TheRepublic.com - Oddities News

Police: Helpful suspect left ID in vehicle

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:29:39 -0400

SEVIERVILLE, Tennessee - Police in the Smoky Mountains foothills have arrested a burglary suspect who inadvertently aided them.

Funeral home has bicycle hearse for 1 last ride

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:01:24 -0400

EUGENE, Oregon - An Oregon funeral home in Eugene offers natural burials where the ride to the person's final resting place is on the back of a three-wheeled bicycle.

Birth of anteater has Conn. zoo staff puzzled

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:49:41 -0400

GREENWICH, Connecticut - An anteater has given birth at a Connecticut conservation center, prompting officials there to wonder how the mother conceived.

Alaska man runs onto frozen lake to avoid jail

Fri, 17 May 2013 01:28:05 -0400

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Anchorage police say a young man who didn't want to return to jail ran out onto the uncertain ice of an Alaska lake to escape officers armed with an arrest warrant.

Aussie minister sorry he 'liked' exposed teen pic

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:46:21 -0400

SYDNEY - An Australian politician says he has learned a valuable lesson in social networking after he "liked" a Facebook photo without realizing that it showed a teenage prankster exposing himself.

Fleeing Ore. man pleads to be pulled from Columbia

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:10:06 -0400

IRRIGON, Oregon - Authorities in Eastern Oregon say a fleeing man tried to use a backstroke to get across the Columbia River but, exhausted, said he couldn't swim and pleaded with officers to retrieve him. They did.

Exhibition of secretly shot photos upsets NYers

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:40:44 -0400

NEW YORK - Residents of a New York luxury apartment building are livid over an exhibition of photos secretly snapped through their apartment windows.

Wash. state woman spots stolen car in drive-thru

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:25:18 -0400

KENNEWICK, Washington - A Washington woman whose car was stolen from her apartment complex saw the stolen SUV hours later - in the drive-thru of the McDonald's restaurant where she works.

Coin tossing breaks tie in Philippine mayoral race

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:07:03 -0400

MANILA, Philippines - What do you do when two candidates running for mayor in the Philippines get exactly the same number of votes? You get them to toss a coin.

Deer smashes Pa. bus windshield, takes short ride

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:45:52 -0400

JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania - A deer has taken a ride on a western Pennsylvania bus.

Students in Ghana launch mini-satellite

Wed, 15 May 2013 16:23:54 -0400

KOFORIDUA, Ghana - Their project might not sound like much: The college students on Wednesday launched a tiny model of a satellite the size of a soda can on a big yellow balloon.

Pa. chief chided for using fire truck as prom limo

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:47:05 -0400

WEST NEWTON, Pennsylvania - A volunteer fire chief's decision to have his son and the boy's date chauffeured to their high school prom in a fire truck has sparked a four-alarm controversy in their southwestern Pennsylvania borough.

Conn. chef set to feast on cicadas during invasion

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:23:14 -0400

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut - Connecticut chef Bun Lai is already known for his Mexican grasshopper dish and his fried rice with meal worms and crickets. But he might soon also be recognized as the cicada chef.

$1,330 bid saves Santa Claus, 4 reindeer in Flint

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:41:21 -0400

FLINT, Michigan - A $1,330 bid was good enough to save a Santa Claus, sleigh and four reindeer that once brought holiday cheer atop City Hall in cash-strapped Flint.

Man dressed as clown tries home break-in

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:14:55 -0400

JACKSON, Tennessee - The Madison County Sheriff's Office says a man dressed as a clown tried to break into a mobile home.

NH city sues parking meter 'Robin Hood' group

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:08:50 -0400

KEENE, New Hampshire - The city of Keene, New Hampshire, has sued a group that feeds change into parking meters that are about to expire, saying members are harassing enforcement officers.

Quincy odor mystery solved

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:34 -0400

QUINCY, Massachusetts - The mystery of the foul odor that's been wafting over coastal Quincy for several weeks has been solved.

Stinky corpse flower blooms again at Ohio State

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:08:47 -0400

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A large rainforest plant known as a corpse flower because of its awful smell has bloomed again at an Ohio State University greenhouse, and there's more excitement because another corpse flower there is expected to open soon, a spokeswoman said.

Correction: Kenya-Sandal Animals story

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:46:02 -0400

NAIROBI, Kenya - In a story May 8 about artisans in Kenya who turn old sandals into art objects, The Associated Press included two paragraphs that closely paralleled the wording of an earlier story on the subject by the Voice of America. Inclusion of such material should have been attributed to VOA.

Wisconsin boy gets handwritten response from Biden

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:28:25 -0400

MILWAUKEE - It might not be unusual for schoolchildren to write to the president or vice president. But one Wisconsin boy got an unexpectedly personal response.

Man charged in overnight supermarket feast

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:07:20 -0400

MOUNT WASHINGTON, Kentucky - Authorities in Mount Washington have charged a man who officers say had an overnight cookout in a closed supermarket.

Calif. man who said he fled zombies pleads guilty

Mon, 13 May 2013 22:53:28 -0400

TEMECULA, California - A Tennessee man who stole a big-rig truck in California, caused several accidents and told investigators he was fleeing zombies when he did it has pleaded guilty to several felonies.

NYPD officer tries to help cat in tree, gets stuck

Mon, 13 May 2013 21:47:35 -0400

NEW YORK - Authorities say a New York police officer who went after a cat stuck in a tree got caught himself and needed a little help getting back down to the ground.

Remains in Colo. car tied to man missing since '87

Mon, 13 May 2013 19:57:28 -0400

GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado - Authorities in western Colorado say a human skeleton found in a partially buried car belongs to a man who was reported missing 26 years ago.

Police: Assault prompted by 'too many pickles'

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:58:40 -0400

QUINCY, Massachusetts - A Quincy woman is facing an assault charge for allegedly punching a restaurant worker for putting too many pickles on her steak and cheese sandwich, police said Monday.