The week’s odd news: Bull elk keeps authorities on run in downtown Waco

WACO, Texas — A bull elk kept officials on the run in downtown Waco for seven hours before the animal was subdued and removed to a private herd.

Police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton says officers, game warden and animal control officials mobilized after a resident reported seeing a moose about 6 a.m. Oct. 7 near his home on the southern edge of downtown.

Swanton said the animal was cornered and shot with a tranquilizer dart about 12:30 p.m. in a creek bed more than a mile from where he was first spotted. The bull elk was removed to a heard on a nearby ranch.

The bull elk was estimated to be about two years old and about 600 pounds.

Swanton said it’s unknown where the animal came from.

San Fran. to double number of walls that spray back pee

SAN FRANCISCO — Officials say they plan to double the number of walls painted with pee-repellent paint because the program to stop people from peeing in public places is working.

Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru tells the San Francisco Chronicle eight more walls will be painted next week in three of the most problematic neighborhoods.

In July, the public works department painted nine walls in the Tenderloin, the Mission and South of Market neighborhoods.

The surfaces make urine bounce right back onto the shoes and pants of unsuspecting relief-seekers.

The paint was first used in Hamburg, Germany, where beer drinkers often can’t be bothered to find a bathroom.

Signs over the walls read, “Hold it! This wall is not a public restroom. Please respect San Francisco and seek relief in an appropriate place.”

Man calls cops to complain he got too high on marijuana

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Police in Ohio say they were called to a house by a man who complained he’d gotten too high smoking marijuana.

Austintown Township police on Friday found the 22-year-old man curled in a fetal position on the floor, groaning and surrounded by snacks that included Doritos, Goldfish crackers and Chips Ahoy cookies.

The newspaper reports that the man told officers he couldn’t feel his hands.

Officers found a glass jar of marijuana and paraphernalia in the man’s car after he gave them his keys. The man refused medical treatment and so far has not been charged with a crime.

Former students look for missing time capsule

INDIALANTIC, Fla. — Former students of a central Florida middle school were hoping to crack open a buried time capsule to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hoover Middle School.

The problem is no one remembers where it was buried.

Teacher Jack Deppner filmed students on an 8-millimeter camera in 1976. He also collected mementos to bury in the time capsule.

Students reconnected on Facebook and raised the idea of opening the capsule. But no one knew where it was buried. Deppner died a few years ago, but had searched for years and never found the spot.

Former student Dawn Atkinson-Spaccio says they’re planning on using metal detectors and ground penetrating radar to scour the campus. If they pinpoint a location, they’ll seek permission from the school to start digging.

UConn university student arrested over mac and cheese

STORRS, Conn. — A University of Connecticut student faces criminal charges over a confrontation with a campus food court manager who wouldn’t let him buy macaroni and cheese with bacon and jalapeno peppers.

A 9-minute, obscenity-laced video clip posted online shows freshman Luke Gatti arguing with and eventually shoving the manager inside the university’s student union in Storrs on Sunday night. Police and the manager said Gatti had been refused service for carrying an open alcohol container.

The video shows the apparently intoxicated 19-year-old questioning why in America he can’t have beer in the building. He uses a gay slur against the manager and repeatedly demands, “Just give me some (expletive) bacon-jalapeno mac and cheese.”

After shoving the manager, Gatti is tackled by another employee, is arrested by a police officer and spits at the manager before being led out of the building.

Gatti, who’s from Bayville, New York, did not return a phone call or an email seeking comment. He’s charged with breach of peace and criminal trespass and is due in court on Oct. 13.

Federal privacy laws prevent UConn from commenting on whether Gatti faces any university sanctions, UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz said.

“Generally speaking,” she said, “any UConn student found to have violated the provisions of the Student Code may face penalties imposed by the Division of Student Affairs that range from probation to expulsion.”

Gatti was previously a student at the University of Massachusetts and was twice arrested last year on disorderly conduct charges, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Massachusetts.

During one of those arrests, he was accused of using a racial slur against a police officer, court filings show.

UConn serves crickets at food truck

STORRS, Conn. — A food truck at the University of Connecticut is serving roasted crickets.

The university’s dining services are advertising the insects as organic, not genetically modified and earth friendly.

The crickets are high in protein and low in fat. They’re a source of B vitamins, iron and zinc.

UConn says the farm that supplies the crickets uses carbon dioxide to kill them and then roasts them.

The crickets are sold for 99 cents and come whole in small plastic containers. They’re sold as a snack or a taco topping.

Dining services area assistant manager John Smith says they sell two or three containers of crickets per day at the truck.

Police: Man stabbed at funeral, suspect tries to flee in limo

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. — An argument at a funeral in Connecticut led to a stabbing and an attempted escape in a limousine, police said.

Family members had gathered for a funeral in All Saints Cemetery in North Haven on Oct. 7 when an argument broke out and one man was stabbed several times.

Police say the suspect tried to flee in the back of a limo but was stopped near the cemetery entrance.

