Small Bits of News You Didn’t Know you Needed

Mom had sex with boys to keep them away from her daughter
A 30-year-old Northern California woman has pleaded not guilty to charges that she had sex with three teenage boys.
Deborah Towe faces 11 felony counts, including unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, oral copulation of a person under the age of 16, committing lewd acts upon a child and arranging a meeting with a minor for a lewd purpose.
The boys were 15 and 16 years old.
Police in Anderson, about 150 miles north of Sacramento, began investigating in April after two girls from a local middle school reported that a friend's mother was having sex with boys.
In a 48-page report released this week, Towe told police she was protecting her daughter by diverting the boys' attention to herself.
She denied the charges during an appearance Wednesday in Shasta County Superior Court. Towe remains jailed, with her bond set at $250,000.
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Police Hunt Down and Tasered a Huge Cougar
Warren police in Warrwn, Michigan responded to a 911 call about a cougar on the prowl.
"It's huge; it's like a 150-pound cat," the caller told the operator.
About 10 officers arrived at Bates Park on 14 Mile Road east of Van Dyke and saw what looked like a big cat in an old cement drainpipe.
"And I went back behind there and shined a light there -- and it's in there," said the caller.
Warren police shot a Taser at the animal -- hitting what turned out to be a large toy cougar.
Police Commissioner William Dwyer said officials now believe the incident was a prank, but he said his department could not take any chances since it was near a playground.
"We did what we had to do. We want to keep the city safe," said Dwyer.
Dwyer said the prank cost the city more than $1,000 in wasted police hours between the response from 10 officers and the paperwork they had to file.
If the prankster is caught, he or she could have to pay the city back for the wasted police officers and could face 90 days probation.
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British couple travels to Michigan for purr-fect cat
A black-and-white kitten named Sparky has captured the hearts of a British couple, who traveled nearly 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to central Michigan to adopt it. Rose and Chris Rasmussen were in Harrison on Tuesday to adopt the cat from the Clare County animal shelter, where the young cat has become a mascot of sorts since he arrived last August.
"Sparky likes to explore," Betty Beadle, a volunteer at the shelter, said. "He destroyed Christmas trees twice." The Rasmussens discovered Sparky on Petfinder.com, a pet adoption website.
They could have had him shipped to the London suburb where they live, but instead decided to make the journey to adopt their new pet.
"He took me here on the other side of the Atlantic," Rose Rasmussen said. "I thought they would say, 'You guys are completely mad".' Paperwork, a rabies vaccination, a six-month quarantine and other formalities followed before Sparky was cleared to depart for Britain.
Dave Gendregske, the animal control director for the county, said: "A lot of people would ask, 'Why come from England?' When people meet Sparky, find he has a dynamic personality, they fall in love with him."
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