The week’s odd news: Dolphin leaps onto boat, injuring woman

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A dolphin leaped onto a boat in Southern California, crashing into a woman and breaking both her ankles.

Chrissie Frickman was boating with her husband and two children June 21 when a pod of dolphins swam alongside them. One of the animals jumped on the vessel, knocking Frickman over and landing on her legs, the Orange County Register reported.

Her husband, Dirk, pulled her out and called authorities as he headed toward an Orange County harbor. While he steered, he splashed water on the 350-pound dolphin to keep it alive as it thrashed around and bled from some cuts.

“I could hear my phone buzzing and beeping on the floor — it was covered in blood,” he said.

Dirk Frickman got help pulling the dolphin onto a dock with a rope and then releasing it.

“The dolphin was hopefully saved,” Frickman said. “It swam away with no problem.”

His wife is still recovering from her injuries.

Harbor Patrol Sgt. DJ Haldeman confirmed the incident. He said sea lions have been known to jump aboard boats before, but that this is the first he’s heard of a dolphin doing the same.

“I don’t know what was in the water, but something must have scared it out,” Haldeman said.

Deformed mutt is crowned World’s Ugliest Dog

PETALUMA, Calif. – A 10-year-old mutt named Quasi Modo, whose spinal birth defects left her a bit hunchbacked, is the winner of this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog contest.

The pit bull-Dutch shepherd mix and her owner took the $1,500 prize on June 26, besting 25 other dogs competing in the contest that applauds imperfection, organizers said.

Quasi Modo was abandoned at an animal shelter before being adopted by a veterinarian in Loxahatchee, Florida, according to her biography posted on the contest’s website.

“My appearance can be a little unsettling to some — I have had grown men jump on top of their cars to get away from me because they thought I was a hyena or Tasmanian devil — but once they get to know me I win them over with my bubbly personality,” her biography said.

Two Chinese crested and Chihuahua mixes named Sweepee Rambo and Frodo took the second- and third-place prizes, respectively.

An 8-year-old Chihuahua named Precious received the “spirit award,” honoring a dog and owner who have overcome obstacles and/or are providing service to the community. Precious, who is blind in one eye, is trained to monitor smells related to low blood sugar levels and alert her owner, a disabled veteran, of the problem, her biography said.

The contest, held at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, California, was in its 27th year.

The dogs were scored by a three-judge panel in several categories, including special or unusual attributes, personality and natural ugliness.

Black bear crashes college party, gets collared

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A college party got a little wild when a black bear showed up.

The black bear, weighing between 300 and 400 pounds, crashed the party early June 26 near the campus of Lehigh University.

Emergency officials received a flood of 911 calls after the bear was spotted around 2 a.m. in south Bethlehem, about 50 miles north of Philadelphia.

The bear “lumbered close to the party and scared the living daylights out of people,” police Chief Mark DiLuzio said.

Lehigh University said in a “Bear Update” on its website that the animal was captured, tranquilized and removed from the area a couple of hours later.

DiLuzio said the same bear was seen June 25 near an arena and the university’s athletic facilities, but it ran into a swampy area.

Tyler Krieder, district officer of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said a tattoo on the bear’s inner lip indicates that it was from New Jersey. Noting that bears are good swimmers, he theorized that the animal swam across the Delaware River to find a new home.

“The bear wasn’t any threat to anybody,” he said. “It was just looking for somewhere to eat, take a break.”

Encroaching development often prompts bears to leave their ranges, and it’s not unusual for them to stray into populated areas on their way to a new home, Kreider said. And while young bears can wander into neighborhoods in the spring as they strike out on their own, adult bears also move around this time of year because it is mating season, he said.

The bear remains in the custody of the game commission and is doing fine, Krieder said. Pennsylvania and New Jersey authorities will discuss on which side of the river the animal will be released, he said.

Horse rescued from sinkhole on farm

SCENERY HILL, Pa. – Emergency responders used a hoist to rescue a retired racehorse from a sinkhole on a western Pennsylvania farm, authorities say.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the Washington County Animal Response Team was called after Chautauqua Worms fell into the 6-foot hole on the Scenery Hill farm.

