Post insane / odd / unique news releases here

[LWM]

Ohio police chopper camera falls off, smashes cars (August 26th, 2010 @ 5:08am)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A camera mounted to a police helicopter in Ohio fell off mid-flight, striking at least three vehicles in a parking lot.

No one on the ground was hurt when the infrared camera valued at roughly $100,000 came crashing down around noon Wednesday in Columbus. One vehicle was heavily damaged.

At the time the chopper dropped its accidental bomb, the helicopter was being used in the search for a missing woman.

Police Sgt. Richard Weiner (WY'-nur) says the camera had been reinstalled on the chopper before it took off.

It's not clear why the camera came unhitched. Police are investigating, along with the Federal Aviation Administration.

[LWM]

Mass. police: Shark sighting a practical joke (August 26th, 2010 @ 6:18am)

SOMERSET, Mass. (AP) - A practical joker in Massachusetts has taken advantage of recent shark sightings and caused a scare with a fake fin.

Police say about 50 people were drawn to a Somerset, Mass., cove on Wednesday night after someone reported seeing a shark fin in the water. Police tell the Herald News of Fall River that several 911 calls came in to Somerset and Swansea police.

Responding officers soon realized that the "shark" was just a piece of Styrofoam cut into a fin shape, wrapped in gray duct tape and weighted down.

There was no word on who pulled the prank.

Several Massachusetts beaches have been closed this summer after shark sightings. Police cautioned that the joke could have caused a problem had there been a real emergency call.

[LWM]

Flying fish knocks paddler from Mo. river race (August 26th, 2010 @ 10:02am)

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - A fish out of water sent a Texas kayaker onto dry land instead of the finish line at an annual Missouri River endurance race.

Houston resident Brad Pennington was considered one of the favorites among men's solo racers in the Missouri River 340, a canoe and kayak race that began Tuesday morning in Kansas City, Kan. At least until a 30-pound Asian silver carp jumped from the water and hit him in the head. The fish are known to panic and jump in response to passing vessels.

"It felt like a brick hit me," Pennington said Wednesday.

The 43-year-old lawyer already was having trouble steering his boat, a streamlined model built for speed but not necessarily sturdy enough to withstand a river known for commercial transport. The fish flew as Pennington was trying to return to shore to repair his kayak, assisted by a competing three-man team.

Pennington said he had to withdraw just hours into the 340-mile race because of a "pounding, pounding headache that kept getting worse." A nurse suggested further medical treatment, but he declined.

"It's definitely a risk of being out on the river," said Tracy Hill, a project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's local fisheries office. "It's extremely serious. Those things can kill you."

Hill spent Wednesday volunteering at the race's Huntsdale checkpoint near Columbia. One day earlier, while conducting tests on the river, he was hit several times by flying carp.

Hill and his colleagues already wear construction hard hats while on the job. He suggested- with a straight face- that an upgrade to hockey helmets and protective netting might be in order.

Asian carp can eat up to 40 percent of their weight a day in plankton and were imported in the 1970s as a way to control algae and plankton in fish ponds. But the fish made their way into the wild and have infested waterways including parts of the Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri rivers. Work continues to prevent the voracious fish from slipping into the Great Lakes.

[LWM]

Man shot in head felt bullet only 4 years later (August 25th, 2010 @ 7:32pm)



BERLIN (AP) - A 35-year-old man who walked around for five years with a bullet lodged in the back of his head says he suspected for a while something was there but only went to doctors after he started getting headaches.

Robert Chojecki was partying on New Years Eve five years ago in the German town of Herne when he was hit with the .22-caliber bullet. Doctors removed it this week from between his skin and skull.

The Polish-born Chojecki told RTL television Wednesday he thought he'd been hit by fireworks, but later forgot about it.

He said at first he had "no pain, but approximately one year ago I started to get a headache."

Police say the bullet may have been fired in celebration. Doctors say he should have no problems now that it has been removed.

[LWM]

'Bed Intruder' songster turning fame into a future

By ERRIN HAINES
Associated Press Writer

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Antoine Dodson's angry, head-shaking TV interview about a rape attempt against his younger sister in her bed has turned into an iTunes chart-topping song.

The song plays off many of his lines, including: "Y'all need to hide your kids, hide your wife and hide your husband, 'cause they raping everybody out here."

In the first 2 1/2 weeks of sales, the song selling for $1.29 had about 60,000 downloads and at least 25 million views on YouTube. The musicians who put it together are splitting the proceeds with the 24-year-old Dodson.

He says he plans to use the money to move his family out of public housing in Huntsville, Ala.

Still, some suggest that the college student and his family are being exploited and that his online rant plays to African-American stereotypes.

