WEIRD NEWS
OMG It's Come to This
North Carolina deputies are looking for the teenager who robbed a 9-year-old's lemonade stand at gunpoint! No kidding. The Union County Sheriff's Office said the stickup happened near a traffic roundabout in Monroe, about 30 miles southeast of Charlotte. Deputies say the young drink vendor reported that a male teenager with a camouflage hat and black shirt placed a black handgun to the boy's stomach, demanded money and then fled on foot. All this for less than $20 in cash. According to a statement the sheriff's office posted to Facebook, authorities found a camouflage hat, a black BB handgun and a stolen metal tin along a trail in some nearby woods. Deputies believe the suspect left a bicycle in the brush for his getaway. Authorities said they're unsure if the BB gun they found is the same weapon used in the holdup, but that is appears to likely to be the case because of where it was recovered along with the other items. (Facebook)
Small Victory for Guy Who Smuggle Gold in His Butt
So up in Canada, 35-year-old Leston Lawrence just finished serving a 30-month sentence for smuggling six figures' worth of gold out of the country's mint. Back in 2016 he was found guilty of sticking 22 gold "pucks" up his backside. As part of his sentence, the judge stipulated that Lawrence must pay back the gold's value - $190,000 in the three years after he was released from prison - and if he didn't, it was back to jail for another 30 months. Well Lawrence's lawyers argued the replacement value should be less than $190,000 explaining that when he stole the gold, it was only worth $165,000, and what he got for it on the street was the lesser amount of $130,206.19. Believe it or not, a three-judge appeals panel ruled for Lawrence, basing their decision not on market prices, but rather the "proceeds of the crime," writing "the purpose of a fine in lieu of forfeiture is to deprive an offender" of those proceeds, which "is not necessarily the value of the property." In Lawrence's case, the proceeds were the $130,206.19, and the judge should have set his fine at that amount. Lawrence also asked for more time to make the repayment, but that request was not granted noting that Lawrence had yet to sell his home-one he reportedly bought using those gold proceeds-because, ironically, he is waiting for it to go up in value. (Ottawa Citizen)
Metal Heads
Some 75,000 people gathered for what was the world's largest heavy-metal festival last weekend, and just two of those attendees are getting international press. That's because the German men allegedly fled their nursing home in order to go to Wacken Open Air, which featured the likes of Judas Priest and Danzig and stages dubbed "Faster," "Harder," and "Louder." Police located the men at 3am, "disoriented and dazed" and wanting to stay. They were returned to the nursing home. A police rep puts it plainly: "They obviously liked the metal festival." (Deutsche Welle)
Cults!
The deranged leader of a South Korean cult has been arrested for holding over 400 of her followers captive at a compound on Fiji Island and forcing them to take part in violent rituals under threat of incurring God's punishment. Shin Ok-ju, founder of the Grace Road Church, was detained along with three senior leaders of her cult in connection to allegations that she led hundreds of her followers to the island of Fiji by telling them that a "great famine" was imminent on the Korean peninsula. Once there, she reportedly confiscated their passports and refused to let them leave the 83-acre compound. Under the watchful eyes of handpicked guardians, worshippers were also forced to take part in brutal rituals that often left them bloodied. One of these bizarre rituals, called "the threshing grounds" involved followers beating each other in order to avoid punishment from God. Those who declined were told that their decision would incur God's wrath. A member of the cult told Korea Times that one boy was once forced to hit his father over 100 times during the brutal ritual, and that another member was beaten so bad that he suffered brain damage. (Oddity Central)
Cheesy
This is kind of cheesy. A new Guinness World Record has been set for the world's largest cheese board. The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin united 145 different varieties, types and styles of the beloved dairy confection atop a board measuring 35 feet long and 7 feet wide, housed inside a digitally fabricated barn that took up an entire street in downtown Madison. The final weight of the cheese on the board came to 4,437 pounds. While oer 45,000 people gathered to witness the attraction, but only a lucky 2,000 scored official sample platters. Grandly centered around a 2,000-pound wheel of Henning's cheddar, other special cheeses on display included blue-veined and cave aged cheddars, fresh feta and squeaky curds, as well as hand-rubbed wheels and pungent Brick. (Newser)
That's Gotta Hurt
In Frankfurt, a German domino entertainment group attempted to break their own 2013 Guinness World Record and recruited 22 people who used tweezers to stand up 596,229 mini dominoes in rows. But just before completing the huge set-up, a fly landed on one of the tiny tiles, knocking it over and triggering a chain reaction which sent all of the dominoes tumbling before they were ready! The tiles were no bigger than a fingernail and took two weeks to set up. However, they managed to break four other world records, including the longest domino chain reaction, which took 15 minutes to complete. So for now, the world record remains at 537,938 fallen tiles. (Metro)
What the What?
