Venice Walmart Shopper Accidentally Shoots Himself

A shopper carrying a holstered gun in the waistband of his shorts accidentally shot himself while adjusting it inside a Venice Walmart, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office says. The bullet struck his leg and groin. Apparently, a shopper heard the pop, spotted blood in the store’s front bathroom and called police. The man left before deputies arrived and was later found at Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice. It was a case of casual adjustment.

Dolphin’s Speedo Saga Turns 20

Twenty years ago, Sarasota Bay bottlenose dolphin Scrappy became the rare marine mammal to learn that an extra-large men’s Speedo can still be too small. The swimsuit had wrapped around his body and cut deeply into his skin. Because dolphins can’t swim backward, Scrappy couldn’t wriggle free, requiring researchers at the Brookfield Zoo’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program to remove it during an August 2006 rescue. Scrappy turns 28 this year and has been documented more than 415 times since researchers first spotted him as a calf. He’s still swimming in Sarasota Bay, where his near-fatal brush with men’s swimwear remains a powerful argument for trunks.

“I Start My Day With a Swim”

A Venice homeowner received the Florida version of a Ring alert around 5:45 a.m. after a 9-foot, 4-inch alligator broke through the screen around
the home’s pool in Toscana Isles and took a morning swim. A licensed trapper safely removed the gator. For gators, screen enclosures are more like wel-
come mats.

Wawa Rewards Just Got Better

Someone bought the sole winning ticket for the July 28 $800 million Mega Millions jackpot at the Wawa on S.R. 70 E. in Bradenton. The odds of winning were 1 in 290,472,336. The winner could choose between the full prize paid out over 30 years or a lump sum of $344.2 million before taxes. Either option should cover their hoagie.