xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx - 8

Written by American City & County Administrator

Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.

Police in Fulton, Ky., investigating a marijuana-smoking complaint by William Hainline’s neighbors in September, found dope burning on a backyard grill with a large fan on the other side of the house sucking the smoke through the home (in effect, said Police Chief Terry Powell, “turn(ing) the house into a large marijuana bong”). Hainline said he was merely having a 52nd birthday party, but police seized four pounds of marijuana.

In October, the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, Fla., became the latest to debut a version of the church’s 22-year-old “Theology on Tap” series, introducing young adults to the church by holding lecture and discussion sessions about contemporary issues, mostly sexuality, in local bars, with parishioners and potentials free to eat, drink and smoke. (In November, the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, began the second year of its program.)

According to the police report on Farhad Qaumi, 19, who was arrested in Parramatta, Australia (near Sydney), in October and charged with raping a 16-year-old girl, Qaumi said he removed his Islamic pendant before the assault, telling the girl, “I have to take it off, as it is disrespectful.”

In Bridgeport, Conn., in October, Roger Chimney, 34, pleaded guilty to two convenience store robberies; the police got him because he had accidentally dropped his name-inscribed Bible at one of the crime scenes.

In Augusta, Maine, in August, Craig Golden, 18, pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for vandalizing a farmer’s field; the police got him because his name-inscribed Bible had fallen out of his truck during the incident.
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