “79 Cent,” “89 Cent” or “99 Cent.”

The letter was designed to promote the company’s “79-89-99 Cent Why Pay More” campaign, while avoiding the multimillion-dollar fee the rapper might have charged to use his name, the lawsuit said.

Rob Poetsch, a spokesman for Taco Bell Corp, said, “We made a good faith, charitable offer to 50 Cent to change his name to either 79, 89, or 99 Cent for one day by rapping his order at a Taco Bell, and we would have been very pleased to make the $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice.” Taco Bell is operated by Yum! Brands.

The lawsuit said the Taco Bell letter was eventually sent to the rapper, but only after it had been circulated to reporters.

“As Taco Bell intended, many customers believed that 50 Cent had agreed to endorse Taco Bell’s products. Indeed, postings on numerous Internet ‘blogs’ castigated 50 Cent for ’selling out’ by his apparent endorsement of Taco Bell,” the lawsuit said.

Since his debut album in 2003, 50 Cent has built a business with a record label, a clothing and footwear line, ringtones and video games. He has also starred in a movie based on his life, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”

5 quick baseball links to start your day …1. If you’re allergic to peanuts — and my sympathies for that tragic misfortune, if you are — Seattle’s Safeco Field will be the place to be on Aug. 5 and Sept. 9. The stadium staff there is planning to make two sections “peanut-controlled” zones, cleaning each before the game and banning the sale of peanuts at nearby concession stands so those afflicted by the food allergy can watch the game without worry. Read the rest of this entry »

Sportsbuy.com and the National Sports Collectors Convention sure have devised a way to get a lot of marketing without ever having to pay a dime.

As you might have read on Deadspin, they’re offering infamous Cubs fan Steve Bartman a cool $25,000 if he shows up to their memorabilia show in suburban Chicago and signs just one picture of him destroying the World Series dreams of Cubs fans everywhere getting tangled up with Moises Alou in Game 6 of the ‘03 NLCS.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

To collect the cash, all Bartman has to do is show up at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., at 1 p.m. on July 31, prove his identity and sign a photograph of the infamous play. It will then be auctioned on the Web site with the proceeds going to a Chicago-based charity, according to a news release for the publicity stunt event.”No one in sports memorabilia history has ever been paid $25,000 to sign one autograph — not Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, or any other athlete,” said Mike Berkus, co-Executive Director of The National. “Steve Bartman has been a recluse for years, but we’re hopeful that he will accept our invitation and generous offer to appear … We have personal security to provide to Steve at The National and to a destination of his choosing.”

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