Website spoofs mayor with 'undocumented Santa' report

Cracking down on illegal immigrants may have unintended consequences that reach far into the homes of Americans -- through their chimneys.

Santa Claus may not have a green card amid his red attire, so a Pennsylvania mayor known for his hard-line views on illegal immigrants was forced to issue words of welcome to the figure of mythic proportions.

A satirical website charged that Lou Barletta, the mayor of Hazleton, Pa., had banned the "nation's most prominent undocumented worker" from making his annual rounds.

Earlier this year, Barletta pushed through a tough new ordinance targeting illegal immigrants.

The law, which is on hold pending a court challenge, penalizes landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants and employers who give them jobs.

Barletta, who was less than thrilled with the website hoax, said Mr. Claus has little to fear. "Santa Claus is welcome in Hazleton, as he's welcome everywhere," he told Fox News.

Frankincense and myrrh may be the fragrances most closely associated with Christmas, but for workers at a Stayton, Ore., wood plant, an aromatic substance of another kind was slipped into the holiday festivities.

Chocolate-flavored oatmeal cookies laced with marijuana showed up in a break room last week and sent about a dozen Weyerhaeuser Co. factory employees to an area hospital for lightheadedness and dizziness.

One had to stay overnight for observation.

A $500 reward was being offered by police for information that helps them nab this particular grinch.

Hanukkah may be a holiday rich with tradition, but a movement is afoot to add yet another tradition to the mix.

The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life has organized a campaign to cut back on the use of conventional light bulbs in menorahs.

Over the past few weeks, the group has been urging that all bulb-bearing menorahs be converted into energy-efficient vessels for giving off light.

The environmentally friendly switch has swept through the nation's synagogues and households, with many using compact fluorescent light bulbs and chanting an "installation prayer" for the changing of the bulbs.

And in a statistic that's fitting for their efforts, just as Hanukkah spans eight nights, the bulbs are said to last eight times as long.

Tracking Santa's moves can be a tricky matter. Dennis Willms of Austin knows this all too well.

It seems that many youngsters mistake the phone number for Willms's specialty food business for the toll-free number that NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, runs to help families prepare for Santa's flight on Christmas Eve.

His number is one digit off from the sleigh hot line, so it's no surprise that a few wayward calls end up drifting his way.

"These kids have their heart set on it -- they get so excited," Willms said.

Just in case, he left the correct number on his voicemail machine.

It's the season for strange crimes, and police blotters have been longer than a 6-year-old's wish list of gifts.

In Chicago, 32 plastic baby Jesus dolls were stolen from Nativity displays set up in people's front yards. The kidnappers lined up all the dolls along the fence outside a Chicago woman's home. She turned them over to her parish priest.

Similar creche crimes occurred in at least 35 cities from Fayetteville, N.C., to Mission Viejo, Calif., this year, according to the Catholic League, which tracks Nativity vandalism.

In Houghton, Mich., somebody stole an inflatable Grinch from outside an apartment complex.

In Ohio's Hamilton County, a pair of 18-year-olds were arrested for using screwdrivers to stab an inflatable 12-foot-tall Frosty the Snowman.

"Why me?" asked Frosty's owner, Matt Williquette. "And why Frosty?"

Compiled by Globe correspondent Emma Stickgold from news services.