In the news
Ben Wolfram, co-owner of BenShot in Hortonville, Wis., said most of his 16 fulltime employees at the company that makes glassware are excited by his decision to give them revolvers for Christmas to promote personal safety and team building.
Pope Francis, during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, denounced gossip as a form of “terrorism,” warning the faithful against telling lies by describing gossip as “on the edge between truth and lies” and like a bomb that destroys reputations “because the tongue kills like a knife.”
Intan Syari, 26, whose fiance, Dr. Rio Nanda Pratama, was among 189 people killed when a Boeing 737 crashed on Oct. 29 after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia, was photographed in her wedding dress Sunday and professed her love for him on the day they were to have been married.
Nicole Argent of St. Charles, Mo., who turned in a ticket thinking she had won $100 in the Oct. 20 Powerball drawing, didn’t believe she had actually won $1 million until convenience store workers turned the computer screen around to prove she had miscalculated her winnings.
Ricardo Dicandia, a New York City police officer, opened his wallet and pulled out enough cash to help a woman from Ireland who had been waiting in line for days to buy tickets to the Broadway musical Hamilton only to find she was $20 short of the amount she needed.
Jesse Ray Hooker, 23, whose attorney said he “fell in love” with a newborn meerkat as it ran toward him in its enclosure at Australia’s Perth Zoo, was arrested after he scooped up the creature and put it in his cooler bag to take home, police said.
John Black of Memphis said his 12-year-old son was reunited with Diamond, the family’s stolen 4-month-old American Bully, after an unidentified woman whose son had the puppy gave it to police after recognizing it from news reports, investigators said.
Melissa Misthal, 36, was able to safely pull over despite being injured when a deer crashed through the windshield and landed in the back seat of her SUV as she drove on a highway in Howell, N.J., police said.
Keith Cavalier, 28, of Gulfport, Miss., who told police that he intentionally crashed his pickup into a courthouse because it was the best way to let them know someone had stolen his drug paraphernalia, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.