Highlighting the importance of animals, the newly seated Mayor of Montana city has come up with an innovative idea, "The Goat Experiment. " The experiment aimed at removing undesirable native weeds is seen as an alternative to chemicals. Allyson Adams has deployed nearly 200 goats which had been brought from Conrad to eat weeds that threaten Virginia City's native plants.

Police have arrested an elderly farmer after he fires a warning shot at a dog harassing his sheep. It took six police cars to arrest Frank Cook, 77, after he fired at a dog to keep it from harming his lambs, in an incident drawing criticism in what many call an exaggeration of police power.

At Northwestern University, one teacher is putting pornography on the required reading list. English lecturer Bill Savage will feature a pornographic novel in his Spring Quarter literature class; "Genius, Gender and Tradition. "

Former Microsoft software developer Charles Simonyi is set to become a space tourist for a visit to the International Space Station (ISS), the orbital tourism firm Space Adventures reported. Simonyi, 58, will ride a Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS where he will stay in fairly low star accommodation for a week.

Busy metropolitan areas are now taking reservations, not just for dinner. . . . but for parking. The Wall Street Journal reports that the market is heating up for reserved parking spots.