• CAT THAT SPENT A WEEK IN MASS. TREE FOUND: MARION, Mass. (AP) — A stray cat that spent at least a week stuck in a Massachusetts tree before plunging 80 feet to the ground and fleeing has been found, and all things considered, appears to be in good health.

A Marion Animal Hospital veterinarian said Wednesday it’s “unbelievable” that the cat dubbed Fortunate has just a couple of pulled muscles and a possible parasitic infection.

The cat was spotted in a Rochester, Mass., tree on Christmas Eve. Several rescue attempts failed before firefighters cut the branch it was perched on Sunday. Cat shelter founder Pam Robinson finally trapped the skittish feline on Tuesday.

Robinson tells The Standard Times she will keep the cat for a few weeks so it can regain weight before putting it up for adoption.



• 76-YEAR-OLD MAN TRAPPED HUNTING FOR LOTTERY TICKET: AMSTERDAM (AP) — What are the odds?

A 76-year-old man trapped himself in an underground waste paper container in Amsterdam after he clambered in to hunt for a lottery ticket.

Police said in a statement the elderly man managed to open the container and climb in Thursday because he feared he had tossed out a lottery ticket along with other used paper.

Passers-by heard him calling for help and alerted the police who freed him with the help of firefighters.

The bad news? The man didn’t find his lottery ticket.



• POLICE: PA. MAN CLAIMS BOOZE ON BREATH A WEEK OLD: ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — Police say a central Pennsylvania man arrested for public drunkenness when he tried to report his cellphone had been stolen claimed that the booze officers smelled on his breath was a week old.

Altoona police didn’t buy that, and say they also found brass knuckles, a small amount of marijuana and a pipe on 19-year-old John Ozio, before they decided to arrest him on Dec. 23. Ozio’s public defender could not immediately be reached for comment.

He remained in the Blair County Prison on Thursday, awaiting a Feb. 8 preliminary hearing on charges of carrying an illegal weapon, marijuana possession, public drunkenness, underage drinking and criminal mischief.

Police say Ozio claimed someone planted the marijuana pipe in his backpack and that he carried the brass knuckles as “protection from being jumped.”