The poor in the Big Apple have one unlikely benefactor after someone sends a $7,000 check to give to the needy. Marguerite Drucker, an 84-year-old housewife, sent a cashier's check to the city of New York writing, "Dear sir, Please find enclosed check for the poor of the City of New York. The city has been very good to me. "

New Yorkers may be paying a bit more for their holiday cheer this year, as Christmas trees are costing as much as $400. According to local papers, a 12-foot Canadian balsam was going for the full fare in Tribeca, while a 10-foot tree was selling for $395 at the Chelsea Garden Center.

Students needed a new way home after a field trip to the Big Apple got their school bus towed away. Students and chaperones from Clifton Fine High School in Star Lake were visiting the Empire State Convention Center when the driver says someone claiming to be a state employee directed them to park in the wrong parking lot.

Specialty beverage maker Jones Soda Co. will soon offer new green pea flavored soda to add to its roster of flavors like fish taco and salmon. Green pea is only one of the unique sodas being offered by the company alongside with turkey and gravy, dinner roll, sweet potato and antacid flavor. These flavors will be marketed as part of their $10 to $15 "holiday pack" of bottled drinks to be distributed nationwide.

Children in a Swedish school are still terrified after a drunk elk terrorized them during school hours. The elk has been wondering around the southern Sweden school for days. School officials contacted police who may have to shoot the 1,000-pound animal. Officials said the elk probably ate fermented apples and became inebriated.