Weird

 LAS VEGAS (AP) - Casino giant Caesars Entertainment says it has obtained a key county permit allowing it to build the world's tallest observation wheel in a planned retail, dining and entertainment complex on the Las Vegas Strip.

 

     The proposed wheel would stand 550 feet tall. It would be higher than the nearly 443-foot London Eye and the 541-foot Singapore Flyer, and taller than a 500-foot wheel being built across the Strip from the Mandalay Bay resort. That one is called SkyVue.

 

     Caesars officials on Wednesday called the amusement and transportation system permit a crucial step toward opening the so-called "High Roller" attraction next year.

 

     The Ferris-style wheel is part of a planned $550 million development on the Strip near the company's Harrah's Las Vegas, Imperial Palace and Flamingo Las Vegas casinos.

 

     

 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - It's one way to beat the heat.
Authorities charge a Tennessee man wasn't wearing a thing while doing yard work. A Knox County deputy says Lindsay Medd Stevens was totally nude while cutting a tree in his yard.
WATE-TV reports Stevens ran into his house when he saw the deputy. Stevens is now charged with indecent exposure.

 

  GLENDORA, Calif. (AP) - Investigators say a Southern California doctor saw enough from an X-ray to prescribe pain killers to an undercover cop but missed the tail showing it was an image of a dog.

 

     Police and Los Angeles County deputies on Thursday raided the Glendora urgent care clinic of 69-year-old Dr. Rolando Lodevico Atiga after a two-month investigation that included three undercover deputies posing as patients.

 

     One of the undercover deputies showed Atiga an X-ray to prove she needed pain killers. The scan of her German shepherd clearly shows the dog's tail.

 

     The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/Nqk2NA ) reports Atiga examined the X-ray and asked if she wanted Vicodin, oxycodone, Valium or Xanax.

 

     Glendora police Capt. Timothy Staab says Atiga is well known among drug addicts and was considered the doctor to go to.

 

 

  KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - A tiny blood-sucking parasite that infests fish on Caribbean coral reefs has been named after Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley.

 

     Arkansas State University marine biologist Paul Sikkel discovered the parasite off the U.S. Virgin Islands a decade ago but it was only recently unveiled as "Gnathia marleyi" as an homage to the singer.

 

     Sikkel says he dubbed the tiny crustacean due to his "respect and admiration" for Marley, who died in 1981.

 

     The National Science Foundation says the creature is a new species within the family of gnathiids, parasites commonly found on coral reefs that are ecologically similar to blood-sucking ticks on land. It infests some fish that inhabit reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean.

 

     Celebrities such as comedian Stephen Colbert and singer Beyonce have had insects named after them.

 

 

 OCEAN CITY, Md. (AP) - Ocean City police say a Delaware man has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and given more than 60 traffic citations after he allegedly got into numerous crashes while driving a truck on its rims.

 

     Forty-three-year-old Michael Keith Hall of Greenwood, Del., was arrested Monday. He is being held being held on $25,000 bond.

 

     Officers stopped Hall on Coastal highway and 28th Street. Police said Hall admitted to being under the influence of alcohol and made several threats against police. Police say they found a rifle, a pistol holster with blanks, binoculars, a spotting scope and several knives when searching his vehicle.

 

  SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Fourth of July fireworks show above San Diego Bay was over before it was supposed to start after a malfunction caused the display that was planned to last nearly 20 minutes to burn up all at once.

 

     The Coast Guard says the mishap occurred minutes before the scheduled opening of the Big Bay Boom show. Guard spokesman Rich Dann tells U-T San Diego (http://bit.ly/LpWoU7) he's never seen so many fireworks go off at one time.

 

     The San Diego Fire Department says there were no injuries. Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed the short-lived spectacle.

 

     Show producer Garden State Fireworks has apologized, saying they're working to determine what "caused the entire show to be launched in about 15 seconds."

 

     Video of the big, bright fizzle is glowing strong on YouTube.

 

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     Information from: U-T San Diego, http://www.utsandiego.com

 

 KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Endurance swimmer Penny Palfrey is approaching the three-quarter mark on her trek from Cuba to the Florida Keys.

 

     She's encountered jellyfish stings but otherwise perfect conditions in her attempt to become the first woman to swim the more than 100-mile route.

 

     According to her support team, the British-born Australian is swimming steady and strong and reports no physical complaints other than the stings.

 

     At about 8:30 p.m. EDT, roughly 37.5 hours into the swim, her website's GPS tracking report has the 49-year-old grandmother 76 miles from her starting point at a marina in the Cuban capital. She was positioned about 30 miles south, southwest of Key West.

 

     Palfrey set off from Havana early Friday. 

 

     Andrea Woodburn, part of the support team in the Keys, says Palfrey's previous personal best was 67 miles when she swam between Little Cayman and Grand Cayman islands last year.

 

     Palfrey says the water conditions have been excellent other than the extreme heat. She even spotted a few hammerhead sharks and dolphin pods.