The week’s odd news: Man recovers after sea lion yanks him overboard.

SAN DIEGO – Dan Carlin’s wife told him to smile for a picture on their boat as he held up one of the yellowtail fish they had caught that day. Then, a sea lion leaped out of the water, bit into his hand and yanked him overboard.

The animal, weighing hundreds of pounds, smashed the 62-year-old accountant against the boat’s side and sent his legs flying into the air like a rag doll’s before it dragged him some 20 feet underwater, Carlin said Wednesday, more than three weeks into his recovery after the April 5 incident.

“After 15 seconds, I thought I was going to die,” Carlin said. “I continued to struggle, but thought this is the way I was going to die. It was unbelievable to me.”

Then, as quickly as the attack happened, Carlin was released. He swam toward the surface as the sea lion bit his foot, puncturing a bone.

He managed to make his way back to his boat that was in a bay off San Diego. He and his wife moved it closer to land while his hand gushed blood and he struggled to breathe because of his battered chest. At one point, Carlin said, he lost his vision.

Carlin spent two days in the hospital. The gash on his hand required 20 stitches.

Carlin hopes his hand will have healed enough so he can go back out fishing. An experienced surfer, scuba diver and fisherman, Carlin said he and his wife, Trish, always took precautions to properly dispose of any guts or carcasses to ensure they did not go in the water.

Still, his experience shows just how dangerous sea lions can be, despite the fact that people often do not fear them, Carlin said.

Thinking it’s a joke, man hangs up twice on pope

VATICAN CITY – Hang up on Pope Francis and you might get a hug.

Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano says earlier this week, Francis dialed an ailing Italian man to comfort him. Francis has a habit of calling people who he has heard are suffering and telling them “Hello, I’m Pope Francis” when they answer their phone.

The newspaper said the man, Franco Rabuffi, hung up twice, thinking it was a prankster.

On the third call, he realized it truly was Francis and was speechless. The paper says Francis told Rabuffi he was amused. Rabuffi and his wife were invited to the pope’s public audience April 29 in St. Peter’s Square, where Francis hugged them and assured them he really did dial the man’s phone.

The paper didn’t specify the man’s illness or age.

‘Deja poo’? Aspen mountain struggles with dog poop

ASPEN, Colo. – Park rangers are at a loss as Colorado’s Smuggler Mountain continues to be covered in piles of poop left behind by furry friends.

The Aspen Times reports that just a month after volunteers cleaned up roughly 600 pounds of dog poop and Pitkin County Open Space and Trails launched an awareness campaign, rangers have flagged another 50 or so piles in the same section of the trail.

Senior ranger John Armstrong called it “deja poo.”

Armstrong said they may need to reinstitute the leash law on the first part of the trail, where most of the offenders relieve themselves.

In a more extreme case, Aspen could look to California where some communities take DNA samples from dogs when they’re registered in order to link smelly indiscretions to the correct pooch.

Sea lion pup spotted on sidewalk gets rescued

SAN FRANCISCO – A stranded sea lion pup has been spotted wandering a San Francisco sidewalk in a scene that marine rescuers warn could become commonplace as the ocean heats up.

Video from the Marine Mammal Center in nearby Sausalito shows the male sea lion nicknamed Rubbish hiding under a car April 30 and waddling away from rescuers. They eventually got a net around the pup, moved it into a crate and took it to the center.

A veterinarian there recognized Rubbish, who also was rescued in Santa Barbara in February. Then, he was treated for pneumonia and malnutrition.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says more than 1,800 sea lion pups have been stranded in California since January because of a warming ocean and dwindling food supply.

Woman returns home, finds wild turkey in her bathroom

WARWICK, R.I. – A Rhode Island woman thought a pipe burst when she returned home to find water pouring from her garage ceiling. But the culprit turned out to be an unusual houseguest that dropped in.

Nancy Page went upstairs to find the source of the running water and discovered a wild turkey had crashed through a bathroom window and somehow turned on the faucet. Page says she immediately realized it was a turkey, which left behind its own mess.

Police and a Department of Environmental Management officer caught the turkey and released it.

Page was forced to throw out the bathroom sink. She says it had been running for two to three hours. Page estimates the turkey caused thousands of dollars in water damage to her Warwick home.

Bag carrying $63,000 in moldy bills found at park

HOWARD, Pa. – A plastic bag containing $63,000 in moldy bills has been found at a Pennsylvania state park.

Police say the discovery was made April 25 by a park visitor in Bald Eagle State Park. That’s about 90 miles northwest of the capital, Harrisburg.

Police say paperwork found near the money apparently lists the name of the woman it belongs to and other information police believe will help them identify her.

Authorities say a woman reported the money missing nearly a year ago but lives out of state and didn’t leave any contact information. They are trying to reach her.

Christie ally, not Kirstie Alley, pleads guilty

TRENTON, N.J. – No, Kirstie Alley is not involved with politically motivated lane closures in New Jersey.

The actress became a trending topic throughout the U.S. on Twitter on May 1 after jokes and confusion from people reading the phrase “Christie ally” in headlines.

David Wildstein is an ally of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. He pleaded guilty Friday for his role in lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in 2013.

