Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

9-year-old said youngest balloon pilot

ALBUQUERQUE, June 5 (UPI) -- After a 26-minute flight, a 9-year-old New Mexico boy became the youngest trained pilot to solo in a hot air balloon, his mother said.

"I just wanted to solo in a hot air balloon and I just happen to be 9," Bobby Bradley said.

The boy's father, who designs and charts paths for balloons and holds dozens of ballooning records himself, expressed confidence in his small son, KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, reported.

"He's a heck of a balloon pilot, especially for a 9-year-old," Troy Bradley said.

The Saturday flight near Tome, was nearly perfect, KRQE-TV, Albuquerque, said and Bobby said the whole experience compared to the name of his airship which his father and grandmother built together, the "Heavenly Dream."

"I knew I was ready," Bobby said. "I had all my equipment. I just wanted to go up."

"I definitely felt my heart catch in my throat a little bit right at take off. That is always a really dramatic time with ballooning," Bobby's mother Tami said.

After a perfect touchdown 26 minutes later the Bradleys celebrated by reciting the balloonist's prayer, a tradition for first-time flights, and toasted with sparkling cider substituting for champagne, KRQE-TV said.

Citation issued in 'penny payment' dispute

VERNAL, Utah, June 5 (UPI) -- A Vernal, Utah, man was charged with disorderly conduct after trying to pay a disputed $25 medical bill in pennies, police say.

Assistant Vernal Police Chief Keith Campbell alleged Jason West, 38, went to Basin Clinic in Vernal on May 27 to dispute outstanding charges, the Deseret News reported.

"After asking if they accepted cash, West dumped 2,500 pennies onto the counter and demanded that they count it," Campbell said. "The pennies were strewn about the counter and the floor."

Campbell said the clinic staff was upset at West's behavior that served "no legitimate purpose," the newspaper reported Friday.

Staff members told West they were calling the police and he left the office but authorities later caught up with him and issued him a citation for disorderly conduct, police said.

The infraction, which carries a potential fine of $140, will be heard in Vernal City Justice Court, the News said.

Brawl over haircut leads to arrest

TRENTON, N.J., June 5 (UPI) -- Police say they arrested a Trenton, N.J., barber who allegedly bit off half a customer's ear fighting over how long the barber was taking to cut the man's hair.

Barber James Dillard, 40, was working on the hair of a 24-year-old client inside the Beauty and the Beast Barber Shop around 5:30 p.m. Thursday when the customer expressed dissatisfaction at the rate Dillard was cutting hair, The Times of Trenton reported.

Police said they started arguing and the client got up and left slamming the barbershop's front door, breaking the glass in the process.

Dillard rushed outside and confronted his now-former client. The two began to fight and the barber of Trenton allegedly bit the unnamed man's ear almost in half, the newspaper said Friday.

The ear remained connected to the head of the 24-year-old who was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Dillard was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, police said.

Prom invites go over the top in Md.

OWINGS MILLS, Md., June 5 (UPI) -- Students at a Maryland high school say they have become more inventive in a tradition of elaborate and original invitations to the prom.

Public displays of affectionate, often-quirky invitations, most painted with "Prom?" and the prospective date's name, have begun showing up on the campus of McDonough School in Owings Mills, The Baltimore Sun reported Sunday.

Hopeful "askers" have shown up in classrooms with flowers, candy, balloons and even a pinata.

"You really want to make it hard for her to say 'no,'" said senior Jacob Taylor. "The whole prom event is over the top and this just adds to it."

The elaborate invitations almost overshadow other pre-dance preparations and keep the long-anticipated evening exciting, students said.

"I would feel slighted, if I didn't get one," senior Paige Kennedy, who watched as Dennis Chen strummed a guitar and sang a song he wrote inviting his girlfriend to the event.

"The worst thing you can be is unoriginal," said Paul Ballas, who packed numerous boxes of many different sizes into one large crate that his date-to-be opened from the largest to the smallest, which held the invite.