Odds and Ends

FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Officials at Fort Carson are mobilizing for a baby boom among the first soldiers who returned from Iraq earlier this year.

About 160 babies are expected in December, followed by another 140 in January, said Roycelyn Bowman, obstetrics director at the post.

More are set to follow in February and March as some soldiers get ready to deploy again to the Middle East.

"We knew as soon as the troops came back that we were going to have a population explosion," Bowman said. "They say 'He got back, and yup, now I'm pregnant!"'

Fort Carson sent 14,000 soldiers to Iraq and soldiers began returning in February. Most returned in March and April.

To accommodate all the expectant mothers, Fort Carson is holding group pregnancy education classes for the women instead of the normal one-on-one classes.

The post's Evans Army Community Hospital won't be able to handle all the births. Civilian doctors have been found to care for some of the women off-post.

WEST ORANGE, N.J. -- A planned black bear exhibit at Essex County's zoo will allow visitors to view the bears the way they're often seen in New Jersey - through a living room window.

The Turtle Back Zoo's "Bears in Your Backyard" exhibit is taking advantage of the many encounters New Jersey residents now have with bears, a consequence of the state's dense population and its burgeoning bruin population.

"One of the viewing stations will be from a (mock) living room and a kitchen, and one of the TVs in the living room will be showing educational bear videos," said zoo Director Jeremy Goodman.

The exhibit is scheduled to be completed later this year and stocked with a pair of bear cubs in the spring.

Zoo officials announced its plans Tuesday, the same day state game regulators voted to authorize a second black bear hunt, and draws some of its momentum from opposition to the hunt.

"It's to try to bring it to the public that, hey, these bears are not all that bad," said county Executive Joe DiVincenzo.

RIDGEFIELD, Wash. -- As this Columbia River town searches for a new city manager, one candidate appears to have two legs up over the others.

Signs have popped up all over the city in support of Otis, an 11-year-old Boston terrier. Donna Quall was one of the first to put an "OTIS FOR CITY MANAGER" sign up in the window of her gift shop earlier this month.

"A doggone improvement," the sign declares.

No one's saying who made the fliers, complete with a profile shot of Otis and a disclaimer that the signs were paid for by the "he will do better than the last guy committee."

Ridgefield's former city manager, Randy Bombardier, was placed on administrative leave in March, then fired after being accused of removing lead-based paint from City Hall without public safety or environmental precautions.

In June, the state attorney general's office charged Bombardier with official misconduct, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Bombardier has said he did nothing wrong and that City Council members knew more about the paint than he did.

The city advertised the job shortly after firing Bombardier, and 36 people applied, but the council decided to put the search on hold until sometime next year.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Not only was Police Chief Ken Coughlin's home burglarized, but he had to fill out the report, too.

Coughlin left his garage door open when he went for a walk in the morning. His family stayed behind, and his sons saw two men carrying tools from the home while he was away.

When Coughlin returned about an hour later, his wife was looking for evidence.

Because the officers were busy on Sunday, the chief took his own incident report instead of waiting until another officer was free.

The burglars' haul included a full toolbox that Coughlin's father gave him before his death.

"That was the very last thing he gave me," Coughlin said.

So far, pawnshops have not turned up the tools. No arrests have been made.

Coughlin said at a community meeting that the Wichita Falls Police Department is officially 18 officers short of the allotted 190 positions.

"You think to yourself, if we had more officers on the streets," Coughlin said.