Gator’s house visit becomes confining

Florida alligators are known to roam in springtime when they search for mates, but a Tampa woman was mystified to find one parked on her doorstep.

Belinda Donaldson got a call Thursday from a neighbor who warned her to stay inside because an 11-foot alligator was lounging on her front stoop. She looked out the window and there it was, just outside her door.

Donaldson said alligators sometimes wander away from one of the many lakes in her suburban neighborhood, but she’d never seen one that big.

A trapper struggled for an hour to bind its jaws with a loop of rope on the end of a stick before getting the 400- to 500-pound reptile tied up and hauling it away in a truck.

Anchorage, Alaska

Fund to help Palin pay her legal fees

Supporters of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have set up a fund to help her pay off more than $500,000 in legal fees incurred while defending herself against ethics complaints.

Supporters said Friday that the Alaska Fund Trust was created by Alaskans to help defend Palin “against the onslaught of frivolous attacks against her.”

Contributing heavily to Palin’s legal debts was last fall’s Troopergate probe, the Alaska Legislature’s investigation into Palin’s firing of her public safety commissioner.

Boston

Rowdy passenger interrupts flight

A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Tel Aviv, Israel, was diverted to Boston on Friday after an unruly passenger rushed the cockpit.

Phil Orlandella, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said the 22-year-old Israeli man ran toward the cockpit and pounded on the door. He said passengers and crew helped to subdue the man.

Associated Press