News You Can Use: Too Fat to Fly
That Rule Doesn’t Apply to Me
Police in Brighton, New Jersey, charged Zyair J. Dennis, 24, on Aug. 23 with one count of defiant trespassing after an incident on Aug. 18, the Cherry Hill Courier Post reported. Dennis, of Millville, New Jersey, was recorded at the Cohanzick Zoo taunting a tiger after climbing a barrier into the animal’s enclosure. Police said she tried to “entice” one of the Bengal tigers through a second, inside fence. In the video, the tiger appeared to try to bite the woman’s hand. Dennis was also caught on camera at the zoo’s bear exhibit, demonstrating the same kind of behavior, said Bridgerton Police Chief Michael Gaimari.
Weird in the Wild
A bald eagle that was “rescued” near Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Missouri because it couldn’t seem to fly wasn’t injured at all, Fox News reported on Aug. 25. Instead, wildlife officials at the Missouri Department of Conservation determined that it was “too fat to fly.” “The bird was ... engorged with raccoon,” officials said. X-rays taken at a nearby zoo showed a raccoon paw inside the eagle’s distended stomach. The bird was released near where it was found.
Bright Idea
A 9-year-old boy left his home in Brooklyn, New York, for school on Aug. 22 but never showed up, the Associated Press reported. His parents called police, who released a description of the missing child. When the New York CBS News helicopter arrived at the scene, they spotted the truant on the rooftop of his family’s building. “We came across a person sitting in a chair over here on the rooftop. We zoomed in with the camera,” said reporter Dan Rice. “It appeared to be the child that fit the description of the missing child.” They alerted police and as the news helicopter watched, Rice said, “He just packs up his computer and his book bag and goes off with the police officers,” who took the boy to his parents.
Questionable Judgment
Back in January, a 33-year-old man underwent emergency surgery at Graz University Hospital in Austria after a forestry accident, Sky News reported. It wasn’t until July, however, that the patient learned the unnamed surgeon allowed his 13-year-old daughter to drill a hole in the patient’s head. “There was no contact, no explanation or apology, nothing,” said the patient’s attorney, Peter Freiberger. “That is simply undignified.” The operation was successful, but the patient is still recovering. The main surgeon and another specialist who was present during the operation were let go by the hospital. Investigations by the public prosecutor’s office are underway.