Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Idaho man builds KKK-type snowman HAYDEN, Idaho, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An Idaho man has welcomed the holiday season by building a 10-foot-tall Ku Klux Klan-type snowman on his front lawn, neighbors said. Advertisement Mark, of Hayden, a self-described white separatist who declined to give his last name, said he has done nothing wrong, that the sculpture is just a snowman, KXLY-TV, Spokane, Wash., reported Wednesday. The snowman had a pointed hat that was knocked off, and a noose in its outstretched right hand. At first, it was much smaller, but Mark rebuilt it to make it larger after someone tried to knock it over, the TV station reported. Neighbors said Mark also has an Aryan Nations flag on display. Mark infuriated residents in October when he allegedly passed out bullets on Halloween. He said he gave out only bullet casings, and did so only after he ran out of candy, KXLY-TV said. Advertisement Mark's home is approximately 100 yards away from Hayden Meadows Elementary School. Several parents called police about the snowman, and two Kootenai County sheriff's deputies went to Mark's home Wednesday. They told him there is a state law against hanging nooses, which could have led to a criminal complaint against him if the noose hadn't been removed, the TV station said. British police: Stop snowball calls WEST BRIDGFORD, England, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- An English county's police department is pleading with the public to stop calling the emergency line to report snowball throwing. Nottinghamshire Police said hundreds of calls have been pouring in about snowballs since the weather took a turn for winter, with 120 calls alone made between Tuesday morning and Thursday morning, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday. ''We are advising people to only ring us if there is an incident with snowball throwing that it seems only police can deal with," a police spokesman said. ''These include incidents that are examples of serious anti-social behavior, or involve vulnerable people, or pose real and serious dangers to traffic," he said. ''We are receiving a great number of weather-related calls and are asking people to consider if the situation regarding snowball throwing is really a matter for police before they ring.'' Advertisement Student's picture wrongly used for convict GAINESVILLE, Fla., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A University of Florida student said he searched his name on Google and found authorities were using his picture to represent a similarly named convict. Zachary Garcia, a student at the Gainesville school, said an online search for his name brought up his picture associated with a Polk County Sheriff's Office report of a murder convict named Zachery Garcia, who spells his first name with an "e" rather than an "a," WTSP-TV, Tampa, Fla., reported Thursday. "I was just very shocked to find my picture and the article saying that I was convicted of a felony murder charge," the student said, "and I was just very shocked and angry that someone put my name up there and said I did something I didn't do." "Everybody makes mistakes," Garcia said. "I work at Publix and I might get somebody's sub (order) wrong. But for somebody to get (the photo of a suspect) wrong ... it's not a sandwich, it's somebody's life you're playing with." Man loses bid to keep beloved poultry CEDARBURG, Wis., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A Cedarburg, Wis., man has been told his flock of poultry -- ducks, chickens, roosters and a goose -- must be gone by the end of the week. Advertisement David Moga lost the final round of his struggle to keep the birds Wednesday night, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. He asked the town council to make an exception to the residential zoning code allowing him to keep the goose and maybe a few ducks and was turned down. "Absolutely no mercy," a tearful Moga told the newspaper. "I'm going to have to get rid of them. It's a passing of our life. It's what we moved out here for." Moga said he has been keeping poultry since he moved to Cedarburg 35 years ago, with verbal permission from previous generations of town officials. But neighbors complained in 2009 when some of his roosters escaped and roused them with 4:30 a.m. cock-a-doodles. Jim Culotta, the town administrator, said officials had to enforce the zoning rules barring farm animals from residential neighborhoods. After the newspaper ran a photo last weekend of Moga with his dogs, Culotta also sent him a reminder that their licenses must be renewed every year.