In Clare County, Michigan, an 80-year-old grandmother was jailed for the first time in her life because she had a small amount of cannabis at home, but her Michigan medical marijuana card expired. Delores Saltzman and her son Mark told reporters that cannabis saved her life: it worked up her appetite when she was sick; helped her heal after surgeries; and eases her pain from ongoing health conditions. But it seems Clare County Sheriff's Deputy Ashley Gruno knocked on Delores' door while trying to find Saltzman's great granddaughter and return her lost phone and ID. That's when the deputy smelled marijuana from Saltzman's porch. Saltzman also says the deputy searched her bedroom, took pictures and even helped her clean up her kitchen. She was then handcuffed and put in a patrol car. Her son Mark says this deputy made a mistake adding, "I just thought it was absolutely ridiculous to put her through this like that: they could have given her a ticket." (FOX 8)
North Carolina deputies are looking for the teenager who robbed a 9-year-old's lemonade stand at gunpoint! No kidding. The Union County Sheriff's Office said the stickup happened near a traffic roundabout in Monroe, about 30 miles southeast of Charlotte. Deputies say the young drink vendor reported that a male teenager with a camouflage hat and black shirt placed a black handgun to the boy's stomach, demanded money and then fled on foot. All this for less than $20 in cash. According to a statement the sheriff's office posted to Facebook, authorities found a camouflage hat, a black BB handgun and a stolen metal tin along a trail in some nearby woods. Deputies believe the suspect left a bicycle in the brush for his getaway. Authorities said they're unsure if the BB gun they found is the same weapon used in the holdup, but that is appears to likely to be the case because of where it was recovered along with the other items. (Facebook)
Small Victory for Guy Who Smuggle Gold in His Butt
So up in Canada, 35-year-old Leston Lawrence just finished serving a 30-month sentence for smuggling six figures' worth of gold out of the country's mint. Back in 2016 he was found guilty of sticking 22 gold "pucks" up his backside. As part of his sentence, the judge stipulated that Lawrence must pay back the gold's value - $190,000 in the three years after he was released from prison - and if he didn't, it was back to jail for another 30 months. Well Lawrence's lawyers argued the replacement value should be less than $190,000 explaining that when he stole the gold, it was only worth $165,000, and what he got for it on the street was the lesser amount of $130,206.19. Believe it or not, a three-judge appeals panel ruled for Lawrence, basing their decision not on market prices, but rather the "proceeds of the crime," writing "the purpose of a fine in lieu of forfeiture is to deprive an offender" of those proceeds, which "is not necessarily the value of the property." In Lawrence's case, the proceeds were the $130,206.19, and the judge should have set his fine at that amount. Lawrence also asked for more time to make the repayment, but that request was not granted noting that Lawrence had yet to sell his home-one he reportedly bought using those gold proceeds-because, ironically, he is waiting for it to go up in value. (Ottawa Citizen)
Metal Heads
Some 75,000 people gathered for what was the world's largest heavy-metal festival last weekend, and just two of those attendees are getting international press. That's because the German men allegedly fled their nursing home in order to go to Wacken Open Air, which featured the likes of Judas Priest and Danzig and stages dubbed "Faster," "Harder," and "Louder." Police located the men at 3am, "disoriented and dazed" and wanting to stay. They were returned to the nursing home. A police rep puts it plainly: "They obviously liked the metal festival." (Deutsche Welle)
Cults!
The deranged leader of a South Korean cult has been arrested for holding over 400 of her followers captive at a compound on Fiji Island and forcing them to take part in violent rituals under threat of incurring God's punishment. Shin Ok-ju, founder of the Grace Road Church, was detained along with three senior leaders of her cult in connection to allegations that she led hundreds of her followers to the island of Fiji by telling them that a "great famine" was imminent on the Korean peninsula. Once there, she reportedly confiscated their passports and refused to let them leave the 83-acre compound. Under the watchful eyes of handpicked guardians, worshippers were also forced to take part in brutal rituals that often left them bloodied. One of these bizarre rituals, called "the threshing grounds" involved followers beating each other in order to avoid punishment from God. Those who declined were told that their decision would incur God's wrath. A member of the cult told Korea Times that one boy was once forced to hit his father over 100 times during the brutal ritual, and that another member was beaten so bad that he suffered brain damage. (Oddity Central)
Cheesy
This is kind of cheesy. A new Guinness World Record has been set for the world's largest cheese board. The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin united 145 different varieties, types and styles of the beloved dairy confection atop a board measuring 35 feet long and 7 feet wide, housed inside a digitally fabricated barn that took up an entire street in downtown Madison. The final weight of the cheese on the board came to 4,437 pounds. While oer 45,000 people gathered to witness the attraction, but only a lucky 2,000 scored official sample platters. Grandly centered around a 2,000-pound wheel of Henning's cheddar, other special cheeses on display included blue-veined and cave aged cheddars, fresh feta and squeaky curds, as well as hand-rubbed wheels and pungent Brick. (Newser)
That's Gotta Hurt
In Frankfurt, a German domino entertainment group attempted to break their own 2013 Guinness World Record and recruited 22 people who used tweezers to stand up 596,229 mini dominoes in rows. But just before completing the huge set-up, a fly landed on one of the tiny tiles, knocking it over and triggering a chain reaction which sent all of the dominoes tumbling before they were ready! The tiles were no bigger than a fingernail and took two weeks to set up. However, they managed to break four other world records, including the longest domino chain reaction, which took 15 minutes to complete. So for now, the world record remains at 537,938 fallen tiles. (Metro)
What the What?
In Clare County, Michigan, an 80-year-old grandmother was jailed for the first time in her life because she had a small amount of cannabis at home, but her Michigan medical marijuana card expired. Delores Saltzman and her son Mark told reporters that cannabis saved her life: it worked up her appetite when she was sick; helped her heal after surgeries; and eases her pain from ongoing health conditions. But it seems Clare County Sheriff's Deputy Ashley Gruno knocked on Delores' door while trying to find Saltzman's great granddaughter and return her lost phone and ID. That's when the deputy smelled marijuana from Saltzman's porch. Saltzman also says the deputy searched her bedroom, took pictures and even helped her clean up her kitchen. She was then handcuffed and put in a patrol car. Her son Mark says this deputy made a mistake adding, "I just thought it was absolutely ridiculous to put her through this like that: they could have given her a ticket." (FOX 8)
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