Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

N.J. commuter train skips stop

NEWARK, N.J., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- New Jersey transportation officials said a commuter train failed to make a scheduled stop, making several people more than an hour late for their destinations.

NJ Transit said Train no. 3971 from Newark failed to stop in Prince Junction at 7 p.m. Monday, forcing passengers bound for that stop to get off in Hamilton and wait nearly an hour for the next train headed back, the Trenton (N.J.) Times reported.

"Obviously this was quite an inconvenience for these customers, and we do apologize for that," spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said. "We're investigating to see why it did not make the stop."

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Thieves sought jewelry, got shampoo

CHICAGO, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Police in Chicago said thieves who failed to break through a salon into a jewelry store took some shampoo from the salon, apparently as a consolation prize.

Rogers Park District Lt. John Franklin said the burglars apparently intended to break into Dilshad's Hair Design Monday night and bust through the brick wall separating the beauty business from NP Jewelers but an alarm went off while the hole was still too small to fit through, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"They broke through the wall and that set off the motion detector alarm in the jewelry store," said Franklin. "They (the store) had a loud siren alarm that may have tripped them up, something spooked them."

He said the thieves fled with nothing to show for their efforts but a few bottles of shampoo.

Franklin said witnesses reported seeing two people drive away in a sedan that may have been a white Honda.

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Salvation Army sets giant kettle record

DETROIT, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The Salvation Army announced it has assembled the world's largest kettle, 56 feet tall and 24 feet wide, as part of a celebration in Detroit.

The charity said the kettle, which is made from 25,000 lights and stands at Campus Martius Park, has been certified as the largest on Earth by Guinness World Records, The Detroit News reported.

Officials with the Salvation Army said the kettle will serve as the centerpiece of 118th Red Kettle Kick Off, which begins Nov, 20 and involves hundreds of smaller kettles set up for donations at hundreds of Metro Detroit locations.

"We wanted to do something out of the ordinary," Jason Hale, part of the non-profit's development department, said of the giant kettle. "There is tremendous need in Detroit. We want people to know there is help out there."

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Police: Man assaulted with backhoe

HERMANTOWN, Minn., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Police in Minnesota said a man struck an employee with a backhoe because he did not believe the worker was performing his duties properly.

Investigators said Michael Billman, co-owner of Billman's Home Center in Hermantown, Minn., was in the excavator at a construction site Wednesday and began arguing with an employee who was working in a trench, KQDS-TV, Duluth, Minn., reported.

"Mr. Billman was not believing that the victim was doing his job properly, basically," Hermantown Police Sgt. Mark Gunderson said.

Gunderson Billman swung the backhoe and struck the worker, who was taken to St. Mary's Hospital with several bruises but no broken bones.

Billman, who was charged with second-degree assault, told police he had only intended to "nudge" the worker with the backhoe to get his attention. Investigators said Billman admitted he believed his actions were stupid.