Free Republic

A man was arrested and will be charged Friday after he dove naked into the aquarium at a Bass Pro Shop in Leeds, Alabama. Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin said the incident happened shortly before the store closed. The 42-year-old man reportedly began acting erratically and intentionally drove a vehicle into a pole in the store parking lot, the chief said. The man’s family told police he suffers from mental illness. After the crash, police said the suspect exited the vehicle, stripped his clothes off and ran into the Bass Pro Shop. Once inside, the man jumped into the aquarium.

Outdoor gear giants Bass Pro and Cabela's will combine in $5.5 billion deal announced Monday. The deal will give Cabela's shareholders $65.50 cash per share, but it creates uncertainty about jobs in the retailer's home state of Nebraska. The combined companies plan to keep some operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Nebraska, but it's not immediately clear how many jobs might be lost. Bass Pro CEO Johnny Morris says he hopes to continue growing the Cabela's brand alongside his own Springfield, Missouri, based chain.

A Joliet man is suing Bass Pro Shops for falsely advertising “a worthless class” that failed to meet the required training hours to obtain an Illinois concealed carry permit, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. Ambrose attended the class after seeing an advertisement in October 2013 inside a Bolingbrook Bass Pro Shops called, “Illinois Concealed Carry Permit Class,” the lawsuit said. The classes were such a failure, however, that the Illinois State Police issued a news release April 1 stating that Andel was no longer approved to train Illinois Concealed Carry Curricula and that all of his 327 applicants were...

Wildlife officials in Maryland have put a bounty on the snakehead, the so-called "fish from hell" that can migrate on land and devastates the eco-systems of lakes, ponds and streams. The state will give out $200 gift cards for Bass Pro Shops as well as other prizes for catching and killing the fish, which is native to Africa and Asia but is believed to have made its way to America through Asian seafood merchants.