Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

California mutt wins 'ugliest dog' contest

PETALUMA, Calif., June 29 (UPI) -- A California mutt has run off with the title of 2009 World's Ugliest Dog Champion, besting a Chinese Crested former ugliness champ, officials say.

The judges at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in California gave the award Sunday to Pabst, a boxer-mix shelter dog from Citrus Heights, over Rascal, whose breed has dominated the Ugliest Dog competition in recent years, contest officials said in a release.

Pabst was given his name because he had a "bitter beer face", said owner Miles Egstad, a first-time contestant. Fair officials say Pabst quickly won over the crowd and the judges soon followed.

Egstad won $1,600 from the Sonoma-Marin Fair for sweeping all three rounds -- $100 for mutt class, $500 for runoff with the pedigree class winner and $1,000 for World's Ugliest Dog.

"We were looking for dogs who were naturally ugly," and Pabst was, fair board member and contest judge Brian Sobel said.

'Roadshow' antique appraised at $1.07M

RALEIGH, N.C., June 29 (UPI) -- "Antiques Roadshow" appraisers valued a jade set as high as $1.07 million, the highest appraisal since the show started traversing the United States.

The collection -- jade pieces from China's Chien Lung reign from 1736-1795 -- belong to an unidentified woman who arrived early at the Saturday taping in Raleigh, N.C., of the popular PBS show, The News & Observer in Raleigh reported.

The woman told the appraiser the pieces belonged to her father, a military liaison to China in the 1930s and '40s, show officials said.

Asian art appraiser James Callahan, who examined the four pieces, said the dealer steered her father to quality items. The popular PBS series travels cross-country, helping folks assess the value of collectibles and heirlooms.

"The dealer selected very fine pieces," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

Callahan says the value of the pieces depends on the market for them in China and that the Chinese government often wants to get such pieces back.

"Roadshow" workers said the woman's initial reaction was silence, followed by, "Damn!"

Police: Burglar lived in house for a week

ANDERSON, Ohio, June 29 (UPI) -- A young Ohio man allegedly broke into a Cincinnati-area house while the owners were on vacation and stayed there for a week.

Nicholas Truesdell not only slept in the master bedroom of the four-bedroom house in Anderson, he watched television and spent time on the computer, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said. He effectively "used the residence as his own," investigators said.

While he was at it, Truesdell allegedly drove the owners' car, a 2007 Nissan Altima. Investigators said he entered the house by forcing a rear window open.

Truesdell, who lives about 2 miles away, was arrested Friday on charges including second-degree burglary and misuse of a motor vehicle.

Python's meal of radio collar helps cops

PERTH, Australia, June 29 (UPI) -- A thief in Western Australia made the mistake of stealing a python from a research lab that had swallowed a radio-collared marsupial, police said.

The radio-tracking device led investigators to a house in Heathbridge, where police found the python and arrested a 30-year-old man, The West Australian reported.

The snake was discovered in the Narrogin bush by Department of Environmental Conservation researchers tracking a radio-collared woylie, a small endangered marsupial. By the time they found the woylie, it was inside the snake, along with its collar and tracking device.

The 6-foot snake was brought to the Woodvale Research Center to make sure it had not been harmed by its meal. The snake was stolen from the lab last weekend and recovered Thursday, with the radio-tracking device still inside and sending out signals.