The week’s odd news: Lost sheep yields 30 sweaters worth of fleece

CANBERRA, Australia — A lost, overgrown sheep found in Australian scrubland was shorn for perhaps the first time on Sept. 3, yielding 89 pounds of wool — the equivalent of 30 sweaters — and shedding almost half his body weight.

Tammy Ven Dange, CEO of the Canberra RSPCA, which rescued the merino ram dubbed Chris, said she hoped to register the 89-pound, 3-ounce fleece with the Guinness World Records. An official of the London organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The most wool sheared from a sheep in a single shearing is 63 pounds, 11 ounces, taken from a wild New Zealand merino dubbed Big Ben in January last year, the Guinness World Records website said.

“He’s looking really good, he looks like a new man,” Ven Dange said, as the now 97-pound sheep recovered at the Canberra animal refuge. “For one thing, he’s only half the weight he used to be.”

Champion shearer Ian Elkins said the sheep appeared to be in good condition after being separated from his huge fleece under anesthetic.

“I don’t reckon he’s been shorn before and I reckon he’d be 5 or 6 years old,” Elkins said.

Chris was found near Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary outside Canberra by bushwalkers who feared he would not survive the approaching southern summer. He was found several kilometers from the nearest sheep farm. A bushwalker named him Chris after the sheep in the “Father Ted” television comedy series.

Chris was rescued by the RSPCA on Wednesday and taken to Canberra, where he was shorn under anesthetic because he was stressed by human company and because of the potential pain from the heavy fleece tearing skin as it fell away.

Ven Dange said he had suffered skin burns from urine trapped in his fleece and could have died within weeks if left in the wild.

“When we first brought him in (recently), he was really shy, he was shaking, he would move his head away from people and he could barely get up and walk,” she said.

“The drugs might be wearing off right now, but he’s actually coming to you and actually wants a pat. He’s certainly moving a heck of a lot better,” she added.

She said Chris would be found a new home after vets gave him the all-clear.

Elkins said the fleece was too long to be sold commercially. He hoped it would end up in a museum.

“I wouldn’t say it’s high quality, but you wouldn’t expect it to be running around in the bush that long unshorn,” he said.

Australian merinos are bred for wool and are shorn annually, with fleeces averaging about 5 kilograms (11 pounds).

Court calls prison term of up to 216 years ‘excessive’

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania appeals court has overturned a drug dealer’s prison sentence of up to 216 years, calling it “excessive.”

A Blair County senior judge had imposed the 104¹/₂ -to 216-year sentence four years ago on 43-year-old Gene “Shorty” Carter, of Philadelphia. Carter had been convicted of running a major heroin ring while serving time in a halfway house for a drug conviction.

The judge imposed mandatory sentences for 16 separate crimes Carter committed, then ran them consecutively.

Although the Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld those convictions, the Altoona Mirror reported Sept. 4 that the court ordered Carter must be resentenced.

The court cited a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision that determined juries, not judges, must decide whether mandatory sentences are warranted. It also called Carter’s sentence “manifestly unreasonable and excessive.”

Police: Burglary suspect reveals plans with 911 ‘butt dial’

BRANCHBURG, N.J. — A New Jersey man has been indicted on burglary charges after police say he inadvertently dialed 911 and let authorities in on his plans.

Police say they heard Scott Robert Esser and an accomplice talk about breaking into homes, emptying drawers and stealing goods.

NJ.com reports Friday that officials described the call as an errant, open-line emergency cellphone call “commonly referred to as a ‘butt dial.’ ”

Esser, 42, was indicted on burglary, theft and other charges in connection with burglaries in Branchburg and Stafford townships and Berkeley Heights.

He’s jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail. Information on his lawyer wasn’t immediately available.

Esser was arrested July 29 on the Garden State Parkway. Police say they found jewelry, electronics, $11,300 in bonds and a handgun in his car.

$20 find leads to $1 million lottery win

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco Bay Area man won $1 million in the California Lottery after buying a winning ticket with money he found at the airport.

The California Lottery said Aug. 30 that Hubert Tang had not bought a lottery ticket in 10 years.

When he found a $20 bill on the street outside San Francisco International Airport last week, he used it to buy two scratch-off tickets at a market in Millbrae.

One of them led to the $1 million top prize.

He told the California Lottery that he was in shock when he won.

“I scratched the ticket outside of the store. I told my friend who I was with that I didn’t know if it was real but, ‘I think I just won a million dollars,’ ” Tang said in a statement.

Tang, who works as a bartender, plans to save the money for now. Lottery officials said the store will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket Aug. 26.

He also has a second chance to win up to $25,000 for the other ticket he purchased that was not a winner.

Tang says he may begin leaving $20 bills on the street in random places to spread his good fortune.

N.J. man digs up live cannonball in backyard

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. – The Atlantic City bomb squad was dispatched to a southern New Jersey home after a man dug up a live cannonball in his backyard.

Police say the Lower Township man was digging behind his West Bates Avenue home when he discovered the explosive Aug. 29.

Police say the brass-capped cannonball was approximately 5 inches in circumference and was stamped “4k, 85mm.”

