Weird News: Creme de la Weird
Spooky!
When Joshua Dairen and his wife, Keema Miller, bought a coffee shop in Opelika, Alabama, in early 2023, they might not have expected to experience paranormal phenomena -- but the soldier ghost who frequents the place didn’t know that. Metro News reported that Dairen hears “rustling” noises from the back office when he’s in the shop alone, and on Sept. 24, the barista saw a “soldier” walking toward them before disappearing. Dairen believes the shop is haunted by someone who died in the Civil War. “I have seen unexplained boot prints on the floor,” he said. “Nobody in our shop has ever worn combat boots.” Dairen looked back into the town’s history and found that many soldiers lost their lives in a raid on Confederate supply depots there. “Luckily, nothing has presented itself as threatening toward us,” Dairen said.
Latest Religious Message
Attendees of the Lucca Comics and Games conference in Italy this week are getting a first look at the new mascot for the Vatican’s 2025 jubilee, the Catholic News Agency reported. The church declares a jubilee, or a year of grace and pilgrimage, every 10 to 50 years. This year’s new addition is Luce, a cartoon figure a la Olympics mascots, who the church hopes will help engage with “the pop culture so beloved by our young people.” Luce (which means “light” in Italian) and her “pilgrim friends” are promoting “the theme of hope, which is more central than ever to the evangelical message,” said Archbishop Rino Fisichella.
But Why?
Mary Kay Bower, 42, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was arrested on Oct. 19 for rustling and livestock theft, which is a felony, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. Officers were alerted to Bower when she and a man were seen walking a sheep and a dog on leashes. Bower told them that she purchased the sheep for $200, but her companion ratted her out: He said she stepped over a farm fence, put a leash on the sheep and pulled it out through the fence. When police checked with the farm owner, they found out that Bower had not paid for the animal, a breeding hair ram worth about $500. Bower’s tattoo might have given her away: She has a sheep inked on her left cheek.
The Passing Parade
Social media influencers are on the move and extending their “influence” to even the most mundane of travel experiences: putting items in a bin for the TSA conveyor. Reader’s Digest reported on Oct. 28 that people are curating their travel bins -- arranging everything just so, then taking photos to post on the socials -- and getting reactions such as “i would buy prints of these!” and “your shoes omg.” A TSA spokesperson responded: “As long as the staged glamour photos are not causing delays or issues with other passengers in the checkpoint, there are no issues.”
Cursive Words
In Chestertown, Maryland, students have been studying since 1782 at Washington College, WTOP-TV reported. Our first president gave permission for his name to be used for the school, and even contributed 50 guinea coins toward its founding. But on Oct. 8, the college announced that it would update its logo, adopted in 2013, which uses the general’s scripty signature, for something less cursive-y. “Because cursive writing is no longer taught universally in K-12 education, the script ... was difficult to read and not immediately recognizable for many prospective students,” said Brian Speer, the college’s vice president for marketing and communications.
Creme de la Weird
A 107-year-old Chinese woman named Chen has become a social media star, the New York Post reported on Oct. 29, because of an unusual facial feature -- a 4-inch-long horn growing out of her forehead. Some viewers think the growth is responsible for Chen’s advanced age and are calling it a “longevity horn.” Doctors, however, say it’s a cutaneous horn, which is often associated with prolonged sun exposure. Nevertheless, Chen remains in good health and eats heartily, and she has no intention of having the horn removed.