News of the Weird: Week of July 6, 2023

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Awesome!

Emerald Downs racetrack in Auburn, Washington, switched things up on June 25 with a Grandparents Race, WMTV reported. It was part of Grandparents Weekend, where nanas and pop-pops received free admittance and could participate in prize drawings. About 25 grandparents competed in the race, charging out of the horse gates toward a finish line about 40 yards away. Two of the racers stumbled and fell during the sprint, but no one was hurt. Steve Butler of Everett, Washington, was declared the winner.

For the Birds

The Cotehele medieval house in Cornwall, England, was all set to be the site of a five-day cherry-picking festival starting on June 28, the BBC reported, but blackbirds foiled the plan. Laura Jarman of the National Trust said that 80 trees were full of the fruits on June 19, but two days later "the gardener came to tell me they'd all gone ... feasted on by the very cheeky blackbirds. They're so cute, we don't mind too much," she added. The site still plans to host an apple-picking event later in the year.

Government in Action

Paavo Arhinmaki, 46, the deputy mayor of Helsinki, Finland, was caught in the act on June 23 as he and a friend spray-painted graffiti in a railway tunnel in the capital city, the Associated Press reported. The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency said the cost to clean up the graffiti would be about $3,830, but it's not clear if the deputy mayor will face charges. "I have committed a crime and bear full responsibility for it," Arhinmaki said, calling his actions "stupid fooling around." However, he is refusing to resign his position.

Unconventional Weaponry

Tristan Stetina, 19, was charged with fifth-degree assault (who knew degrees went to 5!) after an incident at a Mankato, Minnesota, restaurant on June 23, KSTP-TV reported. Police officers were called to the business after Stetina allegedly arrived there and "began yelling and throwing Skittles at employees and customers." One victim said she experienced stinging on her back after being hit with one of the candies. Officers, who were familiar with Stetina, found him nearby and placed him under arrest; because he resisted, he was also charged with obstruction of the legal process and disorderly conduct.

Inexplicable

Public restrooms are a gamble on the best day, but in Columbus, Indiana, a discovery in the bathroom at Mill Race Park raised the bar: David Lancaster, part of the cleaning crew, found a dead octopus in a toilet there on June 22, with its long tentacles hanging out of the bowl. Fox59-TV reported that Mark Jones, director of the park department, said he didn't know how the octopus had come to be in the toilet, but it had been removed.

Irony

Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino, who researches dishonesty and unethical behavior, is in the hot seat with her administration for ... submitting work that falsified results. NPR reported on June 26 that several people have alleged that Gino changed data in at least four papers about her studies. She is currently on administrative leave; for her part, Gino did not confirm or deny the claims, but said she is "limited into what I can say publicly. I want to assure you that I take (the allegations) seriously and they will be addressed." Investigators said they found incidents of fraud spanning more than a decade.

Unclear on the Concept

When Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois, underwent a cybersecurity audit, TechCrunch reported, the vendor mistakenly reset every student's password, which prevented students from being able to log into their Google account. Naturally, the school wanted to rectify the situation, so on June 23, they sent parents an email: "To fix this, we have reset your child's password to Ch@ngeme! so that they can once again access their Google account. We strongly suggest that your child update their password to their own unique password as soon as possible." What could go wrong? Manning Peterson, an OPRF student's mom, noted, "This is terribly insecure and you have just invited every single student's accounts to get hacked." It took the school a day to realize its mistake, whereupon it promised to send "a special password process that will be unique to your specific student."

It's Good To Have Goals

"Highpointing" enthusiasts seek to find tallest points in a geographic region. The hobby intrigues former Colorado resident Andrew Karr, so it's only natural that in his new home state of Florida, he'd continue the quest. According to The Messenger, Karr has pledged to summit the highest point of every county in Florida -- the flattest state in the country. He studies maps, rents kayaks and asks landowners for permission to cross their property to achieve his goal, and he's almost there: He's summitted 61 out of 67 counties.

The Aristocrats

A Brooklyn-based art collective called MSCHF created a teeny tiny handbag that sold for $63,000 at auction on June 28, CNN reported. The neon green bag, measuring less than 0.03 inches wide, is fashioned after an iconic Louis Vuitton bag called the OntheGo tote, but it was not sanctioned by the designer. It was made using technology that prints 3D micro-scale plastic parts and was sold with a microscope so the owner can see it.

News You Can Use

The Bridge of Flowers between Shelburne and Buckland, Massachusetts, draws walkers from both cities to view the flora alongside the footbridge, Mass Live reported. But now the Bridge of Flowers Committee is asking residents not to scatter loved ones' ashes there. "It's not healthy," said Carol Angus, co-chair of the committee. "The gardeners and volunteers are then exposed to the human remains," and the leaves and roots of the plants are damaged. "It's very upsetting," Angus added.

Recent Alarming Headline

At Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport on June 29, a 57-year-old Thai woman was preparing to board a flight when she became caught in the moving walkway in Terminal 2, The Guardian reported. The lower part of the woman's leg was trapped beneath the belt at the end of the walkway; a medical team had to amputate her leg above the knee, and she then was transferred to a hospital to assess the chances of reattaching her leg. Airport director Karun Thanakuljeerapat offered "my deepest condolences regarding the accident" and said the airport would be fully responsible for the victim's medical costs.

Great Art!

German artist Werner Hartl of Reichersbeuern paints stunning agriculture and landscape scenes, mostly of cows, Oddity Central reported. What sets Hartl apart is his medium of choice: diluted cow manure. Hartl places a canister beneath a cow's rear end as it poops, then mixes the dung with water. "I use watered-down dung for the light shades ... I use dung with no water mixed in for the dark shades," Hartl explained. "When it is wet, the 'paint' is a bit funky, but when it's completely dry, it doesn't smell anymore," he said.

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