The week’s odd news: Snow piles from record Buffalo storm still melting

BUFFALO, N.Y. – People from Buffalo hear it all year — over the phone or while traveling: “Buffalo? Got snow there?”

The answer, still: “Why, yes!”

Two piles remain in one abandoned lot where trucks dumped it after a freak November storm buried neighborhoods in so much snow — 7 feet fell in spots — that crews had nowhere else to put it.

“I tell my customers; ‘You want ice cubes? Go get them,’ ” Eugene Kiszelewski, who owns the G&T Inn across the street, said Tuesday as the temperature climbed past 80 degrees.

At its height, Kiszelewski said, the snow mounds towered over the light poles.

Between 10,000 and 11,000 truckloads were taken there, Streets Commissioner Steven Stepniak said, creating a mountain five stories high.

One of the leftover piles is about the size of two school buses end to end, the other a bit smaller. Grayish white ice peeks through, but both resemble earthen berms, because the snow is covered with a thick layer of dirt and even grass.

The swampy surrounding land, though, offers proof it is slowly melting, even in Buffalo, whose reputation for snow is — usually — overblown.

New York state climatologist Mark Wysocki said the dirt cover is insulating the compacted snow, drawing out the time it is taking for the warmth of the sun to reach it. The ground, meanwhile, is heating from below.

“It’s sort of like an Oreo cookie right now, where you’ve got snow in the middle and heat from above and heat from below and it’s slowly eating away at the snow,” Wysocki said.

Just how long it will stick around, Wysocki said, depends on how thick the covering layer is.

Boston just saw the last remnants of its ruthless winter melt away earlier this month.

“It could be there when the next snow falls,” Wysocki said.

Wisconsin man arrested for shooting street lights

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Police have arrested a Wisconsin Rapids man after he allegedly fired his gun at street lights, saying he was protecting the universe from aliens.

Police in Wisconsin Rapids found the 36-year-old man after a 911 caller reported someone was shooting at street lights early July 29.

Lt. Kevin Schwartz said the man was carrying a concealed 9-mm handgun and acknowledged he was shooting at the lights, saying he was an alien and he was protecting the universe from other aliens.

Swartz said the man wasn’t a very good shot since he didn’t hit a single light.

The man was jailed on suspicion of endangering safety with a firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Chicken, beer a bad recipe for home burglar who fell asleep

LAKE WORTH, Fla. – Chicken and beer make for a bad burglary.

A Florida family tells police they came home to chicken bones and empty beer bottles scattered about their kitchen floor and a would-be robber passed out on their couch.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reports that deputies found Jacob Miller, 22, still asleep when they responded July 27 to the Lake Worth home in South Florida. After taking Miller into custody, deputies found numerous items of jewelry on the man that belonged to the family.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Miller told deputies he went into the home because he needed a place to stay but refused to answer any other questions.

Miller was charged with burglary and theft. Records also showed an open warrant in Texas for burglary.

Hiker climbs tree to escape coyotes, gets stuck for 5 hours

MANCHESTER, N.J – . A hiker trying to escape from coyotes in a wooded area of southern New Jersey got stuck in a tree for nearly five hours.

The Asbury Park Press reported that Manchester Township police found April Lewis tied to a tree about 15 feet off the ground early July 27.

The Quakertown, Pennsylvania, resident thought she had spotted coyotes in the distance and climbed the tree for safety. Lewis cut off a piece of her pants to tie herself to the tree but didn’t have her cellphone to call for help.

A man heard Lewis’ cries and called police.

Officers found Lewis. Firefighters helped her down from the tree. She was evaluated at the scene and was released.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, mascot feted in butter at fair

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Winning another national championship has made Urban Meyer a butter man.

The Ohio State University football coach and Buckeyes mascot Brutus are being honored with butter sculptures at this year’s Ohio State Fair, which opened July 29 in Columbus.

