News of the Weird: Week of February 19, 2026

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Bright Idea

Former college design professor Don Glickman was 93 and dying when he and his daughter discussed how he wanted to be memorialized, The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review reported on Feb. 9. Leah Glickman said her father faced his fate head-on: "We never used words in our house like 'he passed,'" she said. "We said, 'he died.' No one gets out of here alive." She and her dad came up with a clever idea: Send out postcards to family and friends, announcing his death. On the front is a photo of Glickman and the text, "If you're reading this, I'm dead, and I really liked you," with a small sketch of him that had become his signature. On the back, Leah wrote, "After 94 years on this planet, my dad has departed. ... In a last act of design and Glickman ethos, he asked that this postcard be created, photo and text chosen by him." Glickman died on Nov. 11. Former student Jason Snape, 56, got a postcard. "It made me laugh really hard because it was just so him," Snape said. "It's unusual, it's sweet, it's straightforward." [Spokesman-Review, 2/9/2026]

Sir, This Is a Wendy's

City officials in Gastonia, North Carolina, got involved after a video surfaced of someone getting a tattoo in a Wendy's dining room in the city, WBTV reported. The video was recorded on Feb. 5 from outside the restaurant and shows a man with his shirt off and another person sitting behind him, wearing blue gloves and holding a tattoo gun. A city official said an environmental health team member talked to the store manager on Feb. 6 and reminded them that the restaurant "cannot tattoo without a permit." For its part, the franchisee said they "took immediate disciplinary action to address the situation." [WBTV, 2/6/2026]

The Passing Parade

Residents of Stoughton, Wisconsin, have been complaining to police about someone using a city park as their toilet, WMTV reported on Feb. 7. The Stoughton Police Department said it had received numerous calls from citizens who found human feces and used toilet paper along a walking path in the park. Using trail cameras, police discovered the person was fouling the park in the early morning hours, then used a drone to catch a 46-year-old woman in the act. Officers say the woman is not homeless and doesn't appear to be mentally impaired. [WMTV, 2/7/2026]

Awkward

Olympic gold-winning downhill skier Breezy Johnson was jumping around in excitement after her medal ceremony in Italy on Feb. 8 when the medal broke, the Associated Press reported. "It's not crazy broken, but a little broken," Johnson said. She's not the only Olympian to experience a medal malfunction. German biathlete Justus Strelow realized his bronze medal had fallen to the floor as he danced with teammates, and U.S. figure skater Alysa Liu posted a photo of her team gold medal detached from its ribbon. Chief games operations officer Andrea Francisi said they're working on it. "The medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect." [AP, 2/9/2026]

Hair Today

During a boxing match on Jan. 31 in New York, heavyweight Jarrell Miller lost his head -- or at least, his hair. Fox News reported that as Miller fought Kingsley Ibeh, one of Ibeh's punches knocked Miller's head back, and his hairpiece flew upward from the front, revealing a mostly bald head. Miller ripped off the toupee and thew it into the crowd, where spectators posed for photos with it. Strangely, Miller said he got the hairpiece just two days before, after he accidentally washed his hair with "ammonia bleach" instead of shampoo. Miller won the bout in a split decision. [Fox News, 2/1/2026]

Nope

At Ershui Junior High School in Taiwan, it's not enough to be successful in the classroom, Oddity Central reported on Feb. 10. Before their graduation certificates can be signed, students must scale a 15-meter-high rock-climbing wall. The students take six climbing lessons each week in preparation for the test. The school says the training challenges students' limits and cultivates focus and physical coordination. [Oddity Central, 2/10/2026]

Wait, What?

Christopher Carroll, 36, was suspended from his job as a paramedic with the Baltimore County Fire Department and is facing 23 criminal charges following inexplicable behavior at work and elsewhere, WSFA-TV reported on Feb. 7. Investigators said Carroll urinated in different spots all over his workplace, including on his supervisor's keyboard, in a pot of chili, in coffee creamer and in an icemaker. Prosecutors said Carroll "urinated into the ice, wiped on a scoop and used the scoop to mix the urine throughout the ice" -- all while filming himself. Other targets were someone's ChapStick, a can of vegetables and a carton of orange juice. Officials believe Carroll was making the videos to post to online subscription services. He was denied bail. [WSFA, 2/7/2026]

Oversharing

Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Laegreid, who won bronze in the 20km individual event, stunningly announced in his post-event interview on Feb. 10 that he had cheated on his girlfriend three months ago, Yahoo! News reported. Through tears, Laegreid, 28, said he met "the love of my life" six months ago, then "made the biggest mistake of my life." He said his sport had "taken a back seat in recent days." For her part, the girlfriend called his revelation "hard to forgive. Even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world." Later, Laegreid told a group of reporters, "Maybe it was really selfish of me to give that interview. I'm not really here mentally." [Yahoo! News, 2/11/2026]

News You Can Use?

Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed new technology to ... yes, it's true ... count the number of times people pass gas each day. The New York Post reported on Feb. 10 that previously, scientists believed people tooted on average 14 times a day, but UMD reported that the number is more like 32 times a day. The team created Smart Underwear, a wearable device that snaps into regular underwear and detects increased hydrogen levels. They say the previous lower estimates were based on self-reporting and people's varying ideas of what counts as flatulence. UMD is looking for participants for its Human Flatus Atlas, which will measure the gas patterns of hundreds of people -- in case you're interested. [NY Post, 4/10/2026]

Awesome!

Six-year-old Girl Scout Pim from Pittsburgh, whom her dad calls "literally unstoppable," has sold more than 75,000 boxes of cookies this year, People magazine reported on Feb. 11. Her numbers exceeded the previous record for single-year sales, and now she has her eye on the lifetime record, 180,000 boxes. Pim's go-getter attitude goes beyond cookie sales; she read 506 books last summer for her library's reading program, and her sales accounted for 10% of her school's popcorn fundraising effort. Pim's dad calls her troop "a place to be herself and belong. She is welcomed and loved." Go, Pim! [People, 2/11/2026]

Government in Action

Listen up, 29-year-olds in France: Health minister Stephanie Rist wants you to get busy! The Independent reported on Feb. 9 that all 29-year-olds in France will be receiving a letter from the government with "targeted, balanced and scientifically based information on sexual and reproductive health," the health ministry said. Rist said France's "concrete and long-awaited measures" will include increasing the number of fertility preservation centers. Critics suggest raising maternity leave from 16 to 26 weeks would have a greater impact. [Independent, 2/9/2026]

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