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Students set water balloon fight record

PROVO, Utah, July 27 (UPI) -- Students at a Utah university said they set a world record for the world's largest water balloon fight, with 3,927 participants and 120,232 balloons.

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Organizers of the Brigham Young University event in Provo said their Friday fight had 25 more participants and 1,021 more balloons than the previous record holders, University of Kentucky students, KSTU-TV, Salt Lake City, reported.

The organizers said they spent 48 straight hours filling the water balloons.

"The thought that maybe like in the future, that this record will last a while and I can tell my siblings who come here other friends and people about it," said Serena Martinez, a sophomore at the university.


Escaped ponies block highway

MIDDLEBOROUGH, Mass., July 27 (UPI) -- The Massachusetts owner of three Shetland ponies found wandering Interstate 495 said the horses somehow opened and escaped through a back gate at his farm.

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Bill Morgan of Middleborough said he received a call from police Sunday evening informing him that his horses, Lady, Fancy and Shadow, were stopping traffic in the southbound lanes of the highway, WCVB-TV, Boston, reported.

Police said they were able to wrangle the ponies into a van and take them back to their corral on Morgan's farm. Morgan, who owns for Shetland ponies, said none of the animals was injured.

"You can tell the story ends well, but it could have been disastrous. We're very thankful to the state police and to the dog officer in Middleborough," Morgan said.

Morgan said he purchased a new padlock for the back gate.


Chickens race through Detroit lot

DETROIT, July 27 (UPI) -- Organizers of "Detroit's First Ever Chicken Race" said 17 fleet-footed fowl raced through a lot behind a bar to draw attention to urban farming.

Karthik Kavasseri, 23, organizer of the event, said nearly 200 fans came out for the Sunday event behind the Temple Bar to watch the race, listen to live music and raise awareness of urban farming, The Detroit News reported.

Athena, a 1-year-old hen owned by Paul Trombley, won the face by being the closest to the finish line after 3 minutes.

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"We always want to do fun stuff for the city," Trombley said. "It sounded like a blast."

Trombley said he will donate his winnings to the Still Point Buddhist Center in Detroit.


Puppy rescued from Afghanistan in U.S.

HIGHLAND VILLAGE, Texas, July 27 (UPI) -- The Texas parents of a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan said a puppy their daughter rescued in the country is adjusting to life in the United States.

Steve Rodems of Highland Village, stepfather of Army Reserves Staff Sgt. Hannah Schlegel, said his stepdaughter rescued Wylie, an Afghan hound-shepherd mix that is now 10-months-old, from a small guard shack in eastern Afghanistan in December 2009, The Dallas Morning News reported.

He said friends, family and strangers donated to Schlegel's online PayPal fundraising campaign for the dog and she was able to gather the $4,000 needed to send Wylie to Texas.

"It says a lot about people that even with everything going on at home, a simple story about a girl and her dog can still melt everyone's heart," Schlegel said in an e-mail. "But it's not just my story anymore; it's the story of everyone who has donated to help bring her home."

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Schlegel, whose deployment is scheduled to end in late August or early September, said Wylie will eventually come home with her and her fiance to Northern Virginia.

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