HOSCHTON, Ga. – A small northeastern Georgia town’s population boom is frightening. In a bid to break a world record and scare up some fun for the fall season, thousands of straw-stuffed newcomers are creeping across town.

There’s a scuba diver, the Georgia Bulldogs football team and even likenesses of Jesus and Elvis popped up.

The 1,700 residents of Hoschton hope to nearly triple their population with 4,000 scarecrows and break the Guinness World Record for “Most Scarecrows in One Location.”

The title belongs to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society’s Cincinnati Flower and Farm Fest, which set the record in 2003 with 3,311 scarecrows.

Antique dealer Robbie Bettis and her husband, Fred, are leading the effort for the town’s fall festival, which begins Monday.

“We thought if we gave people something fun to do then maybe they will forget about the difficult economy,” she said..

Police find more than 100 animals in N.Y. backyard

GREENBURGH, N.Y. – More than 100 animals destined for religious sacrifice have been rescued from a backyard in a northern suburb of New York City.

Westchester police responding to a complaint last Friday found about 30 goats and rams plus crates of chickens, ducks, quail, turtles, pigeons and doves.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chief Ken Ross says Greenburgh resident Luis Perez-Hernandez and his son had planned to sacrifice the animals in a ritual of the Afro-Caribbean religion Santeria.

Religious animal sacrifice is not illegal. Both men have been charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty because two animals died.

A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Perez-Hernandez said neither man was available for comment.