GLENDALE, California (AP) — A chicken playing chicken? That is what’s been happening on a busy Glendale street where a black hen has been dodging cars, captors and coyotes for two months.

Officials said the bird has been darting into traffic outside Glendale Community College since it was first reported Nov. 20. The chicken has drawn a growing crowd of photographers and journalists as animal control officers struggle to catch it.

A spokeswoman for the Pasadena Humane Society, which handles animal control in Glendale, said the bird either runs onto the street or flies into a tree when officers approach. Hillary Gatlin said a humane trap has not worked because the chicken doesn't weigh enough to trigger it or she has not been interested in the feed used as bait.

Gatlin said the standoff could continue for awhile.

Driver chokes on chili, crashes truck into home

LOWELL, Massachusetts (AP) — Police reported that a lumber truck crashed into a home after the driver was knocked unconscious by a small chili from Wendy's.

Lowell police said Eric Gremm reported that he choked on the chili when the truck hit a bump, causing him to pass out as the flatbed truck veered off the road and slammed into the home. The man said emergency workers at the scene told him that he passed out, but he could not remember losing consciousness.

Police said the truck hit the foundation of the home, and authorities were worried that the home might collapse if the truck was pulled out.

Gremm was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Police said he could be cited for eating while driving.

Odor-free socks for stink-free training

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel's foot soldiers are getting new odor-free socks that can be worn for two weeks straight without smelling or stinking up the feet, the Maariv daily reported.

"It may sound ridiculous... but this is a very important issue that causes many problems during training," the newspaper quoted Brigadier General Nissim Peretz, the commander of the Israeli military's logistics division, as saying.

The socks, which will be distributed to all new infantry recruits beginning March, also prevent athlete's foot — "a nuisance with which every soldier is very familiar," the paper said.

The fabric includes metal components to keep bad odors and fungal infections at bay, it said.

Inflatable gorilla blamed for Houston mall fire

HOUSTON (AP) — Fire department officials said an out-of-control inflatable gorilla was blamed for a rooftop blaze at a Houston shopping center. No injuries were reported in the fire early Thursday. Meanwhile, the remnants of the inflatable gorilla were found at the site.

District Chief Fred Hooker said that the fire started when some type of a "blowup doll" on the roof deflated and landed on some lights, leading to the fire.

Fire authorities said two stores suffered minor water damage. Part of the rooftop also suffered fire damage.

Priest checks fingerprints for mass attendance

WARSAW (Reuters) — A Polish priest has installed an electronic reader in his church for schoolchildren to leave their fingerprints in order to monitor their attendance at mass, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily said.

The pupils will mark their fingerprints every time they go to church over three years and if they attend 200 masses they will be freed from the obligation of having to pass an exam prior to their confirmation, the paper said.

The pupils in the southern town of Gryfow Slaski told the daily they liked the idea and also the priest, Grzegorz Sowa, who invented it.

"This is comfortable. We don't have to stand in a line to get the priest's signature (confirming our presence at the mass) in our confirmation notebooks," said one pupil, who gave her name as Karolina.

Poland is perhaps the most devoutly Roman Catholic country in Europe today and churches are regularly packed on Sundays.