AP - A 19-year-old Hutchinson man was arrested after allegedly breaking into his own home and stealing a car, jewelry, some money, and other items. Police said he allegedly lured his other family members away Friday afternoon by making a dinner reservation for them in Chanhassen. Then, while they were away, he broke into the garage and house, grabbed the booty, and took off in the car.
AP - Authorities said a Sarasota man about to be pulled over by police tried to lure officers away by making a fake 911 call. Officers said they were following a 28-year-old man’s car Monday to make a traffic stop when they got a 911 call for an armed robbery happening several blocks away.
AP - Happy New Year from Microsoft Corp.: Your Zune is dead.
AP - The alleged ringleaders of a Chinese counterfeiting gang that sold at least $2 billion worth of bogus Microsoft Corp. software were sentenced Wednesday to prison terms of up to 6 1/2 years, in what is believed to be the harshest penalties yet under China’s tightened piracy laws.
Reuters - Many investors said good riddance on Wednesday to one of the worst years on record and prayed that government rescue plans will pull the global economy out of its fierce tailspin later in the new year.
AP - For her college interview, Avery Cullinan put on her best outfit but didn’t bother with shoes. She sat in her living room, smiled into her computer’s webcam and told an admissions officer more than 800 miles away that Wake Forest University was right for her.
Reuters - Recession-wary Americans embraced the virtues of thrift this Christmas, with stores reporting a clear rise in the popularity of piggy banks.
AP - Before he steps down as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin still hopes to win approval for his plan to auction off a slice of the airwaves for a free nationwide wireless broadband network.
AP - Of all the threats to scientific research Wesley Sizemore has stymied over the years, satellites and cell phone towers don’t stick in his memory quite like the possessive old hound and its treasured heating pad.
Reuters - Irish-American dance master Michael Flatley is back on stage after years of suffering from a “mystery virus,” thanks to a treatment by an Irish “energy healer,” Irish media quoted Flatley as saying on Wednesday.