Robert Ferrie, 54, was charged with first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and breach of peace. He was being held on a $150,000 bond and was due in court on Oct. 8.

The victim was treated at a hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries.

Police did not disclose the relationship between the victim and the suspect.

That hissing sound under the dryer? The missing king cobra

ORLANDO, Fla. — Elvis is back in the building.

Elvis, the missing king cobra snake, was returned to its owner’s home near Orlando after being on the loose for more than a month.

A woman who lives about a half-mile from owner Mike Kennedy called Orange County’s animal services on the night of Oct. 7 after hearing hissing sounds coming from under a clothes dryer in her garage.

Three animal services officers captured the 10-foot snake using special tongs. The snake was too large for a traditional snake box so the animal services officers placed Elvis in a cat cage and put it in a soft carrier for extra security.

Students at a nearby elementary school weren’t allowed outside for recess during the early days of the search for Elvis.

And a witty Twitter user even created an account for the missing snake with the tagline, “I’m on the loose in Orlando. Keep Away!”

By late Wednesday, the latest post on the Orlando King Cobra account said, “Singing the Folsom Prison Blues tonight. Oh, well, at least I get three squares a day now.”

The owner’s wife, Valerie Kennedy, positively identified Elvis and state wildlife officials scanned Elvis for microchip-identification before returning to its owners.

Mike Kennedy pleaded not guilty this week to a misdemeanor charge for failing to immediately report the snake missing.

Police: Man drops wallet, gets arrested in 12 burglaries

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A man who lost his driver’s license while fleeing police used the van from the adult day care center where he worked to commit burglaries of several vehicles in central New Jersey, police said.

Jarred Robinson, of Franklin, was arrested in at least 12 burglaries, and he may be connected to more than 30 others, South Brunswick police said Oct. 8.

Two other people are suspected in the rest, but Police Capt. James Ryan said police believe all the crimes are related.

Robinson stole about $1,500 worth of laptops, cash and other items from a dozen unlocked vehicles, Ryan said. Forty-eight similar burglaries occurred in the same area all at night.

In some of the burglaries, Robinson used a van belonging to the Sterling Adult Day Care center in North Brunswick where he previously worked. Robinson was connected to burglaries at Royal Oaks Apartment complex after he dropped a wallet containing his driver’s license while running from police in September, police said.

Ryan said most of the burglaries happened from late July through August along Route 27, near South Brunswick’s border with Princeton.

Robinson was being held in Middlesex County Correction Center on charges including burglary and theft. Bail was set at $30,000.

‘Lucky’ pig gets new home after fall onto highway

LONGMONT, Colo. — A 650-pound pig that fell off a trailer in Colorado is getting a new name — “Lucky” — and a new home at a sanctuary for abandoned pigs.

The Daily Times-Call reports that Lucky rolled onto Interstate Highway 25 on Sept. 30. He was probably destined for a slaughterhouse, but will instead be headed to a cozy home east of Denver.

The Weld County Sheriff’s Office couldn’t find the 3-year-old pig’s owner, so the boar was given to Hog Haven Farm owner and director Erin Brinkley-Burgardt.

Brinkley-Burgardt says she primarily cares for pot-bellied pigs, which people buy as pets but often abandon as they grow larger. The veterinarian who treated Lucky says he appears to be a Yorkshire pig.

Brinkley-Burgardt says Lucky can expect to live about 13 years in captivity.

Face-down dummy Halloween prank prompts repeated 911 calls

DETROIT — A dummy placed face down in a Detroit woman’s front yard as a Halloween prank has prompted repeated visits by police.

Larethia Haddon says police showed up three times Tuesday, the first day she put the dummy out. Police arrived again Wednesday and Haddon notes, “for some reason, it’s getting a lot of attention” this year.

Detroit police Officer Shanelle Williams says officers were called to the home again Thursday, but they determined that it was “just a dummy.”

Haddon says she puts the dummy face down in a different location in her yard every morning and watches the reactions from passers-by as she sips coffee. She says some have attempted CPR and “once they find out it’s a dummy, it’s so hilarious.”

$10,000 dog found after being reported stolen

BEAVERDAM, Va. — Call it the caper of the pricey pooch.

The Hanover County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that it has found a rare South African mastiff valued at $10,000 after the dog was reported stolen by its owner. Officials say the dog, which weighs 175 pounds, was found unhurt and in good health, roaming city streets.

The dog’s owner had said her dog may have been stolen Monday from her backyard while she was hosting a group of dog breeders from across the country. Authorities say the dog was in a kennel when it disappeared.

The owner, Terry Allen, said she bought the dog for $10,000 in January from a breeder in South Africa.

Neighbors: N.J. home swept away by storm was nuisance

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A Jersey shore home that washed into the bay during a weekend storm was a structurally unsound nuisance and was bound to fall into the water, neighbors said.

The Grassy Sound home started falling apart long before it was swept off its pilings on Oct. 3 and local officials ignored repeated complaints about it, neighbor Jim Mooers said.

