Good week, Bad week

Good week for:

Reptile experience, after a Michigan firefighter who’d handled snakes as a teen ran into a burning home and carefully rescued a 6-foot-long python. None of the other firefighters “wanted anything to do with it,” said Scott Hemmelsbach.

Breathing deeply, after a Chinese travel company shipped bags of fresh mountain air to the smog-choked city of Zhengzhou as a treat for residents. “I felt my baby move right when I breathed in,” said a pregnant woman who waited on line for a sniff.

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Painless budget cuts, after 14-year-old Suvir Mirchandani of Pittsburgh calculated that government agencies could save $370 million a year in ink and paper costs by printing all documents in the thinner Garamond typeface instead of Times New Roman.

Bad week for:

The Ukrainian navy, after the Russian military seized control of the country’s combat-dolphin program, which had been based in Crimea. “Dolphins get used to the people they work with,” said a Ukrainian official. “It’s not so easy for them to change allegiance.”

Driving with kids, after police got a 911 call about a woman’s screams issuing from a Massachusetts man’s car, and surrounded him. Instead of finding a woman in distress, officers discovered several goats in the back seat, and let him go.

Ordering a margarita, after heavy rains, tree disease, and cartel violence sent prices for Mexico’s limes soaring from to $14 a case to $100. “We don’t buy them [anymore],” said the owner of a San Antonio Mexican restaurant. “We substitute lemons.”