Dispatches from the Checkout Lines

A woman shoplifting at a Christmas Fair in Southington, Conn., stabbed somebody trying to stop her, using a stolen seashell Christmas ornament as a weapon, the Harford Courant reported.

According to a recent report in Adweek, about one in 11 shoppers walks out of a store with something he or she didn't pay for. Items most at risk of shoplifting include choice cuts of beef, expensive liquor, electric tools, iPhone 4 and other electronic gadgets, razor blades, Axe deoderant and body wash, designer apparel, expensive fragrances, hot toys and big-name athletic shoes.

About 12,000 Americans are treated in hospital emergency departments nationwide due to holiday-related decorating incidents during the months of November and December, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Santa's arrival at a Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., mall went awry when his beard became tangled in rappelling equipment as he descended from the ceiling above a crowd of wide-eyed children, WTSP reports. After inching down the rope painfully slowly while the kids became inceasingly confused and restless, the rappeller yanked off the beard and revealed himself to be a helper and not actually Santa. He reportedly left quickly after completing the stunt.

With so many people suffering from the economic downturn, prospective Santas at the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School in Midland, Mich., are being trained to rein in the expectations of children, according to a Huffington Post report.

For $10, the Scottsdale (Arizona) Gun Club is inviting non-members to take pictures with Santa and an assortment of about $170,000 of firepower that had been gathered for the photo-up, Talking Points Memo reported.