Japanese investigators conclude that a January house fire in the western city of Kobe ignited after two kittens urinated on a fax machine, soaking the machine's printing mechanism, which generated a spark that burned down the kitchen and living room. The house's owner managed to put out the fire and was later treated for smoke inhalation. The two kittens escaped unharmed.

The protective housing unit in Corcoran State Prison, about 50 miles south of Fresno, is considered the safest place for an inmate to reside within the California prison system. Designed to protect famous convicts from possible attacks, it houses mass murderers like Charles Manson, and high-profile criminals like Sirhan Sirhan, one of the first inmates placed in the unit, where he passed the time playing chess and working for 13 cents an hour as an administrative clerk.

In late May, Jason Martin stumbled across a misplaced cell phone at the back of the restaurant he worked at. Upon scanning the phone book, he was surprised to see a list of names including, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, and Bill Gates. Martin was a bus boy at Brisa Atlantica, a Cuban jazz club/restaurant in Delray Beach. That night, singer Jimmy Buffett had visited the restaurant and lost his cell phone on the way out of the restaurant's back door.

The Associated Press reported the rescue of an 81-year-old woman trapped for six days after falling in her bathtub. According to officer Peter Jung, who found her Wednesday morning, she had no food in the room. "She couldn't move in the right way to do anything other than get handfuls of water out of the bathtub faucet," Jung said. "She was just glad we were there. "According to the report, it was a neighborhood newspaper carrier's concern over an unusual pile-up of papers outside the woman's home that triggered an investigation. A neighbor, Larry Nelson, knocked on the woman's locked doors and noticed the woman's car in her garage. "I got that funny feeling there was something wrong," he said. He contacted the woman's landlord, who called police. Nelson told Jung he hadn't seen the woman outside in a while, which was unusual. The officer forced his way inside the house. Nelson said the woman seemed alert. "I walked into the bathroom and she said, 'Hi Larry!'" he said. "I asked if she had heard me rap on the doors, and she said, 'Yes, but what could I do?'"I couldn't believe she was still alive. "The woman was taken to the hospital. Pleasant Prairie Police Chief Brian Wagner did not know her condition Thursday. "When we found her, she was alert and oriented, and she knew how long she had been there," Wagner said. Barker said many elderly in the neighborhood live alone. "Somebody has to watch out for them," she said.

Bill and Shirley Poulos bought their home in Redlands, Florida, 18 years ago, and ended up with two unexpected housewarming peacocks in their front yard. . Now, according to a CBS report, they have at last count, about 130 peacocks, prompting their home to be dubbed the birdie bordello.