Watch floats 1,800 miles to the Faeroes

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - A wristwatch buried in the ice at the North Pole three years ago was found by a boy more than 1,800 miles away after it floated ashore on the Faeroe Islands. Niels Jakup Mortensen, 11, spotted a black box near his home on Suduroy, the Faeroes' southernmost island, his mother Anna Jacobsen said. Inside, she said, was a watch that had been buried at the North Pole by Joergen Amundsen, a descendant of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

Jacobsen said the watch discovered by her son earlier this month was still working, and was accompanied by a letter from Joergen Amundsen. "It was so unbelievable," she said. "It had been buried in the North Pole.

" Hjalmar Hatun, an oceanographer with the Faeroese Fisheries Laboratory, said the watch likely drifted south with one of the chunks of ice that frequently break away at the North Pole and are carried off by ocean currents. The Faeroes, an 18-island Danish territory, are located halfway between Scotland and Iceland. Hatun said the ice breaking off is not related to global warming, as the phenomenon was first observed more than 100 years ago.

ANGELS CAMP, Calif. - A quarrel between the organizers of the Calaveras County Fair and its annual Jumping Frog Jubilee has led to plans for dueling frog-hopping contests this year. Citing losses due to low turnout at last year's fair, organizers said they couldn't pay the Angels Camp Boosters Club to oversee this year's frog jumping contest.

The club has judged the jubilee since its inception in 1928. Organizers invited boosters to judge this year's contest without pay, but the club decided to organize its own jumping frog contest that could compete with the fair's, said club member Bill Proctor. The annual event, held from May 16-20 this year, is inspired by "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," Mark Twain's tale of a frog-jumping contest that is weighted in one gambler's favor when he secretly fills his opponent's frog with buckshot.

Thousands attend the five-day fair each year, which culminates in the competition featuring frogs from across the country. Winning frog owners get a $750 prize or $5,000 if their frog breaks the 1986 record of 21 feet, 5 3/4 inches set by Rosie the Ribeter.

Couple out of line in court cafeteria?

CLEVELAND - No soup for you! A man and a woman accused of scamming stores out of millions of dollars have been banned from the courthouse cafeteria after a police officer said the two were spotted lifting food. "If they do that in here, then what are they doing out there on bond?

" said Richmond Heights police Sgt. Chuck Duffy. Duffy said Joan Hall, 65, loaded a takeout lunch into a plastic bag and set it atop a newspaper rack near the checkout counter.

Then, he said, Roger Neff, 75, moved the lunch to the top of a trash can, where they waited for a few minutes, then left with the lunch. Judge Nancy Fuerst banned them from the cafeteria during the trial. "You bring your lunch," she said.

Edward LaRue, Neff's attorney, said on Wednesday that he was prohibited by the judge from talking about the trial or what happened in the cafeteria.