News In Brief

Squawk if you love me

It took 49 squawks for Anthony Sprague's English bantam, Splash, to win the 48th annual National Rooster Crow Championship in Rogue River, Ore. "He's just a regular crower," 11-year-old Anthony said. "At home, he crows all day long." Splash beat 44 other roosters, including last year's champion, Love Machine, who only managed to get out 17 crows - a lot fewer than last year's winning number of 36. "There's a lot of pressure," said Love Machine's owner, Debbie Farmer-George of Vista, Calif. "Next year, we're going to start training earlier. I'll show him the video so he can get his strut down."

Grinn and Barret may be US's funniest intersection

Grinn Drive by itself may not spark a smile, but drivers often find themselves chuckling where it winds past Barret Road in West Chester, Ohio, near Cincinnati. "It looks silly when you're driving up and you see Grinn and Barret," says Steve Piper, a West Chester resident. The streets were recently picked as America's funniest intersection by auto insurer State Farm, which looked at thousands of crossroads. State Farm's list of humorous US intersections:

1. Grinn Drive and Barret Road, West Chester, Ohio

2. Bland Street and Gore Road, Pueblo, Colo.

3. Ho Road and Hum Road, Carefree, Ariz.

4. Antonio and Banderas, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

5. Hickory Avenue and Dickory Avenue, where they intersect with Dock Street, Harahan, La.

Reuters

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