Weird News

Woman considers 24th marriage

An Indiana woman who has been single for 12 years after 23 marriages said she hasn't ruled out getting married again.
Linda Lou Taylor, 68, who holds a Guinness World Record as the most married woman in history, said two of her husbands turned out to be gay, two ended up homeless, a few cheated on her, one choked her and another padlocked the refrigerator shut, Gannett News Service reported Wednesday.

"It's easy to sum up," Taylor said of her oft-married life. "When I was younger I was just a snot-nosed kid but the neighborhood boys were all in love with me. They all wanted to marry me." Taylor said that despite her 23 failed marriages and being single for the past dozen years, she has not ruled out future matrimony. "I would get married again," she told Gannett, "because, you know, it gets lonely."
 
Female transit workers won't wear "see through" uniform

A British union said shirts issued to female transport workers have been sent back due to thin fabric that "left little to the imagination." Brian Brock, an official with the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said new blouses issued to female workers on the National Express's East Coast line between London and Edinburgh, Scotland, were sent back to the National Express after they were found to be too thin and "left little to the imagination," The Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

"The blouses are simply too thin and too cheap. This is yet another example of National Express cutting costs at every corner," Brock said. A National Express spokesman said the complaints are being investigated. "We have undertaken wearer trials for the past six months and this issue did not arise," he said to The Daily Mail. "We will of course change the fabric of the shirts if there is a problem. We are now liaising with the manufacturer."
 
Indiana man renovating a 120-year-old house discovers hidden room in its basement

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. ? A man who's renovating a 120-year-old house has discovered a hidden room in its basement ? a find he said shows that some old buildings definitely hold secrets. A friend of Carl Thoms was working recently on plumbing in the 1890 home's basement when he noticed that he could see around those pipes into a hidden room covered in tiles. He also spotted a staircase ? a discovery that led Thoms to a bedroom off of the home's kitchen, where he pried up some floorboards and accessed those stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, Thoms found himself in a walled-off 10-foot-square room covered in tiles that at first made him think the room might have once been a tiled sauna. But he also wonders whether it might have been a bootlegging room during Prohibition ? or any number of possibilities.

"You never know what it could have been," Thoms said. "It's really cool to find something like that." He said the room appears to have been intentionally walled off from the rest of the basement but that it's difficult to date the blocks used to wall it up because they appear old. The stairs may have once been accessed through the bedroom via a trap door that no longer exists. Thoms began renovating the 886-square-foot house near the city's downtown for him, his wife and their four children after buying it in 2007.

The 32-year-old said he plans to do some library research his old home's history.
 
Maine police post surveillance video images on Facebook page, solve hotel vandalism case

AUBURN, Maine ? Three weeks after setting up a page on Facebook, a central Maine police department is crediting the social networking Web site with helping solve a vandalism case. Auburn police say three teenagers broke into the spa last week at a Hilton Garden Inn. The teens ripped off wall tiles and threw them into the spa and hallway, causing about $1,000 in damages.

Police posted images from the hotel's surveillance video on the department's Facebook page, which they had set up Jan. 29.
Detectives then received several anonymous tips from Facebook users who recognized the boys. Police have charged three boys, ages 15 and 16, with burglary and criminal mischief.
 
German judo expert thwarts would-be jewel thief

BERLIN -- Would-be burglars beware: Your intended victim may have a black belt in judo. Police in Germany's northern port city of Bremen say a 25-year-old thief sneaked into a house Wednesday night through an open door and began rifling through jewelry in an upstairs bedroom. He was promptly discovered by the homeowner. With a few deft blows, the 39-year-old man overpowered the intruder and detained him until police arrived.

Police said Thursday the suspect, who was not identified, was carrying a knife and may be linked to other thefts. He was being held in nearby Lueneburg.
 
Overdue library tome books Iowa woman jail time

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa -- A theft charge over a missing library book has been dismissed against an Iowa woman who was jailed when she failed to return the overdue tome. Her attorney says the fifth-degree charge against Shelly Koontz of Independence was dropped Thursday. James Peters says Koontz agreed to pay $13.95 - the cost of "The Freedom Writers Diary" - and about $50 in court costs, and to return the book.

Koontz was charged Jan. 22 and jailed for not returning the book that she borrowed last April in nearby Jesup. She was released after posting $250 bond. Buchanan County Attorney Allan Vander Hart says a library complaint led to the arrest. A woman who answered the telephone at the library hung up when asked for comment. A number listed for Koontz was disconnected.
 
Rookie patrol dog sniffs out SoCal marijuana stash

SAN DIEGO -- Not bad for a rookie. A drug-sniffing patrol dog on its first night on duty found a 477-pound stash of marijuana, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency said Thursday. The 2-year-old male German shepherd was working with its handler Tuesday night when it discovered the drugs stashed in nine duffel bags off Old Highway 80 in Jacumba, some 75 miles east of San Diego, the agency said in a statement.

