In the news

Larry Riddle, pulled over in Billings, Mont., for not signaling a turn, got a surprise rather than a ticket when the officer handed him a Thanksgiving turkey donated by a city businessman who asked the department to distribute 20 frozen birds in time for the holiday.

Pope Francis decided that the Vatican will give up about $11 million a year in profits by no longer selling cigarettes in its duty-free shop and supermarket because “the Holy See cannot contribute to an activity that clearly damages the health of people.”

Christopher Tucker, 34, of Albany Township, Pa., faces criminal homicide and other counts after police said he strangled and broke the neck of a 19-year-old woman, poked her eyes out and beat her with a hatchet when she rejected his marriage proposal.

Cheyenne West, 25, faces felony shoplifting and grand-theft counts, accused of trying to sneak electronics worth more than $1,800 through a self-service checkout at a Wal-Mart store in Vero Beach, Fla., by switching price tags with clearance items that rang up to just $3.70, police said.

Scott Smith honked at a car that didn’t move after the light turned green at a St. Louis intersection, resulting in his getting a ticket for excessive noise when the other driver turned out to be a police officer in an unmarked car.

Mike McSorley, a Pittsburgh property manager and part-time boxing coach, recognized and then tackled a man suspected of repeatedly stealing packages from apartment buildings, holding the suspect until police arrived.

Burt Thornburg of Newton, N.C., pulled the cover off his backyard pool to discover an 800-pound heifer that was believed to have spent about two hours in the water after it mistook the cover for solid ground while grazing and fell into the pool.

Angel Villaronga, a Baltimore police officer, said he relied on his training and personal experience after body camera footage showed him calming a knife-wielding man who was pleading with police to shoot him, and then persuading the man to surrender.

Melissa Desch of Wayne, N.J., said she was surprised to see that a 90-cent tip had been added to her 11-year-old daughter’s milkshake bill at a diner that’s a popular teen hangout after its owner decided to levy an 18 percent gratuity to the bills of children who go there without their parents.

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