(Reuters Health) – A review of the best evidence for interventions to prevent declining brain power finds that only one – mental exercise – consistently makes a difference. The analysis of clinical trial results for assorted drugs, supplements and activities still can’t say, however, whether the brain training programs that do seem to sharpen mental function [...]

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla., April 14 (Reuters) -  South Florida  is fighting a growing infestation of one of the world’s most destructive invasive species: the giant African land snail, which can grow as big as a rat and gnaw through stucco and plaster. More than 1,000 of the mollusks are being caught each week in Miami-Dade and [...]

TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) – Authorities say a northeast Texas woman recently learned a hard lesson: Don’t try to kill a snake by setting it on fire. The woman was cleaning the yard outside a home near Texarkana Wednesday night when she spotted a snake. Bowie County Sheriff’s Capt. David Grable says she poured gasoline on the [...]

More residential and commercial structures that were severely damaged in the flood of 2008 are scheduled for demolition this spring, Cedar Rapids officials said. Two demolition contracts were recently awarded to DW Zinser for $674,330 to demolish 39 residential and 12 commercial structures, with five adjoining parking lots, during the time period from April 1 [...]

SILVER SPRING, Maryland (AP) – Retired NBA star Adrian Dantley spent years guarding opponents on the court. Now he’s guarding schoolchildren as they cross the street. Radio station WTOP reports that Dantley started working as a crossing guard in September. He works an hour a day at Eastern Middle School and New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in [...]

OSLO, March 8 (Reuters) – A Norwegian kindergarten teacher was fired this week after she brought a vial of her own blood to class and allowed children to touch and taste it, the head teacher of the kindergarten said on Friday. The teacher in Sola, on Norway’s western coast, brought in a blood sample that was [...]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The mayor of a California city struggling with a spike in burglaries and other crimes is apologizing for promoting a class about how to pick locks in her newsletter. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said Wednesday she understood the reaction of people who were upset about a listing for the lock-picking class. [...]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – A man charged with disorderly conduct for his loud whistling in downtown Portland has reached a deal with the city – he can whistle, but he can’t linger in one spot. Robert Smith, of Westbrook, has been cited by police twice in the past year after businesses complained. He pleaded guilty [...]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – With its violent crimes, high unemployment, dwindling population and financial crisis, Detroit was named on Thursday as the most miserable city in the United States. It toppled Miami, which held the title last year, and surpassed Flint, Michigan, Rockford and Chicago in Illinois and Modesto, California, which rounded out the five [...]

By Jane Sutton MIAMI, Feb 21 (Reuters) – A Florida man posted photos on Facebook showing himself hugging a baby manatee and was arrested on charges of harassing the endangered sea cow, wildlife officials said. A tipster saw the photos and alerted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which arrested Ryan William Waterman on [...]

PITTSBURGH (AP) – A shoeshine man has given a Pittsburgh children’s hospital a total of more than $200,000 in tips he’s collected over the last 30 years. Albert Lexie says he’s been shining shoes for $5 at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh since the early 1980s. He says most customers tip him $1 and some [...]

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) – Police in Pennsylvania say a student’s report of a gunshot being fired was instead the sound of a newspaper hitting the sidewalk. Gettysburg police Chief Joseph Dougherty says a Gettysburg College student had reported that someone in a white sedan fired a shot early Saturday morning. But Dougherty says police investigated [...]

SHELBY, N.C. (AP) — Officials in Shelby are considering how to deal with turkey vultures that have settled in the area. The Star of Shelby reports the migratory buzzards have been a problem in the area both this winter and last winter. Kristen Duren with the Cleveland County Cooperative Extension says the birds are staying in the area [...]

  DENVER (AP) – Silly rabbits. The furry creatures are wreaking havoc on cars parked at Denver International Airport by eating spark plug cables and other wiring. To stop the problem, federal wildlife workers are removing at least 100 bunnies a month while parking companies install better fences and build perches for predator hawks and eagles. KCNC-TV [...]

ANNA, Ill. (AP) – A southern Illinois family is finding their homemade maple syrup operation anything but sweet after investigators swarmed their property, mistaking their sap collection for a meth lab. Laura Benson tells KFVS-TV that drug agents showed up at her home near Anna on Wednesday morning saying they fielded a report that a meth-making [...]

SUE MANNING Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) – It may sound like a West Side Story-style love story, but some dogs love big cats. Cheetahs are the fastest mammals in the world, but they also are the world’s biggest scaredy-cats – so much so that they don’t breed easily and are in danger of going extinct. [...]

NEW YORK (AP) – Lovers of the unusual are getting another chance to impress their Valentines this year in New York City. The Department of Environmental Protection is again offering Valentine’s Day tours of the Newtown Creek sewage treatment plant in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint section. The DEP says it’s offering three tours this year due to [...]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An assault trial over a fight that cost a man his left  eye ended in a mistrial Wednesday when his  prosthetic  eye popped out as he was testifying, startling jurors.