oddly enough

oddly enough

Crash on interstate caused by trucker pulling his tooth

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.

Alabama authorities say a tractor-trailer crashed on Interstate 20 because the driver lost control while he was pulling one of his teeth.

The Alabama Highway Patrol says the truck driver told troopers he had taken his hands off the wheel to pull a loose tooth when he wrecked near Tuscaloosa. The crash report states: “He had the tooth in his shirt pocket as proof.”

The tractor-trailer veered off I-20 into a ditch last week and smashed into a tree. The crash shut down a stretch of interstate for about 11 hours until a single lane reopened.

Authorities say the 57-year-old driver wasn’t seriously hurt. Al.com reports the Highway Patrol redacted the driver’s name from its copy of the crash report released to reporters.

Bats cause mayhem, send people screaming from court

DE QUEEN, Ark.

There was disorder in the court when 30 bats flew inside an Arkansas courtroom during a recent trial.

The Texarkana Gazette reports that several people ducked, screamed and ran from the room last Thursday as the bats swooped into the room at the Sevier County Courthouse in De Queen.

One bat tried to bite a deputy who caught it and held it by the wings while onlookers took photos. The bats calmed down after the lights were turned off and court was moved elsewhere.

Circuit Judge Tom Cooper said hundreds of bats live at the courthouse and that their excrement is everywhere. The county’s chief administrative officer, Greg Ray, said hundreds roost in an elevator shaft.

A pest-control expert has been asked to visit the courthouse to propose solutions.

Indiana city parking meters besieged with crow droppings

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.

A city in central Indiana is ramping up its defenses against a virulent menace: crow droppings.

Hundreds of crows settling in trees around the Monroe County Courthouse square in Bloomington have caused havoc in recent weeks by coating the area with droppings, in particular bombarding cars and parking meters.

Bloomington police Capt. Joe Qualters tells The Herald-Times that the city this week started to use old street signs to protect the parking meters, at a cost of less than $15 per meter.

Crews identified 16 meters as routine targets for the birds.

Qualters says parking-enforcement manager Raye Ann Cox came up with the inexpensive way to address the unsanitary situation.

Associated Press