News of the Weird: Week of November 23, 2023

Expand

News of the Weird newspapers illustration

The Firearm Obsession

Dr. Jason Gladwell, an orthodontist in Raleigh, North Carolina, has a catchy new promotion going, WRAL-TV reported: "Grins and Glocks." Yep -- patients who sign up for Invisalign braces can choose between a free Glock 19 ($500-plus retail) or a membership to Youngsville Gun Club & Range. The deal is open only to those 21 and older, and the club will conduct a background check on recipients. Dr. Gladwell has received mixed reactions to the come-on; notably, Align Technology, which makes Invisalign, isn't happy: "This promotion does not reflect our brand purpose."

Animal Antics

A cargo flight on its way from New York to Liege, Belgium, was forced to turn around on Nov. 9 after a horse escaped its stall, CNN reported. The pilot alerted Boston Air Traffic Control that while the flight was not impeded, "we cannot get the horse back secured." They also requested a veterinarian meet the plane at JFK Airport, as the horse was having "difficulty." Later, the plane resumed its journey and arrived in Belgium the next morning.

Florida

In West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 9, Kelly Jacobson was heartbroken after officers led away her pet pig, Pork Chop, during an eviction. WPTV reported that animal care and control officers actually had to drag the pig, as he weighs 400 pounds and can't really walk. They plan to gain custody of Pork Chop and get him the dietary care he needs. Jacobson has been cited twice before for neglecting his needs, but she said she would "do whatever I have to do to make him better. I need him."

Rudy Wilcox, 45, of Clearwater, Florida, was "observed defecating on a deceased opossum" on Nov. 15, according to The Smoking Gun. Officers with the Clearwater Police Department said he was in "full view of the motoring public during busy traffic times." While Wilcox denied the accusation, officers found "physical evidence" to support the charges. Just one question: What would have happened if the opossum were only playing possum?! Wilcox was jailed.

Police Report

When a game warden pulled over a pickup truck near Lubbock, Texas, on Nov. 8, the driver and passenger obligingly waited with a deputy while the Texas Parks and Wildlife officer searched the vehicle, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. At one point, the driver asked for permission to retrieve a burrito and 44-ounce drink from the cab, telling the officer that he "did not have any drugs or anything in the vehicle." Ah, but how about that big drink? When the officer removed the lid from the cup, he found an orange bag inside with 5 grams of methamphetamine. The driver was taken into custody.

Weird Science

Charlie Curtis of Toronto, Canada, developed Crohn's disease in 2014, Yahoo! News reported. Although he took medicine, Curtis was hospitalized with his symptoms and had to visit the bathroom multiple times a day. Then he tried a new therapy: do-it-yourself poop transplants, using his mother's fecal matter. Fecal microbiota transplants, or FMTs, are typically performed by a doctor and involve collecting feces from a healthy donor, mixing it with a saline solution and inserting it in the patient's gastrointestinal tract through an enema. But Curtis' DIY transplants had an unexpected side effect: Over the four years they did the procedure, Curtis experienced sweating, hot flashes and mood swings -- his mom's menopause symptoms. Doctors believe hormones in his mom's fecal matter most likely were to blame. "When I was actually doing the procedure," Curtis said, "I'd feel tingling inside of me. It felt healthy, it felt like it was working."

Kelsey Hatcher and her husband, Caleb, of Dora, Alabama, have three kids under 8 and a busy life, WVTM13-TV reported. Kelsey already knew she had the unusual condition of having two uteri and two cervixes when she became pregnant for a fourth time. But when she had her first sonogram last spring, she discovered something amazing: She has two babies on the way, one in each uterus. "OB/GYNs go their whole careers without seeing anything like this," Shweta Patel, Kelsey's doctor, said. The pregnancy is getting the Hatchers a lot of attention, which Kelsey isn't all that comfortable with. Both babies are girls and are due on Christmas Day, but doctors say they could be born hours, days or weeks apart.

High on Christmas

Henry Meade, 40, was busy spreading the Christmas spirit on Nov. 11 in Tazewell, Tennessee, Fox59-TV reported. Meade was operating "Santa's Train," a riding lawn mower pulling a cart with children and families, at the town's Christmas Tractor Parade. But visitors thought Meade was acting erratically and reported him to police. He subsequently failed a sobriety test, and officers found a syringe, meth and other narcotics in his possession. He was charged with possession and driving under the influence.

Awesome!

Kathy Magruder, who operates the Pageturners Bookstore in Indianola, Iowa, was rummaging through the never-checked-out books at the Calvin Community retirement home when she stumbled upon a treasure, KCCI-TV reported. There among the other titles was a leatherbound Bible, printed in 1705 in Selkirkshire, Scotland. Interestingly, it was printed illegally, without the oversight of the church. "This one, just something about it, when I open it up, the pages make a noise when you turn them that's a little different than a new book. They feel a little different, and the book smells a little different than any other book," Magruder said about the Bible.

Citizen's Arrest

In Glendale, Wisconsin, on Nov. 15, police identified a stolen Dodge Durango being driven erratically, TMJ4-TV reported. Officers deployed stop sticks, and the Durango crashed into two other cars before all four occupants jumped out and ran away, with one ducking into a portable toilet to hide. As they crossed a golf course, one golfer stepped in to help: "When we realized they were being chased and that kid was in the porta potty ... I just made a rash decision to go push the porta potty down," said golfer Adam Westermayer. The suspect was trapped inside, and police were able to arrest him and one other suspect.

That Rule Doesn't Apply to Me

It was always Sara Fazekas' dream to have sex in public, and so she did, on Nov. 10 in Dunedin, Florida, the New York Post reported. Fazekas, 55, and Robert Clarke, 60, weren't a bit shy about fulfilling her lifelong goal. The police report said the couple were "fully nude on top of one another" on a causeway, even as adults and children looked on. One witness said they were "going to town," but Clarke, a registered sex offender, told police he had no remorse and that "children should be at home and not at the causeway." He was held on $50,000 bond; Fazekas was charged with exposing herself.

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