JOPLIN, Mo. —
Poached from the Ewert Park pool: One 8-foot-long, floatable, heavy-duty, foam alligator who was facing retirement anyway.
Six years of rambunctious kids riding on its back. Its colors fading from exposure to the hot, baking suns of summers. Its underside softening and starting to flake in the chlorine-sanitized stew of municipal recreation.
So this swim season, the decision was made to replace it. A brand new alligator was installed in the drink before opening day this past Saturday.
The old fellow was fished out and stowed away inside the fencing around the pool filters until someone could figure out whether it might be refurbished as a possible “backup gator” or just thrown away like all things old and useless.
Then overnight Monday, the retired gator disappeared, presumed stolen by a thief or thieves unknown. Joplin city officials are baffled.
“I have no idea what they might think they’re going to do with it,” mused Paul Bloomberg, the city’s recreation and events manager.
It could not have been the easiest treasure to carry off. The float weighed about 140 pounds dripping wet, according to police.
“It was the original alligator from when (the remodeled Ewert Park pool) first opened up in 2004,” Bloomberg said. “So, it was in pretty bad shape.”
Just the same, the new one cost about $4,000, he said.
Local News
Floatable alligator poached from Ewert Park pool
- Local News
-
-
Electric bill to drop $6 a month in Joplin
The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved a request filed by The Empire District Electric Company, based in Joplin, to lower the fuel adjustment charge (FAC) on the bills of its electric customers.
-
Mo. Legislature officially ends its 2012 session
Missouri's annual legislative session has officially come to a close.
-
Strong to severe storms forecast for Joplin region
Storms developing across the central and southern plains this afternoon are expected to migrate into the Joplin region this evening.
-
Economic-development strategies posed for Joplin region
More than 30 people shared ideas Wednesday on ways to promote economic development in the seven counties that are participating in the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative.
-
Kansas primary filing deadline near
Kansas candidates have until noon Friday for file for county offices in the Aug. 7 primary.
-
Date set to reintroduce rare beetle in Missouri
An endangered species of beetle will be reintroduced in southwest Missouri on June 5.
-
Senators: Missouri River flooding unifying moment
Two U.S. senators who symbolize disagreements between upstream and downstream states over management of the Missouri River say last year’s historic flooding was a unifying moment.
-
First-ever electricity for parts of India
The solar power company SunEdison is launching a program to get electricity for the first time to more than two dozen villages in India.
-
Couple 'scoop out' ice cream business from the past
When 3-year-old Brynlee Rabel tried coconut ice cream for the first time Tuesday, it was love at first taste. “She got the vanilla, but when she tasted my coconut ice cream she had to have it,” said Kayleigh Daugherty, a Joplin resident who wanted Brynlee to share the same experience she had as a little girl when she visited Anderson’s Ice Cream.
-
Missouri National Guard releases records involving soldiers who looted from Wal-Mart
The Missouri National Guard has released records confirming that four soldiers were disciplined for taking merchandise from the ruins of a Wal-Mart store in Joplin one day after the tornado that devastated the city a year ago.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Electric bill to drop $6 a month in Joplin
