NEWS

The week’s odd news: Bear scurries around Wyoming city, falls asleep, gets caught

Associated Press

CASPER, Wyo. – After leading wildlife officials on a daylong chase through a Wyoming city, an exhausted young black bear fell asleep under a tree.

“He was sleeping under an aspen tree just wiped out from his day’s adventures,” State Game and Fish spokeswoman Janet Milek told the Casper Star-Tribune newspaper.

“He was so sound asleep he didn’t move when we used the tranquilizer,” she said.

Game wardens captured the bear around 6:45 p.m. May 27 after authorities tried several times to corner it in Casper. It was initially spotted at 6:30 a.m.

People watched from their back porches as the animal hopped fences, and police blocked off streets to allow wardens to track the animal. At some homes, officers joined residents on their porches and peered through binoculars in search of the bear.

It’s common for young bears to wander through the Wyoming towns of Glenrock of Casper, especially in subdivisions close to Casper Mountain.

Regional wildlife coordinator Justin Binfet says the bear probably came down from Casper Mountain. The bear will be released, wildlife officials said.

“The vast majority of the time, these are yearling bears that the mother forces out on their own,” Binfet said. “In these situations, it’s a scared little yearling black bear, and it wound up in an unfamiliar place. It’s more scared than anything.”

Boston still has snow piles — now covered with trash

BOSTON – Snow piles from the record-setting New England winter are lingering in the Boston area, even as the weather turns summer-like.

A 75-foot-high snow mound in Boston’s Seaport District has been reduced to a three-story pile of dirt and trash — including bicycles, traffic cones and even half a $5 bill — that remains encrusted in solid ice.

Department of Public Works Commissioner Michael Dennehy tells The Boston Globe the vile pile is “a science experiment waiting to happen.”

Crews have been working for six weeks to clean away the trash as it breaks free from the mound. So far, they have pulled out 85 tons of debris.

Dennehy says the pile will be around for weeks, even as the air temperature hits 80.

Twins charged with hurling bricks at each other

ORANGE CITY, Fla. – What are a few bricks between brothers?

Well, they’re worth battery charges for twin 52-year-olds after officials say an argument ended with them hurling the projectiles at each other.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that Michael and James Remelius were arguing in the front yard of a home last week when Michael first threatened to throw a brick at his brother.

According to a police report, Michael Remelius followed through, striking his brother in the leg and causing a small cut. James Remelius retaliated with a brick that bloodied and bruised his brother’s eye.

Both were arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Both remained jailed May 26. James’ bail is $25,000 while Michael’s is $20,000. Court records show they do not yet have attorneys to comment on the case.

Man acquitted of animal cruelty for blowing pot smoke

CHICAGO – A judge has acquitted a Chicago man of animal cruelty charges filed after the man posted a video of himself smoking marijuana with a chameleon.

After viewing the video and hearing the arguments of prosecutors and defense attorneys, Cook County Circuit Judge Robert Kuzas ruled May 27 that Bruce Blunt’s behavior was “uncalled for and immature” but didn’t rise to criminal behavior.

Blunt posted a Facebook video of himself smoking marijuana with the chameleon, Binna, earlier this year. That prompted a complaint from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

After his acquittal, Blunt said he blew smoke into the chameleon’s mouth because it seemed to calm the aggressive reptile.

The Chicago Tribune reports Blunt said he hopes to get the chameleon back from Chicago Animal Care and Control.

Man with 1st name ‘God’ settles with credit rating agency

NEW YORK – A New York City man whose first name is God has settled a lawsuit with a credit reporting agency that had refused to recognize his name as legitimate.

Under the agreement reached in Brooklyn federal court this week, Equifax will enter God Gazarov’s name into its database. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Gazarov now has a robust 820 credit score.

He says he was shocked by Equifax’s refusal to acknowledge his moniker.

The Russian native is a Brooklyn jewelry store owner who is named after his grandfather. He says it’s a relatively common name in his native country.

He told the New York Post he’s relieved the matter has been settled and plans to buy a new BMW.

Lawyers for Equifax declined to comment.

Police take stray pig into custody in suburban Detroit

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Officers in suburban Detroit took a stray pig into custody, holding the animal in the back of a police vehicle before reuniting it with its owner.

Debbie DeRiemaecker tells WXYZ-TV that she was doing yard work in the evening of May 28 at her home in Macomb County’s Shelby Township when the pig came barreling toward her. It chased her into the front yard before apparently getting distracted by a decorative ball.

DeRiemaecker called 911 and explained the situation.

She says police officers soon pulled up at her home and got the pig off the streets, though it left a mess in the police vehicle.

Man serves coffee to drivers stuck at train crossing

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A man offered motorists a little refreshment as they were stuck waiting for a train to get moving.

Phil Qualls, manager at Ferguson Plumbing Supplies, says it seemed like a good thing to do when the train stopped at a crossing May 28 near the store. So he brewed pots of coffee and put cups, stir sticks, cream and sugar on the top of a makeshift serving tray.

