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Black widows found in tire shipment

NORFOLK, Ariz., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A British business said a shipment of tires from Arizona was found to be infested with venomous black widow spiders.

Mark Cook, health and safety boss at Fendercare in Norfolk, England, said the shipment marked the second time black widow spiders were found at the business within the space of five weeks, The Sun reported Monday.

"It is not something you expect to see, especially in the outback of Norfolk," Cook said. "It is quite rare and not something we get on a regular basis, but we are a global operator so it is one of those things."

"We take containers from all over the place, and our guys are used to checking for wildlife, so when they opened the doors they spotted the spiders and shut the doors to keep them trapped in," he said. "The poor little creatures have got a bad reputation with people thinking that their bite is immediately fatal, but generally people are just fairly sick."

A pest control company was called and used fumigation to kill the spiders.

Seattle breaks snowball fight record

SEATTLE, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A Seattle man said his snowball fight fundraiser set a world record thanks to some friends and a construction company.

Neil Bergquist said the goal of Saturday's event at Seattle Center was to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County and break the world record of 5,387 people who participated in a South Korean snowball fight, KING-TV, Seattle, reported Monday.

Bergquist said the event appeared to be in trouble due to a snow shortage, but he and some friends hauled in 160,000 pounds of snow from Snoqualmie Pass with the help of construction firm KLB.

The organizer said 5,834 people participated, breaking the Guinness World Record.

Lion-like dog honored by Old Dominion

NORFOLK, Va., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A Labrador-poodle mix groomed to look like Old Dominion University's lion mascot was honored by the Virginia school at a basketball game.

Charles the Monarch, whose owner, Daniel Painter, had him groomed to resemble a lion in honor of the school, set off a flurry of 911 calls last week from people who spotted him walking in Norfolk and thought he was an actual small lion, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Monday.

The calls caused Charles to become a national celebrity and he was honored during halftime of the Old Dominion women's basketball game at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.

Debbie White, senior associate athletic director for external relations at Old Dominion, said officials may be open to future partnerships with Painter and Charles.

"I think we'll play it by ear," White said.

Police: Man stole truck, sold it for crack

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Police in Texas allege a man took a new sport utility vehicle for a test drive and traded it for drugs.

Workers at the Henna Chevrolet dealership told Austin police Carlos Sergio Valdes, 50, took the 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe on a test drive at a special lot Saturday and drove off without permission, The Austin American-Statesman reported Monday.

Valdes called police about 2 hours later and told officers he had become lost about 2 miles from the dealership and the vehicle had been stolen.

However, police said they later pulled over a woman who told them Valdes had sold her the $40,075 Tahoe in exchange for two crack rocks.

Valdes was booked on a theft charge and taken to the Travis County jail in lieu of $80,000 bail.

The American-Statesman did not say whether the woman was also charged.