The life-size sculptures are joining the traditional butter cow and calf in a 46-degree cooler in the American Dairy Association display. There’s also a national championship trophy and two Buckeyes football helmets. All made out of butter. About 2,000 pounds of it.

The display required about 500 hours of work. Wooden and steel frames were built to support the weight of the butter, which was sliced from 55-pound blocks. The butter was sculpted inside the chilly cooler.

Meyer was unable to attend the July 28 unveiling.

Maple syrup oozes onto N.H. highway

KEENE, N.H. – The only thing missing was the waffles.

Authorities were in for some sticky times when a load of maple syrup shifted in a tractor trailer and leaked very slowly all over a main highway.

Police Sgt. Thaddeus Derendal says 220 gallons of the sweet-smelling pancake-topper from a Vermont producer oozed onto Route 101 on the afternoon of July 27.

Firefighters used squeegees to corral the mess and poured something like kitty litter on it to speed the drying process. The two eastbound lanes were reduced to one lane while the cleanup was underway.

Fugitive’s role in horror film leads to his arrest

TACOMA, Wash. – A fugitive has been arrested after federal agents saw his photo in a Washington state newspaper that ran a story about a low-budget horror movie.

Jason Stange, 44, a convicted bank robber, plays a leading role in the movie “Marla Mae.” The Olympian newspaper ran a feature story on the film July 24 with photos that showed Stange on the film set in Olympia.

Federal agents tracked down Stange and arrested him that day at a restaurant near the set.

Stange pleaded guilty to an armed bank robbery in 2006 and was given a prison sentence of more than nine years. A federal probation violation warrant was issued last year after Stange left a halfway house.

The film’s producer says Stange will remain in the film, scheduled for release next year.

ATM workers forget bag of cash, man drives off with $150,000

MAHWAH, N.J. – A man drove off with a bag containing $150,000 in cash after two employees who were replenishing ATMs mistakenly left it on a lawn in northern New Jersey, police say.

Mahwah police say the ATM employees had stopped at a business on Industrial Avenue when one of them placed the satchel on the front lawn as he moved items around in their vehicle.

They drove off, forgetting the bag.

Sometime after 11:15 a.m. July 27, surveillance video shows a passenger in a white van grabbing the bag.

The van was seen in other video surveillance pulling into a nearby auto repair business and pilfering used tires.

Police say the ATM employees are cooperating with the investigation.

Texas city issues warning over missing 6-foot snake

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – A public safety alert in one North Texas city has nothing to do with traffic or weather but instead involves a 6-foot creature that slithers.

Officials in Wichita Falls say be on the lookout for a pet boa constrictor reported missing in the City View area.

The July 27 advisory does not say who owns the big snake, which has been missing since July 26. Experts say the reptile is not poisonous.

Animal control officials say anyone locating the snake should not approach or try to capture the animal. People in Wichita Falls are advised to closely watch their dogs, cats or other small animals if the pets are taken outside.

Boa constrictors wrap their bodies around prey to suffocate the creatures.

Aggressive cobra found at high-rise apartments

HOUSTON – An aggressive, 2-foot cobra captured at a luxury high-rise apartment complex in Houston has been euthanized.

Police were summoned to the complex after residents spotted an albino monocled cobra on the third floor over the weekend. Police used a broom to corner and capture the snake. No injuries were reported.

Authorities aren’t sure how the snake, which is native to Southeast Asia, ended up in the building or who owned it.

Josie Moss says her pest control company tried to find a home for snake, but found little interest due to its aggression. Moss said July 30 that the snake was extremely dangerous, and its venom can be deadly.

Businessman finds phone that fell 9,300 feet from plane

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – A Texas businessman used an app to find his iPhone in a rural pasture after it fell about 9,300 feet during a flight from Houston.

The Wichita Falls Times Record News reported July 30 that Ben Wilson says his cellphone still works.

