Gone Fish(r)ing

A class ring lost for decades in an East Texas lake is back with its owner after turning up in a fish caught the day after Thanksgiving.

Joe Richardson of Buna told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he wishes he knew "how many fish it's been in."

Richardson was fishing at Lake Sam Rayburn about two weeks after his 1987 graduation from Universal Technical Institute in Houston when he lost the ring.

The 41-year-old mechanic says on Nov. 28 he received a call from a fisherman who had reeled in a more than 8-pound bass. The ring that had been in the fish had "Joe Richardson" etched in the band.

Richardson says the fisherman did an Internet search and made several calls before reaching him and returning the ring. Buna is about 110 miles northeast of Houston.

'ello 'ello

A Real Pro(stitute)

An Ohio State University academic adviser and a real estate agent held a $10-a-ticket raffle that offered an evening with a prostitute who is also a child sex-abuse caseworker, police said.

Christopher S. Johnson, 33, an academic adviser at OSU's School of Nursing, organized the raffle through a Craigslist.com chat board, police said. Real estate agent Rusty Blades, 42, held the invitation-only party at his house in October for the participants.

Both Johnson and Blades were charged with promoting prostitution. A judge set bail Saturday at $50,000 for Blades and $25,000 for Johnson.

Police Detective Jeffrey Ackley identified Vanise Dunn, 31, as the prostitute involved in the raffle. She has worked at Franklin County Children Services since 2000, and court records show she was charged with prostitution Nov. 12 for allegedly soliciting a vice detective.

"Stuck In A Truck"

A Wisconsin radio station had to make two contestants an offer they couldn't refuse in order to get them to quit a game to win a new car.

Tommy Kempfer, 26, of Sun Prairie, and Lisa Thompson, 40, of Westfield, had been living in a truck, hoping to outlast the other to win a new $30,000 vehicle from WMAD-FM in Madison.

After 55 days, the station became concerned that the contest would never end.

"We sensed these two were not going to back down," said John Flint, a co-host on the station's morning show. "There was no way we expected this to go 55 days. If it was not for the deal, it's possible they could have gone on until New Year's."

On Tuesday, the station offered the two a compromise: End the contest and receive $10,000 toward the purchase of a car, among other prizes, or continue with the runner-up receiving nothing.

Within 15 minutes, both agreed to the deal.

"Both of us were ready to go home," Kempfer said, "but we didn't want to leave with nothing after you put in that much time." Thompson called the contest a "very good experience" but said she wouldn't do it again.

Eau De PSU

Fans of Penn State can smell like the school for just $60. A fragrance developer says it has made a perfume and a cologne inspired by Pennsylvania State University's blue and white colors and its campus vegetation.

Masik Collegiate Fragrances says the perfume for the school in State College, Pa., smells of vanilla, lilac, rose and white patchouli. The cologne smells of blue cypress and cracked pepper.

The company's president says the 3.4-ounce bottles of fragrance should appeal to Penn State's vast alumni and football fans.

Masik also has captured the smell of the University of North Carolina, and plans to offer scents for six other universities next year.

Tree Me

Authorities say a west Florida man who lives with his parents has been arrested on a felony assault charge after he used a Christmas tree as a weapon to attack his father.

According to the Manatee County sheriff's report, 37-year-old Thomas Edward Lackie was arrested last week after he threw a 3-foot Christmas tree at his father. The tree missed, but Lackie then tried to use the steel base from the tree to strike his father.

His father and mother were able to grab Lackie's arms to prevent the attack. Deputies say the tree could have caused serious injuries because the metal base weighs about five pounds.

Lackie was charged with felony assault. He denied trying to strike his father.

You Can Put Your Weed In There....

The world's oldest stash of marijuana has been found in far western China, according to an article in the Journal of Experimental Botany.

An ancient Caucasian people, probably the Indo-European-speaking Yuezhi whose fair-haired mummies keep turning up in Xinjiang province, seem to have buried one of their shamans with a whopping 789 grams of high-potency pot 2,700 years ago.

That's about 28 ounces of killer green bud, worth perhaps $8,000 at today's street prices, and enough to keep Harold and Kumar happy for a couple of days.

"It was common practice in burials to provide materials needed for the afterlife," lead author Ethan B. Russo, a practicing neurologist and prominent medicinal-marijuana advocate based in Missoula, Mont., tells the Canadian Press. "No hemp or seeds were provided for fabric or food. Rather, cannabis as medicine or for visionary purposes was supplied."

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus relates how the Scythians, Iranian-speaking nomads who roamed the steppes to the west of the Yuezhi in the first millennium B.C., liked to throw marijuana onto bonfires to induce trancelike states. It's possible the buried shaman followed similar practices.

She's Baaaaaack

Black Friday Indeed

An attorney representing the sisters of a temporary worker trampled to death when thousands of customers stormed into a Wal-Mart store for bargains the day after Thanksgiving says the man had no training in crowd control.

Attorney Jordan Hecht says 6-5, 270-pound Jdimytai Damour had only been working at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart about a week when he was knocked down by frenzied shoppers.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said an autopsy found Damour died of asphyxiation related to his trampling.

At a news conference Monday, Mulvey also said a preliminary investigation shows Wal-Mart failed to provide adequate security outside its store, where about 2,000 shoppers were waiting for the doors to open at 5 a.m. Friday.

Police are reviewing video surveillance of the scene to determine possible criminal charges.

He's No Mookie...

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