The remote stretch of border is a popular route for traffickers to bring drugs into the U.S. Agents arrested two suspected illegal immigrants who allegedly brought the drugs across the border, the agency said. The drugs were estimated to have a street value of about $380,000.
 
Iowa jail flushes plan to charge for toilet paper

BURLINGTON, Iowa -- Des Moines County jail officials have flushed a plan for inmates to pay for toilet paper to save money. The county had faced a $1.7 million budget shortfall this year. The toilet paper idea surfaced when county leaders asked department heads for suggestions to cut costs. Budget officials said billing inmates for toilet paper could save more than $2,300.

Jail Administrator Duane Worthy closed the lid on the idea on Wednesday, saying there will not be a separate fee for toilet paper.
Budget Director Cheryl McVey says the budget shortfalls have been erased due to budget cuts by departments, an anticipated $1 million bond issue and other revenues.
 
Spearers catch rare white sturgeon on the same day

FOND DU LAC, Wis. -- Two lucky spearers have defied the odds and caught rare white sturgeon on the same day. Department of Natural Resources biologist Ron Bruch said about one in 10,000 lake sturgeon are white and until Tuesday none had been caught in more than 10 years. Bruch said he can't recall two being harvested on the same day before. Only 13 percent of spearers catch any sturgeon at all.

Tuesday's catches came on Lake Winnebago's eastern shore. Joseph Gerbyshak, 24, caught one white sturgeon, and 54-year-old Sue Muetzelburg of Fond du Lac nabbed the other. Muetzelburg said her first thought was that the pale fish was sick. She plans to mount the head and fillet and smoke the rest.
 
Ex-Maytag repairman did less work than he claimed

RENO, Nev. -- A former Maytag repairman who claimed to do more work than he really did was found guilty in federal court Thursday of 36 counts of wire fraud for submitting fraudulent repair claims. Darin Jerome French, the owner of an appliance store in Incline Village, had a contract with Maytag Corp. to fix appliances under warranty in 2006 and 2007, according to a federal indictment.

By using serial numbers he copied from washers and dryers at local retail outlets such as Lowe's and Fry's Electronics, he submitted the false claims for repairs and travel expenses to the company that once advertised the dependability of its appliances by describing the Maytag repairman as "the loneliest guy in town." French then had the money wired to his account at a bank at Lake Tahoe, a total of more than $150,000 in reimbursements for false claims, U.S. Attorney Ron Rachow said.

French, who denied the charges, could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. His lawyer, Leah Wigren, continually asked witnesses during the trial in district court in Reno whether they had direct knowledge of French's action and whether other employees could have submitted the claims on the company's Web site.

Kelley Deanna Moore, a record keeper for Maytag at the time, said some of French's billings came into question when Maytag was bought by Whirlpool Corp. in 2006. She found a number of service calls where there was duplicate information and some similar serial numbers with an added zero.

Ken Tyson, a senior analyst for Whirlpool, said French submitted claims from various places, including Mississippi, Tennessee, California and Nevada. In 2006, French sought payment for 3,347 repair claims, totaling $522,000, Tyson said. While some were legitimate, about $353,000 worth of claims were fake, he said. The company stopped wiring money to his account in 2007 after the false claims "came to light," he said.

The indictment lists counts for each week he submitted claims, some as small as $865, but most topping $10,000 and as high as $41,000.
 
Woman OK after bullet ends up in her hair weave

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Other than having a bit of a headache, a Kansas City woman was uninjured after a bullet fired at her ended up tangled in her hair weave. Police said the 20-year-old woman was in a convenience store parking lot late Wednesday when a man flagged her down and told her that her ex-boyfriend still loved her. She replied, "Well I dont love him," then heard gunshots. She said she looked behind the vehicle and saw her ex-boyfriend firing a handgun at her. She stomped her accelerator and fled, then turned into another parking lot and called police.

She told officers she recently had ended an eight-month relationship with the suspect. Police arrested the ex-boyfriend and his friend in a car.
 
Cops clock man driving 137 mph in '93 Honda Civic

GREENVILLE, N.Y. -- State police have ticketed an upstate New York man for driving more than twice the 65-mph speed limit on an interstate highway. Troopers said a 21-year-old man was clocked doing 137 mph on Interstate 84 in Orange County on Tuesday. He was pulled over in the westbound lanes near Exit 2 in the town of Greenville, on the New Jersey border 60 miles northwest of New York City.

Troopers said the man was driving a 1993 Honda Civic. The man was ticketed for speeding, reckless driving and having vehicle windows with illegal tint. He's due to appear in Greenville Town Court on Feb. 25. There was no telephone listing for the man.
 
