ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Flyers mascot Gritty surprises wedding party

PHILADELPHIA

What better way to surprise a Philadelphia wedding party than with the instant sensation Gritty?

KYW-TV reports newlyweds were shocked when the 7-foot mascot for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers showed up Friday night and started dancing with the bride.

A video taken by a relative and posted to Twitter captures the orange monster hugging Heather Grossmuller and Karl Schwemlein during their reception. The video shows Gritty and Grossmuller getting down on the dance floor.

Grossmuller’s father, Ray, orchestrated the surprise for his daughter who is a raving Flyers fan.

Gritty has become a huge hit since becoming the team’s mascot in September. He has hung with celebrities and his face put on beer cans and tattoos. He was honored last month with a resolution by the city council.

Texas doctor fights to keep dinosaur skull seized by feds

FORT WORTH, Texas

A doctor in Texas with a passion for paleontology is challenging the federal government after authorities seized a 70 million-year-old dinosaur skull from his fossil collection.

Dr. James Godwin argues that the government waited too long to file a forfeiture claim after it seized the Tyrannosaurus bataar skull that authorities say was among several fossils smuggled illegally out of Mongolia. Under the National Stolen Property Act, the government has five years from the time an offense is discovered to file a forfeiture lawsuit.

Federal investigators said the skull was unearthed from the Gobi Desert between 2000 and 2011 and it traded hands several times before it ended up at a store in Wyoming, where Godwin acquired it. Agents seized the fossil from Godwin in July 2013 and a forfeiture claim was filed in August 2017.

But Godwin’s attorney argued that the government surpassed the five-year window to file a claim because, he said, agents first became aware of Godwin’s connection to the fossil in July 2012.

“The statute of limitations begins when the government possesses facts sufficient to trigger an investigation – not whenever the government decides it has sufficiently verified the facts,” attorney Michael A. Villa Jr. said in a recent court filing.

According to the Dallas Morning News, a judge in Fort Worth heard testimony Nov. 20 in the case and says he’ll rule at a later date. The fossil is being stored at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont.

Associated Press