Thieves Steal Two-Ton Moore Sculpture

LONDON - Thieves using a flatbed truck and a crane snatched a two-ton Henry Moore bronze of a reclining figure from the grounds of the late sculptor's foundation north of London, police said Saturday.

The sculpture, valued at more than $5.2 million, was stolen Thursday night from the artist's Hertfordshire county estate, authorities said in a statement.

"This is a very valuable statue and we are working closely with the Henry Moore Foundation to ensure its safe return," said Detective Sgt. Graeme Smith of the Area Crime Unit. "The foundation is offering a substantial reward for information leading to its recovery."

Authorities said they were investigating all potential motives for the crime, including the possibility that the thieves planned to melt the sculpture and sell it for scrap.

"It is a nationally renowned sculpture and very, very difficult to get rid of," said Chief Inspector Richard Harbon. "So, obviously, we are looking at all the possibilities, as I said, right from scrap metal right up to fine arts theft."

Police said three thieves brought in a crane to lift the sculpture onto the flatbed truck, then drove away at 10:16 p.m. Thursday. The theft was filmed by security video.

Moore created some of modern art's most recognizable sculptures, including large, abstract works cast in bronze or carved from stone, using fractured human forms as metaphors for landscapes.

The prolific British artist, who died in 1986 at age 88, established and endowed a foundation in 1977 that operates from Perry Green, his 70-acre country estate and studios 30 miles north of London.

The foundation is reassessing security after the theft, said Gareth Spence, its spokesman. The estate, which has gates and alarms, had never before had such an incident.

He said the statue — 11 3/4 feet long, 6 1/2 feet high and 6 1/2 feet wide — was famous throughout the world.

"I think it would be very hard for anyone to sell," Spence told Britain's Press Association. "The recipient — where would they display it? It is meant to be displayed outside."

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Hermie the Metal-Mouthed Turtle Dies

WATERTOWN, N.Y. - Hermie the Turtle's little defective beak made meal time a struggle. Unable to close his mouth completely, the tiny 20-gram reptile underwent an experimental orthodontic procedure to try to keep him alive. But officials said Hermie died Thursday of kidney failure. An autopsy revealed the pre-existing condition, said Angela Baier, executive director of the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park.

After getting Hermie in May, zookeepers noticed the turtle was having difficulty eating. Medical exams then showed Hermie's lower jaw growing downward because the turtle was unable to process calcium.

"I've worked on animals before but nothing this small," said Peter M. Virga, a Watertown dentist who along with veterinarian Jeffrey G. Baier performed the unique procedure.

Turtles, who are toothless, use their beaks to break food down before grinding it with the plates in their mouths.

After Baier injected Hermie with two anesthetics Wednesday morning, Virga inserted four pins into the turtle's jaws.

During a meeting with reporters, the doctors placed the immobile turtle, believed to be between 2 and 3 years old, on a table. As Baier held Hermie's head, Virga placed two rubber orthodontic elastics — the same kind used by children with braces — on the pins across the turtle's mouth.

Zookeepers were planning to remove the rubber bands once a day to allow the turtle to eat.

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Drunk Finn Sets Norwegian Fine Record

OSLO, Norway - A Finnish citizen arrested on a public bus while drunk and nearly naked has set an apparent record for unpaid fines in Norway, with an estimated 99 of them, police said Friday.

The man, whose name was not released, is known by police for his tendency to discard pieces of clothing as his level of intoxication increases, the Bergens Tidende newspaper reported.

"He has gotten up to 99 fines," police attorney Rudolf Christophersen told the newspaper. "In the (Bergen area's) Hordaland Police District alone he has $14,260 worth of fines. That must be a record."

The man, whom police said offered up five different identities, has repeatedly been expelled from Norway, but keeps returning.

In the latest incident, on Wednesday, police received a telephone call from the bus driver in Bergen, the main city on Norway's west coast, who said: "There is a naked, drunk, difficult Finn causing trouble on board."

Police found the man dressed only his underpants, and extremely drunk, and are seeking to have him jailed on charges that include indecent exposure, vagrancy, public drunkenness and failing to pay his outstanding fines.

Neither Christophersen nor Bergen police spokesman Trygve Hillestad could immediately be reached for comment.

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Danger! Scrambled Eggs Ahead!

DUBLIN (Reuters) - A hazardous slick of broken eggs caused traffic chaos in rural Ireland Thursday after a truck carrying thousands of broody hens lost its load.

"Chickens have begun to lay eggs on the roads and the conditions are quite treacherous at the moment, very slippy," AA Roadwatch said on its traffic advice line, warning up to 7,000 chickens were on the loose.

