Watercooler Stories

6-foot alligator caught in Michigan

JACKSON, Mich., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Police in Michigan said they captured a 6-foot alligator reported roaming near a church.

The Blackman-Leoni Township public safety department said officers responded about 11:35 a.m. Monday to a call about an alligator wandering near Pathway Community Church in Jackson, the Jackson Citizen-Patriot reported Tuesday.

Officers captured the alligator with a noose and duct-taped its mouth shut with the help of a passerby who said he has experience owning alligators.

Public safety Deputy Director Jon Johnston said the alligator would be taken to a sanctuary in Athens, Mich.

"With the size of the alligator and its good health, zoo officials estimate that it probably was just recently released into the wild," Johnston said. "With freezing temperatures coming, the alligator would not have been able to survive long."

Police: Wife threatened to blow up planes

FORT MYERS, Fla., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida say a woman threatened to blow up planes when police refused to help her with her husband's work schedule.

Lee County Port Authority Police said Soraya Evette Billinge, 36, called from her cellphone and told the dispatcher she was upset about her husband working nights because she doesn't like being home alone, WBBH-TV, Fort Myers, reported Tuesday.

A transcript of a recording of her phone conversation with the dispatcher indicated she said her husband works for Delta Airlines at the airport.

Billinge became upset when the dispatcher told her police could not help with her problem, police said.

"OK I blow up, I blow up 10 planes," she allegedly said before hanging up the phone.

Police said they arrested Billinge after her husband brought her in to the police offices. They charged her with making a bomb threat and making a false report.

Wis. gov. says state has 'Christmas tree'

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker raised the ire of activists by declaring the tree in the Capitol Rotunda will again be known as a "Christmas tree," observers said.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said the Republican governor wants the tree, which will go up later this month and remain in place until early January, to be referred to as a "Christmas tree" and not a "holiday tree," which was the name given to it by legislators in 1985, WTAQ Radio, Green Bay, Wis., reported Tuesday.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation in Madison said it was disappointed in the governor's decision.

Foundation President Annie Laurie Gaylor described Walker's stance as rude and insensitive to non-Christians.

Cyclist cited for interstate ride

MILTON, Mass., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- An extreme cyclist who was charged with criminal trespassing for biking up a Massachusetts interstate on-ramp said the incident was an accident.

Lucas Brunelle, 40, said his bike was handling poorly due to flat tires shortly before 8:30 a.m. Monday when he accidentally rode up an Interstate 93 on-ramp in Milton, the Boston Herald reported Tuesday.

Brunelle said he had hoped to make it to the next exit before being spotted by state police.

However, troopers arrived and said they had received several 911 calls about a man riding his bicycle on the interstate. He was issued a summons to Quincy District Court on a charge of criminal trespassing.

"In the western or central part of the state, it's not uncommon for people to think it's OK to ride or walk up on the highway," Trooper Todd Nolan said. "Out in the eastern part of the state, people are a little more savvy. They won't take their life in their hands."