WEIRD NEWS

Woman Trades McDonald's Szechuan Sauce for a Car!

Maybe you've heard of the bizarre obsession some seem to have with McDonald's elusive Szechuan sauce. Just last week the burger giant managed to outrage boatloads of "Rick and Morty" fans by not having enough Szechuan sauce during a special promotion. But Rachel Marie of Macomb, Michigan not only managed to snag one of only 20 packets of the super rare sauce, but she then parlayed it into a car. The 23-year-old graphic designer is a huge fan of "Rick And Morty," which featured the condiment as a key plot device in the Season 3 premiere, which aired in April. In the episode, series lead Rick Sanchez declares it his life mission to get the sauce, which was made in 1998 to promote the Disney animated feature "Mulan." Since then, fans have craved the sauce. Marie drove 45 minutes to Detroit early in the morning and waited hours until the sauces became available around 2 p.m. She said, "By the time that happened, there were hundreds of people waiting. The line snaked around the building." Marie then wanted to know just how valuable her packet of sauce was and set out to find a person willing to trade the single Szechuan sauce for a car. Then it happened, somebody traded her a 2000 Volkswagen Golf Mk4 for her coveted packet. Marie said, "He drove the car over so I know it was running." Amazingly, both parties called it the deal of a lifetime. (Huffington Post)

For Everything There is a First Time

In what is believed to be a North American first, a drone slammed into a commercial airplane in the skies over Quebec City. Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau said, "This should not have happened. That drone should not have been there." The incident took place as a Skyjet aircraft started its approach to Jean Lesage International Airport. The collision caused only minor damage to the plane, which the Post says was carrying six passengers and two crew members, and fortunately didn't cause any injuries. But Garneau says that if the drone had hit the plane's engine or cockpit, the result could have been "catastrophic" - especially since the pilot was getting ready to land, a particularly vulnerable time during a flight. The drone was flying at about 1,500 feet when it hit the plane - far higher than the 300 feet allowed by Transport Canada's drone rules, which also notes drones must be flown at least 3.4 miles away from airports. The collision took place about 1.9 miles from the airport. (Washington Post)

Guy Steals $1.2 Million in Fajitas!

Even if you could steal them, would you really want $1.2 million worth of fajitas? Apparently a former South Texas juvenile justice department employee did and Gilberto Escaramilla has now has been arrested for felony theft. Authorities say Escaramilla acknowledged stealing all the fajitas over nine years. He had been fired in August and was arrested after authorities obtained a search warrant and found packages of the Tex-Mex food in his refrigerator. Investigators subsequently checked vendor invoices and determined he would intercept county-funded food deliveries and deliver them to his own customers. The scheme imploded when he missed work one day in August for a medical appointment and a delivery driver showed up with 800 pounds of fajitas, but officials said the juvenile department didn't serve fajitas. (Newser)

To Kill a Mockingbird Pulled From Mississippi School

Eighth grade English teachers in Biloxi, Mississippi, will have to find a new book to teach this semester after the Biloxi School District abruptly pulled To Kill a Mockingbird, the 1960 classic by Harper Lee, from its curriculum last week. It seems they received complaints about the book's wording, in particular its use of the "n" word. Kenny Holloway, vice president of the Biloxi School Board, said, "There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable, and we can teach the same lesson with other books." A member of the school board said that the decision to drop the book from the curriculum came from the district's administrators and not the board. For the record, To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most banned books in America - having been challenged or banned more than 20 times since its publication. Just last December, the Accomack County School District in Virginia pulled the book from its curriculum and considered banning it outright following a complaint by a parent. (Sun Herald)

Horror at the Ice Cream Shop

Usually a trip to the ice cream shop is one of the happiest occasions for families, but it turned into pure horror for one family in Auburn, Alabama. Police investigating a call of a missing child at Bruster's Real Ice Cream arrived to find the 3-year-old had been located but was unresponsive. Sadie Grace Andrews had been found in a 6-foot-deep in-ground grease trap and drowned. It's believed to have been an accident, with surveillance footage showing her playing with two of her five siblings in a picnic table-studded grassy area on the property and apparently falling through the lid. She was missing for no more than 10 minutes. Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said the grease trap's lid wasn't locked or fastened and opened when Sadie stepped on it. The lid then closed with her inside. (Opelika-Auburn News)

Football Team Forfeits Rather Than Risk Injury

A high school football team in Canada forfeited a game after nine players suffered head injuries. Coach Marcel Metti of the Ecole L'Odyssee Olympiens says he had no choice after four members of the team in New Brunswick showed symptoms of concussion, including vomiting noting, "We had to forfeit the game for players' safety and security." Metti declined to discuss what happened during the game against the Titans; the match was called midway, with the Titans leading 35-0. Titans coach Scott O'Neal says the Olympiens "were outmatched, that's as simple as it was. That's how football is." O'Neal says his team played by the rules, noting they weren't hit with any penalties. If anyone was injured, he adds, it was the fault of the coaches for failing to train them. The episode followed a new school district policy that specifies that a player who takes a blow to the head must get a doctor's note before playing again. (CBC News)

What the What?

If you can believe this, HalloweenCostumes.com has pulled a costume from its website that depicted Holocaust victim Anne Frank. Screenshots of the costume for sale posted to social media show a smiling girl wearing World War II-era clothing and a beret. As you can imagine, the internet, in particular Twitter, went nuts. While the description of the costume called Frank a hero and noted "we can always learn from the struggles of history," Carlos Galindo-Elvira, who leads the Anti-Defamation League's Arizona office, said on Twitter that the costume trivializes the memory of Frank, known from the diary she wrote while in hiding from the Nazis during the war. A spokesperson for HalloweenCostumes.com explained that the company sells costumes for activities other than Halloween, like "school projects and plays," but apologized for any offense caused by the costume. (Arizona Republic)

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