Dozens of rattlesnakes removed

ALBANY, Texas — A homeowner who reported seeing “a few” snakes under his home actually had dozens of rattlesnakes living beneath his house.

Big Country Snake Removal, which was called in to help, said the homeowner crawled underneath his home after strong winds disrupted his cable television service. He saw a few snakes, quickly crawled out and contacted the snake removal company.

Workers later pulled 45 rattlesnakes from underneath the home, according to the company’s Facebook page.

Snakes will begin slithering out from underneath Texas homes as the weather warms up, increasing the risk of snakebites, said Nathan Hawkins, the owner of Big Country Snake Removal.

“They’ll start emerging, and then what they’re going to do is they’re going to start trying to find food. And then they’re going to start breeding,” Hawkins said. “A lot of people are getting snakes in their yard, and it’s because basically the habitat has been destroyed around the housing developments.”

State wildlife officials say that about 7,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes each year in the United States but very few bites are fatal. Officials say that on average, one to two people die in Texas each year from a venomous snake bite.

Hitler called a ‘good leader’

MADISON, N.J. — A sports official is apologizing for telling student athletes that Adolf Hitler was a “good leader” with “bad moral character and intentions.”

Nutley High School athletic director Joe Piro made the remark while addressing Madison High School students during an assembly aimed at promoting positive leadership.

Piro tells NJ.com he was trying to make a point that “a leader could have strong leadership skills that influence people in a negative way.” He says he understands “Hitler was an evil man who used his skills in a horrific manner.”

The district’s superintendent said in a letter sent to parents that the speaker’s presentation was “unnecessarily provocative and insensitive.”

Piro showed a photo of Hitler as part of a side-by-side comparison with Martin Luther King Jr.

Printer ink spill blots interstate lanes

ATLANTA — A truck carrying 40,000 pounds of printer ink overturned on an Atlanta interstate, closing all lanes on an outer loop for four hours. That’s 5,500 gallons of ink.

News outlets report a car cut in front of the truck causing the truck to lose control and crash. Atlanta police’s traffic report twitter account says the spill stained Interstate 285, just south of Interstate 20.

All lanes on I-285’s outer loop were closed while crews used sand and dirt to soak up the ink.

Suspect in girl’s slaying faked help

FORT PAYNE, Ala. — An Alabama sheriff’s investigator says a man pretended to help search for the 11-year-old girl he’s accused of strangling.

A judge ruled that prosecutors have probable cause in the capital murder case against 33-year-old Christopher Wayne Madison, who’s accused of killing Amberly Alexis Barnett. The Georgia child had been staying with her aunt, a neighbor of Madison’s.

The DeKalb County investigator testified that Madison said he searched the woods near his home and couldn’t find her. But that’s where investigators found her dead, with a blue rope around her neck, on March 2.

Madison’s girlfriend says the rope had been in the home, where investigators found a clamp and bolt in the floor used in “bondage” activity, blood spatters and more rope wrapped around Madison’s knife.

Preschoolers stood naked in closet

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Two teachers are on paid leave as authorities investigate allegations that one forced preschool children to stand naked in a closet with the door open as punishment for misbehaving.

The teachers are with a Head Start program operated by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in East St. Louis.

Police allege one teacher inappropriately disciplined the students, while the other teacher witnessed the incidents but didn’t report them.

University Police Chief Kevin Schmoll said that a supervisor alerted police on March 14. He says at least four students were allegedly subjected to such treatment.

Schmoll says the children will be interviewed early next month before a charging decision is made.

Teacher severs student’s fingers

FORT MEADE, Md. — A middle school teacher is accused of slamming a door on a student’s hand so hard that three of her fingers were severed.

A lawsuit filed by the child’s father accuses the Ann Arundel County Board of Education and former teacher Steven Akers of negligence. Court documents reveal new details about the girl’s injuries, which they say left permanent discomfort and nerve damage despite surgery.

The family says the girl was asking Akers a question in 2017 when he slammed a door to get the class’ attention. County prosecutor Philip Culpepper says the girl was looking out of a window when Akers unintentionally hurt her. Schools spokesman Bob Mosier says Akers resigned in 2018.

Professor wins top religion prize

HANOVER, N.H. — A Dartmouth College professor of physics and astronomy was awarded one of the world’s leading religion prizes for blending hard science and deep spirituality in his work, a foundation announced.

The John Templeton Foundation is awarding its 2019 prize to Marcelo Gleiser, who has written books on topics ranging from the origin of the universe to how science engages with spirituality. The Templeton Prize comes with a $1.4 million award.

Gleiser, a 60-year-old Brazilian native, is the 49th recipient and the first from Latin America to get the award, which honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension. Previous winners include Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and King Abdullah II of Jordan.

“I will work harder than ever to spreads my message of global unity and planetary awareness to a wider audience, as we prepare to face this century’s daunting social, technological, and environmental challenges,” Gleiser said.

By The Associated Press