NEW YORK In the fight of pachyderms vs. people - the pachyderms now have the upper trunk.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand New Zealand's national airline has adopted a cheeky way to encourage passengers to watch its in-flight safety video: The cabin crew's uniforms are nothing but body paint.

PORTLAND, Ore. An Oregon woman obsessed with bunnies has been ordered back behind bars after police found her in a hotel room with more than a dozen rabbits.

ELGIN, Ill. Police in suburban Chicago say a taxi driver who didn't have Mace handy when he was attacked by a knife-wielding passenger instead disarmed the man with a can of aerosol deodorant.

ELK GROVE, Calif. A Northern California elementary school teacher sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.

NEW YORK A New York Police Department rookie just couldn't wait to get started.

WINCHESTER, Va. Workers at the Frederick County Landfill were surprised by what they found in a large trash bin trucked in from a Goodwill Industries store: a woman who had apparently gotten trapped. "They opened the door and she got out," said landfill manager Ron Kimble.

CEDAR CITY, Utah The Iron County sheriff's office said an inmate tried to escape from a correctional facility by fashioning a fake bomb. Sheriff's Deputy Aaron Pallesen said the 28-year-old inmate cornered an officer in a lobby while holding what looked like a silver device with a red detonator.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. A Connecticut woman's close encounter with the mythical beast, Sasquatch or Big Foot, turned out to be nothing more than a boy in a costume. Fairfield police said a woman driving last Tuesday night called police to report that she "almost hit Sasquatch," which was standing in the middle of the road.

VERNON, N.J. A northwestern New Jersey man said he was mugged in his driveway by a sandwich-craving bear. Henry Rouwendal said he was packing his car last Friday when he was hit from behind and knocked to the ground. He said the culprit was a black bear who took his Italian sandwich.

ZURICH It must rank among the easiest fires ever to put out. Zurich authorities say police and firefighters were called to the house of an elderly woman early Thursday after she reported her television set was burning. When they arrived, they discovered no signs of fire or smoke.

WEBSTER, Texas Police used a Taser on a pastor and pepper spray to disperse his congregants Wednesday after the pastor allegedly interfered with a traffic stop in the church parking lot. Congregants say they were in the Iglesia Profetica Peniel church for an early morning prayer when pastor Jose Elias Moran went to assist the stopped driver, a church member, by asking the police what had happened.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A passenger stripped naked during a US Airways flight and resisted a flight attendant's efforts to cover him with a blanket before two off-duty law enforcement officers on board subdued and handcuffed him, authorities said Wednesday.

GREAT FALLS, Mont. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but this is pushing the envelope. In Montana's Toole County, retired District Judge Ronald McPhillips ruled this week in a lawsuit that was left hanging for nearly a quarter-century. The judge ruled in Great Falls against Milan Ayers, who contended that former partner James Rubow swindled him out of his share of a natural gas field, with leases potentially worth millions of dollars.

LAKEMOOR, Ill. The planters in her front yard brought Tina Asmus national publicity last month. This week, they brought her a $25 fine. Asmus said Tuesday she will go to court to fight to keep her lawn ornaments, which are made from two old toilets and a bathroom sink.