WEIRD NEWS

I Think I'm Coming Down With Something

Two elevator technicians in Hong Kong have been arrested for "perverting the course of justice", after they allegedly tampered with an escalator causing multiple injuries. The escalator, at the Langham Place shopping center, suddenly reversed at high speed on Sunday, sending 18 passengers racing down at very high speeds. Officials had actually called in the two Otis Elevator Company technicians to aid in the investigation. The escalator had been shut down and all personnel involved in the investigation were ordered not to touch it. But then officials discovered that the escalator's auxiliary braking system had been reactivated which could have affected the escalator's computer data records. Police arrested the two men on the spot. There has been no official explanation yet, but city officials said a damaged driving chain within the escalator, and a malfunctioning braking device, may have caused the incident. (BBC)

What Are You Not Getting About the White House Fence?

Marci Anderson Wahl, a persistent but apparently not particularly dangerous White House fence jumper, was arrested yet again for scaling a section of the fence near the Treasury Building. The Secret Service says this was the 38-year-old's resident's third arrest in less than a week for White House fence jumping. Last Tuesday night, she was arrested after an attempt to climb the fence left her dangling by her shoelaces. She was ordered to stay away from the White House after pleading not guilty to misdemeanor, but she tried it again on Friday, and then this past Sunday night. Wahl, who told officers that she had to speak to President Trump, has no previous arrest record and was not carrying anything dangerous during any of the incidents. (Washington Post)

Canada Takes the High Road

Canada's government has plans to announce legislation next month that will legalize marijuana in Canada by July 1, 2018. The announcement is expected during the week of April 10 and will broadly follow the recommendation of a federally appointed task force. Individual provinces will control sales but the federal government will be in charge of making sure the country's marijuana supply is safe and secure and Ottawa will license producers. Provincial governments will also have the right to set price. While Ottawa will set a minimum age of 18 to buy marijuana, the provinces will have the option of setting a higher age limit if they wish. As for Canadians who want to grow their own marijuana, they will be limited to four plants per household. (CBC)

Tennessee: We Care About You

Tennessee just stepped in a big pile of PR nightmare. Last November, 17-year-old Hannah Eimers died in a fatal car crash. Her car left the road and crashed into a guardrail, which didn't crumple or redirect the car like it was supposed to. Instead, it punctured the car, slammed into Eimers, and pushed her into the backseat. She died instantly. The state of Tennessee's official response was to send her father a $3,000 bill for the guardrail. Stephen Eimers calls the bill "tasteless" and "emotionally tone deaf." Ironically, only a week earlier, the state had decided to stop using that specific type of guardrail over concerns about how it performed in crashes over 45mph. The speed limit on the road where Hannah Eimers died was 70mph. Mr. Eimers refused to pay the bill and to their credit, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has since apologized for sending the bill, saying it was a "mistake somewhere in processing" and the family doesn't have to pay it. The department says it doesn't usually send bills in fatal accidents. But there are still a thousand of the guardrails that killed Hannah Eimers lining Tennessee roads, and Stephen Eimers wants them replaced, calling them "horribly designed." TDOT says it will be removing the guardrails from roads with speed limits greater than 45mph. (WBIR)

I'm Not Falling for That Fake Banana Crap!

Police in Spain have arrested two men for allegedly transporting large quantities of cocaine inside fake bananas. Hidden in among a shipment of real bananas were 57 fake bananas made of resin and stuffed with 15.4 pounds of cocaine. Another 22 pounds of cocaine were hidden inside the flaps of the cardboard boxes that carried the fruit. The police bust took place in the coastal cities of Valencia and Malaga. The two men charged with trafficking drugs and belonging to a criminal organization are Spanish. Police say they are investigating a third man, who is Italian. (Newser)

Don't Look at Me! Blame Bigfoot!

An Idaho motorist told the local sheriff's department that it was Bigfoot that caused her to crash her car. The 50-year-old woman, who was not identified, told the Latah County Sheriff's Office that she saw a Sasquatch chasing a deer on a stretch of US-95 outside of Potlatch. She said the creature was "shaggy" and between 7 and 8 feet tall. The woman checked her mirrors to see the Bigfoot, but as her eyes re-adjusted to the road she hit the deer with her Subaru Forester. The woman continued driving, picked up her husband from work then drove to the sheriff's office to report the incident. Quite shockingly, officers did not find any evidence of Bigfoot at the scene of the crash. (Moscow-Pullman Daily News)

Just Because Your Name is Grabher Doesn't Mean You Get a Grabher License 

Plate! It can't be easy going through life with the last name "Grabher." I mean you can't even get a personalized license plate. In Nova Scotia, Canada, Lorne Grabher had a "GRABHER" license plate made for his father in 1991 to honor their German last name. But then Mr. Grabher got a letter informing him the plate would be canceled because people could "misinterpret it as a socially unacceptable slogan." He's now accusing the government of "discriminating" against his name. However, Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Taylor said they received a complaint that "some individuals" were taking the license plate as "misogynistic and promoting violence against women." The phrase "grab her" took on political significance last October, when a leaked 2005 tape revealed now-U.S. President Donald Trump bragging about how he can do "anything" to women and stating, "Grab them by the...well, you know." But Mr. Grabher said the plate has nothing to do with Trump, and stressed that he is no fan of Trump. But he added, "Nobody should be ashamed of their name." (CBC)

What the What?

Well this certainly doesn't look good on a police blotter. A NYPD detective has arrested for fondling himself in front of the windows of Long Island homes. Detective Robert Francis was arrested after one homeowner in Rockville Centre called 911 to report that a man was standing in the backyard pleasuring himself. Francis allegedly entered the back yards of more than one home and shined a flashlight inside until he got someone's attention. Then, as the person was looking at him, Francis shined the light on himself to show what he was doing. The detective has been charged with public lewdness, endangering the welfare of a child and trespassing. We can only assume he's not a detective any longer. (New York Post)

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