Police said the vehicle carrying the birds may have hit a ditch, causing its boxes to "cascade off the lorry."

"The lorry has been moved off the road but the cargo is wandering around the roads out there," Sergeant Jim Greene from nearby town of Cavan told Reuters, adding there were no reports of any human casualties.

A team has been scrambled to help catch the birds, Greene said, but little could be done about their egg-laying: "We wouldn't expect anything less from a hen."

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High-Tech Toilet Rinses and Warms Bottoms

SAN FRANCISCO - Scott Pinizzotto is used to the giggles whenever he brings up high-tech toilet seats that rinse and warm people's bottoms. Yet he continues to believe he's sitting on a potential gold mine.

"This is the next evolution of the toilet," Pinizzotto said of the Swash, an upscale seat made by his San Francisco startup, Brondell Inc. "We are trying to educate people that there is a more hygienic and comfortable way to go to the bathroom."

Introduced nearly a year ago, the Swash is designed to transform a run-of-the-mill toilet into a bidet — a device that cleanses with a spray of warm water, relieving people from the hassles of toilet paper. The Swash features heated seats, too, and its top-of-line model also comes with a warm-air dryer and a remote control.

Pampering the posterior isn't cheap. The Swash retails for $429 to $549, yet sales have risen by nearly 50 percent every three months, said Pinizzotto, the company's co-founder and chief executive.

Although bidets are common in Europe and parts of Asia, the high-tech toilets haven't made much of a splash in the United States.

Brondell — named after the 18th-century inventor of the flush-valve toilet — is trying to change that with the help of a $1.3 million investment led by Mark Cuban, who became a billionaire near the peak of the dot-com boom in 1999 when he sold Broadcast.com Inc. to Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)

Cuban, best known as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, is an old friend of Brondell's other co-founder, David Samuel. Cuban dived in after he ran into Samuel in October and learned more about the Swash.

"I have always been interested in innovative and cutting edge-technologies coupled with a large market opportunity," Cuban said in a statement.

Like Cuban, Samuel already is flush with money. Before he turned 30, Samuel sold his Internet music service, Spinner.com, to America Online Inc. for $320 million in 1999.

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Pregnant Skydiver Survives Face-First Fall

SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. - Shayna Richardson was making her first solo skydiving jump when she had trouble with her parachutes and, while falling at about 50 mph, hit face first in a parking lot.

Although badly hurt, she survived — and doctors treating her injuries discovered she was pregnant. Four surgeries and two months later, Richardson said she and the fetus are doing fine.

"Just this last week we went and saw the doctor and we've got arms, we've got legs. We've got a full face. The baby is moving around just fine. The heart rate looks good. So not only did God save me but he spared this baby," she said.

Richardson, 21, of Joplin, Mo., was skydiving in Siloam Springs on Oct. 9 when her main parachute failed.

"I heard a snap and I started spinning and I didn't know why. I didn't know what to do to fix it. I didn't know how to make it stop," Richardson told Fort Smith, Ark., television station KFSM.

She cut away her primary chute so her reserve could deploy, but it didn't open all the way. She spun out of control, heading straight for the asphalt below.

"At the end I said, 'I'm going to die. I'm going to hit the ground. I'm going to die,'" she said. "I don't remember it. I don't remember hitting the ground. I don't remember the impact or anything that came with it."

Rescuers got her to a hospital in Fayetteville, where Richardson underwent surgery. She broke her pelvis in two places, broke her leg, lost six teeth and now has 15 steel plates.

"I went into the first surgery where they cut me from ear to ear and they cut my face down and they took out all the fractured egg-shelled bones and put in steel plates," Richardson said.

During treatment, doctors found that Richardson was pregnant, which was a surprise to her. She said she would not have jumped had she known.

"To hit the ground belly first — that's dangerous. I mean at any stage of pregnancy that's dangerous. That's not something you want to do let alone at 50 miles per hour," Richardson said.

Her fall was videotaped and Richardson said she was able to watch it, without qualms.

"I wanted to watch it," said Richardson. "And the whole reason I'm comfortable with watching it because I know how it ends."

Richardson said her due date is June 25. She plans to make her next parachute jump in August.

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Woman Allegedly Bites Off Officer's Finger

MILWAUKEE - A police officer had part of a finger bitten off by a woman after he responded to a call about a dispute over a cat, authorities say. Lt. Robert Menzel said the 40-year-old woman who called police Sunday afternoon had argued with a man about the animal and wanted him removed from her home.

The officer, a 10-year veteran, tried to restrain the woman, and she became belligerent and she bit off part of his right ring finger, Menzel said.

Surgeons at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital were not able to reattach the finger, the lieutenant said

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