A house fire that resulted in $50,000 worth of damages was started by the family dog, said firefighters. A woman who was frying fish was reported to have gone to take out the garbage, when the dog shut the door behind her. The fish was still frying in the pan, and eventually resulted in shooting flames and heavy smoke.

Three men robbed at gunpoint a couple of Boy Scouts selling Christmas trees Monday night. The thieves reportedly knocked the boys over, along with their fathers, and made off with $350. Both fathers and one of the boys were punched in the face.

Frosty, a inflatable snowman used for years to greet customers at a Tyler, Texas tree farm was stolen. The animated decoration was reportedly worth $10,000. Royce Wisenbaker, owner of the Dixon Farms, presumed that the thieves hoisted the snowman over the fence, right after dismantling it and folding it up.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday announced that Big Apple locals and tourists will enjoy the first-ever "green" Rockefeller Center Christmas tree this year. The 84-foot tall Norway spruce will be officially lit during a ceremony on Nov. 28 with energy-efficient LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, instead of the usual incandescent bulbs.

A chestnut from the tree that diarist Anne Frank hid in to escape the Nazis is being put up for sale on eBay. The idea was that of Charles Kujiper, who lives next door to the immortalized house where Anne Frank hid from Nazi German occupiers. "I had this idea for a few years, and I decided to put the chestnut up for auction," Kukiper said.