Beekeepers remove 700,000 bees from man's breakfast nook area
"I'm a little nervous. That's a lot of bees," says Norm Gitzen. "But I can't wait to eat the honey." (Palm Beach Post)

Student falsely accused of writing bomb threat gets $175,000
Caeleigh Stuart was 14 when she was accused of writing a bomb threat on a school bathroom wall. She was banned from school and not allowed to attend her formal dance and eighth-grade graduation. The final insult, she says, was when she bought a class yearbook, only to discover her name and photograph had been deleted, "like I didn't exist." Now 19, the woman just settled her civil rights suit for $175,000. (Boston Globe)

PLUS:
> eBay: Spy '91 -- "Even Princess Di Can Be a Deadhead (ends today!)
> Send story suggestions to obscure1@mindspring.com

Baltimore mayor: Why don't we have more Starbucks stores?
So why is Baltimore the city Starbucks forgot? That's what the mayor and other locals want to know. "In Chicago, they're on every corner, but here you have to search for one," says Young Son, an accountant who works in Baltimore. "We need more." (Baltimore Sun)

Man drops pants in front of Oklahoma bombing survivors
The flasher reportedly said: "I want to make a statement. Oklahoma needs to be known for more than killing 161 people." (channeloklahoma.com)

Black woman returning clothes is told: "You people always do this"
She's suing Bebe Stores for race discrimination, saying that when she tried to return an unused skirt and blouse, the San Francisco store manager accused her of lying because "you people always do this.'' (San Francisco Chronicle)

Man beaten, robbed for taking too long in McD's drive-thru
Police arrived at the McDonald's to find "three men covered in blood" and the impatient brothers driving away in the victim's convertible. (St. Petersburg Times)

Student puts his high school building up for bid on eBay
The auction for the suburban Chicago school ran from Friday night through Monday night, and attracted more than a dozen bids. An eBay spokesperson says: "It's an inventive and creative high school prank. There are 25 million items for sale at any given time, so it's tough for us to monitor them all." (Chicago Tribune/need a login/pw?)

PLUS:
> Ten grads arrested for vandalism that took five hours to clean up
> School fires teacher who had kids drink milk until they puked
> Teen seeks donations to melt down 60,000 unassembled guns
> SF students being taught Scientology without their knowledge
> Officials wary about MTV filming on library parking lot
> On ROMENESKO: CNBC fires analyst for Hitler-like antics in Germany

Man shoots at date after discovering "she" is a guy
No one was hit -- even after a second round when the man's date returned for a purse. The date was dressed as a woman in a tank top. His long hair was kept in a hair clip. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
> What the...?!: Aspiring rapper shoots, kills promoter for dissing his skills

Grad wins right to give anti-war speech, but decides against it
Ian Blackwood says he doesn't want the graduation ceremony to be about him when it should be about the entire graduating class, so he's not going to read his controversial speech. "They turned it into too big of a thing," he says. Initially he was told he couldn't deliver the address because it was "inappropriate." (Munster Times)

Be wary if someone says: "Hi, Grandma, this is your grandson"
That's a line being used by con artists in California. (Los Angeles Times)

Man, 93, may be only one at 75th anniversary high school reunion
The invitations haven't gone out to any Class of 1929 members yet. "If I can find somebody from back then, I'll send them," says Gene Noe. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/need a login/pw?)

PLUS:
> Detroit cops say more people leaping to deaths from overpass bridges
> "Boston Rob" confirms "Survivor" creator is interested in wedding show

Man's "Is Bush the Anti-Christ?" sign taken from building
"If I can't find that sign, I'm going to paint it up there,'' says Joe Redner. (Tampa Tribune)

Prom for blind students includes disco ball, colorful balloons
The blind students' advisors took them to a local party decorations store and watched as they felt their way through, deciding upon large and medium stars. One advisor says: "They told us whatever they saw in their minds, even the colors." (Boston Globe)

