Larry Clifton

Mosby - Phone records suggest that the pilot involved in an August 2011 medical helicopter crash that killed four people in Mosby, Missouri may have been distracted by texting.

Terrorists and others wishing to do harm to American forces in the Persian Gulf beware. Next year the U.S. Navy will deploy a laser that can track and disable steel ships and canvas boats and bring down drones and piloted aircraft.

An Argentine man who thought he bought a pair of poodles at an outdoor market in Buenos Aires brought them home to the vet only to be told they were actually ferrets on steroids.

Pyongyang - To ratchet up international tension between double-down threats of nuclear war, inherited North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un - the country's pants-on-fire dictator - has sent word that foreign diplomats may not be safe if war breaks out.

Madrid - As Spain’s economy goes, so goes the Reserve Fund of Social Security. The financial instrument relied on by Spain’s retirees increased its holdings in Spanish debt to a whopping 97 percent in 2012, up from 90 percent in 2011.

Washington - The entire U.S. economy only managed to create a sharply disappointing 88,000 jobs last month, not even half the number economic analysts had expected.

Washington - While Washington is touting economic recovery as the political dish of the day, during March employers in government and private sectors were the busiest in a year conducting exit interviews for laid-off employees.

London - Mick Philpott, 56, became a UK celebrity and was nicknamed "Shameless Mick" after a television program about an infamous working-class clan.

Madrid - Spain’s Princess Christina, 47, has attracted the interest of police regarding her role in an alleged money-laundering operation.

Santa Cruz - She’s in the California groove, digs fine tunes and moves to the beat of music in a way that drives all the scientists crazy.

Berlin - Unemployment in the eurozone has edged up to 12 percent from 11.9 percent, the highest rate since the group of financially-joined countries established a common currency.

Boca Raton - Tolerance and respect for diversity in religious views was probably not the subject when Prof. Deandre Poole asked his Florida Atlantic University class to write “Jesus” on a piece of paper and then step on it.

Washington - The White House has decided that public tours are too expensive under the sequestration legislation initiated and signed into law by Barack Obama, but the sky is the limit for White House overseas junkets.

Paris - French troops were supposed to pull out quickly after launching strikes against Islamic extremists in northern Mali back in January, but months have a way of turning to years in military incursions.

Paris - With liberal Socialist Francois Hollande at the helm for ten months, France has admitted it will miss its annual budget deficit target this year as the president tries to convince voters he is the man to steady the country’s economy.

The bad news is that Pedro Quezada, 44, has five children ranging from 5 to 23 years old and owes $29,000 in child support from as far back as 2009.

Berkeley - An eight-year-old girl on a school field trip was shot with a 2-foot-long crossbow arrow Tuesday while on a slide outside the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, California.

Kansas City - In Missouri, a pair of eyeballs was discovered inside a cardboard box found in a trash bin at a Kansas City gas station on Wednesday.

Washington - In a nation still deeply skeptical about Obamacare, top analysts from the insurance industry are predicting explosive increases in claims costs that will bring sharp increases in insurance premiums.

Zephyrhills - The small town of Zephyrhills, Florida, about 30 miles northeast of Tampa, is known internationally for two things: Zephyrhills Water company and skydiving.