[Adondo]

By Laura Roberts
Published: 2:28PM BST 31 Aug 2010
Man blows himself up trying to kill a spider
It is not known if the spider survived REUTERS

The 28 year-old suffered severe burns after attacking the arachnid with an aerosol can at his home in Clacton in Essex.

The man was summoned by his wife to deal with a spider she had seen scuttling behind the lavatory on Bank Holiday Monday. Not being able to reach it, the man decided to kill it by spraying it with the can.

However he was unable to see whether it was dead because the bulb in the bathroom light had blown. At this point he turned to a cigarette lighter to illuminate the room, but in the process ignited the gas fumes and caused an explosion.

The blast was so strong it blew the man off his feet and lifted the loft door off its hinges.

He suffered flash burns to his head, legs and torso and was rushed by ambulance to hospital after dousing himself in cold water.

A spokesman for Essex Fire Service said: "It appears the wife had spotted the creepy crawly in the bathroom and asked her husband to capture it.

"He sprayed it first with an aerosol where it was lurking behind the toilet bowl and when that didn't appear to work, he lit up his lighter to spread some light on the situation as the bathroom bulb had blown.

"There was an almighty explosion which blew the man back into his hallway and lifted the hatch on the loft.

"He did exactly the right thing by jumping into the shower and cooling his burns with cold water while his wife raised the alarm."

Firefighters administered emergency first aid at the scene while waiting for ambulance teams to arrive.

A spokesman added: "We're not entirely sure whether the spider got away or not but there was no sign of it at the scene."

Ambulance crews treated the man for burns to his arms, legs and face and breathing difficulties and he was taken to the Colchester General Hospital, in Essex, where he was given pain relief and discharged in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

In June last year Simon Elsey, 40, from Rotherham, suffered severe burns after a can of hairspray exploded at his home. The canister had been left on top of a children's fireguard in front of a lit fire in the sitting room. The blast was so powerful it blew out two window panes and the can was found embedded in the ceiling. Mr Elsey had been asleep in the sitting room at the time and firefighters said he was lucky not to be engulfed in flames.

[LWM]

^ Wanna bet the truth is he used the spay can and lighter as a flame torch and the flame backed up into the can?

[Adondo]

While reading that story, I had visuals of a completely unscathed spider crawling out past the wreckage of the bathroom door, with the guy inside writhing around in flames as the mushroom cloud of fire explodes out the window.

Reminds me of a story a while back where some idiot set off dozens of bug bombs. (cans of fogging spray, the kind you set and run away from) The 20 plus cans of bug killer are hissing away, while a forgotten pilot light in a water heater finally was reached by the ever-expanding cloud of explosive insecticide. The house was knocked off its foundation, all its windows and doors were explosively removed, neighboring buildings lost windows, etc. What was left didn't burn because the explosion was too brief, but cockroaches were running out of every crack and seam.

[Adondo]

This town is about 2 hour's drive north of where I live. The poor guy will never live this one down.

Hiker accidentally shoots himself in the rear

updated 8/31/2010 3:31:32 PM ET

WENATCHEE, Wash. — A hiker on Blewett Pass shot himself in the butt when he put a handgun in his back pocket. The Chelan County sheriff's office said the 52-year-old Snohomish man had moved his .40-caliber handgun from its holster to his back pocket Saturday to see if that position would be more comfortable.

The Wenatchee World reported the gun fired the bullet down his left buttock and left leg, coming to rest just above the knee. He was treated at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee.

___

Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenatcheeworld.com

[Adondo]

1 September 2010 Last updated at 15:20 ET

Mervyn Kinkead crosses Irish Sea in a bath

BBC Mervyn salied to Portpatrick in his modified bath


At an age when many people are thinking about how to get in and out of the bath, Mervyn Kinkead has put his own tub to a use which belies his advancing years.

The 65-year-old from Lisburn has become the first man to cross the Irish Sea in a bath.

With only a relatively minor hiccup along the way, Mervyn covered the 19 nautical miles from Donaghadee across to Portpatrick in about eight hours.

The problem arose when the bath, probably used to being filled, began to take in water about three miles out of Portpatrick.

However it was soon righted, and Mervyn made it across to Scotland shortly before nightfall.

"It all began as a bit of a joke," Mervyn told BBC district reporter Claire Savage.

"Then someone said about doing it for charity so I thought I had better do it."

The adventurous admiral admitted to feeling like a celebrity when a crowd gathered in Portpatrick to herald his damp arrival.

However, his pride in his achievement does not equate to certainty over whether he would repeat the trip.

"I am glad it is all over. I would do it again - well, I would consider doing it again!"