An alligator loitering near a Lake County residence was apprehended by a pair of sheriff’s deputies earlier this month, with video released Saturday of their feat.

The video posted to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page shows two deputies who first encounter the roughly 6-foot-long gator at a residence’s front entrance back on Sept. 4.

“Dispatch received a call from a woman stating that there was an alligator on her front porch area,” the Facebook post reads. “Deputies responded to capture and safely relocate the surprise visitor. Not our first call like this… but it’s always a Florida classic!”

The gator then makes a run around to the side of the home pushing through an unlocked gate to the backyard with the deputies following with some caution, according to body-worn cameras in the video.

Drone footage then shows one of the deputies using a wire apparatus to snare one end of alligator. Then the second deputy does the same before the first mounts the gator to hold it down and clamp its mouth. The second deputy then tapes it shut.

The pair then transport it and load it into the rear seat of a sheriff’s office SUV followed by celebratory fist bumps with some neighborhood onlookers.

Comments on the Facebook post made light of the situation as well as praising the deputies’ efforts.

“Only in Florida does law enforcement carry alligator leashes,” reads one.

Another reads, “Whoa! Is Alligator Wrangler part of the police qualification in FL when applying? I think NYC has Sewer Rat Dodger as part of their qualification. Good job guys!”

By JIM GOMEZ, JOEAL CALUPITAN and AARON FAVILA

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police arrested 49 people suspected of hurling rocks, bottles and fire bombs at officers and blocking heavily guarded roads and bridges leading to the presidential palace Sunday while a peaceful anti-corruption rally took place in the capital, officials and witnesses said.

Related Articles

UK charities cut ties to Sarah Ferguson after reported email describing Jeffrey Epstein as ‘friend’

Venezuelans in ‘reverse migration’ pushed to new perils in effort to return home

US bars Iran’s diplomats from shopping at Costco without permission

France recognizes Palestinian statehood at UN meeting to revive peace efforts

Defense in Vatican ‘trial of the century’ asks prosecutor to recuse himself for questionable conduct

The melee outside the country’s seat of power unfolded while more than 33,000 other protesters rallied in a historic park and a democracy monument in Manila. They expressed outrage over a corruption scandal involving lawmakers, officials and construction company owners who allegedly pocketed huge kickbacks from flood-control projects in the impoverished Southeast Asian country that is regularly buffeted by storms and typhoons.

The hourslong rampage by about 100 mostly club-wielding people, some of whom waved Philippine flags and displayed carton posters with anti-corruption slogans, wounded about 70 Manila law enforcers, according to the Manila police. Schools were canceled due to the violence.

Police said they lobbed tear gas to try to disperse the attackers, who sprayed graffiti on walls, toppled steel posts, shattered glass panels and ransacked the lobby of a budget inn along a popular road dotted with university campuses, banks and restaurants before dispersing at night.

Hours after the assault, police have yet to identify the attackers, some of whom carried black flags with the caricature of a skull and crossbones. It was also unclear if they had earlier participated in the peaceful protests before heading toward the presidential office. It was not immediately known if President Marcos Jr. was in the Malacanang presidential palace during the chaos.

Police said in a statement after the arrests that the situation was “contained” but warned that violence and vandalism would not be tolerated.

Protesting corruption

“I feel bad that we wallow in poverty and we lose our homes, our lives and our future while they rake in a big fortune from our taxes that pay for their luxury cars, foreign trips and bigger corporate transactions,” student activist Althea Trinidad told The Associated Press in Manila.

Trinidad lives in Bulacan, a flood-prone province north of Manila where officials said the most flood-control projects were being investigated either as substandard or nonexistent.

“Our purpose is not to destabilize but to strengthen our democracy,” Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said in a statement. He called on the public to demonstrate peacefully and demand accountability.

Marcos first highlighted the flood-control corruption scandal in July in his annual state of the nation speech.

He later established an independent commission to investigate what he said were anomalies in many of the 9,855 flood-control projects worth more than 545 billion pesos ($9.5 billion) that were supposed to have been undertaken since he took office in mid-2022. He called the scale of corruption “horrible” and accepted his public works secretary’s resignation.

Public outrage erupted when a wealthy couple who ran several construction companies that won lucrative flood-control project contracts showed dozens of European and American luxury cars they owned during media interviews. The fleet included a British luxury car costing 42 million pesos ($737,000) that they said they bought because it came with a free umbrella.

The Gophers men’s basketball program’s initial recruiting class under new head coach Niko Medved is off to a stronger start.

It’s still early in the cycle, but the three total recruits in the 2026 class have the U at seventh in the nation, according to 247Sports.

And there is a “possibility” for one more, Medved said Monday.

“It’s got to be the right guy,” he said. “We’ve got some guys that have visited that we really, really like, so we will see where that goes.”

One of those candidates is four-star shooting guard Joseph Hartman. The Gainesville, Fla. product visited the Gophers last week. Hartman has more than 15 offers and has posted about other recent visits to Butler and Iowa.

