Down at the Amarillo (Texas) Zoo, it isn't the animal exhibits inside that are sparking excitement among the city's residents. "In the dark and early morning hours" of May 21, the city reported in a June 8 news release, security cameras captured a mysterious creature outside the fence -- part "person with a strange hat," part "large coyote on its hind legs," part "Chupacabra," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. "We just want to let the Amarillo community have some fun with this," director of Parks and Recreation Michael Kashuba said, asking locals to weigh in with their ideas about what the Unidentified Amarillo Object -- UAO -- might be. "It is important to note that this entity was outside the Amarillo Zoo," he added. "There were no signs of criminal activity or vandalism." [Star-Telegram, 6/8/2022]

Special Delivery

When Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue responded to a crash on June 2, they found an SUV that had slammed into a FedEx truck, and it was quickly apparent what had caused the collision, WPLG-TV reported. Inside the SUV were a man and woman, both naked, and at the time of the crash, the woman was performing a sex act on the male driver, first responders reported. Two people in the FedEx truck sustained minor injuries; the male SUV driver had injuries to his "private area." [WPLG, 6/3/2022]

Don't Bug Me!

During court proceedings on June 7 at the Albany City Court in New York, a defendant who started filming an arraignment was asked to stop, NBC New York reported. During the altercation that followed, a 34-year-old woman in the audience allegedly released hundreds of cockroaches from plastic containers into the courtroom, resulting in the courthouse being closed for the rest of the day for fumigation. "What transpired is not advocacy or activism, it is criminal behavior with the intent to disrupt a proceeding and cause damage," noted a statement from the Office of Court Administration. [NBC New York, 7/8/2022]

Gassed

Reynold Gladu took over his gas station in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1973. But at least for now, he no longer sells fuel, the Daily Hampshire Gazette reported on June 7. When his pumps ran dry this month, he didn't refill them because he can't abide the prices. "I don't want to be a part of it anymore," he said. "This is the biggest rip-off that ever has happened to people in my lifetime." His station will continue to do oil changes and other service, but, he said, "Enough is enough." A spokesperson for ExxonMobil said prices are out of her company's control, being "influenced by the price of crude and wholesale price of products which fluctuate according to demand and supply factors." But Gladu isn't buying it -- "It seems like the oil industry is in this together" -- or selling it. [Daily Hampshire Gazette, 6/7/2022]

The Litigious Society

GEICO General Insurance Co. must pay a woman identified only as M.O. a $5.2 million settlement, the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled on June 7, after she contracted the sexually transmitted disease HPV from an insured member during intimate relations in his automobile. The Kansas City Star reported that the Jackson County woman contacted GEICO in February 2021, and the company sent the case to arbitration. Four months later, the arbitrator found that the man was liable for not disclosing his infection status, and M.O. was awarded the large sum, to be paid by GEICO. The company appealed, but the three-judge panel upheld the decision. [KC Star, 6/7/2022]

Adventures in Real Estate

Danielle Cruz and her husband purchased and renovated a home in Chicago, but after listing it for sale, they found out someone was already living there. ABC7-TV reported that a contractor showed up to make a repair to the presumably vacant house and reported to Cruz that someone was inside the home. He also told her all the locks had been changed. "We honestly thought he was joking because we knew the house was vacant," Cruz said. "So we show up with the cops, and there's a young woman in there with all of her belongings." The woman said she had signed a month-to-month lease with a "landlord," and because she produced a lease, the police couldn't ask her to vacate. Real estate attorney Mo Dadkhah said the case would probably be referred to the Cook County eviction courts -- but they're very backed up. "The process could take six, 12, 18 months," he said. Cruz's other option is "cash for key" -- offering the renter money to leave. But so far, Cruz can't get her to respond. [ABC7, 6/7/2022]

Out of Commission

A taxi in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, is out of service for the time being, NL Times reported on June 8, but not because it's in need of repairs. In the Netherlands, seagulls are a protected species, and a pair of gulls has built a nest and laid an egg on the windshield of a parked taxi, right between the wipers. Before the egg was laid, employees tried to move the nest multiple times, but the pair kept returning and rebuilding it. Now, the taxi must stay put until the baby gull hatches and fledges. Hope that meter's not running. [NL Times, 6/8/2022]

News That Sounds Like a Joke

In what seems like an extraordinarily bad idea in the age of COVID-19, a restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, encourages patrons to enhance their food or drink by licking a dining room wall made of Himalayan rock salt, WLBT-TV reported on June 3. The head chef at The Mission restaurant brought in the rocks to improve the overall ambience and add a unique touch for customers enjoying tequila shots. For those who are squeamish about the germs, the rock salt reportedly has natural sanitary properties, but the restaurant staff also regularly wipe down the walls. I'll have a beer, thanks. [WLBT, 6/3/2022]