Officials say the bomb squad took an x-ray of the device and determined it was fully functional. The cannonball was later detonated in an unpopulated area.

Police say the discovery is not unusual for this part of the state, but residents are advised to never touch or move any found artillery shells.

Originally fired as solid projectiles, cannonballs developed over time to include fuses and explosive materials.

Missing tarantula not dangerous, but it can bite

LOWELL, Mass. — A biology professor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell says a missing tarantula isn’t dangerous, but he’s giving fair warning: It can bite.

Rick Hochberg, a professor of biological sciences, posted a sign asking to be contacted if the black-and-orange creature is spotted. A poster offering a reward for the live capture of the tarantula says it was last seen in a wall vent.

Hochberg says the fugitive is unlikely to approach people and is not dangerous. However, the poster says it can bite and should not be handled by the inexperienced.

The Sun of Lowell reports that the insect is named Aragog from the Harry Potter films. But Hochberg says that unlike the fictional insect, his tarantula doesn’t respond when called.

He’s not sure if the tarantula is still alive.

Woman accused of stealing patrol car holding husband

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A woman suspected of stealing an Alaska State Troopers patrol car that held her handcuffed husband in the back seat was arrested on suspicion of theft and other charges.

Troopers acting on a tip found Amber Watford, 28, of Big Lake, and Joshua Watford, 38, at a home in Wasilla on Sept. 3.

An officer had arrested Joshua Watford the day before after receiving a tip that he was in a Big Lake pawn shop. He had been convicted of driving under the influence but had failed to attend court-ordered classes, said troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.

After Watford had been placed in the back of a patrol car, a passing motorist stopped and began speaking to the arresting officer. While the officer was distracted, troopers said, Amber Watford got behind the wheel of the patrol car and took off.

Troopers recovered the patrol car an hour later. It had not been damaged. Nothing was missing from the car, including the handcuffs that had been on Joshua Watford’s wrists, Peters said.

Troopers launched a search for the Watfords that included a helicopter and an Anchorage Police Department K-9, but the effort to find them was halted after several hours.

After the tip came in Sept. 3, the Watfords were arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and other charges, including hindering prosecution and criminal mischief.

Joshua Watford remained jailed Sept. 4. Amber Watford’s bail was set at $20,000, and she was no longer in custody.

Directory assistance did not list a phone number where the Watfords could be reached for comment.

Frozen meat, chain saw taken during break-in

YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Frozen meat and a chain saw were the only things taken during a break-in a home in Michigan, authorities say.

The Ann Arbor News reports that deputies with the Washtenaw County sheriff’s department were called Thursday to the home in Ypsilanti Township following the theft, which happened sometime between Sept. 2 and Sept. 3.

According to a summary of the investigation, the suspect or suspects likely entered the home through an open window. No suspects were identified.

Missing comma puts certain records off-limits

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the end, the Tennessee Attorney General says the argument all comes down to the lack of a comma.

Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued an Aug. 25 opinion that says a city council cannot request the results of a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report because of a law that says such records should be released “only in compliance with a subpoena or an order of a court of record,” The Tennessean reports.

Slatery said the lack of a comma after the word “subpoena,” means that either a subpoena or an order must come from a court. If there were a comma present, the opinion said, then “of a court of record” would only apply to “order.”

State Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, said he asked the attorney general to weigh in because of ongoing discussions about how to balance transparency and investigative needs, especially in high-profile cases involving police officers that have occurred in Memphis and other cities around the nation.

“Especially in cases of officer shootings, people have the right to know what happened,” Parkinson said. “I do also understand the need to make sure the investigations are not tainted, and that the information is not put out there too early.”

Josh DeVine, spokesman for TBI, said according to the staff in the bureau’s legal department, the agency has never received a subpoena from a city council. Nashville Metro Council Jon Cooper said that action has been threatened by council members but never used.

Maine police say Bigfoot artist nabbed

KENNEBUNK, Maine – Authorities have nabbed a man who’s accused of spray-painting images of Sasquatch on public property in Kennebunk, Maine.

Police in the picturesque coastal town didn’t find the graffiti featuring Bigfoot all that amusing and charged Freeman Hatch, 36, with criminal mischief and possession of drugs. He’s due in court in November.

Kennebunk Police Chief Robert MacKenzie says the Sasquatches defaced public and private property, “costing time and money to repair or replace.”

Sasquatch is the folkloric beast thought by some to roam the forests, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.

Police say the graffiti was concentrated around Kennebunk Beach.

A phone number for Hatch could not be located.

No bones about it: Dog mayor plans to run for president

BURLINGTON, Ky. – She might be a bit shaggy, but Lucy Lou wants to run for president — and she comes with political experience.

The border collie has served as mayor of Rabbit Hash, an unincorporated community of 135 residents along the Ohio River in northern Kentucky, since 2008.

Bobbi Kayser, Lucy’s owner and CEO of staff, told The Kentucky Enquirer that she will announce her ambitions for higher office — and her retirement as mayor — on Aug. 29.

As the story goes, Lucy and her canine predecessors got into the political arena because it seemed as if politics was going to the dogs anyway.

No word on whether Lucy will file as a Democrat, a Republican or as a third-party candidate.

— Compiled by Paul H. Rowe