Santa Claus – News Stories About Santa Claus - Page 5

ho, ho, ho

Dec 24, 2009 4:44 PM CST

NORAD Sets Sights on Santa

Bizarre tradition dates back to misprinted Christmas ad in 1955

(Newser) - The North American Aerospace Defense Command is ready for its busiest night of the year, when it puts mundane tasks like looking for wandering Russian bombers or North Korean missiles on the back burner and tracks Santa Claus. As it has every Christmas for more than 50 years, NORAD offers...

Santa Robs Nashville Bank

IT'S A HO-HO-HOLD UP

Dec 24, 2009 2:12 AM CST

Santa Robs Nashville Bank

Bad Santa tells bank workers he needs cash to pay elves

(Newser) - Nashville police are seeking a bad Santa who robbed a local bank and fled with a red sack full of cash. The man, dressed in a Santa suit and sunglasses, "took his little red sack and pulled out a gun and told everyone to be still," one witness...

Jack Bauer
Grills Santa

welcome to the naughty list

Dec 21, 2009 4:44 PM CST

Jack Bauer Grills Santa

Kiefer Sutherland gets to the bottom of this reindeer business

(Newser) - The lights are low, the questioning intense, the object of the interrogation nervous. No, he doesn't have a passport. He just delivers packages, and the planning takes all year. Superspy Jack Bauer of 24 fame isn't buying it—and he winds up on the naughty list even before he calls...

Santa's a Terrible
Role Model for Kids

Dec 17, 2009 4:00 PM CST

Santa's a Terrible Role Model for Kids

He's obese, doesn't wear a helmet, and could be spreading swine flu

(Newser) - There really is a Santa Claus—and he's a public health menace, warns a light-hearted new study in a British medical journal. It identifies a "very high Santa awareness" among children and determines that he's a reckless role model with his frequent cookie snacks, occasional cigars, and refusal to...

Dear Santa, Send Me a Mom (Not Clothes)

Dec 12, 2009 5:06 AM CST

Dear Santa, Send Me a Mom (Not Clothes)

Kids' letters to St. Nick go way beyond toys, and often skip 'please'

(Newser) - Some are funny, some are sad; some ask for a microscope, some to be transformed into an elf; but the one thing kids writing letters to Santa agree on is: no clothes. So says a professor who analyzed more than 1,200 letters sent to Santa, from one child's heart-wrenching...

SANTA BABY, DID
U GET MY TXT?

Dec 7, 2009 1:33 PM CST

SANTA BABY, DID U GET MY TXT?

AT&T rolls out new way to contact the man in red

(Newser) - After last year’s pedophile scare, the Postal Service has cracked down on adults who want to reply to kids’ letters to Santa—and AT&T is stepping in to keep the lines of communication open. Naughty and nice correspondents of all ages who want a speedy reply from jolly...

Post Office
Drops North Pole
Letter Program

Nov 19, 2009 12:18 PM CST

Post Office Drops North Pole Letter Program

Cancellation infuriates Santa's helpers in Alaska town

(Newser) - Furious North Pole residents are accusing the Postal Service of playing Grinch by ending its letters to Santa program—because it attracted a sex offender. Since 1954, the Postal Service has happily sent letters to Santa to North Pole, Alaska, where volunteers respond and mail them back with a North...

'Santa Shooter' Had
Coke in His System

Apr 3, 2009 3:54 PM CDT

'Santa Shooter' Had Coke in His System

(Newser) - The California man who murdered his ex-wife and eight members of her family on Christmas Eve while dressed as Santa Claus had cocaine in his system, the Los Angeles Times reports. The coroner’s office said the cocaine was present in trace amounts and was only a contributing factor to...

Killer 'Santa' Was Out to
Get His Mom

Dec 30, 2008 2:40 AM CST

Killer 'Santa' Was Out to Get His Mom

13 kids were orphaned by Pardo's rampage on Christmas Eve

(Newser) - The man who carried out a Christmas Eve killing spree dressed as Santa Claus had planned to kill his own mother, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo was furious with his mom for siding with his ex-wife in their bitter marital dispute and knew she was invited to...

Melting Santa Suit Burned Killer, Foiled Getaway

Dec 27, 2008 9:30 AM CST

Melting Santa Suit Burned Killer, Foiled Getaway

Gunman found with costume fused to skin

(Newser) - The California Santa killer, who committed suicide after massacring his ex-wife’s family, had planned an escape by plane—but he was foiled by third-degree burns as his Santa Claus suit melted onto his body, the Los Angeles Times reports. The explosion as he set fire to his ex-wife’s...

