odds & ends 4/21

Radio station wins case in slander suit

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not nice to call someone a "chicken butt" on the air -- but it's not slanderous either, a court ruled.

A state appeals court this week dismissed a slander lawsuit filed against a radio station by a former contestant of the Fox television show "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire."

Jennifer Seelig sued KLLC-FM in San Francisco after Vincent Crackhorn, co-host of the "Sarah and Vinnie" morning show, called her a "local loser" and a "chicken butt." He made the comments the day the Fox show aired in February 2000, after Seelig declined an interview with the station.

The Court of Appeal on Tuesday said Seelig had no cause to sue because she had invited media scrutiny when she agreed to appear on the television show. It said Crackhorn's comments were merely an expression of opinion.

The court also ruled Seelig must pay the legal fees of the station and its employees under a state law that penalizes suits that seek to squelch free speech.

Wild turkey crashes through couple's home

OMAHA, Neb. -- Minnie and Charles Weskirchen had turkey surprise for breakfast, but it had nothing to do with food.

The retired Omaha couple were enjoying a peaceful morning at home Wednesday when they got an uninvited visitor.

"I was just getting out of bed and I heard this explosion, and I screamed to my husband and I said, 'What happened?"' she said. "And he said, 'A turkey's in the house.' I thought he meant a person."

A turkey had crashed through the couple's living room window and into an antique clock, damaging it. The bird then flopped about with a gash in its neck.

Minnie Weskirchen first called the police so there would be a report for the insurance company. She then called the Nebraska Humane Society, but the black-and-brown bird died before society officers arrived.

The Weskirchens haven't seen turkeys in their neighborhood before, but the wild birds are found not far away in the wooded hills on the northern edge of Omaha.

'Fargo' cabin goes on the auction block --again

STILLWATER, Minn. -- Bidders have been less than generous in their offers for a cabin featured in a grisly scene in the movie "Fargo."

The cabin's owners said Wednesday they'll take another stab at selling the cabin after their first online auction brought a top bid of $5,900, below the minimum price they set on the eBay auction site.

The cabin is the setting for the climax of the 1996 Coen brothers' movie. Kidnappers hide out at the cabin and one of them meets a gruesome end in a wood chipper.

Cabin owners Rich and Ann Cummings plan to build a new lakefront home on the property, near Stillwater in north-central Minnesota. They said the cabin has to be moved to meet a new state restriction on the proximity of buildings to lakes.

Their online auction concluded Wednesday with 41 bidders. More than 10,000 people viewed the cabin on eBay that day, when the sale was reported in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and then nationally.

"We're going to put it back up for sale," Rich Cummings said. "It was amazing the publicity we got."

The 1958 cabin measures 18 feet by 36 feet. It has no running water, indoor plumbing or insulation, and whoever buys it will have to move it by the end of the month.

Ceiling dents give away burglary suspect's location

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. -- Burglars are supposed to be light-footed; one suspect who apparently wasn't ended up getting caught.

Dents in a department store's false ceiling led police to 18-year-old Chad Ferguson, who was caught hiding in a ventilation duct at the store early Tuesday, police said.

Motion alarms alerted police that someone was somewhere inside the building. While a Nebraska State Patrol K-9 unit looked down during the search of the building, the officers looked up. That's when they noticed some of the ceiling tiles had been dented.

Tiles were removed and the suspect was found almost four hours later, police said.

The North Platte man was charged Wednesday in Lincoln County Court with three counts of burglary and one count of possession of burglar's tools.

--From wire reports