AM Prep-Kickers

UN-BEAR-ABLE! CUBS GET LOCKED IN VAN, HONK HORN TO GET OUT

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Two bear cubs were rescued after they locked themselves in a van and then honked the horn for help.

News reports say security technician Jeff Stokely had parked his van outside a customer’s home in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and went to work. Soon he heard a horn honking and realized it was his van. He went back to the van and was surprised when he saw two small bear cubs locked inside and repeatedly hitting the horn.

Stokely says the cubs must have climbed in through the driver side door and then locked themselves by hitting the lock button.

Stokely took video and photos of the cubs before opening a door to let them out.

He says he didn’t see Mama Bear nearby.

WOMAN SHOT WHEN DOG JUMPS ONTO CAR CONSOLE, CAUSES GUNFIRE

ENID, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma woman was shot in the thigh when a dog inside the vehicle with her jumped onto a back seat console, causing a gun under the console to fire.

The Enid News & Eagle reports that Tina Springer was in the passenger seat of the vehicle that had stopped Thursday to wait for a train in Enid in northern Oklahoma. The yellow Labrador retriever, which belongs to the 79-year-old driver Brent Parks, was in the back seat and jumped onto the folding console. That’s when the .22-calibre handgun under the console went off.

Police say cloth from the seat covers could have gotten into the trigger well of the gun, making it discharge.

The 44-year-old Springer, who lives in Nash, Oklahoma, and is Parks’ caretaker, was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Police say Parks told them the gun isn’t usually loaded.

SUBURBAN CHICAGO WOMAN FINDS APPARENT AIRCRAFT WHEEL IN ROOF

LYNWOOD, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman that lives near a municipal airport says she found what is believed to be a helicopter wheel lodged in the ceiling of her home’s bathroom.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Linda Dian of Lynwood says she found the wheel poking through the ceiling on Saturday evening and plaster was everywhere. Her family lives blocks from the Lansing Municipal Airport in Illinois.

Federal Aviation Administration officials say it appears to be a dolly wheel assembly from a helicopter. The agency was investigating when the part fell and from which aircraft.

An airport spokesman didn’t return a request for comment Sunday.

Dian says Lynwood Fire Department firefighters pushed the wheel out the roof and took it away.

‘WOW CHILD’ IS SPECIAL GUEST OF ORCHESTRA THAT INSPIRED HIM

BOSTON (AP) — A boy who charmed the world by exclaiming “Wow!” at the end of a classical music performance was a special guest of the orchestra that inspired his delight.

The Boston Globe reports 9-year-old Ronan Mattin, of New Hampshire, and his grandparents attended a dress rehearsal at Boston’s Symphony Hall on Thursday as the Handel & Haydn Society prepared for its new season that started Friday.

The venerable orchestra launched a search for the “Wow Child” after the May concert using audio of the moment captured by WCRB-FM.

Handel & Haydn President David Snead has said it was one of the most wonderful moments he has ever had in a concert hall.

Ronan’s grandmother says her grandson listens to classical music at home and will eventually begin playing instruments.

FLORIDA TRAPPERS CAPTURE RECORD-SETTING PYTHON IN EVERGLADES

BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE, Fla. (AP) — Officials say Florida trappers have captured a record-setting python as part of a growing effort that encourages hunters to remove the invasive snakes from the Everglades.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says the 18-foot, 4-inch-long female python weighed 98 pounds and 10 ounces. A statement by the Fish and Wildlife Commission says it was the largest snake captured by the new Python Action Team and the largest ever captured at the Big Cypress National Preserve, west of Miami.

The agency says it is the second-largest python ever caught in the wild in Florida. The commission says hunting female Burmese pythons is critical because they add between 30 and 60 hatchlings each time they breed.

NEVADA FIGHTING TO KEEP ‘ZOMBIE DEER’ FROM ENTERING STATE

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Zombie deer may sound like something in a bad B-movie, but wildlife regulators say they’re real. Officials are working to keep them out of Nevada.

The Las Vegas Sun reports the term relates to animals that have contracted chronic wasting disease — a highly contagious and terminal disorder. Causing symptoms such as lack of fear of humans, lethargy and emaciation, it can destroy deer and elk populations.

Nevada state wildlife veterinarian Peregrine Wolff says officials are testing dead animals and monitoring migratory elk and deer at the state line with Utah for signs of sickness.

A state law passed this year prohibits parts of certain carcasses in the state in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease.

States reporting animals with the illness include Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming.