Weird News #3

Tanked guy shows up at McDonald's
Traverse City, Mich. -------------------- Police say a belligerent man dressed in scuba gear caused a stir at a northern Michigan fastfood restaurant.
                                                                The Traverse City Record-Eagle and MLive.com report the man, who had been drinking, showed up at a downtown McDonald's.  Workers called police, who found the 48-year-old man nearby.  Police say they warned him that management didn't want him at the restaurant.
                                                                Police didn't know why the man was wearing scuba gear.
                                                                Regardless, Detective Sgt. James Bussell say that "as far as wearing scuba gear and having a couple of beers, that's legal."

Minnie-mize use of selfie-sticks, please
Orlando, Fla. ----------------------------- Disney World is looking to crack down on guests who use selfie sticks on rides at the park.
                                                                The Orlando Sentinel reports a spokesman said guests can bring selfie sticks on the rides but must securely store them.
                                                                Disney policy forbids visitors from using the sticks, which can be used to extend cameras out up to 3 feet.  One ride, Thunder Mountain, has had a number of incidents in which the ride had to be stopped because of selfie-stick use.
                                                                This week, Disney World workers posted a "No Selfie Sticks" sign at the Magic Kingdom's Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Squirrel performs powerful high-wire act
Columbia, Pa. ----------------------------- Officials say a power outage that affected 2,471 people and forced an elementary school to close in southeastern Pennsylvania was caused by a squirrel.
                                                                 Park Elementary School in Columbia had to close after the critter came into contact with a primary wire, starting a fire and causing the wires to fall.
                                                                 Officials say no one was injured in the incident.  No word on the condition of the squirrel.
                                                                 PPL crews managed to restore electricity to all but 252 people within a few hours.
                                                                 PPL Electric Utilities spokeswoman Jessica Long said the squirrel also caused a circuit breaker to trip and cause fuses in a transformer to malfunction, knocking out power for 21 customers.

Lay low, Paddington
      Federal and Louisiana officials say it's time to get the animal that inspired teddy bears off the list of protected species.
      U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official Steve Guertin says his agency is making a formal proposal to remove the Louisiana black bear from the list of threatened species.
      Removal from the list would let hunters kill at least a few of the bears that inspired plush "Teddy's bears" after President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a tied-up animal for a hunt trophy in 1902.
    The process of delisting the bear could take a year if nobody fights it.
    Local Sierra Club chairman Harold Schoeffler, whose legal action prompted the listing, says he will take it to court.