The Great Escape

Before Stephen Patterson of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, boarded a flight from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport on June 3, he stopped for a drink in the airport bar and paid with a $100 bill, which was conveniently stamped with "for motion picture use only," WPXI-TV reported. The cashier at the bar notified police officers, and they were waiting for Patterson on June 5 when he flew back into the airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. "He said that the pants he was wearing were not his, and he found the $100 bill in the pocket, so he decided to just use it," Park Police Chief Henry Fontana said. Patterson was arrested on felony charges. [WPXI, 6/7/2022]

Least Competent Musician/Criminal

Seriously. Ladesion Riley, 30, who raps under the name 213 Jugg god, was one of four people arrested in Nashville on June 6 for robbing an ATM technician as he serviced a machine at a Bank of America location, WZTV reported. Riley's videos have appeared on YouTube, and his latest song is called "Make It Home." It refers to ... you guessed it: robbing ATMs. Riley and his co-criminals are from Houston, so they're facing federal charges and FBI scrutiny. Meanwhile, the Houston Police Officers' Union mocked Riley on its Facebook page: "IRONY: When you make a rap song called 'Make It Home' about bank jugging and hitting atm's out of state, and then don't make it home to Houston." [WZTV, 6/6/2022]

In an effort to better educate the world about the human reproductive system, the "intimate wellness brand" Intimina has introduced Period Crunch, a breakfast cereal with uterus-shaped, raspberry-flavored pieces that will color the milk red, Oddity Central reported. Alongside the startling cereal shape and red milk, the cereal box will feature a diagram of the female reproductive system so that people can learn about its location and function. The company surveyed 2,000 adults and discovered that 48% of women are embarrassed to talk about their menstrual periods and 77% have never brought it up in their households. "Periods are a natural part of who we are," said Dr. Shree Datta, a gynecologist with Intimina, "so it's deeply concerning to hear that so many people remain uncomfortable discussing them when they are just another part of our health." [Oddity Central, 6/3/2022]

Hot Mail

Things got heated in a Pasadena, Maryland, community on May 31: As residents waited for their mail, WBAL-TV reported, two letter carriers got into a fight in the street. One witness said that one of the mail carriers “punched the window on the other one's mail truck,” and that “one backed up and slammed into the other one like bumper cars." Another witness, Brenda Rippetoe, said, "There was mail all over the street. They kept going around the block, and at one point, they were front-to-front, hitting their bumpers together." Residents called 911, and the postal service sent other carriers to pick up the mail, which was delivered by 7 p.m. People along the route said their regular carrier was on vacation, so the angry stand-ins were unfamiliar to them. [WBAL, 6/1/2022]

Police Report

Orwell, Ohio, police called the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office to help them corral a drunk driving suspect on May 14 -- but it wasn't your typical "reckless operator," WOIO-TV reported. Twenty-one-year-old Nathan Miller was charged with OVI -- operating a vehicle while intoxicated -- for driving his horse-drawn Amish buggy on the wrong side of Hague Road. Officers were able to get in front of the horse and buggy, but the rig didn't stop; it turned out Miller was passed out in the driver's seat. While deputies tried to get control of the horse, it crashed into a patrol car. Miller was treated for injuries at the scene. [WOIO, 5/19/2022]

Oops

During a May 24 broadcast on the BBC of the French Open tennis championship, the news ticker at the bottom of the screen briefly read, "Manchester United are rubbish," Reuters reported. Later, BBC anchor Annita McVeigh issued an on-air apology and said the headline had been written by someone who was learning how to operate the ticker. "Behind the scenes, someone was training to learn how to ... put text on the ticker. So they were just writing random things. It wasn't meant to appear on screen. I hope that Manchester United fans weren't offended by it," she added. [Reuters, 5/24/2022]

Great Art

In Parks, Louisiana, a rendering of the Last Supper in the St. Joseph Catholic Church has all the usual elements -- plus one regionally iconic extra: a bottle of McIlhenny's Tabasco hot sauce, conveniently placed in front of one of Jesus' disciples. Pastor Nicholas DuPre said after he arrived in the parish in 2019, he heard from Shane Bernard, a curator and historian from McIlhenny, who wondered if the "urban myth" about the painting was true. When DuPre confirmed the product placement, Bernard sent a large commemorative collector's bottle of Tabasco. Christie Hebert, the artist, told the Daily Advertiser that she was asked not to make the painting an exact replica of the DaVinci original; the priest at that time "wanted to make it unique to our area," she said. [Daily Advertiser, 5/31/2022]

Bonus!

