ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Official: Python found in Ohio park was dangerous

CLEVELAND

Officials with the Cleveland area’s parks system say a python that turned up in a nature park over the weekend could have hurt someone.

A visitor to the Mill Stream Run Reservation in North Royalton discovered the 9-foot-long, 18-pound Burmese python in a picnic area Sunday and alerted park rangers.

Rangers spokeswoman Diana Kall calls the snake a dangerous reptile with sharp teeth and likely to lash out at anyone within its range.

It’s now in the care of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Zoo spokeswoman Sue Allen says the python either escaped from its owner or was let loose in the park.

Allen says if the zoo can’t find the owner, it will try to find the snake a new home.

Pa. man beaten with wiffle bat, suffers broken jaw

BETHLEHEM, Pa.

Police say an underwear-clad Pennsylvania man was severely beaten with a plastic wiffle bat when he refused to put on clothes.

Bethlehem police said Monday that Donald Fehr suffered a broken jaw, fractured skull and several lost teeth in the Aug. 17 attack.

Police say Fehr was sitting on his porch in his underwear when he was approached by 19-year-old Hector Morales Jr. and two other men. Morales told Fehr his girlfriend was coming over, and said Fehr was “being disrespectful” and told him to put some clothes on.

When Fehr refused, Morales allegedly assaulted him with the bat, then began punching Fehr when the bat broke.

Morales was charged with aggravated assault and related offenses. Police say he’s in Berks County Prison on unrelated charges. It’s not clear whether he has a lawyer.

Nigerian government locks out snoozing employees

ABUJA, Nigeria

Snoozing Nigerian federal employees who reported late to work have gotten a rude awakening.

As part of a push to end tardiness, a number of federal offices in the nation’s capital Abuja locked out hundreds of tardy workers Tuesday. The move is part of an ongoing government effort to end chronic late arrivals among employees in Africa’s most populous nation.

The offices opened their doors an hour later to let the late employees in.

However, so-called “Africa time” still plagues government offices in the oil-rich nation of 150 million people. While ministries should be open at 8 a.m., many find operations still sluggish two hours later. Offices typically close at 4 p.m. — or when the failing national power grid cuts out.

Associated Press