The Kalamazoo Gazette reports that he walked up and down the line of stopped cars, offering coffee and seeking to lighten the mood.

Qualls says: “I thought about how I’d feel if I was waiting.” He says he distributed cups to 15 to 20 motorists. By the time he came back to get another pot, the train started moving again.

Ohio man posts message on his SUV: ‘Got kidney? I need 1’

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A man in need of a kidney donor is taking his search on the road in unusual fashion, with bright yellow letters taped to the rear window of his SUV.

The message on Neal Raisman’s silver-blue vehicle reads: “Got kidney? I need 1.” It includes a phone number for interested callers.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that a similar message is taped on an SUV belonging to Raisman’s daughter, who lives not far from her father’s home in the Columbus suburb of Bexley. They took the SUV ad approach after Raisman’s relatives were ruled out as donors because of diabetes and other medical reasons.

“If the sign doesn’t work in one way, perhaps it will in another,” said Raisman, 67, a former college president with expertise in the written word and in marketing. “The more front-facing I can get the issue, the greater the possibility that someone will be a donor, not only for me.”

The connections between kidney patients and their donors are sometimes thin: A friend of a friend from church, an old high school friend reunited on Facebook or even a stranger, said Robin Petersen-Webster, living-kidney donor coordinator at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

“I’ve heard a story about a man standing on exit ramps with a sandwich board for his wife,” Petersen-Webster said.Raisman says he has heard from a few people, including one offering — illegally — to sell him an organ, but there’s no matching donor yet.

3 burglars share tips of trade in crime prevention video

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Police looking to educate the public about ways to prevent break-ins turned to the experts — three convicted burglars.

The Columbus Police Department recruited the inmates with the help of the state prisons agency and produced a YouTube video in which the offenders share their how-to tips. Most of the suggestions are common-sense warnings about locking up, keeping blinds drawn and not storing valuables in cars.

A few recommendations stand out for originality: “Sometimes set it off so people know it’s there. Don’t just buy it and never set it off.” That’s William Coffman, of Franklin County, serving time for burglary and aggravated robbery, on advertising that your home alarm system works.

Or Hardin County burglar Joel Hamlin on the importance of putting valuables in a wall safe, not a small portable safe:

“Little safes? You can easily just grab that and take it on out,” he said.

Or Adam Taylor, of Hamilton County, on why the elderly are often targeted: It’s easier “to burglarize them and get away with it.”

Columbus police and the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction filmed the inmates last year, put the pieces together over the past few months and recently posted the two-part, 24-minute video, called “From the Big House to Your House.”

Police Cmdr. Bob Meader likens the impact to a child tuning out advice from a parent but heeding the same tips from a teacher or coach.

“For the police to say, ‘Lock your doors, keep your garage door shut, leave the lights on on your porch,’ is one thing,” Meader said. “When you’re hearing it from somebody that actually did it for a living? I think it adds some validity to it.”

Criminals-turned-anti-crime consultants aren’t new. In 1985, reformed burglar Ray Johnson published “Ray Johnson’s Total Security: How You can Protect Yourself Against Crime.”

In 2002, the Leonardo DiCaprio movie “Catch Me If You Can” told the real-life story of check forger Frank Abagnale Jr., who impersonated an airline pilot, a doctor and a lawyer before going to prison and then becoming an FBI consultant.

In the case of the three Ohio burglars, they agreed to cooperate in exchange for a letter to the parole board from Columbus police about their participation.

The exercise seemed to help the men process the effect they had on their communities, said Officer Norm Russell, who came up with the idea.

Hardin County prosecutor Bradford Bailey recalled Hamlin as a brazen addict who broke into wealthy people’s homes in broad daylight. Charging documents from the day Hamlin was arrested describe him going house to house in February 2006 before fleeing from officers, tossing a bag into a river and throwing away other items as he ran.

Bailey isn’t bothered by Hamlin’s role in the video.

“We’ll take any tips from the good guys, or we’ll take them from the bad guys,” Bailey said.

Firefighters too big, but girl just right to rescue kitten

LANCASTER, Pa. – Firefighters were too big to rescue a tiny kitten from a central Pennsylvania storm drain but a 6-year-old girl’s size proved to be just right.

Lancaster Township firefighters responded when the girl, Janeysha Cruz, and her friends, saw the trapped kitten on the afternoon of May 26.

The girl’s mother called 911 and then gave firefighters permission to lower the kindergartner nearly 3 feet down into the drain, which was too small for the firefighters to enter. The girl was able to coax the kitten to come to her, and handed it to the firefighters.

The fire department reported the incident on its Facebook page, along with a picture of Janeysha, Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Usdin and the kitten.

Mystery of disappearing holes in Swiss cheese solved

BERLIN – The mystery of Swiss cheese and its disappearing holes has been solved: The milk’s too clean.

A Swiss agricultural institute discovered that tiny specks of hay are responsible for the famous holes in cheeses such as Emmentaler or Appenzeller. As milk matures into cheese, these “microscopically small hay particles” help create the holes in the traditional Swiss cheese varieties.