'Santa' Gunman Hid Son
From Ex-Wife: Cops

Dec 26, 2008 5:32 PM CST

'Santa' Gunman Hid Son From Ex-Wife: Cops

Revelation of child from previous relationship stressed the Pardo's marriage

(Newser) - Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, who police say killed nine others in a Christmas Eve rampage in California, kept a child from a previous relationship secret from his ex-wife, the Los Angeles Times reports. Pardo did not support his physically handicapped 9-year-old son financially, but claimed him as a dependent for 7...

'Santa' Shooter Had Bomb, Plane Ticket, Cash: Police

Dec 26, 2008 2:03 PM CST

'Santa' Shooter Had Bomb, Plane Ticket, Cash: Police

Death toll at 9 after another body is found in ashes of Calif. home

(Newser) - The discovery of another body in the charred wreckage of a California home brings the death toll in the Christmas Eve shooting rampage to nine, ABC News reports. Police say Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, suspected of shooting his former in-laws while disguised as Santa, had $10,000 in cash and...

Death Toll Hits 8
in 'Santa' Slayings

Dec 26, 2008 3:01 AM CST

Death Toll Hits 8 in 'Santa' Slayings

Engineer carried firestarting device disguised as a gift

(Newser) - The death toll in the Christmas Eve massacre by a California man dressed as Santa Claus has now risen to at least eight as more details of the rampage emerge, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo first shot in the face an 8-year-old girl who answered the...

Police Find More Santa Shooting Victims in Ashes

UPDATED

Dec 25, 2008 12:58 PM CST

Police Find More Santa Shooting Victims in Ashes

Charred bodies at suburban LA home where 3 already confirmed dead

(Newser) - Several more bodies are in the ashes of a suburban Los Angeles home that was the scene of a Christmas Eve massacre, police tell the AP. Authorities would not say how many bodies there were; three people were already declared dead after a man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire...

Santa Shooting Suspect Commits Suicide

UPDATED

Dec 25, 2008 11:35 AM CST

Santa Shooting Suspect Commits Suicide

'Person of interest' in SoCal deaths found dead: cops

(Newser) - Police say the man suspected of opening fire last night at a Christmas party in suburban Los Angeles while dressed as Santa Claus has killed himself, the AP reports. The body of 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo was found at the home of his brother early today. Police would not say...

3 Dead in LA 'Santa' Shooting

Dec 25, 2008 9:39 AM CST

3 Dead in LA 'Santa' Shooting

Man opened fire at Christmas Eve party

(Newser) - Three people are dead and as many injured after a man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire at a Christmas Eve party, CNN reports. The suburban Los Angeles house was engulfed in a fire when police arrived, the AP adds, and Santa walked off in street clothes. Police are looking...

Santa Gets
Help From
Cousin
Pancho

Dec 24, 2008 3:02 PM CST

Santa Gets Help From Cousin Pancho

Barrio folk hero sports a lowrider, elf entourage

(Newser) - Santa's been getting a little help from his South Pole cousin, Pancho Claus, the lowrider-driving barrio folk hero who doles out gifts on both sides of the Texas border. Pancho takes different forms—sporting a red zoot suit in Houston and a sombrero and black beard in San Antonio—but...

Under the Tree: Medical Myths

Dec 21, 2008 6:21 PM CST

Under the Tree: Medical Myths

Recent study debunks seasonal misconceptions

(Newser) - Bending and breaking under holiday stress? Relax! The British Medical Journal has bah-humbugged six holiday health myths, the New York Times reports:

Night eating makes you fat: Calories are calories. When you eat doesn't matter; it's what you eat.
Poinsettias are perilous: Reported cases of human poinsettia consumption: 22,

...

The Kids Are All Right:
Let's Drop the 'Santa Debate'

OPINION

Dec 21, 2008 1:32 PM CST

The Kids Are All Right: Let's Drop the 'Santa Debate'

Parents sharply divided on whether to pretend for sake of kids

(Newser) - As if shopping for the last Malibu Barbie weren’t hard enough, Christmas is testing parents' psyches in more insidious ways, Carl Honoré writes in the Washington Post. “The Great Santa Debate,” about whether to keep up the St. Nick myth for children, “feeds into a broader...

They Used to Laugh and Call Her Names

Dec 19, 2008 1:07 PM CST

They Used to Laugh and Call Her Names

Rudolph and Santa's other sleigh-pullers may be ladies

(Newser) - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer very likely is a girl, or so say wildlife experts who’ve turned their attention to Santa’s lead sleigh-puller. Male reindeer typically shed their horns before Christmas, so popular images of Rudolph’s team with big, branched antlers would mean they might actually be female,...