News of the Weird: Week of July 14, 2022

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Ewwwww

Big Ben, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace ... now tourists can add Wet Wipe Island to their lists of must-see attractions in England's capital. The Times of London reported on June 24 that an island the size of two tennis courts and composed entirely of used wet wipes has appeared in the Thames River that meanders through the city. Government ministers have asked people to stop using the wipes and are considering a ban on those that contain plastic. Fleur Anderson, a Labour Party MP, said she has visited the site: "I've ... stood on it -- it's near Hammersmith Bridge in the Thames and it's a meter deep or more in places. It's actually changed the course of the Thames." Environmental minister Rebecca Pow asked citizens not to flush the wipes and said a proposal for dealing with the problem would be forthcoming "very shortly."

Least Competent Criminals

• In Salt Lake City in mid-June, a couple of geniuses rolled up next to a company box truck in a parking lot in their own pickup truck. While one waited, KSL-TV reported, the other got under the company truck and drilled a hole into the gas tank, presumably hoping to steal fuel. But the perp's shirt caught on fire while he was under the truck, causing him to roll around the parking lot while trying to remove his shirt. He then jumped into the pickup and the pair of would-be thieves drove away; the company truck still had flames and smoke billowing from underneath, as seen on a surveillance video. No arrests have yet been made.
• Also in June, Austin Beauchamp, who was working as a summer instructor for a youth social services program in Grove City, Ohio, applied for a police communications technician job there, WKBN-TV reported. As part of the interview process, a detective ran a background check on Beauchamp and found he was wanted in North Carolina on a statutory rape charge. Grove City police arrested him on June 22 and expected him to be extradited to Guilford County, North Carolina, for trial.

It's Good To Have a Hobby

Neruno Daisuki, a Japanese illustrator and manga artist, stumbled into a new hobby as he tried to pass the time during the COVID lockdowns of the past year, Oddity Central reported. He started collecting the various little items that become stuck in the tread of one's shoes -- pebbles, glass fragments, etc. -- and laying them out neatly on boards with grids. "When I was removing the pebbles caught in the groove on the back of my newly bought sneakers," he said, "I felt that it was a waste to just throw them away, and I thought, 'It would be interesting to collect them.'" He ended up with 179 pebbles, 32 glass fragments and one nut. Now he's considering further categorizing his collection between his left and right shoes. 

Good Sport

Katie Hannaford, 36, of Essex, England, just wanted to please her daughter by taking part in a parents' race on sports day at the girl's school. But when she tripped over her own feet and fell to her knees, Hannaford inadvertently flashed her bare rear end to the crowd of students, parents and teachers, the Mirror reported on July 7. At first, she said, she was humiliated, but Trophies Plus Medals presented her with a Bottoms Up award trophy and medal; Elle Courtenel, social media manager for the company, said they "felt she deserved her own award despite not making it to the finish line." And Hannaford has come around to see the humor of it: "It's definitely the funniest thing I've ever done in my life!"

Latest Religious Message?

A family in Uttar Pradesh, India, believe they have been blessed by the gods after the mother, Kareena, gave birth to a baby with four arms and four legs, the New York Post reported. The otherwise healthy boy arrived on July 2 and weighed 6.5 pounds, doctors reported. Some believe he may be the reincarnation of the four-armed Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who rules wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity. The extremely rare condition is called polymelia and results in extra, unusable arms, legs, hands or feet.

Weird Weather

On July 5, residents of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, got a weather show that "felt like being in a teaser for 'Stranger Things' Season 5," one Twitter user posted. Because of a phenomenon known as a derecho, the sky turned bright neon green as thunderstorms moved through the area, People.com reported. "The green in this thing is insane!" tweeted storm chaser Tanner Charles. The green occurs when blue light from the rain clouds combines with red and yellow light from a sunset, the National Weather Service explained. 

Awwwww

What's a 6-year-old to do when her tooth falls out during an airline flight and gets lost on the plane? After Lena and her family returned to the Greenville-Spartanburg (South Carolina) airport from a trip to Norway on June 17, she realized her tooth was nowhere to be found, WHNS-TV reported. The flight crew noticed that Lena was upset as her family tried to go back onto the plane to look for it; instead, United Airlines Capt. Josh Duchow went the extra mile, writing a note to the Tooth Fairy to make sure Lena got credit for her missing tooth. 

Bright Idea

On June 26, when traffic came to a complete standstill on I-85 in Atlanta, many people left their cars to walk around, play Frisbee or -- in Hailey Ann Smith's case -- strum the harp. "I was in my concert gown and I had the harp in the car from a wedding ... so I parked myself in the very middle of the interstate and played a few songs for everybody!" she wrote on Facebook, according to The News & Observer. "It's not every day you get to play your baby grand harp on the middle of I-85." "Wow, what a great way to share beautiful music!" one Facebook user responded.

Government in Action

Victor Roy, Oceanside, California's elected city treasurer, is in hot water after an email from Treasury Manager Steve Hodges to Roy surfaced, Voice of San Diego reported. The June 6 email includes several allegations against Roy, but the most titillating details, in an anonymous complaint filed in June 2021, allege that Roy looked at pornography on the Mission Branch Library computers. The complaint stated that Roy was "looking at magazines that when he clicked on the cover, the images inside the magazine were full nudity." Roy was told by library staff that he couldn't view nudity on public computers, and he replied that "he knew, that is why he came when it was slow and that he was being cognizant of his surroundings," the complaint continued. Assistant City Manager Michael Gossman, who confirmed that the leaked email was authentic, said Roy had not repeated the inappropriate behavior at the library. 

Freak of Nature

A wild rabbit that looks like something out of a "Star Wars" bar scene is alarming residents of a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, neighborhood, KELO-TV reported. The rabbit's head and face are covered with growths that look like tentacles, which bob around as the animal moves. Dennis Schorr saw the bunny on July 7: "I walk my dogs every day and I see lots of rabbits -- but today was very unusual," he said. Game Fish and Parks biologist Josh Delger said the growths are caused by a form of papillomavirus found only in cottontail rabbits. He said cases this severe are seen every few years, and the virus can spread from wild rabbits to pet rabbits, but it's unlikely it would spread to dogs.