oddly enough

oddly enough

Knock, knock: No joke, an alligator’s at the front door

TAMPA, Fla.

A Florida family thought someone was trying to break into their apartment when they heard knocking sounds at 4 a.m.

It turns out a 5-foot alligator was outside their front door on a recent morning. And so were Tampa police officers.

Police and Florida Fish and Wildlife officers caught the gator and returned it to the wild.

It was the second such alligator-knocking incident in the South in recent weeks.

Earlier last month, a gator wandered into a neighborhood near Charleston, S.C., and appeared to reach for the doorbell at one home. The incident was caught on video by Gary Rogers, whose daughter Danielle Barkley lives nearby.

Barkley says alligators have visited the neighborhood before. But she said it was the first time one seemed to reach for the doorbell.

In sync: More than 31,000 in China set world dance record

BEIJING

China’s dancing grannies have taken their moves to the record books.

Guinness World Records says more than 31,000 Chinese participants have set a record for mass plaza dancing in multiple locations.

Some 31,697 people in Beijing, Shanghai and four other cities set the new mark recently by performing choreographed dance moves together for more than five minutes, Guinness said on its website.

Participants in Beijing posed with Guinness representatives in front of the city’s iconic Bird’s Nest stadium.

Generally middle-aged and elderly women, such dancers are a common site in parks, plazas and other public spaces in Chinese cities. Though considered a healthy way to exercise and socialize, the performances sometimes have drawn criticism from those living nearby over the loud music accompanying the moves.

Pennsylvania county jail kept inmate 17 months too long

LANCASTER, Pa.

Officials at a county jail in Pennsylvania say they mistakenly kept an inmate locked up 17 months too long.

The Lancaster County commissioners said the inmate doesn’t want to be identified. But they said the inmate was supposed to be released in November 2014, but wasn’t released until last month.

The commissioners didn’t immediately make clear when or how the error was discovered, but officials say they know how it happened.

Officials say new charges against another inmate with the same name were mistakenly duplicated and put in both inmates’ files.

Warden Cheryl Steberger issued a statement saying officials wanted to publicly acknowledge the mistake and apologize.

The jail is making changes, including reviewing the records of all inmates with the same last name.

Associated Press