xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx
Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.
On the morning of July 7, 2001, a vandal tossed detergent into the fountain in Canal Park in Duluth, Minn., producing a massive, continuing mountain of bubbles. About four hours later, Kathy J. Kelly, walking by the still-foamy mound, failed to steer clear enough, fell on the soap-slippery sidewalk, and suffered several injuries including, eventually, gangrene. She sued the city for not having cleaned the fountain or roped off the area. In March 2004, a jury ruled in her favor, finding that 30 percent of the fault was hers for getting too close but that 70 percent was the city’s. (Jurors were not allowed to assess the fault of the original vandal.)
In February, the chief justice of Singapore, Yong Pung How, 77, rejected attempts at leniency by a 25-year-old ex-policeman who had argued that his arrest for receiving oral sex (as a “crime against nature”) was an anachronism. In upholding the law as a salutary part of Asian culture, Justice Yong sentenced the man to 12 months in jail, pointing out, “There are countries where you can go and suck away for all you are worth,” “but this is Asia.”
Keep a Low Profile? Sandy L. Warren, 43, was arrested in March and charged with stealing an 8-ton cherry-picker from a construction equipment dealership in Redmond, Wash.; a dealership employee had spotted the cherry-picker parked in Warren’s front yard in Redmond with a for-sale sign on it (“$28,990 OBO”).
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or [email protected]
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd
NEWS OF THE WEIRD