Firefighter Ed Childers of the North Strabane fire department said rescuers lifted the 1,000-pound horse from the hole at about 9:30 a.m. July 3 with the help of an A-frame hoist borrowed from the county.

Veterinarian Leah Mitchell said the horse had a few cuts but wasn’t badly hurt. She said the situation could have been life-threatening, and Chautauqua Worms “was a lucky horse.”

Mitchell said the sinkhole was created by erosion from an underwater stream following recent rains.

Country club experiences holes-in-one spree

CONCORD, Mass. – Members of a Massachusetts country club are having a remarkable golf season.

In the two months since the Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord opened for the season, 10 players ranging in age from 11 to 79 have scored a hole-in-one.

Chris Carpenter, director of golf at the private club, tells The Boston Globe that the spree of aces is “crazy.” He says in the 10 years he’s worked at Nashawtuc, there have been maybe three or four a year.

The first came May 1, the day after the club opened for the season. The latest came on June 26.

Two came on May 30, including one by Robbie Lifson, 11, golfing with his father, a brother and his brother’s friend.

All 10 aces were witnessed.

Man charged with robbing same N.J. bank 5 years later

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – A Philadelphia man robbed a New Jersey bank four months after he was released from prison for robbing the same place five years earlier, prosecutors said.

Authorities said Keith Ney, 54, entered the Cape Bank in Atlantic City on April 23 and gave a teller a note that said he had a gun. Prosecutors said he stole an undisclosed amount of cash.

As Ney was fleeing on foot, a bank employee approached a police officer on traffic detail and said the bank had been robbed, authorities said. Ney was immediately spotted and taken into custody.

Ney had been released from prison Dec. 9 and was still on supervised release.

He was in custody July 1.

Ney is due in court July 14, and he faces up to 20 years in prison if he’s convicted on the bank robbery charge.

He also could face two additional years in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release.

Ney had received a four-year, nine-month prison term for robbing the Cape Bank and a Citizens Bank branch in Philadelphia in 2010.

2 share pageant title after miscount, but one is upset

WINSLOW, Maine – One winner of a teenage Miss 4th of July pageant is upset. The other agreed to share the title but isn’t talking. And the pageant organizer is defending herself from accusations she rigged the results.

Molly Lybrook, 17, of Fairfield, said she won the Winslow Miss 4th of July Pageant on June 27. But organizers discovered votes had been miscounted and declared Caitlin Grenier, 14, of Winslow, the winner.

As a compromise, organizers said both teenagers would be crowned winners.

The Morning Sentinel reported that Lybrook believes organizer Leah Frost influenced the results. She said Grenier and Frost’s sister are friends.

“This is somebody else’s mistake,” Lybrook said. “I won fair and square, and if it truly was a mistake, then I’m sorry, but that’s something the person who made the mistake has to pay for, not me — the winner.”

Frost said she had nothing to do with the scoring and sent Lybrook copies of the judges’ sheets to show the mistake. She said she hoped the dual queens would allow both girls to be recognized.

“I’m just trying to do what’s fair to both girls because they both worked equally hard for it,” she said.

Grenier declined to be interviewed by the newspaper.

The pageant precedes the Winslow Family 4th of July Celebration, which is one of the biggest Independence Day events in the state. The four-day event started July 1.

Parking citation tossed because of missing comma

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio – An appeals court has agreed with an Ohio woman who said her parking citation should be tossed because the village law was missing a comma.

Andrea Cammelleri says she shouldn’t have been issued a citation in 2014 based on the wording of the law enacted by the village of West Jefferson.

The law lists several types of vehicles that can’t be parked longer than 24 hours, including a “motor vehicle camper,” with the comma missing between “vehicle” and “camper.”

Cammelleri says her pickup truck did not fit that definition.

The village says the law’s meaning was clear in context, but Judge Robert Hendrickson of the 12th Ohio District Court of Appeals says in last week’s ruling that West Jefferson should amend the law if it wants it read differently.

