Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Sheriff cut out of food chain

PARK RAPIDS, Minn., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A county sheriff in Minnesota is no longer able to fatten his paycheck by providing breakfast for jail inmates.

Public records show that for eight years ending last December Hubbard County Sheriff Gary Mills charged the county up to $2 per inmate breakfast, the Star Tribune reported Monday. The county's decision to end the archaic practice prompted the sheriff to sue for lost income and led the county to countersue, the Minneapolis newspaper reported.

"People have tried to make it sound like something evil, but this is the way it was done in many rural counties going back decades," said Steven Fuller, Mills' attorney. "One of the ways a county that liked their sheriff could pay him more was to give him something extra for providing meals."

While the case is set to go to trial next spring, a tentative settlement has been reached and the county board will be asked to approve it next month, the Star Tribune said.

It's unclear how much Mills made under the arrangement, but the county did vote him a $1,000-a-month stipend to offset the loss, the newspaper said.

Alleged burglar caught pantsless in Wis.

WEST BEND, Wis., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Police in West Bend, Wis., are seeking charges of disorderly conduct, burglary and possession of stolen property against a man who forgot his pants.

The 18-year-old burglary suspect allegedly broke into a house and scuffled with the homeowner, leaving behind his shoes and pants as he fled, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday.

Wearing a sweatshirt and red boxer shorts, the suspect was found hiding in tall grass by police.

West Bend police said the homeowner returned home and saw light from a flashlight before noticing someone standing at the foot of the basement stairs.

He then pinned the person against a wall but during the struggle, his grip slipped to the other mans legs and the person slipped out of his pants and ran.

A search of the pants found property believed to have been stolen from a vehicle in the neighborhood, said police.

President sees the signs in Pa.

BRYN MAWR, Pa., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush got a good look at political signs, pro and con, on a fundraising trip to Pennsylvania Monday.

A small group of protesters with a sign reading "Bullheaded Unrepentant Scoundrel of Hypocrisy" greeted Bush in Bryn Mawr.

Not every sign was hostile, but some were anti-Iraq war.

One young couple stood on a separate road holding a "Bush-Cheney 04" poster high in the air, and several "Support the Troops, End the War" signs were posted in nearby lawns, a White House media pool report said.

The president was in town for a fundraiser for the "Pennsylvania Victory 2008" committee.

Irvine joins worldwide 'Thriller' movement

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- More than 40 dancers gathered in Irvine, Calif., to help set a world record by dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Dancers in 80 cities spanning 17 countries joined together in spirit to at 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Saturday for one of the largest choreographed dances ever seen, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported.

"I've never done any kind of choreographed dance like this, and it's so much fun," said Christopher Clark, a graphic designer and artist. "I dig that it's a global, international event. I think it's really cool that everybody all over the world can get together and do something totally crazy like this. And nobody's killing anybody."

The Irvine "Thrill the World" event was organized by residents Tom Nguyen and dance instructor Jeremy Heckman after hearing that Toronto dance instructor Ines Markeljevic was trying for the world record for "Largest Simultaneous Thriller Dance."