-- Vicky Umodu of Colton, California, was thrilled to find two free sofas and a matching chair on Craigslist for her new house. She was skeptical, but the owners explained that a family member had passed away, and they were liquidating the possessions, ABC7 News reported on June 2. When she got the furniture home, she felt some kind of item in one of the cushions and thought it might be a heating pad, but upon further inspection, she found several envelopes filled with cash. "I was just telling my son, 'Come, come, come!' I was screaming, 'This is money! I need to call the guy!'" Umodu found a staggering $36,000 in total. She returned the cash to the family, who told her they had found other hidden stashes in the deceased man's home, but not such large amounts. As a gesture of thanks, they gave Umodu $2,200, money she needed for a refrigerator. "I was not expecting a dime from him, I was not," she said. [ABC7 News, 6/2/2022]

-- WFIE-TV in Evansville, Indiana, reported on June 2 that Your Brother's Bookstore has more to offer than just great reading material. As the new owners were preparing to open last year, they discovered a trap door that led to a room under the store. It was just a dusty opening with a hole in the wall, and they didn't give it much thought until the Evansville African American Museum contacted them, thinking it might be related to the Underground Railroad. Museum officials investigated and learned the hole led to a tunnel that runs under the town's Main Street. While there was no evidence of the abolitionist route, the owners did find artifacts related to Prohibition: a still, glass bottles, and tables and chairs that might have been part of a gambling den. The owners said they will make a small museum-quality exhibit in the store. [WFIE, 6/2/2022]

Particular Pinchers

-- New York City police are on the hunt for a serial shoe thief, NBC New York reported on June 3. On three different occasions, in January, February and, most recently, on May 24, a man has removed a shoe from a woman in Brooklyn or Queens. Twice it was a left shoe; one time it was the right. The incidents happen during the day in public areas. [NBC New York, 6/3/2022]

-- The investigation is ongoing in Trout Run, Pennsylvania, to find the hungry thief who on May 20 broke into the apartment of Tyler Whyte, 26, but stole only one item: a 5-pound bag of Mrs. T's pierogies, The Smoking Gun reported. The burglar caused minor damage to drywall in the kitchen, but left all of Whyte's other belongings untouched. The pierogies were valued at $10. [Smoking Gun, 6/2/2022]

That Rule Doesn't Apply to Me

After an unnamed 25-year-old woman from Gove City, Ohio, approached a bison on May 30 at Black Sand Basin in Yellowstone National Park, the National Park Service wasted no sympathy in its news release about the resulting incident: "Consequently, the bison gored the woman and tossed her 10 feet into the air." People.com reported that she was transported to a nearby medical center with a puncture wound and other injuries. "Wildlife in Yellowstone National Park are wild and can be dangerous when approached," the NPS reminded visitors. [People.com, 6/1/2022]

More than 800 New Yorkers aged 75 and older are going to get a new friend, The Verge reported. The New York State Office for the Aging is distributing robot companions named ElliQ, built by Israeli company Intuition Robotics, to help with social isolation -- for example, engaging in small talk and helping contact loved ones. "It focuses on what matters to individuals: memories, life validation, interactions with friends and families," said NYSOA director Greg Olsen. Intuition Robotics said ElliQ can project empathy and form bonds with users, even cracking jokes for users who tend to laugh a lot. [The Verge, 5/25/2022]

Fine Points of the Law

According to the Conrad Public School District in Conrad, Montana, there's an old law on the books that stipulates that a school principal is responsible for feeding and tending a horse if a student rides it to school. On May 23, WTHR-TV reported, 12 students at Conrad High School put the statute to the test, riding their steeds up to the school and leaving them in the care of Principal Raymond DeBruycker throughout the school day. Apparently DeBruycker had no time to comment while he kept his charges watered and fed and (presumably) mucked the parking lot. [WTHR, 5/25/2022]

Goals

A man in Japan identified as Toko has spent almost $16,000 to make himself look like a collie, fulfilling his dream and depleting his savings in one fell swoop, Wionews reported. Toko contracted with a professional company called Zeppet, which makes sculptures and costumes for movies and amusement facilities, to create a costume that is extremely realistic. It took 40 days to build. "I made it a collie because it looks real when I put on," Toko said. "Long-haired dogs can mislead the human figure. I met such a condition and made collie, my favorite breed of dog." [Wionews, 5/25/2022]

Criminal No Longer on the Lam(b)

