Parachutist rescued from radio tower
A man’s plan to leap from a Missouri radio tower south of St louis went awry when his parachute got stuck on a supporting wire, leaving him suspended 155 feet above the ground, a fire official said. The parachutist, Timothy Church, 27, and Brandon Travis, 26, were arrested for trespassing on private property, St louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said. Travis helped Church gain access to the tower, he said.
Church was rescued by a firefighter trained in high-suspension rescues who climbed the tower and got a rope and pulley to the man. He was then secured and lowered to the ground, said Brian Hendricks, chief of the Mehlville Fire Protection District.
“It appears he climbed the tower, jumped, deployed his parachute and as he was coming to the ground he became entangled in the guy wire,” Hendricks said. Church was stuck on the wire about 20 feet from the tower for two hours, he added. “He was in a significant amount of stress due to suspension trauma, hanging in the harness for that long. But when we got him on the ground, he was able to walk,” Hendricks said, adding that Church was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not serious.
(Reuters)
Fanged Deer Spotted For First Time In 66 Years
A species of fanged deer that hasn’t been seen in 66 years was recently spotted by scientists in northeastern Afghanistan, according to a Wildlife Conservation news release.
The Kashmir musk deer, which is one of seven similar species found throughout Asia, is endangered due to habitat loss and also because of poachers hunting the animal for its prized scent glands. No members of the species had been seen in Afghanistan by scientists since 1948.
Only the male musk deer have fangs, which they use during breeding season to battle for mates, according to the Washington Post. The stocky deer stand at about 2 feet tall, according to Discovery. The WCS survey team noted that the deer were “discrete” and “difficult to spot,” and they were unable to get them on camera.
Peter Zahler, WCS Deputy Director of Asia Programs, called musk deer “one of Afghanistan’s living treasures,” and said in the release that his organisation hopes “that conditions will stabilise soon to allow WCS and local partners to better evaluate conservation needs of this species.”
(Huffington Post)
Bats invade Utah courthouse one day before Halloween
Bats numbering in what some call the “thousands” invaded a court in Utah just a day before Halloween. Court workers told St George News that the creatures may have entered the 5th District Courthouse in Washington County, Utah, after construction workers left a vent open on the outside of the building.
The bats have been reported all over the facility but are mainly congregated inside vents, where they can be heard “scratching inside the ceiling in some areas,” a court employee said.
One source told St George News that the bats numbered in the thousands, but Rick Davis, trial court executive for the 5th District Court, said that the number of bats — and how long it will take to remove the animals — is unknown.
The Division of Natural Resources is assisting in removing the bats from the 91,734 square-foot building, while legal proceedings in the courtrooms have gone forward with little interruption save a few cases that were moved to different rooms. “We did set up a method that will cause the bats to exit the building,” Utah Courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said, “and then, at that point, they will be able to catch them.”
Bats are known to seek sanctuary in large numbers within buildings. In September, 200 bats took over a Danish woman’s home, and in August, a similar number sought residence in a power plant in Vermont.
(UPI)
Man suspended for using ‘robotic voice’
If some workplace problems happen because employees are only human, one New York City Government worker got in trouble for virtually the opposite. He was suspended for 20 days without pay partly for answering an information-technology help line “in a robotic voice”. The city Civil Service Commission upheld the suspension this month.
An administrative law judge’s report says the Health Department worker told callers “you have reached the help desk” in an over-enunciated monotone. Callers complained and one even hung up, later saying she needed “to speak to a human”.
The worker said at a hearing he was following a call-answering script and articulating carefully because his Brooklyn accent can be difficult to understand. The judge called him a “disgruntled employee” acting out. His lawyer called the suspension “exceedingly harsh.”
(AP)