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Libraries cleared after bed bugs found

HAMDEN, Conn., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- A Connecticut exterminator said all three of a town's library branches have been given the all-clear after bed bugs were discovered in recently returned books.

Charlie Mastroberti of Quest Pest Control in Avon said the bugs were in books recently returned to the Hamden Public Library's central branch. He used a beagle named Ellie to track down and take care of the pests, WCBS-AM, New York, reported Thursday.

"The dogs are an excellent tool for locating bed bugs. I mean, we could go into a library and spend hours, if not days, there trying to search for bed bugs and may not come up with anything," he said.

Mastroberti said the bugs likely crawled into the books when the readers went to bed.

"They're opportunistic hitchhikers. They'll get into almost anything once the infestation reaches a certain level," he said.

Turtle taped to balloons in California

OCEANSIDE, Calif., Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Authorities in California said they were trying to determine who attached a box turtle to several balloons and sent it aloft.

Residents of the Oceanside neighborhood said they called police and the Humane Society when they saw the turtle, which was taped to some balloons, stuck in a tree, KGTV, San Diego, reported Thursday.

The fire department attempted a rescue about an hour later, but a gust of wind blew the turtle and its balloons back down to the ground.

The box turtle was freed by a Humane Society worker.

The Humane Society said the turtle was being cared for and officials were working to identify the owner, who they said could face animal abuse charges.

Mom wants school's dress code revised

OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma mother wants her 5-year-old son's school to revise its dress code after he was forced to turn his University of Michigan shirt inside out.

Shannon Barton said she was shocked to find out her son, Cooper, had been made to turn his T-shirt inside out at Wilson Elementary in Oklahoma City because the district's dress code only allows college apparel from Oklahoma schools, KWTV, Oklahoma City, reported Thursday.

"They should really worry about academics. It wasn't offensive. He's 5," Barton said.

District officials said the policy, which also bans professional sports team apparel, was created in 2005 with the help of an Anti-Gang Task Force.

Superintendant Karl Springer said the policy will be reviewed by officials.

Sweden gets shorter summer than 2011

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Swedish weather experts said there was an abbreviated summer this year, with Stockholm recording only six days above 77 degrees.

The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute said Stockholm had only six days above 77 degrees, compared with 28 days last year, while Malmo in the southern part of the country marked nine days of above-77 heat.

"We've not had any real heat waves. In both June and July, we were only up there with a few temperatures over 25 degrees (77 degrees Fahrenheit). There has also been a lot of rain," said Lisa Frost, a meteorologist at SMHI.

"We have had a really powerful high pressure system down in the Mediterranean. It was really hot there. It allows a low pressure system to come up over us, giving us unstable weather. We have seen occasional high pressure areas, but they have been further south," Frost said.