AP-AM Prep-Cooler Copy

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Butterball University

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Turkey producer Butterball says it will have 55 experts to field an estimated 12,000 calls Thanksgiving Day on its annual live Turkey Talk-Line.

The hot line (at 800-288-8372) functions year-round, mainly as an automated tip line. The goal is to position the nation's best-selling turkey brand as the expert in the field.

The phones are manned by trained professionals with degrees in nutrition, food science or home economics. And they're backed up by thick binders covering everything from thawing to cooking times.

Some of the tips, based on previous calls: Don't thaw our turkey in the bathtub while washing the kids -- Don't use the oven's clean setting to rush cooking.

PETA-Thanksgiving Ad

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Four NBC affiliates broadcasting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade are banning a commercial promoting veganism sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA spokesman Michael Lyubinsky said Tuesday the organization wanted to air the commercial during the parade but stations in Raleigh, N.C., Columbia, S.C., Savannah, Ga., and Little Rock, Ark., had banned it.

The commercial depicts a young girl saying grace at Thanksgiving, giving thanks for "the turkey farms where they pack them into dark, tiny little sheds for their whole lives."

The ad encourages viewers to "Go vegan."

Brad Moses, general manager of Raleigh's WNCN, said he decided to ban the ad in Raleigh and Savannah because it's not appropriate for the spirit of the parade.

Church Robbed-Apology

ELLENWOOD, Ga. (AP) — Someone made off with loot from a Georgia church but also left behind an apology.

A note scrawled on the wall said: "Sorry but I'm poor. Forgive me Lord."

The Rev. Roger Davis tells WSB-TV that expensive equipment including microphones and a laptop containing important records were stolen over the weekend from Berean Baptist Church. The robber broke locks and the church's safe, but it was empty.

It was the fourth time the church in Ellenwood, southeast of Atlanta, has been robbed in two years.

Davis joked he's considering putting up a note of his own telling potential robbers to call him instead and the church will take up a collection for them.

Outdoor Hockey

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — The American Hockey League is going outdoors.

The Syracuse Crunch announced on Tuesday that it will host the Binghamton Senators in the Mirabito Outdoor Classic on Feb. 20 at the New York State Fairgrounds. The minor league game will be broadcast live by Time Warner.

The idea was the brainchild of Crunch owner Howard Dolgon and follows the lead of the NHL, which will be holding its third Winter Classic on New Year's Day at Fenway Park. The Philadelphia Flyers will take on the Boston Bruins.

Money for the AHL's first foray outdoors is coming from the Crunch, the Empire State Development Corp., and several area companies. It's expected to have an economic impact of close to a million dollars.

Pony Express-Auction

HONOLULU (AP) — A New York gallery will auction off what is believed to be one of three known surviving historic envelopes postmarked on the first day of the Pony Express.

The envelope postmarked April 3, 1860, is valued at $300,000. It is among 63 items owned by 88-year-old Thurston Twigg-Smith that will be sold Dec. 5 by Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries in New York. Twigg-Smith is the former publisher of The Honolulu Advertiser in Hawaii.

It estimates the collection's value is $2.5 million or more.

Twigg-Smith also will auction one of two surviving Pony Express letters that originated in Hawaii. It is valued at $500,000.

The Pony Express lasted 19 months, shuttling mail 1,900 miles from St. Joseph, Mo., to San Francisco.

Britain-King Kong

LONDON (AP) — The tiny King Kong figurine that helped launch the career of one of cinema's biggest monsters has sold for about 121,000 pounds ($200,000) at a London auction.

Auctioneer Christie's says the 22-inch (56-centimeter) skeleton was the one used in the climactic scene of the 1933 movie in which the giant ape climbs New York's Empire State Building.

Other such figurines were used elsewhere in the movie, which wowed contemporary audiences with its groundbreaking special effects.

The figurine's metal skeleton was once covered in cotton, rubber, liquid latex and rabbit's fur. But the monster's fleshy covering has since rotted away.

The figurine was sold as part of the auctioneer's popular culture sale Tuesday.