Briefs for Saturday

After taking a year off, Santa has returned to Macy’s in New York’s Herald Square, the nation’s biggest department store.

But don’t expect to sit on his lap.

Santaland, which opened Friday after being a virtual experience last year, is now reservation-only as a way to maintain a COVID-safe experience, says Kathy Hilt, division vice president at Macy’s, who oversees the Herald Square location as well as other stores in the area.

Reservations tend to sell out, she said, so families should book early.

“We also have reorganized the experience with Santa to make sure Santa and the guests are socially distant but still have the chance to interact with one another,” said Hilt, a 31-year veteran with the company.

FedEx packages turn up in field

HAYDEN, Ala. – An Alabama sheriff is trying to figure out how hundreds of FedEx packages ended up dumped in the woods.

An estimated 300 to 400 packages of various sizes were found in a ravine near the small town of Hayden on Wednesday, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Deputies were sent to guard the scene until FedEx workers could arrive to pick up the packages, Sheriff Mark Moon said.

FedEx sent multiple trucks and drivers from across the South to load up the packages, Moon said.

Photos posted on the sheriff’s Facebook page show the packages strewn about the forest and piled at the bottom of a wooded hillside.

From wire reports