GARNER, Iowa (AP) – An Iowa teen is all bubbly over her one-of-a-kind high school prom dress she made out of gum wrappers.

Elizabeth Rasmuson made her dress — and matching vest for her date — out of blue and white wrappers from Wrigley’s “5 gum.” The high school junior says she got the idea after hearing about someone making a dress out of duct tape.

She and her boyfriend began collecting gum wrappers last August. Rasmuson says she quit counting after 200. Since the wrappers break easily, Rasmuson finished her dress with a vinyl top coat.

Man with no cash eats burrito, then calls cops
HASTINGS, Michigan (AP) – Authorities said a man took a bite into crime when he helped himself to a burrito and a bag of Funyuns snacks at a gas station food store in Hastings, then told the clerk to call police because he had no money to pay.

Barry County Prosecutor Tom Evans said 28-year-old Michael Odell was charged with retail fraud. Odell, who told police he is homeless, is jailed on a $2,000 bond with a pretrial hearing set for May 4.

Evans said Odell ate the burrito and Funyuns on Saturday morning, then had the cashier call police. The prosecutor said Odell told officers he had spent his money at a tavern in the city 56 kilometers west of Lansing.

Purple Paw award for hero cat
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) – A three-year-old cat who saved the life of her owner by alerting her to a gas leak was awarded the Purple Paw by the Great Falls Animal Foundation. Schnautzie received her award last Saturday at the foundation’s annual Fur Ball.

Trudy Guy says Schnautzie was just six-months-old in 2007 when Guy awoke with Schnautzie on her chest and a paw on her nose.

In checking the house, she heard a roaring sound in the bathroom and found that a gas pipe outside the bathroom had broken above the shut-off valve.

She said responding firefighters told her the house could have blown up due to the gas levels.

Cops shock pal with Taser prank
NAPLES, Florida (AP) – A Collier County deputy was reprimanded after shocking a colleague with a Taser in an incident meant to be a joke.

The December scene was caught on tape at the Collier County jail. A female deputy was seen showing a message on her iPod to Cpl. Wilmer A. Arencibia, who followed the woman and shocked her on the behind with his Taser.

Arencibia told investigators it was “a spur of the moment thing” and acknowledged the behavior was improper.

He was given a reprimand and final warning after an internal investigation.

Mobsters refuse court call without breakfast
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Two alleged Israeli mobsters refused to appear in court for a hearing because they weren’t allowed to bring in coffee, cookies, sandwiches and napkins, the Haaretz newspaper reported.

Brothers Yitzhak and Meir Abergil were supposed to appear in a Jerusalem court on Sunday for the first day of hearings on their appeal against extradition to the United States on drugs, money laundering and other charges.