Boise boy licks pole, gets stuck

It’s become an annual winter tale: A young boy gets his tongue stuck to a metal pole, perhaps as the result of a dare. This year, the scene straight out of the movie ``A Christmas Story’’ unfolded Tuesday morning in Boise with a boy of about 10. Boise firefighters used a glass of warm water to free the unidentified boy from the metal fence pole, according to the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Fire Capt. Bill Tinsley says the boy’s tongue was bleeding a little, but he was OK and allowed to continue walking to school. Rescue workers responded after a woman driving by saw the boy and called police dispatchers. Last year, the unlucky boy was a 10-year-old from Hammond, Indiana — especially apt, since the 1983 movie is set in a fictional city based on Hammond.

Police charge Amish man

Police in central Pennsylvania say they arrested an Amish man on drunk driving charges over the weekend after he was found asleep in his moving buggy. East Lampeter Township Police say 22-year-old Elmer Stoltzfoos Fisher, of Paradise, was slumped over and asleep in a slow-moving buggy on Sunday night. An off-duty officer from nearby Quarryville reported seeing the horse pulling the buggy at a walking pace as it straddled the center line. Police say a breathalyzer test snowed Fisher’s blood-alcohol content was 0.18, more than twice the 0.08 legal limit for drivers.

Fire hydrant draws attention

Houston city workers mistakenly thought a fake fire hydrant was the real thing, painted it blue and gave it a serial number. But the homeowner realized the mistake and contacted the city. Debbie Vogelsang told KPRC-TV that she was concerned that painting the old hydrant in the city’s colors could cause dangerous confusion during a fire. Her boyfriend, Brian Smith, bought the surplus fire hydrant at a garage sale three years ago, painted it red and plopped it next to his palm trees. But a Houston maintenance worker last week repainted it yellow and blue and added a serial number. Vogelsang the same day e-mailed the city. Executive Assistant Fire Chief Rick Flanagan says the city will remove the serial number and a reflector wrongly indicating the fire hydrant was the real thing. A public workers spokesman says the matter is under investigation.

Naked David as St. Nick

While most deck their halls with boughs of holly, a Big Spring man chose to offer Michelangelo’s ``David’’ as a scantily clad Santa and plop him on his front lawn. Barry McBee wasn’t aiming to offend with just a red Santa hat and white beard on his replica of the Renaissance sculpture with six-pack abs that don’t jibe with the image of a fat, jolly Santa Claus. But offend he did. Some in the upscale Big Spring neighborhood called city officials to say that children ``want to know why Santa is naked?’’ McBee told The Associated Press he responded by putting a pair of black and white velvet shorts, with a Christmas bow, on the 6-foot-tall statue.

Robber with bad breath

Police in a Detroit suburb are looking for a bank robber who tellers say has crooked yellow teeth and particularly bad breath. Ferndale police say the man hit the same bank in October and again last week. Lt. William Wilson says tellers remember the man as tall, thin and “having very offensive breath and real yellow teeth.’’ Witnesses also say he looks and smells dirty. Police say he showed bank employees a note that demanded money. He implied he had a gun but tellers didn’t see any weapon. The suspect escaped with about $1,000 in the latest robbery.