Odds and Ends

CHICO, Calif. (AP) - Wild parties that have brought notoriety to this college town could soon carry a heavy penalty for party throwers.

The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to bill hosts for the costs of sending police more than once in a 12-hour period to quell a loud bash.

Mayor Scott Gruendl said the city spent about $250,000 on overtime responding to parties over three weekends last fall.

Administrators at California State University, Chico, along with student leaders and members of the Greek system endorsed the penalties.

Most of the public speakers at the meeting supported the law. Resident Barbara Reed said it would be nice to be able to open her windows when the weather is pleasant.

"You feel like a prisoner in your own home," she said. "You have to wear earplugs."

While City Councilor Ann Schwab said the law was not aimed specifically at students, one speaker said he thought it discriminated against them.

"I feel like we already have laws in place," said Jason Talbot. "If it's money, I've got my mom's ATM card right here, I could help you guys out."

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CHOTEAU, Mont. (AP) - Two grizzly bear cubs wandered into a backyard in this Rocky Mountain Front community - prompting a bear lockdown at a nearby elementary school.

Chuck Gameon, principal of the Choteau Elementary School, said the bears didn't cause too much of a stir because many of the students are from ranches and, "They see lots of bears." But it did force the school to cancel recess Thursday.

In recent years, the school has had two or three bear-related lockdowns, he said.

A state bear specialist and deputies used rubber bullets to scare the bears. Sheriff George Anderson and Mike Madel of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks followed the bears into a creek bottom on foot and chased them west.

Madel said the yearling cubs probably were searching for birdseed. Two yearling bears got into birdfeeders northwest of town earlier this week, he said.

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CINCINNATI (AP) - Police say modern technology foiled an old-fashioned bank robbery.

A teller placed an electronic Global Positioning System device in a bag of stolen money, allowing police to track down a suspect in just 42 minutes Thursday.

"Around here (GPS) is still relatively rare," Hamilton County sheriff's office spokesman Steve Barnett said. "But with the advancement in technology and the continued success of catching bank robbers, soon I would hope that other financial institutions would jump on board."

Authorities said that after William Ingram, 46, left a U.S. Bank in suburban Colerain Township, the GPS device tracked him to a car dealership in Hartwell, where he was returning a Honda that he had borrowed for a test drive but actually used as a getaway car.

When Ingram was confronted, money began spilling from his pockets, officials said.