Grenade-shaped perfume bottle leads to courthouse evacuation

CINCINNATI – A suspicious item that prompted a Cincinnati courthouse evacuation turned out to be a perfume bottle shaped like a World War II grenade.

Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Neil said the bottle was shaped like a “pineapple” hand grenade and was in a woman’s suitcase.

The building was evacuated around 8:30 a.m. June 30 and then closed for the rest of the day after a suspicious item was noted in a security screening.

Sheriff’s official Jim Knapp said earlier that something “didn’t look right” in the screening. A bomb-sniffing dog was brought over, and authorities evacuated the courthouse based on its response.

Neil says that he isn’t sure what prompted the dog’s response. He says no charges are expected.

4 couples married for 230 years renew vows at nursing home

NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Four couples with a combined 230 years of marriage have said “I do” all over again at a western Pennsylvania nursing home.

The New Castle News reports that the couples renewed their vows in a joint ceremony at the Avalon Nursing Center in New Castle. That’s about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Keith and Margaret Price have been married the longest, 67 years, while Anthony and Eileen Rizzo have been married for 43 years.

The other couples, James and Marjorie DeBlasio and Donald and Dorothy Jones, have each been married 60 years.

Activities director Karen Borio organized the event June 30.

She says she picked the last day of June, a traditional month for weddings, to help the couples celebrate because “I thought it would be something they would enjoy.”

Pig, goat ... What’s next for Detroit-area police department?

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Detroit-area police department says it’s keeping animal control handlers on speed dial.

Shelby Township officers took control of a black goat that was found in the parking lot of the old police station. In early June, the same department rounded up an aggressive stray pig that had charged a woman who was doing yard work.

On its Facebook page, the Shelby Township department in Macomb County posted pictures of the goat July 2 and asked a question: “Does anyone know who owns this goat?!”

Big beach ball brings residents together along Michigan lake

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – A big beach ball is bringing together residents along a lake in northern Michigan.

The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports that the red-white-and-blue ball is 8 feet in diameter and is placed on the Silver Lake each year for the Fourth of July by the Silver Lake Improvement Association.

If the ball floats onto a resident’s property, the tradition is to sign it and launch it back into the lake. It’s the fourth year for the ball.

Silver Lake resident Chuck Hathaway says the association buys a new ball each year. At its annual meeting, the signed ball is inflated for display.

Hathaway says: “You read the comments of your neighbors, and even if you haven’t met the people a few doors down, you feel like you know them a little.”

Pennsylvania track to start races earlier to avoid deer

ERIE, Pa. – Deer, not deuces, are wild at Presque Isle Downs and Casino, and the racetrack is making changes to get its horses back in the starting gate.

Officials plan to resume racing on July 1 after canceling some races June 28 and all the races June 29-30 because deer were jumping onto the track and creating a dangerous situation.

To help resolve the problem, the track planned to remove nearby bushes and trees in an attempt to keep the animals at bay. Also, officials planned to raise the fence around the track, and to start the program a few hours earlier, at 3:05 p.m. The time change is to avoid racing at dusk when deer become more active.

A deer ran in front of horses during the June 28 fourth race. Four later races were canceled that day. The track holds races Sunday through Thursday.

“We’re taking this very seriously,” said Jeff Favre, casino vice president and general manager. “The last thing we want is a jockey or horse to get hurt due to deer.”

June 28 wasn’t the first time deer had interrupted a race, and jockeys said they were becoming concerned. Five deer interrupted a race June 22, prompting officials to cancel the final five races that day.

“This is a very troubling situation,” said Heriberto Rivera, East Coast manager for the Jockey’s Guild. The union represents more than 1,300 retired and current U.S. jockeys.

“You can’t have animals weighing hundreds of pounds crossing in front of you when you’re going 35 to 40 mph,” Rivera said.

Presque Isle Downs officials announced the changes after consulting with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Pennsylvania Horse Racing Commission and the Pennsylvania Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

— Compiled by Paul H. Rowe