AP - Hundreds of hardy swimmers braved the 42-degree Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday for a traditional New Year's Day dip. "It was a fantastic day," said Louis Scarcella, president of the Coney Island Polar Bears Club.

DEDHAM, Mass. - A burglary suspect planned to escape using a handcuff key his girlfriend would pass him during either a hug or a kiss in court, but he forgot one crucial factor, authorities say.

NEW YORK - A man who passed himself off as a member of a federal terrorism task force hoping to propose to his fiancee before heading to Iraq conned a ritzy jewelry store into accepting a bogus $16,000 check for a diamond ring, a newspaper reported.

MEDFORD, Ore. - When a burglar broke into a Medford pharmacy this week, looking to snatch some drug, he was foiled by fog. The dense fog, a new technology offered by alarm companies, made it impossible for the robber to find the sought-after narcotics.

NEW YORK - Hundreds of hardy swimmers braved the 42-degree Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday for a traditional New Year's Day dip. "It was a fantastic day," said Louis Scarcella, president of the Coney Island Polar Bears Club.

BOSTON - An alleged bank robber in Boston should have been more aware of who was behind him in line. Police said Adam Grennan, 39, of Hull, passed a note to a teller at Mt.

BARNEGAT, N.J. - A building overrun with wild cats will get a new life later this year as a combination seafood restaurant and bait and tackle shop. The wooden dwelling has come to be known as the "cat house," but a new owner plans to drop that moniker.

MESA, Ariz. - Fire officials say a Cave Creek man who was trying to ride his pet buffalo was mauled by the animal after it bucked him off. The man, 75, was flown to a Scottsdale hospital after the incident at his home about 20 miles north of downtown Phoenix on Monday.

Reuters - Three middle-aged men plunged into 2008 with a New Year's Day dive into Rome's chilly Tiber River on Tuesday.

A naked couple, a dog and a fight. Now, a 25-year-old woman faces charges over a shower squabble.

Liberia's government is giving away specially programmed cell phones so citizens can report crimes.

At least 11 people died and another 21 were hospitalized for drinking tainted vodka during New Year's Eve celebrations.

Mindy McCready is a free woman.

Getting a tattoo can be a painful proposition, but usually it's just the needle you have to worry about.

Border agents pulled four live birds from the pockets of a pigeon collector and a companion trying to enter the US.

San Antonio firefighters struck and killed a woman in a wheelchair on Monday night on their way to a call.

Twin sisters who have lived through five royal reigns are celebrating their 100th birthdays in Cornwall.

A man being chased by authorities grabbed a police dog and leaped off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.

Federal air marshals charged a man with groping a female passenger aboard a United Airlines flight.

Reuters - A "surge" of overused words and phrases formed a "perfect storm" of "post-9/11" cliches in 2007, according to a U.S. university's annual list of words and phrases that deserve to be banned.