The “Cheers” actress tweeted a joke that “THIS is how rumors once again get started.”

Man turns in $1 million lottery ticket, dusted with flour

DETROIT – A postal worker says he couldn’t eat or sleep for three days because of something in a container of flour.

What was keeping him up? A $1 million lottery ticket.

Fred Morgan of Detroit had five winning numbers in the April 17 Mega Millions game. He knew he had won the next day. But he told lottery officials that he stashed the ticket in flour and a few other places while he and his wife considered what to do with the windfall.

Morgan says nobody would “check for anything valuable in the flour.” He says he’s retiring early after 31 years as a mail carrier.

2-headed calf born on Florida farm

MACCLENNY, Fla. – A two-headed calf was recently born on a farm in northern Florida.

Multiple news sources report the calf was born April 26 in Baker County. Dwight Crews, the owner of the farm says he hadn’t seen one born in his more than 60 years of raising cattle.

Crews says the female calf has trouble standing, but has been feeding from a bottle. While one mouth suckles, the other mouth moves.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not has been in contact with Crews and says the longest a two-headed calf has survived is 40 days.

Video reveals 2 bra bandits in latest mall lingerie heist

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Newly released surveillance video shows two women were behind the latest bra heist at a northeast Pennsylvania mall.

The women can be seen brazenly stuffing bras into a bag at the Victoria’s Secret store at the Wyoming Valley Mall last week. Twenty-five bras were stolen.

It’s the first time police in Wilkes-Barre Township have been able to lay eyes on the suspects.

They say the store never turned over video of three previous thefts that netted nearly 150 bras.

Police say 94 bras were taken from display drawers on Feb. 17, and 39 bras were stolen on Feb. 25.

They say 12 more bras were taken from a rear display on March 7.

The stolen bras are valued at more than $7,700.

Denver-area school won’t let child eat cookies in lunchbox

AURORA, Colo. – A suburban Denver 4-year-old came home from school disappointed, with untouched Oreos and a note from her teacher.

Preschooler Natalee Pearson told her mom April 24 that she wasn’t allowed to eat the cookies in her lunchbox.

The note told parents to pack a nutritious lunch that includes a fruit, vegetable and healthy snack.

Natalee’s mother, Leeza Pearson, says she doesn’t agree with the decision by the Children’s Academy in Aurora.

She says Natalie also had a sandwich and cheese and that the school took things too far.

A spokeswoman with Aurora Public Schools says they gave Natalee a healthy alternative to the cookies.

Pearson says Natalee attends the private Children’s Academy as a public school student under the state’s preschool option program.

Texas AM-Galveston professor fails entire class

GALVESTON, Texas – A Texas AM-Galveston professor has failed every student in his strategic management class, berating them via email as a disgrace to the school.

KPRC-TV in Houston reported that Irwin Horwitz sent the email Thursday informing them of their failing grades and saying he’ll no longer teach the class.

The email said he’s reached “breaking point.” Horwitz accused the students of backstabbing and cheating, and said they lack maturity.

Some students told the station the email came as a shock and voiced concern it could affect their career prospects.

University official Patrick Louchouarn says the failing grades won’t stick because the students haven’t finished the course and grades are applied on completion.

The department head will take over the class until the end of the semester.

School tour of S.D. bank inadvertently trips alarm

MITCHELL, S.D. – Police officers who responded to what they thought was a robbery of a South Dakota bank found a school tour instead.

Sgt. Dave Beintema said students were being given a tour of the First Dakota National Bank in Mitchell on April 28 when one of them apparently inadvertently pushed the bank’s panic alarm.

Beintema says the group of students found the whole incident amusing.

Mitchell is 70 miles west of Sioux Falls.

Quacking duck ringtone helps firefighter rescue ducklings

SLIDELL, La. – Quack! Quack! A duck call ringtone helped a Louisiana firefighter rescue six ducklings from a storm drain.

Spokesman Chad Duffaut of St. Tammany Fire District No. 1 says even with realistic quacking sounds coming from his cellphone, it took Firefighter Cody Knecht about 90 minutes to catch the first four baby mallards in the southeast Louisiana community.

Duffaut says Knecht rescued the others after giving them about an hour to calm.

All six ducklings were reunited with their mother Saturday in the canal behind a home, where residents had reported seeing the ducklings go into the drain.

Duffaut says it was fire station’s second duck rescue in a week. On April 19, firefighters rescued a duck that got stuck in a chimney.

Residents help guide geese out of downtown Montana city

MISSOULA, Mont. – It was no gaggle of geese, but two birds and a baby waddling through a downtown Montana city stopped traffic and brought out the shutterbugs.

It took an hour to guide the trio from the heart of Missoula back to the Clark Fork River on April 23.

Four women spotted the birds and stopped to help, using cardboard and a sweater to shepherd them safely through town as cars slowed and people snapped photos.

Noreen Humes was working at the Missoula Downtown Association when she noticed the goose family walk past her office. When they seemed to be heading deeper into the downtown area, she stepped in to help.

The birds sped up their waddles as they got closer to the river, swimming away safely.