Yearbook staffers criticized for spread on autistic students
Two groups -- Friends of Different Learners and the Parent Advisory Committee to Special Education -- say the two-page spread singles out the 16 students in the autism program as if they aren't part of the school at large. They also don't like the headline, "Trying to fit in," and a poem using "we" and "they" to describe how people with disabilities differ from others. (Detroit Free Press)

PLUS:
> School says porn star can't be teen's prom date
> Collector: You'd be surprised who buys John Wayne Gacy's paintings

Spelling Bee winner fell in love with words in 5th grade
David Tidmarsh, 14, says of his National Spelling Bee victory: "I did it by myself. I hate to say it, but I did. I went through every page in the dictionary." (South Bend Tribune)
> Runner-up's mom didn't see boy faint; she never watches him spell

Singapore residents can now buy gum -- from a pharmacist
Gum was outlawed 12 years ago after someone stuck a wad in the door of a high-speed commuter train, causing a rare delay in scheduled service. (Wall Street Journal)

Cops: Denny's cook added semen to honey-mustard dressing
One "secret sauce" victim was a police officer who had issued the cook a traffic ticket. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Mom shocked to discover daughter, 12, downloaded penis photo
Apparently it wasn't for a sex education class. State police are investigating the student's download. (Norwich Bulletin)

Pacers equipment manager busted for exposing his "equipment"
Indiana Pacers equipment manager Joseph Qatato, 44, allegedly was naked and posing in front of the window of his second-story hotel suite at about 8 in the morning Tuesday. Qatato also was fondling himself, says a cop. (Detroit Free Press)

Man is so mad about tulip vandalism that he can't talk about it
Eileen Lawing says the creeps who cut the tops off neighbor Dan Hughes' tulips may be the same mopes who put her Nativity scene in the bushes last Christmas. "Who knows why they do these things?" she says. (Daily Southtown)

Rabbi's wig comment has women crying, panicking
The phone at Alisa's Wigs and Hats in Miami Beach started ringing after a revered Orthodox rabbi in Israel declared that human hair wigs from India might violate Jewish law. "Women were crying hysterically," says the store owner. "They were panicking. They came here with their husbands!'' (Miami Herald/need a login/pw?)

PLUS:
> Update: Teachers want plagiarizing school board boss to quit
> School bans cupcakes, other sugary birthday party treats
> Man convicted of beheading dog could get life in prison
> Schwarzenegger imitator fools Michigan governor on radio show

Murder suspect cleared by HBO's "Curb" is a media star
Juan Catalan got off the hook months ago (thanks to "Curb Your Enthusiasm"), but few knew about it until a short New Yorker piece ran this week. (Los Angeles Times | New Yorker)

Children, others line up at Houdini museum to learn secret of trick
The controversy over whether Harry Houdini's hometown museum had the right to expose the man's sleight of hand has made national headlines. (Related story.) (Appleton Post-Crescent/Milwaukee JS-r.r.)

Hundreds of yearbooks recalled because of racial epithet
The slur was inserted next to the name of a biracial student. The person responsible for it has been identified. "It certainly does not appear that this was any kind of a malicious act," says a school spokesman. "It appears as though this was a very unfortunate and inappropriate prank." (Baltimore Sun)
> DAVID RORABUGH E-MAILS: Regarding the yearbook article, I was on the yearbook staff in high school. I'm surprised (and offended) at the notion that students who won't return their yearbooks for censoring might not be allowed to graduate. I'd damned well keep mine...

High school's prom keepsakes: Shot glasses and champagne flutes
"I don't think it's the brightest thing," says the town's police chief. He recently staged a mock car crash to warn students about drinking and driving. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Injured man drags himself to safety three days after car wreck
Christopher Bennett, whose car plunged 160 feet over a highway embankment, says: "I was just thinking that I had to live long enough for them to realize that I was missing. But after a couple of days I realized that wasn't going to happen. I yelled at every car that went by, but no one could hear me." (Louisville Courier-Journal)

PLUS:
> Man sues over $129,626 Scores strip joint tab
> Update: Man who let 12-year-old drive surrenders after funeral
> Four-foot alligator wanders into Florida restaurant
> Cops accused of bilking old couple out of $4.5M over five years