Man accused of drunken horse riding in snowstorm

A man has been cited for public intoxication while riding a white horse during a snowstorm in the northern Wyoming town of Cody.

Police say they cited 28-year-old Benjamin Daniels after they received a call Sunday afternoon from a motorist concerned that a man was creating a road hazard by riding his horse on a street in conditions with poor visibility.

Cody Assistant Police Chief George Menig says officers noticed Daniels was intoxicated after they stopped him to explain that drivers were having difficulty spotting his slow-moving white horse.

Menig said Thursday that Daniels was detained Sunday and released the following day. He will go before a municipal judge later.

A friend of Daniels picked up the horse.

There was no telephone listing for Daniels.

NY boy dressed as girl to cheat on exam

Dressing as a girl to take a high school Regents exam in place of another student landed a 17-year-old upstate New York boy in some serious detention. Deandre Ellis, 17, of Schenectady was arrested on a felony charge after the incident Tuesday. City school officials said a monitor verifying that each student was taking the proper exam suspected something was amiss when the name on the test and the person taking it didn't match.

District spokeswoman Karen Corona said a closer look revealed the test-taker was a boy masquerading as a girl.

Police said Ellis, who was released to probation authorities, was charged with burglary for entering the school to commit a crime. His public defender didn't immediately return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment.

Man smears feces on his lawyer, flings it at jury

A San Diego judge has declared a mistrial in a kidnapping and assault case after the defendant smeared excrement on his lawyer's face and threw it at jurors. The judge boosted defendant Weusi McGowan's bail from $250,000 to $1 million after the Monday incident.

Prosecutor Christopher Lawson says McGowan was upset because the judge refused to remove public defender Jeffrey Martin from the case.

McGowan had smuggled a bag of feces into court and spread it on Martin's hair and face before flinging the excrement at jurors. No jurors were hit.

McGowan has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping for robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and other counts in connection with a 2007 home invasion.

Tuscan city says 'basta' to ethnic food

If you are craving a kebab, tandoori chicken or Peking duck you may go hungry in the small Tuscan city of Lucca, which has just barred new ethnic restaurants from opening in its historic medieval center.

Officials say new rules passed last week by Lucca's conservative administration aim to protect local specialties from the rising popularity of "different" cuisines. The measure also bans fast food restaurants and hopes to reduce littering within the city's ancient walls, a magnet for tourists.

"By ethnic cuisine we mean a different cuisine," city spokesman Massimo Di Grazia said Thursday. "That means no new kebabs, Thai or Lebanese restaurants."

Di Grazia said ethnic restaurants opened before the measure was passed could stay in business.

The move has sparked accusations of gastronomic racism from opposition politicians and criticism from Italian chefs, who say modern cuisine relies on fusion, the combination of ingredients used in different food traditions.

"It's a discriminatory ban," center-left councilman Alessandro Tambellini told the Corriere della Sera daily. "It's a sign of closure toward different cultures."

"There is no dish on the face of the Earth that doesn't come from mixing techniques, products and tastes from cultures that have met and mingled over time," said Vittorio Castellani, a TV chef and cookbook author.

Castellani told Corriere the ban was also a blow to immigrant communities, whose members often make a living by selling ethnic food.

Downtown Lucca, 40 miles (70 kilometers) west of Florence, is a popular destination for thousands of visitors, who roam its intact walls, medieval churches and Renaissance palaces.

Di Grazia, noting that other nearby towns had passed similar rules, told The Associated Press the measure was not discriminatory. He said it aimed to improve the city's image and protect Tuscan products, like wine and oil, as well as Lucca's cuisine, rich in soups, meat and pasta dishes.

It remained unclear how "different" a restaurant's menu would have to be to fall under the culinary ban.

Di Grazia said a French restaurant would be allowed to open, but he was not sure about a restaurant offering Sicilian dishes, which often include Middle Eastern ingredients.

Swiss police google farmers, find marijuana field

Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company's satellite mapping software.

Police said they arrested 16 people and seized 1.1 tons (1.2 US tons) of marijuana as well as cash and valuables worth 900,000 Swiss francs ($780,000).

Officers discovered the hemp field in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau last year while investigating an alleged drug ring, said the head of Zurich police's specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner.

The plantation, measuring almost two acres (7,500 square meters), was hidden inside a field of corn. But officers using Google Earth to locate the address of two farmers suspected of involvement in the drug operation quickly spotted the illegal crop.

"It was an interesting chance discovery," said Klossner.

Prosecutor Gabi Alkalay told reporters in Zurich that she plans to complete her criminal investigation in February, after which she will formally charge the 16 suspects and ask for prison sentences for all of them.

The gang is alleged to have sold up to 7 tons (7.7 US tons) of hashish and marijuana between 2004 and 2008, with an annual turnover of 3-10 million francs a year, officials said.