Tater Tots, comfy couch waylay burglar

PETALUMA, Calif. – A would-be burglar got sidetracked by snacks and a comfy place to snooze, heating up some Tater Tots and taking a nap on the sofa of the house he broke into, police say.

A homeowner in Petaluma went downstairs to find the man asleep on her sofa April 23. The woman rushed to her bedroom, called police and then ran out the front door. She woke up the man, who fled out the back.

Officers parked on the next street spotted him and tried to handcuff him. They used a stun gun on him twice when he resisted. Police say he wasn’t injured.

The Placerville man is being held on $30,000 bail and has a criminal history including arrests for drug and weapons possession.

College’s goat- and sheep-guarding donkey has surprise birth

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. – The University of Rhode Island may have a new guard for its animal herd after a baby donkey was unexpectedly born.

Jenny, one of the university’s two guard donkeys, gave birth to the foal April 19 at the school’s Peckham Farm.

The university uses the donkeys to protect its goats and sheep from coyotes and feral dogs. The animals are part of the university’s animal science and pre-veterinary classes.

URI senior Kathryn Voelkner says she found the foal while feeding the two donkeys and saw it take its first steps. The birth came as a surprise, because both older donkeys are female.

Jenny came to the farm in May. University officials now believe she was already pregnant when they acquired her, since donkeys can be pregnant for about a year.

Burnt mac-and-cheese forces evacuation at Iowa Capitol

DES MOINES, Iowa – A burnt bowl of macaroni and cheese forced a brief evacuation at the Iowa Capitol.

An Iowa Department of Administrative Services spokesman says somebody’s lunch burned in a microwave April 27 behind the Senate Chambers on the second floor of the Capitol. He says the smoke prompted a short evacuation of the entire building during the morning.

Hunter says he’s not aware of any property damage or injuries.

Burglary suspect headed to trial despite ‘lost dog’ claims

UNIOTOWN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania burglary suspect who told police and homeowners he was just looking for his lost dog while snooping around several homes is headed to trial.

Juan Benitez, 39, of Uniontown, explained he had been looking for his dog in North Union and South Union townships when he was questioned about burglaries and prowling incidents at those homes, state police say.

But the Uniontown Herald-Standard reports that when police asked the suspect’s wife about the little Pomeranian named Bubba that Benitez claimed to be searching for she told them the dog didn’t exist.

A district judge on Monday ordered Benitez to stand trial on burglaries on Feb. 25 and April 2, and an attempted burglary on March 4 after testimony from state police.

Bad vibrations: Buzzing inside mailbox shutters town square

BELLEFONTE, Pa. – Police were picking up some bad vibrations from a buzzing mailbox in a Pennsylvania town, enough to prompt them to shut down the town square for a couple of hours.

Bellefonte police Chief Shawn Weaver says the “vibrating noise, like an alarm going off” was reported at about 10 a.m. April 28. Because police couldn’t be sure what was causing it, Penn State bomb experts and state police were called in, and a section of downtown was cordoned off until about 12:30 p.m.

It turns out someone had dropped a medical alert pager into the mailbox.

Police don’t yet know whether the device was dropped accidentally or put there by a prankster.

Prosecutors: Man stuffed $300 bribe into city worker’s pants

PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia man is facing a bribery charge after prosecutors say he stuffed $300 into a city worker’s pants during a property reassessment.

Ri Quang Wu, 59, was charged April 30 with bribery in official and political matters and obstructing the function of government.

Court records with bail information was not posted online.

Prosecutors say Wu passed the bribe during a May 2014 assessment at a property in South Philadelphia.

They say the evaluator tried to give the cash back, but Wu refused and the evaluator turned it over to his bosses at the Bureau of Revenue and Taxation.

District Attorney Seth Williams says the case shows that the city is not for sale and that employees won’t tolerate dishonest behavior.

2 arrested for stealing hundreds in meat products

DeLAND, Fla. – A man and woman have been arrested in central Florida after police say they stole more than $300 worth of meat from a grocery store.

Deputies said Doris Rowe, 48, and Kenneth Edwards, 54, drove 26 miles to a Winn-Dixie store in DeLand where a store manager saw Rowe stuffing meat products and other items into her pants.

Deputies say the manager stopped Rowe and she hit the manager in the neck, dropping pork ribs, two packs of detergent and three water filters. Rowe fled the store and got into Edwards’ truck. Deputies apprehended them at a traffic stop. Both were charged with grand theft and robbery.

Deputies found ribeye steaks, ground beef, bacon, pork ribs and a gallon of bleach in the car valued at $361.

Cops: Maine man who fled arrest found hiding 50 feet up tree

GRAY, Maine – A man police were tracking after he took off following a traffic stop was found hiding 50 feet up in a tree, police say.

Authorities in Windham County caught Weston Wing, 30, on the morning of April 29 after flagging him down for driving over the speed limit. Wing refused to pull over, crashed near an intersection on Route 115 and then ran into the woods.

A police dog located Wing, who authorities say was in the branches of a tree.

Wing faces charges of running from police and driving with a suspended license. A lieutenant from Windham County said Wing has had about 20 license suspensions over the past decade.

— Compiled by Paul H. Rowe

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