Teen attacked by squirrel while taking selfie

squirrelly Selfie

Teen attacked by squirrel during photo op

A photo op with a squirrel that went awry has left a teenager flustered but unhurt. Brian Genest, 17, of Auburn, Maine, said Thursday he saw what appeared to be a friendly squirrel on a hand rail while walking through John Chesnut Park in Palm Harbor. He was on a trip looking at colleges. Genest took a selfie of himself and the squirrel. But the flash and noises from his cellphone scared the squirrel, which climbed under his shirt and hung onto his back before scampering out. "He was just in that spot where my arm can't reach him," Genest said. "I threw myself on the ground, and that scared him off." Genest's mother, Paula Wright, snapped photos of the hoopla, originally posted to his Instagram feed along with his selfie. She said neither her son nor the squirrel was harmed.

Young and in trouble

N.J. senior prank leads to 62 arrests

Sixty-two students were arrested Thursday after police said they broke into their high school overnight for a senior class prank, urinating in hallways, greasing doorknobs with petroleum jelly and taping hot dogs to lockers. Police said officers responding to a burglar alarm at Teaneck High School shortly after 2 a.m. also found desks flipped over, chairs broken, graffiti on the walls, silly string on the floors and balloons throughout the building. Police from more than a dozen neighboring towns plus county law enforcement officers were called in to help. They used police dogs in their room-by-room roundup of students, some of whom were hiding. "It is possible that a few got away, but the majority were caught," acting police Chief Robert Carney said. He said the students told officers that it was a senior prank — an annual tradition at the northern New Jersey school of 1,300 students, though it is usually not this involved. As they were arrested, Carney said, some students were scared but others were laughing.

Out of this world

Astronaut giving speech to Uconn

University of Connecticut alumnus Rick Mastracchio would have liked to deliver this year's graduation address to the school of engineering in person. But he'll be out of town on May 10 — orbiting the globe on the International Space Station. So UConn has arranged for the 54-year-old astronaut give the speech from space. His recorded address will be shown on the video boards at Gampel Pavilion to about 5,000 people, including more than 400 graduating seniors and their families, and several members of Mastracchio's family, including his wife, Candi.

Compiled from wire services and other sources