German cops run over dog, send owner bill
BERLIN: A German woman has hired a lawyer after being shocked to discover that not only did police deliberately run over her beloved dog, they have now sent her a hefty bill, it emerged on Monday. Robby, a nine-year-old Australian Shepherd, ran away on Dec. 31 after being terrified by fireworks, and made it onto a nearby motorway, her owner Heidi Schwank, 65, told the Bild daily. A patrol car ran over Robby and took a damage of over 2,500 euros ($3,500) — costs which Schwank now has to pay — after four officers in two police cars spent over an hour getting cars on the A1 autobahn to slow down while they tried, unsuccessfully, to capture him.
Alaska to get its own Groundhog Day
JUNEAU, Alaska: Alaska now has its own version of Groundhog Day. Then-Gov. Sarah Palin signed a bill last year to make every Feb. 2 Marmot Day in Alaska. The bill, introduced by Sen. Linda Menard, a Wasilla Republican, says it made sense for the ground squirrel to become Alaska’s version of Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog famed for his winter weather forecasts. Menard’s bill didn’t give marmots any weather forecasting duties, but she hopes the state will create educational activities around the animal.
— Compiled from agencies