Odds & Ends

Something stinks

NEW YORK (AP) >> A foul smelling plant known as the “corpse flower” is finally blooming at the New York Botanical Garden in New York City.

The rare blooming began Thursday afternoon after more than 10 years of growth. It’s native to Sumatra’s equatorial rain forests, and emits an odor like rotting flesh while it’s briefly in bloom.

It’s one of the largest flowers on earth and can reach 6 feet in height. It emits the stench to attract pollinators.

The bloom at its peak only lasts about 24 to 36 hours — and it could be years before the f lower blooms again.

Bikini-clad arrest

STOCKHOLM(AP) >> She was off duty and wearing a bikini but that didn’t stop Swedish police officer Mikaela Kellner fromcatching a suspected thief.

A photo of Kellner pinning the suspect to the ground was trending on social media in Sweden this week.

“My first intervention while wearing a bikini during my 11 years as a police officer,” she wrote on Instagram.

Kellner and three friends were sunbathing Wednesday in a Stockholm park, a homelessman selling newspapers approached, she told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

After he left, one friend noticed her phone was missing. Kellner and a fellow police officer gave chase.

Kellner said she didn’t hesitate to make the arrest while wearing a bikini.

“If I had been naked I would have intervened as well,” she said.

Deer rescue

JUNEAU, ALASKA (AP) >> An Alaska whale-watching cruise turned into a rescue mission for an unusual aquatic species — a distressed, swimming deer.

The 18-passenger tour vessel from Gastineau Guiding Co. lassoed the struggling deer onWednesday, pulled it on board and gave it a ride to an island, Juneau radio station KTOO reported.

Naturalist Audrey Benson said visitors and crew were watching whales when the boat received a radio transmission that deer were swimming in the saltwater on the west side of Shelter Island.

“We heard that there were two deer that were swimming across in thewater,” Benson said. “So after we watched the whales for a bit our passengers were curious and wanted to see the deer, and so wemotored over to them and it turns out there was only one.”

The deer appeared to be in distress. It was struggling to keep its head above water.

Crew on a larger tour boat tried to rescue the animal but gave up.

Benson, other crewmembers and passengers moved in, and with a rope, pulled the deer on board.

“The deer was immediately bewildered and disoriented and it was shaking a lot, it was shivering a lot,” she said. “Its teeth were chattering. It tried to stand up but collapsed because it was so weak.”

The crew motored to Shelter Island and released the deer.

“It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen on any of my tours,” Benson said. “I mean, you never know what’s going to happen but for a deer rescue — I’ve never even been that close to a deer, I’ve never touched one — and to have an opportunity to assist this struggling animal, it was very intense.”

They never saw the other deer and presume it drowned.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, deer regularly swim between islands in southeast Alaska and it’s uncommon for them to drown.

Cleaning caper

NEWYORK (AP) >> He didn’t make a clean getaway.

Authorities say a shoplifter tried to steal 26 containers of laundry detergent from a New York City supermarket.

The Staten Island Advance says the dirty deed occurred Monday night.

Court documents say the man stuffed the detergent — valued at nearly $200 — into a black bag.

He tried to leave the store without paying — but police had a different destination in mind.