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$125K reward in steak hair case thrown out

WEST BEND, Wis., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin court tossed out the $125,000 awarded to a man who discovered a facial or public hair had been placed on his steak.

The state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday Circuit Judge Andrew Gonring erred in upholding the reward the jury bestowed on Kevin Hansen, despite the jury's 2010 verdict failing to find the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in West Bend negligent in failing to fire the cook directly after the incident, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday.

Hansen accused the cook of placing a facial or public hair on his steak in February 2008 after he complained his first cut of meat had been overcooked.

The cook was sentenced to six months in jail and two years of probation after pleading guilty to putting foreign objects in edibles.

Florida offers prizes for python hunters

DAVIE, Fla., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Florida wildlife officials are fighting Burmese pythons with a contest offering $1,000 and $1,500 prizes for catching the snakes.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said the 2013 Python Challenge, which begins Jan. 12, will offer $1,000 to the winner who catches the longest Burmese python on public hunting lands and $1,500 for the participant who catches the largest amount of the snakes, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Thursday.

Officials said Jan. 12 will feature a daylong open house on the pythons and other invasive species at the University of Florida's Davie campus.

"The (Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission) is encouraging the public to get involved in helping us remove Burmese pythons from public lands in south Florida," said Kristen Sommers, head of the commission's Exotic Species Coordination Section. "By enlisting both the public and Florida's python permit holders in a month-long competitive harvesting of Burmese pythons, we hope to motivate more people to find and harvest these large, invasive snakes."

Restaurant gives out free Twinkies

ORLAND PARK, Ill., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- An Illinois restaurant drew in business by giving away Twinkies, the cake snacks made by defunct company Hostess, with every purchase.

Baby's Cheesesteak & Lemonade stocked 12,000 Hostess Twinkies and CupCakes for the giveaways Wednesday at its Orland Park and Country Club Hills locations, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

Andres Deleon, Baby's social media director, said owner Hani Sughayer went to a Hostess and Wonder Bread bakery outlet in Hazel Crest and bought out their supply for the promotion.

"We're really just trying to get a social media buzz out of the whole thing," Deleon said. "The brand recognition is just going to come with it."

Hani Sughayer said more than half the Twinkie supply was exhausted by 4:30 p.m.

800-pound elk statue stolen

RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Members of an Elks lodge in New Jersey said someone stole an 800-pound statue of an elk from atop their building.

Elks Lodge 547 in Rutherford said the elk statue that adorned the roof of the lodge for more than 60 years was taken recently after members laid it on its side and removed its head to protect it from falling in the strong winds, WCBS-TV, New York, reported Thursday.

Members said the thieves must have thought they could make money selling the statue for scrap metal.

"They broke it into smaller pieces and threw it over the roof in different spots," lodge treasurer Joe Europa said. "It's just senseless they did thousands of dollars' worth of damage to the building for an elk that's probably worth maybe $100, and if they needed something we would have gladly given it to them."

The lodge is raising money for a new statue to be made from aluminum and plastic.