The government-funded Agroscope institute said in a statement Thursday that the transition from age-old milking methods in barns to fully-automated, industrial milking systems had caused holes to decline during the last 15 years.

In a series of tests, scientists added different amounts of hay dust to the milk and discovered it allowed them to regulate the number of holes.

Ducklings waddle their way inside Alaska hardware store

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Wildlife officials are deciding what’s next for a group of ducklings that wandered into a Fairbanks hardware store.

The Fairbanks Daily News Miner reports that Alaska Industrial Hardware employee Tammy Madeiros says the five tennis-ball-sized birds would have had to waddle across four lanes of traffic on May 27 to make it inside the store.

Four of the five birds were removed without incident, but one got stuck under a vending machine before U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service technicians arrived.

Federal officials couldn’t be reached for comment, but Alaska Department of Fish and Game Spokeswoman Cathie Harms said the agency will likely attempt to find the ducklings’ mother and leave them with her, or place them with an animal caretaker.

A head scratcher: 9 brains found next to train tracks

GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. – Nine brains were found along a street in a northern New York village, but authorities say there’s nothing to fear.

The brains are believed to have been part of a collection for educational or research purposes. No criminal activity is suspected. Residents discovered the brains on a street near railroad tracks in Governeur and notified police May 27.

A local veterinarian determined one of the brains had been professionally removed and preserved in formaldehyde. The organs are believed to be either from dogs or sheep.

Mishaps with preserved brains are not uncommon.

Last year the University of Texas in Austin said dozens of human brains stored in jars of formaldehyde and reported missing were actually destroyed in 2002. Those brains had been donated for teaching and research.

Phone scammer dials state trooper, given stern warning

SKOWHEGAN, Maine – A Maine state trooper issued a stern warning to a telephone scammer who called to tell him he had missed grand jury duty and would be arrested if he didn’t pay a fee.

The scammer called state trooper Dale Lancaster on his private line on May 25 and told him he had to pay the fine or make a donation to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department.

The Kennebec Journal reports that Lancaster told the male caller: “If you call again, we’re going to hunt you down.”

Police found the man was using a track phone bought in Georgia and had set up voice mail to identify the phone as belonging to “Officer Evans from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office.”

There is no Officer Evans in the Somerset County Sheriff’s office.

Roller coaster fan notches 5,000th ride on historic coaster

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. – An 82-year-old fan of a historic Pennsylvania roller coaster celebrated his 5,000th ride on it over the holiday weekend — sitting for more than eight consecutige hours and logging 95 spins around the wooden ride in a single day.

Vic Kleman, 82, marked the milestone May 24 on the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin. His number of rides honored the roller coaster’s 95th birthday this season.

“I feel great!” said Kleman, a retired general manager of a wholesale grocery firm and a local actor. “I made sure to move my legs throughout the day to keep from getting stiff after sitting so long.”

In 2010, Kleman also said he felt “great” after notching his 4,000th ride on the wooden coaster, which dates to 1920 and has an 85-foot double-dip drop. He rode the coaster 90 times that day and rode it 80 times to mark his own 80th birthday.

Kleman said he’s been riding the world’s fifth-oldest coaster since 1959, when he moved to Pittsburgh, and on that first ride friends tricked him into taking his eyes off the track just before the cars plummeted.

“We laughed so hard as we came out we were falling all over each other,” Kleman said. “I thought, OK, well, maybe I’ll ride some more.”

Throughout the day, Kleman was joined in his cart by fellow coaster aficionados, friends and park staffers.

“The people on all the different rides seemed to make it go faster, when everyone around you is so joyful,” he said. “I felt pretty good afterward . Of course, there’s no telling how I’ll feel tomorrow morning.”

Kleman said he drank and ate very little to prepare for the feat, since he hoped to ride without stopping for even a bathroom break. Friends from the American Coaster Enthusiasts offered him water between rides. A paramedic was on standby, just in case.

A Kennywood spokesman said that after Kleman’s marathon session, he walked off under his power, although using his cane.

Kleman offers one tip for fellow coaster lovers: he always chooses the fifth seat in the train, maintaining that it offers a smoother ride in the middle away from the wheels.

“If you’re gonna ride over the wheels for a length of time, you’re gonna hurt,” Kleman said.

8-foot-tall typewriter coming to Boston

BOSTON – Get ready to break out the white-out, Boston. An 8-foot-tall typewriter is coming to the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway this summer.

A group of artists and designers is building a 24-to-1-scale model of a 1927 Underwood Standard Portable typewriter that will be featured at the FIGMENT Boston festival in July. It’s also set to appear at the Burning Man celebration in Nevada later this year.

The Boston Globe reports that the typewriter will have 14-inch letter keys that react when walked upon.

The Cat and the Cockroach Collective of artists and designers has raised more than $20,000 for the project.

— Compiled by Paul H. Rowe