Take your chances

There, kitty kitty: A wildlife biologist says people shouldn't be too concerned about recent sightings of cougars near residential areas. There's a better chance, he says, “of winning the next Powerball than being attacked by a cat."

Then again, we're not out $5 every week for our chance to tangle with a mountain lion.

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What's a talent worth these days? A Mill Creek church put a parable into practice recently by handing out $100 to anyone who requested it, with the anticipation that they would find a way to invest the money and return the earnings to the church. Unfortunately, one person took $200 and never returned.

Shame on you, Bernie Madoff.

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The fields have ears: Stocker Farms in Snohomish is preparing to turn its cornfield into a maze haunted by ghouls for October.

Fine, but we think they're overlooking the possibilities for horror in “The Attack of the 200-Foot-Long Zucchini.”

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Gonna need the hand truck for this: The Denver Post reports that a single UPS delivery truck racked up 196 parking tickets worth $5,700 in fines in 2008.

UPS, of course, will take the fine in the shorts.