ODDLY ENOUGH | Rare tortoise missing from zoo

ODDLY ENOUGH

Rare tortoise missing from zoo

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.

A rare tortoise has disappeared from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, and authorities think he may have been stolen.

Zookeepers say they last saw 13-year-old Butti on Monday afternoon in The Loft, a hands-on exhibit where visitors can handle Butti and his brother, Tutti.

Officials say someone might have walked off with the Indian Star tortoise — he’s the size of a grapefruit and weighs about a pound.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reported Tuesday that zookeepers are most concerned about Butti’s health because he requires a special diet of certain vegetables.

Butti has a history of upper-respiratory infections. Without his caretakers, he might develop gastrointestinal problems, osteoporosis or kidney failure.

Strip-search suit may aid kids

PITTSBURGH

A $3 million settlement for Allegheny County Jail inmates who were wrongly strip-searched may benefit many of their children instead.

The county’s Family Court has issued more than 2,000 orders stopping payment to inmates entitled to some strip-search money, because it appears they owe child support. The orders would ensure the support is paid before those inmates get any remaining money.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2006.

The county last year agreed to pay $3 million — minus nearly $1.3 million in legal and processing fees — to settle claims by 12,600 former inmates strip-searched for misdemeanors or lesser charges between July 2004 and March 2008.

Only a fraction of those inmates were expected to claim a share of the settlement by Thursday’s deadline and receive several hundred dollars each.

Associated Press