Oddly enough

Oddly enough

Fla. deputies handcuff 7-foot gator near school

OLDSMAR, Fla.

Deputies in Florida had to handcuff a rather unusual suspect — a 7-foot-long alligator.

A crossing guard at a Tampa-area school spotted the gator lounging near an elementary school Monday morning around the time children would be walking to school.

As she and three deputies waited for a trapper to arrive, the alligator started walking toward the children. Three deputies roped the gator’s neck and tail as the animal rolled and thrashed. Its tail broke off chunks of stucco from a nearby wall.

Deputies later secured the gator’s mouth with electrical tape and handcuffed its hind legs. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials took custody of the animal until the trapper arrived.

5-year-old boy wins moose-calling contest

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

For 5-year-old Andrew Polasky, being loud has paid off.

Andrew was the winner of this weekend’s moose-calling contest at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage.

He lives with his parents, Janessa and Ray, on Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage.

He really hasn’t been around moose that much, even though they’re ever-present in Alaska’s largest city. Instead, he’s more used to deer from his native Wisconsin.

So what’s his secret for winning a moose calling contest?

His mom says he just likes making a lot of noise, and, she says, “He’s good at it.”

For his efforts, Andrew won a calendar, a $25 gift certificate to an Anchorage restaurant — the Moose’s Tooth, of course — and a moose cutout to hang on his wall.

Church members show faith with tattoos

ANAHEIM, Calif.

Church-logo tattoos are the latest in offbeat testimony at an Orange County church that has Sunday services in a punk-rock nightclub and collects offerings in KFC buckets.

City Church of Anaheim is celebrating its first year in operation and the goal of reaching a 200-member flock with a radical commitment to the congregation and community: Tattoos of the red-heart church logo.

Pastor Kyle Steven Bonenberger told worshippers that God “tattooed your name on his heart” and it was time for an everlasting commitment to Him and the church.

The Orange County Register reports about a dozen people got inked, fulfilling the pledge they made if the church doubled its normal attendance.

City Church started in a living room and moved to Anaheim’s Chain Reaction Club as the congregation grew.

Associated Press