ICE STORM-ROMANCE
GREENLAND, N.H. (AP) - It's a hot romance that got off to a freezing start. Teachers Lisa Freyenhagen and Deck Robblee plan a July wedding. The New Hampshire couple met last December when both were volunteering at a shelter following a devastating ice storm. She teaches fourth grade. He's a woodshop and construction teacher at Portsmouth High. A local TV station (WMUR) reports each admires the other for volunteering during the disaster.

90,000 LIGHTS
SHARPSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana couple is trying to brighten up Christmas. Janet Crawford and her husband (Michael Poulimas) say it's been a downer of a year in Sharpsville. So, they've got a holiday light show spread over two acres. Their 90,000 lights are synchronized to music through nearly 200 computer controllers. The couple has a donation box in their front yard. They hope to raise about $1,200 for the charity We Care from visitors enjoying the lights.

BAD BREATH ROBBER
FERNDALE, Mich. (AP) - Authorities in a Detroit suburb are looking for the bad breath bandit. The Detroit Free Press reports Ferndale police believe the man robbed the same bank twice. He hit the Charter One branch in October and again last week. Tellers say the man has crooked yellow teeth and bad breath. Witnesses add he looks and smells dirty. The man got away with $1,000 in the latest robbery - more than enough to buy a toothbrush and soap.

DRUNK-DIALING 911
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - There's drunk-dialing, then there's drunk-dialing 911. A Middle Tennessee man is in trouble with the law after police say he dialed 911 47 times in the last year. Robert C. Zettwoch was busted after the latest incident. Authorities report officers responding to an emergency call found him sloshed at his Rutherford County home. Police say they asked Zettwoch why he had called and he replied he was "just drunk." The Daily News Journal reports he's been charged with abuse of the 911 system.

NESSIE STATUE
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Nessie can be all yours - or at least an artistic rendering of the legendary Loch Ness monster. A 60-foot statue of Nessie is up for auction on eBay. The wooden sculpture is on display in a duck pond at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Mich. But it needs to be winterized or moved inside. The creators don't have the money to do either, so they're trying to sell it. The auction ends Wednesday. As of yesterday, bidding had topped $1,250 but the reserve hasn't been met.

FORD COLLECTOR
STAFFORD, Conn. (AP) - If it's a Ford, Donald Passardi probably wants it. He has 13 antique Fords and more than 10,000 pieces of Ford memorabilia. His collection even includes a bag of 75-year-old Ford charcoal briquets. Henry Ford invented the backyard barbecue stable. Passardi's extensive Ford collection comes at price. He manages the dairy department at a Stop and Shop supermarket in Connecticut. Passardi tells a local paper (Journal Inquirer of Manchester) he spends 90 percent of his salary on his Ford fascination.

by Jamie Friar

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)