Petters conspirator nabbed by feds, karma

Neighbors shed no tears for Michael Catain

A A A Comments (0) Wednesday, Oct 15 2008

State Farm estimates each state's hazard by tallying its deer collision claims from mid-2007 through mid-2008, then factoring in its percentage of market share and vehicle registration figures for each state. West Virginia drivers have the highest probability of running into a deer, at 1 in 45; Hawaii drivers, not surprisingly, have the lowest chance, 1 in 10,962.

While Minnesota's crash ranking has dropped, State Farm says deer accidents are up nearly 15 percent nationwide from five years ago. As it happens, the latest data on deer-vehicle crashes comes just in time for the opening of hunting season. So if Bambi isn't struck by a car, there's a good chance he'll get shot. —Erin Carlyle

Call of the Wild

An attorney claims Michael Catain acted like "the king of the neighborhood"

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The eight-year-old Minnesota Wild hockey franchise finally got around to picking a mascot. We're not sure if the result stems from pure laziness, or just a really confused staff that couldn't interpret what the heck a "Wild" is.

John Maher, team vice president for brand marketing, teased reporters before the official announcement, saying only that the mascot is "from the animal kingdom." Way to narrow down the possibilities!

When the mascot was finally unveiled, it was met with mostly quizzical looks. "Nordy" looks kind of like Huckleberry Hound stuffed inside a Care Bear.

The official line is that Nordy is a hybrid of several animals. We didn't know the gritty team was so progressive about inter-species breeding. Oh, and they gave this freak a mullet, too. Lock up your kids! —Emily Kaiser and Ben Palosaari