Odd News

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A Virginia store has had 20 right-foot shoes stolen over the course of three break-ins this year. The Roanoke Times reports Roanoke County police arrested 21-year-old Manuel Carlos Ramirez-Godoy in Sunday’s burglary of Clean Soles, seizing seven right-foot Nike Air Jordans and a sweatshirt printed with “Call My Lawyer.” Clean Soles […]

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s no longer nice, at least in its next tourism campaign. The new sales pitch has a decidedly self-deprecating bent: “Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone.” The slogan, which the Nebraska Tourism Commission unveiled Wednesday at a Nebraska City conference, will replace the current “Through My Eyes” campaign this spring, commission […]

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona man stumbled upon a trove of historical documents possibly worth thousands of dollars after purchasing an abandoned storage unit for $20 in a Phoenix suburb. The Arizona Republic reports Don Smith discovered a collection of about 200 letters belonging to Henry Ellsworth Barbour, a Republican congressman from California from 1919 […]

A high school student mixed her cremated grandfather’s ashes into homemade sugar cookies and shared them with several classmates, police in Northern California said Wednesday. The student and a friend baked the cookies and shared them with at least nine classmates at their public charter high school near Sacramento on Oct. 4, said Davis Police […]

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man who police dubbed the “Brazen Botanist” after he was captured on a surveillance camera stealing plants from a porch has pleaded guilty. The Salem News reports 43-year-old Joseph Gardner was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail. Police say a man was seen on a doorbell camera taking […]

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri is honoring its Nobel Prize-winning scientist with an unusual accolade: a dedicated spot in a bicycle rack. George Smith learned this month that he’ll share this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry with two other scientists. Other schools have recognized their Nobel laureates with a dedicated parking space. […]

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — Police officers in New Hampshire and Maine are putting down their razors to raise money for children’s advocacy groups. The Portsmouth Herald reports police officers will let their beards grow during October to support centers in York County in Maine and in Rockingham County in New Hampshire that provide services for […]

GERMANTOWN, Md. (AP) — The appearance of a goat on a road in a Maryland suburb of Washington created traffic delays and an opportunity for county police to come up with many puns. The Washington Post reports the goat was found Monday on Muncaster Mill Road in Germantown, but it’s unclear where he came from […]

HEALDSBURG, Calif. (AP) — The artist who created an 800-pound (363 kilograms) sculpture of a hammer that was stolen from a Northern California community center is offering a $1,000 reward to nail the thieves. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported Tuesday that Healdsburg artist Doug Unkrey made the offer. He made the 800-pound ball-peen hammer […]

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Complaints from visitors about being pushed onto a mattress where actors simulated raping them at an “edgy” haunted house in northeast Ohio has led to the suspension of the actors involved. The Akron Beacon Journal reports Akron Fright Fest owner Jeremy Caudill says he was “shocked and appalled” when he learned […]