Wilson says he and a pilot were traveling home July 27 in a Beechcraft Bonanza when a pressure change caused the passenger door to open slightly. Wilson didn’t realize his cellphone fell out until after landing.

Wilson owns Gas Corporation of America in Wichita Falls. He and an employee used an app to narrow the search to near Jacksboro, more than 50 miles away.

The pair set on their search Tuesday, and ended up in a rural pasture. They found the cellphone under a mesquite tree.

Wandering turkey causes stir at University of Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A wandering turkey is causing a stir at the University of Michigan.

The Ann Arbor News reports that a turkey has captured the attention of university students and staff as it roams wooded areas, chases passers-by and gets in the way of bus traffic. It’s also showing up on social media in people’s selfies.

The school’s deputy police chief Melissa Overton says: “He hasn’t hurt anybody, but he’s a very aggressive bird,” as well as a traffic hazard.

Police say they started getting calls about the bird in late June. A second turkey on North Campus was fatally struck by a car.

Overton says plans call for capturing the turkey so it can be relocated. She warns people not to approach the bird and to instead call police.

‘Corpse flower’ attracts large crowds in California

BERKELEY, Calif. – Officials with the University of Calofornia-Berkeley’s botanical garden say the garden had its busiest day in more than a decade as people flocked to get a whiff of the “corpse flower,” a plant known for its pungent odor.

The Sumatran titan arum nicknamed “Trudy” came into full bloom July 26 and brought out about 1,000 visitors. The garden wrote on Twitter that the plant would only be smelly on July 26 and would begin to go limp the next day.

Associate director for visitors services Jonathan Goodrich says Trudy started to open and was flowering when garden officials left for the day on Saturday. By Sunday, the plant had run its course.

Goodrich says the large plant’s smell is similar to “dirty socks wrapped around a rotting steak.”

Cops: Man impersonated brother to avoid $7,000 in unpaid tolls

FORT LEE, N.J. – A New Jersey motorist assumed his brother’s identity to avoid $7,500 in unpaid tolls after he was stopped for not paying another toll on the George Washington Bridge, authorities say.

A spokesman for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police says officers arrested the man after finding cocaine in his pocket June 15. He was released with a court date.

Spokesman Joe Pentangelo says officers soon realized the man had produced a fictitious ID with his photo and his brother’s name to avoid $7,500 in unpaid tolls.

State police arrested the suspect July 29 in Bellmawr.

Authorities have charged Richard Boyce, 44, with wrongful impersonation, theft, hindering apprehension and cocaine possession.

Former 41-pound fat cat slims down to 19 pounds

DALLAS – A former 41-pound cat dubbed Skinny has lost more than half of his weight to become the darling of a Dallas veterinary clinic.

Dr. Brittney Barton says the orange tabby she adopted in 2013 has slimmed to 19 pounds with exercise and a special diet. Barton calls Skinny the “resident cat” at her practice, HEAL Veterinary Hospital.

Barton said Friday that Skinny spends weekdays roaming the clinic. The ex-fat cat’s weekends are spent at home with Barton and her family.

Skinny was found abandoned near Dallas in 2012 and ended up at a shelter. The veterinarian says Skinny just had his annual checkup and is healthy.

Barton says Skinny is living proof that while he’s supposed to be a large cat, “he’s not supposed to be an obese cat.”

3 accused of bid to steal trailer loaded with toilet paper

SIKESTON, Mo. – Three Memphis men are accused of trying to steal a semi trailer loaded with toilet paper valued at $70,000, authorities say.

KFVS-TV reports that the trio — ages 36, 42 and 51 years old — were arrested early July 26 after Sikeston and Missouri state police saw them drive off with the trailer from a Sikeston trucking company.

Officers at the time were monitoring the company after other thefts from it had been reported.

KFVS says the semi tractor used in the alleged theft had been stolen that night from a trucking company in Memphis.

All of the men are charged with felony stealing.

Sikeston police say the investigation continues.

— Compiled by Paul H. Rowe