After $1,000 in damages was sustained to its City Hall roof, DeLand, Florida has installed an $11,000 “bird shock flex-track system” to prevent roughly 60 black vultures from pecking and pooping there. The city says the scavengers chewed on the 3-year-old roof’s rubber membrane and adhesives, insultation around the air-conditioner piping and caulking around the building’s windows. Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Among the quirky laws remaining on the books in The Keystone State is one that prohibits catching fish using one’s mouth or hands. Emil Svetahor, law enforcement supervisor for the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, says he’s never cited an angler for illegal mouth-fishing, but if he does, it’ll cost the culprit 100 bucks. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Among the quirky laws remaining on the books in The Keystone State is one that prohibits catching fish using one’s mouth or hands. Emil Svetahor, law enforcement supervisor for the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, says he’s never cited an angler for illegal mouth-fishing, but if he does, it’ll cost the culprit 100 bucks. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Lawmakers in Wyoming and Kentucky have announced they will introduce measures to protect the right of citizens to hunt, fish and trap through Constitution Amendments when legislatures convene in coming weeks. Similar amendments were overwhelmingly approved by voters in Arkansas, Tennessee and S. Carolina in November.

A report from the Government Accountability Office released earlier this month indicates that persons using public lands in the U.S. are faced with an increasing risk of harm from armed individuals involved in illegal border activity and marijuana cultivation. “Hunters, hikers, and other members of the public, as well as agency employees, have been shot, shot at, kidnapped, and threatened with violence.” CNSNews.

While New London, Conn. ne’er-do-well Jerome Taylor thought his Iphone might serve as a handgun facsimile for an attempted armed robbery at a local restaurant, the staff there thought otherwise, standing their ground with kitchen cutlery–not apps. Taylor, 20, was charged with interfering with police, first-degree criminal attempt to commit first-degree robbery and criminal attempt to commit sixth-degree larceny. The Day and MSNBC.

Five people were treated for minor injuries after they fell from two chairs on a ski lift at the Sierra at Tahoe ski resort, a resort spokeswoman said.

Kirstin Cattell, spokeswoman, said high winds broke off the top of a tree at the Highway 50 resort and the tree top fell onto the lift line. The impact caused the occupants in two nearby chairs to be bounced out of their seats and into the snow between 5 feet and 15 feet below.

Cattell said the ski patrol arrived at the site within minutes and provided aid. Resort operators, faced with worsening high winds, decided a few minutes later – at 11 a.m. – to shut down the resort, she said.

The National Weather Service said winds were expected to reach 70 mph over peaks at the 7,000-foot level later Sunday. The resort’s base elevation is 7,300 feet, Cattell said.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/19/3269492/five-people-treated-for-injuries.html#ixzz198LKKCNj

Vandals who turned off the power to a pump station at the the Milford (NH) Fish Hatchery last weekend caused the death of at least 15,000 rainbow trout, according to the state Fish and Game Department. “It could have been more,” said CO Todd Szewczyk, noting the facility contained 425,000 rainbows and 300,000 brook and brown trout. The Nashua Democrat.

A Lake Worth, Fla. homeowner attempting to smoke out a bee colony caused a fire that resulted in $50,000 in damages, while failing to evict the troublesome bees. No one was reported injured by fire or bees, according to Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue. The Palm Beach Post.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks biologists have positively identified a mountain lion that was photographed by a landowner’s  trail camera in Nemaha County earlier this month, marking the fifth one verified in the state since 2007. KDWP news release.

I am glad he let him out but the Governor failed by not giving him a full pardon.  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today commuted the seven-year prison sentence of Brian Aitken, who was arrested under the state’s restrictive gun laws after he was found transporting firearms he purchased in Colorado inside his vehicle’s locked trunk. The Trentonian.

Proving “no good deed goes unpunished,” and law enforcement is out of control  two Baltimore area men who helped rescue a deer from the frozen Patapsco River last week were cited by authorities for not wearing life jackets aboard their inflatable boat. James Hart and Khalilalim Abusakran Jr. were fined $90 each, said NRP Sgt. Brian Albert. The Annapolis Capital.

We thought our many writer and communicator regulars would like to know the Oregon Public School system doesn’t believe spelling is a critical component of good writing. For the first time, middle and high school students will be allowed to use computer spell check on their writing skills tests. “We are not letting a student’s keyboarding skills get in the way of being able to judge their writing ability,” says state Supt. Susan Castillo. In the Oregonian.