UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Woman finds 7-foot gator in bathroom

PALMETTO, Fla., April 25 (UPI) -- A Palmetto, Fla., woman who discovered a 7-foot-long alligator in her guest bedroom said the reptile apparently crawled into her house through a doggie door.

Alexis Dunbar, who found the gator when she returned to the house Saturday, said she believes it came from a nearby pond, crawled under a chain-link fence and wiggled through the door used by her two cats, WFLA-TV, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla., reported Monday.

"He must look at [the cats] as food every day," she said. "He finally got bold and came up on the bank."

"My neighbor said she heard my porch things being knocked over at 3 a.m.," she said. "So he must've been here all night until I got home at 12 p.m. the next day. My furniture was all moved around; my blinds were all discombobulated."

Dunbar said her boyfriend used a table to barricade the gator in the bathroom until wildlife officers arrived. She said the officers told her the reptile would be killed because it measures more than 4 feet long and represents a threat to people and pets.

She said her cats, who were able to avoid the gator, will have to get along without the doggie door in the future.

"I don't like doggie doors anymore," she said. "It's scary."

Burglars swipe human hair

CHICAGO, April 25 (UPI) -- Chicago police said burglars pried open a steel door at a beauty supply company and stole a "very valuable" amount of human hair.

Investigators said the burglars pried open a steel door with two deadbolts at Beauty One early Sunday and took an amount of hair described as "very valuable," the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday.

"I've been to a lot of robberies but never with hair," a Central District police sergeant said.

Police said the burglars damaged the frame of the door and bricks on the building while breaking into the facility.

France overturns 100-year-old absinthe ban

PARIS, April 25 (UPI) -- The French Parliament has voted to allow makers of alcoholic beverages flavored with the absinthe plant to once again label the beverage "absinthe."

The lawmakers voted last week to overturn a 1915 law banning production for sale of absinthe, which had already been partially repealed by a 1999 law legalizing the drink but banning producers from calling it absinthe, Radio France Internationale reported Monday.

About 15 distilleries in France currently sell a drink "flavored with the absinthe plant" and will now be able to use the traditional name. Officials said the change was made in response to recent Swiss efforts to obtain EU recognition of the drink as a regional product of Val-de-Travers. France claims the spiritual home of absinthe is instead the nearby French town of Pontarlier.

Cloth diaper change aims for record

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 25 (UPI) -- Organizers of a mass cloth diaper change in Florida said the event was part of an international synchronized event aiming for a Guinness World Record.

The organizers of the Jacksonville diaper change, which took place Saturday at the University of North Florida's University Center in conjunction with other mass cloth diaper changes around the world, said the event resulted in 38 babies getting cloth diapers placed on their bottoms by parents, The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union reported Monday.

Organizers of the international Great Cloth Diaper Change, which was aimed at encouraging use of cloth diapers, said they are waiting to hear back from Guinness about an official international count of participants. There is currently no world record for synchronized cloth diaper changing.