Quinn Costello, a four-star forward prospect from Boston, visited the U in late August, but he committed to Michigan in the last few weeks. Costello’s high school teammate, four-star guard Lucas Morillo, also visited Dinkytown and has yet to commit.

The Gophers current recruiting class includes four-star wing Nolen Anderson (Wayzata), three-star point guard Cedric Tomes (East Ridge) and three-star center Chadrick Mpoyi (Irvine, Calif.)

Schedule buzz

Medved didn’t have to look far for a breakdown of the Gophers’ newly released Big Ten schedule; he heard about it at a family function on Sunday.

“They know it better than I do,” Medved said Monday with a laugh. “Honestly, (I) just kind of focus on today.”

Scouting of the U’s upcoming conference opponents will come later. On Monday, Medved led his debut team in its first official practice at William Arena.

Medved knows the Gophers open up against Indiana — and new Hoosiers head coach Darian DeVries — at The Barn on Dec. 3 and then travel to powerhouse Purdue on Dec. 10. He is also aware of another highlight: rivals Iowa and Wisconsin are part of a three-game stretch (along with Southern Cal) at The Barn in early January.

“They were laying out all this stuff, who we go to and who comes here,” Medved said of his family. “… That just seems so far down the horizon right now.”

The Gophers have less than a month to prepare for their two exhibition games against North Dakota State (Oct. 16) and North Dakota (Oct. 25). The season opener against Gardner-Webb is at Williams Arena on Nov. 3.

Injury news

B.J. Omot, a transfer wing from the University of California, has been fully cleared to practice, Medved said. Omot, a Mankato native, missed summer workouts to have surgery for a stress fracture in his shin.

“He’s been building up, but getting him back out there has been great for us,” Medved said. “That gives us another player that we are really really excited about.”

Chance Stephens, a transfer from Maryland, is dealing with illness and has been sidelined. And Max Gizzi, a transfer from Huntington, broke his foot, had surgery and is out for an estimated six weeks.

Related Articles

Q&A: Gophers AD Mark Coyle on budget deficit, revenue sharing and Big Ten expansion

Gophers men’s basketball lands bruising big man recruit from California

A top boys basketball prospect to visit Gophers this week

With Niko Medved a fan, will Gophers finally commemorate Clem Haskins?

Gophers men’s basketball pick up high-rising Wayzata recruit Nolen Anderson

The Lynx trailed Phoenix by seven at halftime in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinal series on Sunday in Minneapolis. Everything changed over the final two frames, largely thanks to the play of Minnesota’s floor general.

Courtney Williams exploded for 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in the second half as Minnesota proceeded to run the Mercury off the floor in an 82-69 victory in the first game of the Western Conference semifinals at Target Center.

Minnesota won the minutes that Williams player by 18 points after the intermission.

“Court was terrific,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Yeah, player of the game for us.”

Williams was asked what seems to cause her to crank it up in the second halves of games. Frankly, the guard wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I think it’s just that I want to win, so it may look like that. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not, because I should bring the same energy for 40 minutes,” she said. “Maybe it’s just a different perspective for you, because it’s go time.”

The stats suggest Williams is strong at all stages of games. But what is consistent is that as she goes, so do the Lynx.

Williams sported Minnesota’s second-highest net rating — trailing only Napheesa Collier — among the major contributors this season, with the Lynx outscoring opponents by 13 points per 100 possessions with Williams on the court.

When she’s rolling, the Lynx are nearly impossible to contain. Her positive energy permeates through her team and, when the games are at Target Center — as will be the case again for Game 2 on Tuesday — the entire building.

“I always have confidence in Courtney. But between her and (reserve guard Natisha Hiedeman), their pace, it’s a 40-minute game,” Lynx guard Kayla McBride said. “So, when we’re able to have spurts of that in transition, her getting to her pullup, things like that, it gives us energy as a group when we get out in transition.

“That’s our bread and butter. So, when she’s out there hooping and confident, it’s contagious. It just becomes a lot of fun out there playing the game within the game.”

Williams can be Minnesota’s barometer, but she also has a strong gauge for what’s required for the team to be successful. At halftime Sunday, after the Lynx defense was gouged for 20 minutes, Reeve noted Williams played a role in the decision to tinker with the defensive coverage to help slow Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas-led attack.

“She was like, ‘Can we try this? Can we do this?’ ”  Reeve said. “She kind of put her money where her mouth was and tried to change things for us and make things a little more difficult (for Phoenix).”

Reeve said Williams led Minnesota in deflections, while also recording a career-high five steals.

“If I see a moment, just instinctually, I go,” Williams said. “Sometimes it don’t always work out, but it worked out tonight. I just follow my instincts.”

Just as the Lynx follow Williams, frequently to success.

Related Articles

Lynx defense brings home Game 1 victory over Phoenix

Lynx vs. Mercury: Keys to the WNBA semifinal series

Alanna Smith lifted herself to defensive honor, Lynx to title contenders

WNBA playoffs: Lynx rally from 17-point deficit to sweep Golden State

Lynx pull away to easy Game 1 victory over Golden State