“All of this could have been prevented if somebody had taken the right action when all of these issues were pointed out, but nothing was done,” Mooers said. “Yes, they might be cleaning up the stuff, but me and all of my neighbors will be cleaning up the rest over the years.”

The home’s owner, Stuart Tait could not be reached for comment Oct. 6.

Next-door neighbor Haldy Gifford said he spent the weekend using a pole to push Tait’s floating piles so they wouldn’t smash into his home’s supports.

“I fended off his refrigerator for three hours,” Gifford said.

Joe Clifford said the house broke loose and went by his home, hit a few decks and struck his 18-foot boat — which capsized — before it went out to the bay.

Tait told Middle Township officials on Tuesday that he had secured permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to use a barge crane to remove what’s left of the house from the marsh, Business Administrator Connie Mahon said. He said the cleanup would take about a week, she said.

A GoFundMe.com page has been started to help Tait pay for the removal of debris.

The U.S. Coast Guard has warned boaters about possible underwater obstructions in the Grassy Sound from the house.

Denali name change trickles down to fast-food burger

SOLDOTNA, Alaska — The name change of North America’s tallest mountain is rippling down to a fast-food chain.

The extra-large sized McKinley Mac available at Alaska McDonald’s restaurants will now be marketed as the Denali Mac.

The change comes after President Barack Obama in August renamed Mount McKinley to its traditional Athabascan name of Denali ahead of his three-day visit to the state.

A local McDonald’s owner, Scott Cunningham, said new promotional materials are being created for the Denali Mac, which has two quarter-pounders between the buns instead of regular hamburgers.

Changing the name of the mountain has left many McKinley-monikered businesses in Alaska contemplating name changes after the president’s surprise announcement.

Sleeping hunter wakes up to bear biting his head

BOISE, Idaho — A hunter asleep in the remote Idaho wilderness woke up when he felt something tugging on his hair. Then he heard the black bear breathing.

Stephen Vouch, 29, reached behind his head and felt it was wet. He yelled when he realized a bear was biting at his head.

“He got a hold of my head, and that’s what woke me up,” the Boise resident said Oct. 7, who was in the rugged area hunting bighorn sheep with friends. “That’s when I kind of freaked out. That’s when I could hear the bear breathing on me.”

His scream startled the bear, which jumped and hit the tarp above where they were sleeping. The tarp tumbled, entangling the animal and the hunters around 2 a.m. Oct. 2.

“That’s when my buddy’s gun went off,” Vouch said.

The bear, wounded by a shot from the .45-caliber handgun, scrambled into a nearby tree. Vouch, cut but not seriously injured, shot and killed it.

Vouch said he and his friends were prepared with medical supplies for emergencies but didn’t have a satellite phone, so he didn’t receive medical care for three days.

The hunting group patched him up, then rafted downstream before flying out of the remote Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness on Oct. 4. Vouch was treated Monday at a hospital for cuts to his head and released.

Idaho Fish and Game officials estimate that the male bear was about 3 to 7 years old and weighed 200 to 275 pounds. Jon Rachael, state wildlife manager with the department, said it’s not clear why the bear entered the camp because the hunters had stored their food properly.

One possibility is the bear may have become accustomed to finding food from the many rafters that float the Middle Fork of the Salmon River each summer, he said.

Or the bear may have never encountered people, and out of curiosity, chomped on what may have appeared to be fur, Rachael said. If the bear intended to kill, the attack would have been much more violent, he said.

It’s the second time this year that someone sleeping outdoors in Idaho has been attacked by a black bear. In early September, state officials trapped and killed a black bear near McCall in west-central Idaho that bit a sleeping firefighter who had been battling blazes in the region.

Rachael said it’s been a tough year for bears because destructive wildfires and drought have made for an exceptionally bad berry season, a key food source.

In bear country, Rachael recommends bear spray rather than guns because of the danger of accidentally shooting fellow campers while trying to fend off a bear.

Vouch said he plans to return to the area within the next several weeks to continue hunting for bighorn sheep. In Idaho, the opportunity to hunt Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep is rare — hunters are allowed to harvest only one in a lifetime.

Stolen giant pumpkin returned to S.D. grower

SPEARFISH, S.D. — A 100-pound pumpkin that was brazenly stolen from the yard of a South Dakota residence has been found and returned, after someone apparently tried but failed to turn it into a giant jack-o’-lantern.

Matthew Murraine’s pumpkin was found in a rural area near Spearfish by another man who returned it to him last week. Whoever took it had tried to carve it, Murraine said.

On Sept. 18, someone backed a vehicle up to Murraine’s house and made off with one of the two large pumpkins he had been growing at his home all summer, after sawing through its stem. The bold theft drew national attention, which surprised Murraine.

“I was a little overwhelmed,” he said. “I just wanted people in Spearfish to know.”

The pumpkin required 20 gallons of water every four days and a gallon of milk each week for calcium. Murraine said it was worth about $200 but that the value wasn’t what he considered important. He followed his original plan and donated the pumpkin to a family with four children.

“It’s funny how God makes things work out,” he said.

— Compiled by Paul H. Rowe