News of the Weird: Week of August 29, 2024

Expand

News of the Weird newspapers illustration

The Golden Age of Air Travel

At the busy New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido, Japan, everything came to a screeching halt on Aug. 17 after a pair of scissors went missing from a store near the boarding gates, the BBC reported. The airport canceled 36 flights and delayed more than 200 others, leaving hundreds of travelers doing repeat security checks. Flights eventually resumed, but the scissors weren't found until the next day -- at the store where they went missing. Social media users were strikingly complimentary and upbeat about the delays, though: "This incident showcased the safety of Japanese aviation," one posted.

Unclear on the Concept

              -- An Applebee's restaurant in Portage, Indiana, became the site of a scuffle on Aug. 2, USA Today reported. According to the Portage Police Department, officers arrived in response to a report of a verbal disturbance. There they found Shawneesha Cobbs, 28, who had been loudly arguing with the store manager. Cobbs' companions were under the impression that the restaurant's $15.99 all-you-can-eat deal applied to the whole group, and when the manager explained that the deal was per person, Cobbs said the menu didn't specify that. (It did.) The rabble-rouser then verbally assaulted another couple leaving the restaurant; that's when she was placed under arrest and charged with disorderly conduct.

              -- Jeff Daniels lookalike Mayor Benji Cranford of Thomson, Georgia, was arrested on Aug. 14 after a grand jury indicted him for allegedly supplying a 750 ml bottle of Seagram's Extra Dry Gin to prisoners on a roadside work crew, WRDW-TV reported. The indictment said Cranford bought the bottle on June 4 and left it in a ditch along the path of the work crew from the Jefferson County Correctional Institution. Cranford was charged with furnishing prohibited items to inmates and criminal attempt to commit a felony. He bonded out three hours later.

It's Come to This

Students are headed back to school at H.E. Charles Middle School in El Paso, Texas, with a fresh restriction on the clothes they can wear, KVIA-TV reported on Aug. 2. Principal Nick DeSantis sent a letter to families stating that students would no longer be able to wear "black tops with black bottoms," saying the look can be "associated with depression and mental health issues and/or criminality." Sarah Venegas, executive principal for the district, backed DeSantis up: Students will be allowed to wear only blue jeans or khaki pants. Some parents don't agree: "I don't think we should be grouping, and red-flagging kids that just like to wear black," said Stephanie Rascon. Mental health expert Krista Wingate suggested that educators might instead "be looking out for different signs of stress or ... anxiety."

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Jose Marti-Alvarez of Miami Gardens, Florida, came up with a shady plan to make some dough, Local10-TV reported. Marti-Alvarez, 55, was in court on Aug. 19 facing felony charges of running "an elaborate scheme to defraud tourists staying in the hotels of Miami Springs," police said. He had distributed flyers to hotels near Miami International Airport, advertising "Roman Pizzeria" -- a name dangerously close to Roman's Pizzeria, which has had a loyal following in the area for four decades. Marti-Alvarez's pizzas were delivered "bad, uncooked, sometimes in a box with a piece of raw dough," said Jesus Roman, the real pizza man. Marti-Alvarez had been duping folks for several years, garnering bad reviews and customer complaints for the real Roman's. Finally Roman went to the police. Marti-Alvarez was held on fraud charges, along with aggravated battery after he hit a hotel worker with his car while trying to flee.

Dastardly

Russian chess player Amina Abakarova, 40, of Dagestan could be banned from competition for life after she was accused of poisoning another player at the Dagestan Classical Chess Championship on Aug. 2, Oddity Central reported. Surveillance video captured Abakarova stopping at a table and spreading a substance on the board and pieces where her competitor, Umayganat Osmanova, 30, soon would be playing. Her behavior could have been innocent, but about 30 minutes later, Osmanova started experiencing nausea and dizziness. Doctors confirmed she had been poisoned with mercury; Osmanova ended up in the hospital. "I felt a lack of air and a taste of iron in my mouth," she said. Abakarova confessed to using mercury from an old thermometer to soil the board, hoping to "knock her (opponent) out of the tournament." She will likely also lose her job and may face criminal prosecution.

Animal Antics

Taboo, a black-and-white 12-year-old cat from West Yorkshire, England, has made a name for herself in the neighborhood, People reported. She's a cat burglar. Taboo's owner, Sandra Danskin, said she steals clothing and gardening equipment from nearby households, forcing Danskin to post them on social media to reunite them with their owners. "This morning, I had four pairs of socks and a pair of underpants," Danskin said. "Also, we've had mopheads and kitchen rolls." She suspects the kitty grabs items off laundry lines or sneaks into homes where the door is left open. Helpfully, she always brings both socks of a pair, carrying one at a time.

News You Can Use

Homeowners who don't want to advertise the details of their property can blur their homes on Google Street View, MSN reported on Aug. 22. "Would-be thieves certainly want to scout their locations before they hit them," said Christopher Herrmann, a professor of law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Criminals might look for security barriers, front-door cameras or exterior surveillance systems. But, he warned, "It may be more of a red flag," alerting thieves that there is something worth stealing. "We make it easy for anyone to blur their home if they prefer," said a Google spokesperson. "Just click on the 'Report a Problem' button and submit a request."

Smooth Reaction

Folks are having some fun in Morehead City, North Carolina, with a clever "sign war" outside popular businesses, WCTI-TV reported. It all started with a birthday message at Ioanni's Bar and Grill: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF." After the message remained up for 26 days, Dank Burrito posted: "IOANNIS QUIT BEING LAZY CHANGE YOUR SIGN." Them were fightin' words, so Ioanni's spelled out: "DANK WE ARE NOT LAZY JUST BUSIER THAN YOU." Carteret County resident Peyton Draper said the feud "started with these and now it's all the way down (the highway), all the different restaurants messing with each other." The sign war has even spread to flower stores and churches. Ioanni's offered a truce: "LET'S DUKE IT OUT NOT TACO BOUT IT."

Buh-bye

The Bollinger (Missouri) County Sheriff's Office revealed that on Aug. 19, the entire police department of Marble Hill, the county's largest city, resigned, effective Aug. 24. KOMU-TV reported that chief Kristin Nenninger told Facebook followers that she could no longer "faithfully support my officers and provide you ... with law enforcement services you all deserve due to the city putting constraints on the budget and cutting into the police budget. ... The Bollinger County Sheriff's Office is committed to finding a viable solution."

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.  

News of the Weird is now a podcast on all major platforms! Visit newsoftheweirdpodcast.com to find out more.                                        

COPYRIGHT 2023 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

1130 Walnut, Kansas City MO 64106; 800-255-6734