Strange Stuff: Weird Crimes, Crazy Laws, and Other Interesting News Stories - Page 212

Mar 13, 2012 8:59 AM CDT

Italian Village Outlaws Death

No going six feet under in Falciano del Massico

(Newser) - The Italian village of Falciano del Massico isn't just cheating death—it's banned it altogether. Since the beginning of March, the town's 3,700 residents simply haven't been allowed to expire. The AP calls it a "tongue-in-cheek decree," noting that the odd declaration stems...

Need Viagra? Ohio Pol Wants Notarized Letter

Mar 12, 2012 2:20 PM CDT

Need Viagra? Ohio Pol Wants Notarized Letter

...from your sex partner, attesting to your impotency

(Newser) - It's certainly not the first bill to be presented as a foil to the abortion- and contraception-related bills coursing through America's legislatures, but it is an amusing one. Ohio Democrat Nina Turner last week introduced Senate Bill 307, which would make getting Viagra a pretty big ordeal. A...

Drunk Buggy Driving?
Amish Collide With Cop Car

Mar 12, 2012 12:49 PM CDT

Drunk Buggy Driving? Amish Collide With Cop Car

4 young adults charged with illegal possession of alcohol

(Newser) - Just because they drive buggies instead of cars doesn't mean Amish kids can't get into trouble. Four were arrested and charged with illegal possession of alcohol last night after their buggy crashed—directly into a police car, NBC Philadelphia reports. At the time, police were responding to a...

Couple Wins $2.9M
for 'Wrongful Birth'

Mar 12, 2012 8:12 AM CDT

Couple Wins $2.9M for 'Wrongful Birth'

Would have terminated pregnancy if they knew baby had Down syndrome

(Newser) - An Oregon couple has been awarded $2.9 million in a case centered not around wrongful death, but wrongful birth. Ariel and Deborah Levy said they would have terminated their pregnancy had they known their daughter would have Down syndrome—but they were continually told the child would not. On...

Cops: Man Hid Transmitter Under Wife's Bed

Cops: Guy Hid
Transmitter Under
Wife's Bed

Cops: Guy Hid Transmitter Under Wife's Bed

He allegedly wanted to spy on estranged spouse

(Newser) - The weird crime story of the week from Raccoon Township in Pennsylvania's Beaver County. It seems a woman called police to say she found a "transmitter device" under her bed and was pretty sure her estranged husband put it there, reports the Beaver County Times . When cops approached...

'House Airbag'
Protects Home
From Earthquake

Mar 10, 2012 1:48 PM CST

'House Airbag' Protects Home From Earthquake

Another airbag is designed for pedestrians

(Newser) - Airbags: not just for your car anymore. Japanese company Air Danshin has invented an ingenious system that raises a house 3 centimeters off the ground when earthquake tremors are detected, the Guardian reports. Sensors detect both the beginning and the end of a quake, and the airbags deflate when the...

Facebook Does In
Man With Two Wives

Mar 9, 2012 11:48 AM CST

Facebook Does In Man With Two Wives

Wife No. 1 gets friend recommendation for wife No. 2

(Newser) - Facebook was only trying to help, but a Washington state man faces bigamy charges nonetheless. As the News Tribune of Tacoma explains, Alan Fulk married wife No. 1 in 2001 but moved out eight years later. They never got around to an official divorce. Last year, he changed his last...

Entire Pacific Nation
Might Move to Fiji

Mar 9, 2012 11:16 AM CST

Entire Pacific Nation Might Move to Fiji

Kiribati considers backup plan as sea levels rise

(Newser) - The Pacific archipelago of Kiribati is so worried about rising water levels that the government might just move everyone to Fiji, the AP reports. The president's Cabinet has approved a plan to buy 6,000 acres on Fiji's main island in case Kiribati's 103,000 residents need...

Pair Sentenced for Taking Dead Pal on Bar Crawl

Mar 9, 2012 12:33 AM CST

Pair Sentenced for Taking Dead Pal on Bar Crawl

Denver pair used corpse's credit card in strip club

(Newser) - Denver's Weekend at Bernie's duo are going to be spending a lot of weekends doing community service for taking a dead friend on a night out —and letting him pick up the tab. Robert Young and Mark Rubinson put their pal, 43, in the back of a...

Woman Has 75-Day Labor
to Save Twins

Mar 8, 2012 7:13 PM CST

Woman Has 75-Day Labor to Save Twins

Also: Joanna Krzysztonek did this lying upside down

(Newser) - It's hard to pick what to emphasize: That Joanna Krzysztonek endured labor for 75 days to save her twins or that she did so lying virtually upside down. Reuters explains: Krzysztonek was supposed to have triplets, but she went into labor in her fifth month. After one baby died,...

