Practical joker finds apartment cages him in

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A practical joker got a taste of revenge when friends turned part of his apartment into a human-sized hamster cage, complete with shredded newspaper bedding, a six-foot exercise wheel and a giant water bottle. "It was a lot of work, but it was one of those cases where you do it because you have to," said Keith Jewell, a longtime friend and neighbor who engineered the prank on Luke Trerice. In 2004, Trerice, 28, enlisted others to help him encase another friend's apartment in aluminum foil, as well as most of his belongings, including each coin in his spare change. The revenge plotting began immediately. Eight people put in more than 100 hours assembling the room, and supplies cost about $300. Jewell, 26, a theater set designer and computer networker, got a machinist's help in building the giant hamster wheel from metal pipes. The group worked through the night before Trerice's arrival, shredding newspaper, blowing up a beach ball, installing the water bottle in a window and filling a metal feed bucket with Cheetos. Trerice said he's going to start saving now for his own revenge plans.

Judge strikes down gay adoption law in Okla.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A federal judge struck down a 2-year-old law that prohibits Oklahoma from recognizing adoptions by same-sex couples from other states and countries. U.S. District Judge Robin Cauthron ruled Friday the measure violated due process rights under the U.S. Constitution because it attempted to break up families without considering the parents' fitness or the children's best interests. Gay-rights organization Lambda Legal had challenged the law on behalf of three same-sex couples. One of the plaintiffs, Heather Finstuen, said the ruling will allow her and partner Anne Magro to focus on being parents to their 7-year-old twin girls rather than worrying about the adoption law. The ruling was attacked by supporters of the law, which was passed by the Legislature with bipartisan support in 2004.

Civil War-era fort in New York for sale on eBay

ROUSES POINT, N.Y. -- A Civil War-era fort is for sale on eBay. Fort Montgomery, built in 1844, was manned during the war but never saw any action. "This is the first time it's been formally for sale," said Victor Podd of Boca Raton, Fla., whose family has owned the fort for 23 years. The limestone fort sits on a Lake Champlain island in northern New York and is connected to the mainland by a 700-foot causeway. The full package offered on the auction Web site includes 6,900 feet of lake frontage and 279 acres on the adjacent mainland. As of Saturday, the top bid for the property was $1 million.

-- From wire reports