Escaped Wallaby Captured in Missouri

An escaped fugitive from New Zealand was captured in Missouri on Thanksgiving Day.

I'm talking about a wallaby, and it was found at a nursing home in Platte City, MO.

People in Platte City are used to seeing wildlife, but not the native New Zealander.

"This is really news in a small town like this," said one resident.

Where did he come from?  It turns out he only traveled a couple of miles.

Four-year-old Noah belongs to a local family, the Wood family.

They were feeding him Thanksgiving morning.

"My brother had barely opened the door and he just darted out," said 16-year-old Emily Wood.

He ran into the woods and was later spotted hopping through a yard around 9:30.

The family started their search, and so did police.  "This is the first time in 28 years of law enforcement that I've ever confronted a loose wallaby," said Platte City police officer Michael Reilly.

Noah bounced into a fenced-in area at the Hillview Nursing Home.  A worker at the home discovered him and it turns out he is no danger to people.  

"He likes to lick people. He'll give you hugs even," said Wood.

Finally, the Kansas City Zoo came in to give Noah a temporary home while his legalities are worked out.

Officials said wallabies are legal to own in Missouri, but Platte City has an exotic animal ordinance, which Noah falls under.

Unbelievable Helicopter Crash in New Zealand

A helicopter helping to install a Christmas tree on Auckland's waterfront has crashed in dramatic fashion, but the pilot escaped serious injury.

The rotor blades hit a part of a building and the chopper starts to fold up immediately.

No Tsuanmi in South Pacific

A tsunami sparked by a powerful 7.6-magitude quake failed to materialise on New Zealand's shores, but Civil Defence says people should expect high tides within the next 24 hours.

The quake struck at 7.03am (NZT) at a depth of 20km, according to the US Geological Service. It was felt in Wellington and parts of the East Coast of the North Island.

It was originally reported to be magnitude 7.8 at a depth of 48km but USGS has revised it to magnitude 7.6.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu said a tsunami had been generated and could be around a metre high when it arrives at New Zealand.

The USGS said tsunamis had already struck the Kermadec Islands and Raoul Island this morning. The waves were 68cm and 84cm high before adding it had issued a tsunami warning for New Zealand, affecting East Cape, North Cape, Gisborne and Auckland.

However, the Pacific Warning Centre based in Hawaii called off its tsunami warning after the 7.6 earthquake in the Kermadecs before the Civil Defence did.

The Amazing Race Preview for "I Never Looked So Foolish in My hole Entire Life"

Teams dressed as kangaroos continue through Australia where one Racer reverts to old habits as tempers start to flare, and another Team breaks down in tears from utter exhaustion, on THE AMAZING RACE: UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Also a special plea this week from Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan:

“More than that the message that I really want to communicate … is … people need to travel to New Zealand,” Keoghan told Craig Ferguson. ”This is a national emergency. If people stop going to New Zealand — the economy is so small and tourism is so important — if people cancel trips and they don’t travel to New Zealand …”

"The city of Christchurch, which is a small city. The rest of New Zealand is open for business, and we need to communicate that, because in all seriousness, it could absolutely collapse the economy if people just stop coming to the country. … It’s the best thing that people can do.”

This all in response to the terrible earthquake that hit the wonderful country of New Zealand this past week.

Want to Play Fed Cup Tennis? Move to New Zealand or Malaysia

Want to play big-time tennis on an actual Federation Cup team?  The dream may not be so far fetched. 

Two countries with professional tour events, New Zealand and Malaysia have pulled out of their Fed Cup Asia-Oceania zonal group ties, unable to find suitable players to field a team.

Bad luck has hit both Fed Cup squads.  New Zealand's Sacha Jones is injured and Marina Erakovic, who is returning from injury, has opted to play a challenger this week in an attempt to boost her ranking. "We didn't think it was viable," said New Zealand federation chief Steve Wood.

The same decision was made by Malaysia when it could not find a second player. They found themselves unable to field a team as Jawairiah [Noordin] is now on her own while another fine player, Neesha Thirumalaichelvam is pursuing her educational opportunities in the United States.

My advice to New Zealand and Malaysia are to pull a Kazakhstan and start recruiting players that would never be selected to play for their homelands.  I hear Dinara Safina is available, or maybe one of the Bondarenkos could be had.  How about Alison Riske, she cant seem to get any love from Mary Joe Fernandez and the U.S. Fed Cup Team.