Water fight

The Russian navy has reported that one of its vessels came under attack and was sunk during a September research mission in the Arctic Ocean. The vessel was a rubber landing craft. The attacker: an angry walrus. An official release from Russia’s Northern Fleet speculated that the female walrus was probably defending her nearby young. The walrus managed to sink the boat, but not before the Russian sailors were able to scramble to shore. The incident happened off the coast of Franz Josef Land.

Time for action?

How seriously does the United Kingdom’s Royal Mail take its mail delivery? The British postal service has fired a letter carrier who delivered an item one minute late. Robert Lockyer, a Royal Mail veteran of nearly three decades, was accused of gross misconduct and fired for the short delay in 2018. At the time of the dismissal, Lockyer had been on warning for a previous violation. Lockyer and union officials appealed his firing to an employment tribunal, which confirmed his firing in August. Lockyer said he’ll try his case in the British legal system.

Details, details …

Officials with an Oregon water authority left out one crucial detail when pitching a new water treatment plant to the Portland City Council in 2017. The water bureau forgot to include the cost of the pipes. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler lit into Water Bureau director Mike Stuhr when the water official disclosed the oversight during a Sept. 17 meeting. Stuhr had come to the City Council meeting to ask for $350 million more to complete the water treatment plant after it had already approved $500 million in 2017. The oversight infuriated Wheeler and the City Council, which pressed Stuhr on why he didn’t disclose two years ago that the $500 million budget for the water plant didn’t include something as central as pipes.

Release and catch

U.S. Marshals reported on Sept. 25 that a 29-year-old convict being held at Bee County Jail in Texas had escaped, warning that the suspect was armed and dangerous. Later that day, officials with the jail reported that Ernest Ramirez hadn’t escaped. Rather, Ramirez had been released by accident. The accidental release in Bee County, south of San Antonio, came just days after an admission by Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar that his office had accidentally released a dozen inmates over the past year. In most cases, authorities recovered the mistakenly released inmates within a few days. Authorities announced on Oct. 1 that U.S. Border Patrol agents had recaptured Ramirez.

Make-work for volunteers

Celebrating International Coastal Cleanup Day by holding an event to pick up litter on a local beach sounds like a good idea. But what if your local beach is pristine and litterless? The mayor of a South Korean town purchased hundreds of pounds of trash to spread across his clean beaches ahead of the Sept. 21 cleanup day. The point, he said later in a statement, was to give the roughly 600 volunteers who signed up something to do. Mayor Lee Dong-jin said the imposter garbage was completely removed from the beach near Jindo, South Korea, and promised locals that none of the trucked-in trash made it into the ocean.

Aging ankles

Italian researchers have warned that Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpiece sculpture of David is at risk of crumbling because of weak ankles. Fractures were first discovered in David’s ankles in the 19th century, some 350 years after its completion in 1504. In September, researchers at the University of Florence working in cooperation with the Italian government released details of an experiment on small plaster replicas of the marble work. According to scientists, the statue is stable for now, but could crumble if a major earthquake strikes Florence. Museum officials say they have been monitoring the size of David’s fractures since 2001.

Designer dogs

The creator of the Labradoodle breed of dogs has apologized for what he now calls a “Frankenstein’s monster.” Guide dog trainer and breeder Wally Conron, now 90, told ABC Australia he regrets creating the Labrador-poodle cross in 1989. “[They’re] either crazy or have a hereditary problem,” he said. The Australian breeder says current breeders have gone too far with hybrid dog breeds without thinking about the potential impact on dog health or disposition.

Send and repeat

Stephanie Lay of Windham, Maine, probably has a letter she received from United Healthcare memorized. That’s because by Sept. 19 she had received the letter 46 times, each one identical to the others. She reached out to the company on that day to stop sending the letters, but the letters didn’t stop until Sept. 23. By then, Lay said, her mailbox had been filled with more than 500 letters from United, all addressed to her autistic son, who lives in a separate care facility. A spokesman for United said the mass mailing was the result of a coding issue in its computer system that employees are in the process of fixing.

A Hemi under the hood

An Indiana driver expressed amazement after police were able to keep up with him during a 140 mph car chase. A trooper spotted the driver of a 2002 Acura traveling at 116 mph in a 55 mph zone in the early morning hours of Sept. 19. As the state trooper attempted to make a stop, the 20-year-old driver sped away, eventually reaching speeds of 140 mph. Driver Dino Gagliano said later he thought the Indiana State Police cruiser only had a V6 engine. In actuality, the cruisers are outfitted with V8 Hemis. Police arrested Gagliano and charged him with felony resisting and a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving.