8-foot-tall mechanical gorilla turns up

Lost and found

An 8-foot-tall mechanical gorilla that was swiped in broad daylight from its longtime location outside a store in East Machias, Maine, has turned up several hundred miles away, with an apologetic ransom demand. The arm-waving primate disappeared during the Labor Day weekend and store owner Lowell Miller and his wife, Sandy, marveled at how such a big ape on a heavy base could have been taken without attracting attention. Now the gorilla has turned up in a cornfield at Swanton, Vt. She said her husband's old truck is in no shape to make the 750-mile round-trip to St. Albans, Vt., where the gorilla is being held by state police.

Coincidence

Following in his footsteps

Following in your father's footsteps by attending the same university is one thing. But moving into the same dorm room as your dad? Mike Robell has found himself in B310 in Emmons Hall at Michigan State University — the very same room occupied by his father in 1978. The freshman's father, Rich Robell, 50, said he suspected it was his old room. It has the same floor and same wall color. The phone number is the same, too. The same broken window latch offered some key evidence. The proof came from a university archivist, who located a 1978 student directory.

In the courts

"Borat" suits rejected

A New York judge has tossed out lawsuits brought by a driving instructor and two etiquette-school teachers who said the makers of the movie "Borat" deceived them. Judge Loretta Preska says all three accepted money and signed agreements releasing the filmmakers from liability. In the 2006 film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen plays an uncouth and anti-Semitic journalist traveling the United States in pursuit of Pamela Anderson.

Lifetime winners

Kennedy Center honors

A pair of Oscar-winning performers, Barbra Streisand and Morgan Freeman, joined choreographer Twyla Tharp, country singer George Jones and two members of the British rock group The Who, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, in receiving this year's honors for lifetime achievement in the performing arts from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, officials said Tuesday.

Today in History

1813: An American naval force commanded by Oliver Perry defeated the British in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.

1846: Elias Howe received a patent for his sewing machine.

1939: Canada declared war on Nazi Germany.

1963: 20 black students entered Alabama public schools after a standoff between federal authorities and Gov. George Wallace.

Today's Birthdays

Golfer Arnold Palmer, 79. Actor Philip Baker Hall, 77. Singer José Feliciano, 63. Actress Amy Irving, 55. Actress Kate Burton, 51. Director Chris Columbus, 50. Actor Colin Firth, 48. Rapper Big Daddy Kane, 40. Director Guy Ritchie, 40. Actor Ryan Phillippe, 34. Rock musician Mikey Way, 28.

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