In South Sudan, inmates at a military camp have a new jailbird to get to know -- or maybe that should be "jailsheep." NBC Montana reported that the ram was arrested and convicted in May of murdering an African woman "by hitting her in the ribs and the old woman died immediately," said police chief Major Elijah Mabor. "The owner is innocent, and the ram is the one who perpetrated the crime, so it deserves to be arrested." However, the owner has also been ordered to pay five cows to the victim's family. [NBC Montana, 5/25/2022]

Weird Science

The Cambodian Ministry of Environment has taken to Facebook to plead with the public to stop picking a rare carnivorous plant known as a "pitcher plant" for the way it captures insects, Live Science reported on May 17. The plant, Nepenthes bokorensis, could be driven to extinction if people continue to harvest it, scientists warn. So why, you might ask, are people, particularly women, so drawn to picking the plants and having their photos taken with them? While the leaves are still developing, the mouths of the plants resemble men's genitalia. "If people are interested, even in a funny way, to pose, to make selfies, with the plants, it's fine," said Francois Mey, a botanical illustrator. "Just do not pick the pitchers, because it weakens the plant." [Live Science, 5/17/2022]

Lose Something?

Iberia Parish (Louisiana) Sheriff's officers were called out at 3:30 a.m. on May 22 because of a house found abandoned on a trailer attached to a truck, KATC-TV reported. The rig was blocking the road, and signs, mailboxes and trees had been damaged along the street. In addition, power lines and poles had been hit, knocking out power to about 700 customers in the area. Deputies arrested Tony Domingue, 46, and Nico Comeaux, 32; they had been told they needed permits to move the home, but they went ahead and tried to do it on their own anyway. Both men were held at the Iberia Parish jail. [KATC, 5/23/2022]

I'll Have the Pasta

Florida International University recently published a three-year study of bonefish living off the South Florida coast that might make you rethink your entree order. The fish they studied averaged seven pharmaceutical drugs, with at least one containing 17 different substances, ClickOrlando.com reported. Lead researcher Jennifer Rehage said the drugs are entering the fisheries through the wastewater systems and include blood pressure medications, antidepressants, antibiotics and pain relievers, among other medicines. Researchers said the drugs could also be changing the fishes' behavior, making them more susceptible to predators, or affecting their reproduction. [ClickOrlando.com, 5/20/2022]

Suspicions Confirmed

Marilyn McMichael, 54, of Queens, New York, was reported missing in January by two of her foster sisters, Simone Best Jones and Sharman McElrath, WPIX-TV reported on May 24. They had not seen or heard from her since June 2020, when she called them during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying she wanted to go to the hospital. McElrath said they did go to her apartment, but she didn't come to the door. Best Jones said this wasn't unusual for McMichael: "She wouldn't talk to us for years, because she didn't want to. She was particular -- and peculiar." When they tried to file a missing person report in January, officials said they couldn’t because they weren't next of kin. And police told them McMichael might have "been on vacation." The sisters asked the building manager to go with them to the apartment, but when the master key didn't work, "they never tried again," Best Jones said. But on April 26, as New York City Housing Authority construction workers did maintenance on scaffolding outside her bedroom window, they saw McMichael's skeleton on her bed. The sisters announced her death on Facebook: "We wanted her to have a voice through us, knowing 'I was here, and I had a life on this Earth,'" McElrath said. [WPIX, 5/24/2022]

Bright Idea

Stephanie Kirchner, 33, a farmer who works at a stud farm near her home in Schupbach, Germany, has had to make some changes since gas prices have climbed in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Instead of riding to work in her Toyota SUV, she's now riding a horse or driving a horse-drawn carriage to her job about 3 1/2 miles away. It makes what was once a 10- to 15-minute commute take up to an hour, the Associated Press reported, but she saves about $264 a month. She said children like the horses, but "humanity is hectic and then some people are annoyed if they can't get past me fast enough." Another downside: "I can't put a horse in a parking garage." [Associated Press, 5/20/2022]

Honesty Is the Best Policy

After Michael Calvo, 51, of Cape Coral, Florida, crashed his semitruck into the back of a Publix grocery store in Haines City on May 26, he didn't immediately get out of the cab because, he told an officer, he thought he was being pranked for a reality TV show. When the officer was able to remove Calvo from the truck, Fox13-TV reported, he asked if he had fallen asleep or suffered a medical emergency, to which Calvo answered, "I was smoking my meth pipe." Calvo was arrested on multiple charges, although the deputy police chief did express his appreciation for Calvo's honesty. [Fox13, 5/26/2022]