Blind Alligator Seen In Lake Worth Evades Capture To Find Warm Waters, Maybe Love

Five stories that have North Texas talking: An alligator causing unease among Fort Worth lake-goers has yet to be captured by authorities; a healthy baby girl was born in the backseat on the side of I-35; suspicious packages were found on the grounds of an LGBT church in Dallas; and more.

An elusive blind alligator named "Hollywood" has been lurking in Lake Worth recently, bumping into docks and scaring people near the southern edge of the lake, Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. City officials managed to obtain a “certificate of nuisance” to trap Hollywood, one of 40-50 gators that live near Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. As soon as the papers were official, however, the 10-foot-long, 400-pound reptile could not be found.

Nuisance alligator wrangler Chris Stevens believes Hollywood was the same gator he pulled out of the Trinity River last July. It has a reputation for being a “good gator,” according to Rob Denkhaus, the nature center’s natural resource manager, who’s been tasked with trapping and moving the alligator this time around.

Hollywood could already be back home in the pond near the nature center, to the relief of many. Being a cold-blooded reptile, the migration to Lake Worth was most likely to find warmer water. Heavy rains often displace alligators for that reason. But, that doesn’t mean this particular gator’s cold-hearted — it’s mating season, and Stevens suspects Hollywood’s a lady gator’s just looking for love in all the wrong places. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

• Dallas’ Cathedral of Hope, the largest LGBT church in the nation, was evacuated Sunday morning because of suspicious packages on the premises. After nearly three hours, police determined the packages to be safe. Congregates continued service outside during the evacuation and were able to return inside the sanctuary around 11 a.m. "This will not deter us from worship this morning and we will continue to not walk in fear or allow instances of hate to overcome the promise to love," the church said on its Facebook page. The incident came a week after 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Listen to KERA’s Friday Conversation with Pastor Neil Cazares-Thomas. [KERA News, The Dallas Morning News, WFAA]

• It’s not every day a Dallas police officer helps deliver a baby while pulled over on I-35. But that was Friday morning for senior corporal Rocky Munster, who was flagged down by Nafeesah Iddeen. Her sister Aysha Iddeen-Wade was about to give birth, enduring major contractions in the back seat of the car after her water had broken. Iddeen pulled over to the shoulder and Munster realized the baby was coming right away, according to the police department’s blog. Munster safely delivered the six-pound-three-ounce baby, Jaliah Wade, WFAA reported, and paramedics arrived on the scene minutes later to take the family to Clements University Hospital. [Dallas Police Department, WFAA]

• Julián Castro quelled rumors of becoming Hillary Clinton’s running mate this weekend at the Texas Democratic Convention in San Antonio. Castro, the current U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and San Antonio native, didn’t just put political hearsay to bed, he also gave a keynote speech at the Alamodome Saturday. "The only person Donald Trump really cares about is Donald Trump," he said according to The Texas Tribune. Conventioneers are hoping the divisiveness of Trump will be the unifying force to potentially turn Texas blue this election — something that hasn’t happened in 40 years. While state Democrats were speaking out against Trump, presumptive Republican nominee was wrapping up his three-stop tour of fundraisers and rallies in Texas. [The Texas Tribune]

• Arlington will spray for mosquitos in targeted areas of the city today and tomorrow after detecting a specimen positive for West Nile Virus. With the disease-carrying mosquitos on the forefront this summer, exterminators have been routinely trapping and “larviciding” (killing mosquito larvae) as well as surveying low-lying areas for standing water since the beginning of the season, according to the city. The city will spray around Douglas Court at Cooper Street from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting. A few ways residents can prevent mosquito bites: dress in long-sleeve, loose-fitting clothing outdoors, drain standing water (ideal breeding ground for the bugs) and spray insect repellant containing DEET. [City of Arlington]