'Neon Orange Monstrosity'?
Taco Bell Meets Doritos

first tastes

Mar 8, 2012 3:58 PM CST

'Neon Orange Monstrosity'? Taco Bell Meets Doritos

Chain unveils new shell nationwide

(Newser) - Americans everywhere can now buy a Taco Bell taco whose shell is made out of Doritos , notes the AP , and a $75 million advertising campaign means the pitch will be hard to avoid. Judging by early reaction, this is either everything that's right or wrong with the nation:

Chris

...

PMS Helps Women
Spot Snakes

study says

Mar 8, 2012 3:11 PM CST

PMS Helps Women Spot Snakes

Hormones can boost fear response: researchers

(Newser) - If you're planning a walk in the woods, you may be safest just before your period. A preliminary study suggests that women in the luteal or premenstrual phase of menstruation are quickest at spotting snakes. That could be because the hormones involved can influence the amygdala, part of the...

Skier Wins
World Cup Race
on Single Ski

Mar 8, 2012 10:18 AM CST

Skier Wins World Cup Race on Single Ski

Kikkan Randall is first US World Cup cross-country skiing champ since 1982

(Newser) - Impressive: Being America's first World Cup champion in cross-country skiing since 1982. Way more impressive: Winning the title after racing on one ski. That's what Kikkan Randall managed to do yesterday in Drammen, Norway. The Anchorage native has been the World Cup sprint leader this season, and managed...

Siblings, 5 and 11, Found Living on School Bus

Mar 8, 2012 8:15 AM CST

Siblings, 5 and 11, Found Living on School Bus

Parents went to prison a few months ago, authorities say

(Newser) - Texas authorities, tipped off by a concerned meter reader, yesterday found a sister and brother, ages 11 and 5, living alone inside a broken-down school bus on a lot teeming with garbage. The children had been living on the bus, which apparently had been altered to have electricity and water,...

Torso May Be
EastEnders
Actress,
Brother
Busted

Mar 8, 2012 1:30 AM CST

Torso May Be EastEnders Actress, Brother Busted

Gemma McCluskie has been missing a week

(Newser) - A torso found in a London canal is believed to be that of an actress in the popular British series EastEnders, and her older brother has been arrested. Gemma McCluskie, 29, has been missing for a week, reports ABC . The torso was found in Regents Canal close to McCluskie's...

Newly Hot Commodity: Dog Art

Mar 7, 2012 7:22 PM CST

Newly Hot Commodity: Dog Art

Two sell for about $200K apiece

(Newser) - A painting of six pooches gazing at a bird has sold for a whopping $212,500, and it's apparently no fluke. The piece, entitled Hounds in a Kennel by William Hamilton Trood, was auctioned off at a special sale held every year right after the Westminster Dog Show, reports...

Parents Forget Girl, 3, at Chuck E. Cheese

Mar 7, 2012 1:19 PM CST

Parents Forget Girl, 3, at Chuck E. Cheese

And don't realize it until she shows up on the evening news

(Newser) - The separated parents of a 3-year-old Maryland girl forgot something when they left a recent party at Chuck E. Cheese … their little girl. Both the mother and father of 3-year-old Harmony assumed the girl had left the large party with other relatives, ABC News reports. Neither one realized she...

'Inseparable'
Twins, 73,
Found Dead
Together

Mar 7, 2012 1:07 PM CST

'Inseparable' Twins, 73, Found Dead Together

They had Hollywood past, became recluses

(Newser) - Police in California are trying to unravel the puzzling deaths of identical twin sisters, reports the AP . Patricia and Joan Miller of South Lake Tahoe were entertainers as kids in the 1950s, performing on TV and before the troops, but they turned into recluses for most of the last 40...

NM Town Elects Mayor
Who's Barred From City Hall

Mar 7, 2012 12:39 PM CST

NM Town Elects Mayor Who's Barred From City Hall

Indicted mayor can't talk to city officials either

(Newser) - Sunland Park, New Mexico, elected 28-year-old Daniel Salinas as mayor yesterday, but Salinas is going to have a tough time doing the job; he's forbidden by law from stepping foot on city property or talking to city workers. Salinas, the town's current mayor pro tem, has been charged...

Illinois Football Coach Doled Out 'Porridge Punishment'

Mar 7, 2012 11:11 AM CST