'Lightning' won't strike twice in Wisconsin city

RACINE, Wis. -- The swings will be a little softer in softball games this summer, after the city outlawed new high-tech, lightweight bats that deliver hits so powerful they're downright dangerous. Racine and other communities are banning the supercharged bats known as "lightening sticks." Manufactured since 2000, the bats have delivered hits so strong that softballs have broken bones, caused deep bruises and even head injuries, said Jeff McDorman, Racine's manager of recreation and cultural services. McDorman said the lightening sticks can add 100 feet to fly balls and many miles per hour to hard-hit infield balls. "Bat companies are hiring MIT grads to design these things," he said.

Where the SUVs and the antelope play

GILLETTE, Wyo. -- Six teenagers were cited for harassment. The victim? A herd of antelope. "I watched them do it," said South Gillette game warden John Schneidmiller, who was driving on Interstate 90 when he spotted the teenagers in a sport utility vehicle giving chase to the animals. "They were definitely harassing the antelope." The driver was ticketed for harassing big game animals with a vehicle, which carries a $410 fine. The five passengers were given warning citations. Schneidmiller said harassment of this sort could cause serious injury or death to the animals. "In the drought that we're in, the antelope are so stressed to begin with that they don't need additional stress," he said. Schneidmiller also noted the danger the driver created for himself and his passengers by zigzagging off-road around the herd. "They almost rolled their vehicle," he said. "I watched them, they were up on two wheels a couple times."

Cashing a stolen check? Don't use your own ID

HARRISON, Ark. -- Police had no trouble tracking down a man who tried to cash a stolen check at a Harrison bank. After the teller, a policeman's wife, recognized the check as stolen, the man took off from a drive-through window -- and left his driver's license behind. Steven Allen Miller, 39, pleaded innocent last Friday to charges of theft of property and breaking and entering. Police said Miller broke into a man's car and stole a cell phone, other items and a $243 check on Feb. 29. The next day, police say, he went to a bank and tried to cash the check at a drive-through window. The clerk instructed the man to step inside because she needed identification beyond the driver's license that he had submitted with the check. Instead of entering the bank, Miller drove off. Police found Miller at the address listed on his license.

-- From wire reports