A deckhand on a charter boat full of school children from L.A. choked to death on a bait fish he had put in his mouth as a joke.  Captain Dan Salas of the boat Gale Force said his employee Jeff Twaddle died during a fishing trip for the students last week along breakwater in Long Beach.  Salas called it a "tragic freak accident."  It was made all the more horrific by the fact that it happened in front of the group about 20 elementary school kids from the The Los Angeles Unified School District.  Fire Battalion Chief Battalion Chief Frank Hayes says the 54-year-old longtime fisherman was "trying to be lighthearted and make the students laugh when he put the fish in his mouth."
The fish lodged in his throat, Twaddle quickly lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead at St. Mary Medical Center.  Crew members, lifeguards and paramedics tried to dislodge the fish and perform CPR, but to no avail, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.  It was unclear what kind of bait Twaddle had put in his mouth.
The LAUSD sent a note to parents and was providing grief counselors for traumatized students.

PALIN

After days of nationwide controversy, a West Hollywood homeowner has removed an effigy of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin that was hanging from a noose off the side of his house.

ChadMichael Morrisette, a professional window display designer who set up the life-size mannequin of Palin, said Wednesday evening that he had met with West Hollywood Mayor Jeffrey Prang and decided it was best to remove the decoration.

"There was a huge mob scene," Morrisette said of the onlookers -- and protesters -- the display attracted. "The whole thing became a life of its own."

OBAMA

Barack Obama effigies turned up Wednesday on the University of Kentucky campus and in a front yard in Indiana, as federal authorities said they weren't investigating a Sarah Palin hanging-from-a-noose Halloween display in California as a hate crime.

Kentucky school officials in Lexington were trying to determine who hung a mannequin lookalike of Obama from a tree on campus, school spokesman Carl Nathe told The Associated Press. Police took the effigy down immediately.

In Clarksville, Ind., Kirk Deddo strung an Obama doll up by a noose from a tree on his lawn and called it a Halloween decoration, saying it was the most frightening one he could find, WNDA-TV in Indiana reported.

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Dueling effigies of Palin and Obama:
http://www.foxnews.com/photoessay/0,4644,5505,00.html

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- Bad news for Fido.  Pets on lap while driving may soon be a no-no in Calif.  "Pull over and put down the dog," could become a common refrain. A California lawmaker wants to ban motorists from holding pets on their laps while driving; getting caught can produce a $35 fine.  Says one driver who has observed the phenomenon, "The dog doesn't need to be in the driver's lap.  I guess with a cell phone in one hand, a half-caf/de-caf/soy/lowfat latte and a cigarette in the other, it's up to the dog to steer!"