KANSAS CITY: Police in a suburb in the state of Missouri recently encountered one tough alligator — or so they thought. Officers

in Independence, a Kansas City suburb, responded to a call about a large alligator lurking on the embankment of a pond, spokesman Tom Gentry said.

An officer was advised to shoot the alligator, Gentry said as conservation officers were not available. As instructed, an officer shot the alligator, not once but twice. But both times the bullets bounced off — because the alligator was made of cement. The property owner told police later that he placed the ornamental gator by the pond to keep children away. But residents had little to fear. 

Medical marijuana superstore opens

PHOENIX: Some local wags are calling it the ‘Wal-Mart of Weed’ or ‘Home DePot’. Seeking to capitalise on Arizona’s newly

enacted medical marijuana law, a California-based company opened a superstore-sized garden centre in Phoenix, catering to those who want to grow their own cannabis.

“We sell everything but the plant itself,” said Dhar Mann, founder of weGrow, the company that began franchising its big-box stores

with outlets in Oakland and Sacramento, California. “We sell the products and the services for people to safely and responsibly cultivate their medicine.”

A doctor also is on site to furnish eligible patients the initial medical approval needed to apply to the state health department

for cards authorising them to legally grow and use marijuana as treatment for a variety of qualifying ailments.

Saggy pants mean no ride on The T

SAN ANTONIO: Do not get on the bus in Ft Worth, Texas, if you are not properly dressed. The Ft Worth Transportation Authority, known as ‘The T’, has implemented a new policy that prohibits any passenger from boarding a bus with ‘saggy’ pants that expose the person’s underwear or buttocks.

The first day the policy was in place, about 50 people were removed for improper pants.