Odds and ends 9/12/04

Woman checks under car's hood, finds snake

POTSDAM, N.Y. -- A northern New York woman taking a used car out for a test drive found a little something extra under the hood: a 3-foot snake. Margaret Brusso took a 1999 Honda Accord out for a ride Wednesday from a dealership in Potsdam. When she decided to take a look at the engine, "all of a sudden I was eye to eye with this giant snake," Brusso said. A St. Lawrence County sheriff's deputy with experience handling snakes corralled the ball python, an African snake. The snake has been returned to its owner.

U.S. draft dodgers to be honored in Canada

NELSON, British Columbia -- U.S. draft dodgers who fled to Canada are finally getting some recognition -- in Canada. Artists and activists in this lakeside town are planning a bronze monument and festival to honor them. "This will mark the courageous legacy of Vietnam War resisters and the Canadians who helped them resettle in this country during that tumultuous era," said Isaac Romano, director of Our Way Home, a celebration set for 2006.

-- From wire reports