In an ironic twist the Chief of Police of Oslo, Norway, Anstein Gjengedal, had his wallet pickpocketed a few days before he was set to announce a crackdown on pickpocketers.

The chief was on the Oslo Airport train when a group of people bumped into him. Checking his pockets a few minutes later the police chief realized that his wallet was gone.

Looks like that crackdown is timely!

When Ruth Park’s lost in her re-election bid as 2001 recorder/treasure of Horseshoe Bend, Ark, she filed a challenge with the Federal appeals court. This past March the court turned down her challenge.

She had blamed her election loss on a conspiracy by the Mayor and Police Chief however, the court ended up concluding that it was the voters, not a conspiracy that led to her defeat.

The voters might have lacked confidence in her since she has a prominent belief in UFOs and she and her husband have conflicting views as to whether she’s personally ever been abducted by aliens. She says she hasn’t, but her husband states that she has many times and that the aliens have left scars.

In the North Idaho city of Sandpoint the police are telling residents to stop chasing the moose. During the past few weeks, the Sandpoint Police Department has received dozens of phone calls each day reporting moose inside city limits. Area residents have taken to chasing the moose. Police Chief Mark Lockwood said.

The towns residents are sharing the city with about three to five moose. It’s not all that uncommon for moose to come into areas with a lower elevation in the winter months as the snow is usually not as deep.

“When these animals roam into the city, they can become frightened and disoriented, making them more dangerous than if they were encountered in the wild,” Lockwood said.

One woman pushing a jogging stroller recently chased after a moose in an attempt to photograph it, with a pack of people close behind. If things don’t change, Lockwood said police may have to cite residents for “molesting wildlife.”

“Do not approach any moose, even if it seems quiet and gentle,” Lockwood said. “If approached repeatedly, even by the best-intentioned onlookers, it may become aggressive. Sooner or later Bullwinkle is going to stomp somebody.”

Tom Connolly, a 49-year-old lawyer from Scarborough, Maine, may give more thought to next year’s Halloween costume. He was arrested at gunpoint and charged with criminal threatening, after he stood at a highway construction site on Interstate 295 while wearing an Osama bin Laden costume and waving a sign.

When the police officers arrived after being alerted by motorists’ calls, they found a man wearing a white robe and plastic dynamite, grenades, and a replica of an A-K-47 assault rifle. South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins says “The whole thing is just incredibly bizarre, it just crossed the line.” Connolly, who was the Democratic nominee for governor of Maine in 1998, says he intends to plead not guilty. Interestingly, Connolly first drew national attention when he was identified as the Democrat who tipped the media to President George Bush’s 1976 drunken-driving arrest in Kennebunkport.

I hope that none of you dressed as Osama yesterday! LOL