By Gavin Steele, Staff Writer

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) celebrated Pi Day by tossing out regulations on frozen cherry pies, which were the only frozen or fruit pies that had special regulations. The FDA announced that it would end the standards for identity and quality for the pies, since they were no longer needed to ensure the products meet consumer expectations. The move came after intensive lobbying by the American Bakers Association, and frozen cherry pie will officially be free from special regulation on April 15 (Mar. 14). 

Officials from the New Orleans Police Department said that rats in the department’s building are “all high” from eating stored marijuana. Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said that facility has been run down, causing the rodents to destroy pieces of evidence. Kirkpatrick was advocating for a $7.6 million proposal to temporarily relocate the police’s headquarters (Mar. 14). 

The world’s southernmost post office, run by the United Kingdom’s Antarctic Heritage Trust, is hiring three new employees to spend four months sorting mail and counting penguins in the area. Employees at the post office send mail, sell postage stamps and keep count of the colony of around 1,500 gentoo penguins near the site (Mar. 14). 

A New York man has vowed to regain custody of his 11-foot, 750-pound pet alligator, named Albert, after the animal was removed by conservation officials last week. The New York Department of Environment and Conservation said that Tony Cavarallo of Hamburg, New York, had installed an in-ground swimming pool for Albert to swim and cool off while keeping the animal illegally in his backyard. Officials also claimed that Cavarallo allowed members of the public to “get into the water and pet the unsecured alligator.” (Mar. 16).