Holy shit... I didn't even know a '93 Civic can pull 137mph lol... maybe he modded it or smth, or it was downhill...
 
Mice overrun Fla. courthouse, fall from ceiling

There are so many mice in one Florida county courthouse that they've been seen falling from ceiling tiles. One judge at the Palm Beach County Courthouse calls it an infestation. Some staffers say they check their handbags for stowaways before leaving the building each day.

Court employees and lawyers say the rodents scuttle down corridors, munch legal papers and scratch behind the walls. Last week, one mouse ran around a courtroom floor for an hour during a burglary trial. The courthouse facilities manager says he's put out a few dozen traps to capture the rodents. He says he's not sure there has been an uptick in mice lately but says they're getting more press than they deserve.
 
Pa. allows carp to snack on bread at state park

LINESVILLE, Pa. -- In a move likely to be popular with tourists and fish alike, Pennsylvania officials will not prohibit feeding bread to the carp at a park in the state's northwest corner. Complaints delayed the start of the ban this year at Pymatuning (py-muh-TOON'-ing) State Park. Now, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has dropped the idea altogether.

More than 300,000 people visit the park each year to see throngs of bread-hungry carp so thick that ducks can walk on the fish.
Officials wanted only fish food pellets used, because they say other food harms the fish. Visitors have tossed chicken, watermelon, doughnuts and other foods to the carp. The state will ask tourists to stick to fish pellets and bread.

(My great grandparents lived here when they immagrated from Lithuania.)
 
Inmate sues over alleged satanism interference

BILLINGS, Mont. -- A 35-year-old man imprisoned for drug possession has filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against Yellowstone County, alleging jailers interfered with his satanic religious practices while he was in jail. The lawsuit filed by Jason P. Indreland claims county jail staff took from him a religious medallion, denied him access to a "Satanic Bible or Book of Satanic Rituals" and ridiculed and punished him for his religious beliefs.

The suit alleges that Yellowstone County jail staff placed "Christian natured greeting cards under (his) cell door," that said "Jesus was ready to save and accept him." Indreland is serving a three-year sentence at the Montana State Prison for felony drug possession. He was convicted after police found him with 15 grams of methamphetamine in March 2007. County officials said they have not seen the lawsuit and could not comment
 
Michigan man charged with swiping friend's urine

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A man looking for relief has landed his friend in court. Prosecutors charged a 26-year-old man with breaking and entering after some urine samples went missing from a medical facility in Grand Blanc Township, about 45 miles northwest of Detroit. The Flint Journal reported Thursday officers followed footprints back to the Swartz Creek man and two urine samples in a nearby backpack.

Authorities said the man's friend had given the samples for a job at a hospital but worried about failing a drug test, so he asked his pal to steal them back. Prosecutor David Leyton said the charged man is "a really good friend."
 
Woman tries to pay old fine, but gets arrested

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. -- A mother of three was arrested when she tried to pay a 13-year-old fine for a youthful misstep. Christina Dugan Lloyd was sorting old papers when she found a $2,000 citation from 1996 she said she forgot about. The offense: speeding through Utah with an expired driver's license and possession of a controlled substance.

Now 38, married and with three kids, Lloyd called the sheriff in Utah on Monday to pay the fine. She was told someone would have to call her back. The Providence Journal reported that instead, Narragansett police came to her house and arrested her. She was booked, held overnight and released the next day after paying the fine by credit card. Lloyd said not paying the fine earlier was "so stupid" and that police and court personnel were nice.
 
Woman sues Santa, claiming he fell on top of her

CHICAGO -- Call it the case of the overserved Santa. Antoinette Basso filed a lawsuit Thursday against a man dressed in a Santa suit who she said stumbled and fell on top of her, knocking her face-first into the sidewalk outside a Chicago restaurant.
Basso claims in the Cook County Circuit Court lawsuit that she suffered "pain ... disability and disfigurement." She's asking for damages in excess of $50,000.

Basso alleges that the Santa, Daniel Aulwes, appeared intoxicated at the time of the Dec. 7 incident. She's accusing Aulwes of negligence and negligent battery. A telephone listing for Aulwes had a recorded message that said the call cannot go through.
 
Girl, 15, turns in mom for allegedly smoking pot

WAVERLY, Neb. -- A 15-year-old girl turned in her mom for allegedly smoking marijuana in front of her. The 32-year-old woman was cited on suspicion of child abuse and marijuana possession. The daughter called the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, and authorities executed a search warrant of her mother's home on Wednesday.

The girl told authorities where they could find the woman's drug paraphernalia and marijuana. One gram of pot was found. The woman has two other children living in the home.
 
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