NEWS OF THE WEIRD
A dog’s life
Bill Dorris, a Nashville, Tenn., businessman, was 84 when he died last year, WTVF-TV reported, leaving $5 million to his beloved border collie, Lulu.
Dorris, who traveled frequently, often left Lulu in the care of his friend Martha Burton, 88, who will keep the dog and will be reimbursed for reasonable monthly expenses from the trust established for Lulu by the will.
Burton was chill about the whole thing. “I don’t really know what to think about it to tell you the truth,” she said. “He just really loved that dog.”
Just their type
The Boston Globe reported Feb. 15 about the newest hipster craze: typewriters. Manual, heavy, clunky “typers.”
Tom Furrier, owner of Cambridge Typewriter, Boston’s only remaining typewriter repair shop, noticed upward sales in April. “I was busy beforehand, but COVID raised my business by 40 percent,” he said.
While typewriters can’t take the place of digital communications devices, they’re attractive to young people for creative endeavors that have become popular during the lockdowns.
“My customers use it for journaling, poetry, creative writing,” Furrier said. “It’s all about writing without internet distractions, about getting into a zone.”
Thanks, Obama
Robert Joseph Hallick of Chattanooga, Tenn., was arrested Feb. 11 and charged with perjury, forgery and identity theft after applying for a handgun permit using former President Barack Obama’s name, according to court documents.
The arrest report also said his application included a letter with a United States seal and U.S. Department of State letterhead, along with a $50 check, WTVC-TV reported.
In November, Hallick was denied a handgun permit under his own name due to a warrant for his arrest in Michigan.
He was snow desperate
Police in the Ukrainian village of Hrybova Rudnya determined the man who called them Feb. 13 and confessed to seriously injuring his stepfather made the call to get the road in front of his house cleared of snow.
Police spokeswoman Yulia Kovtun told the BBC the man insisted officers would need special equipment to get to him, but when police arrived, they found no assault, and the road had been cleared by a tractor. The man was fined.
Dictator’s throne
In an auction in Chesapeake City, Md., that closed Feb. 8, a white wooden toilet seat pilfered from Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the Bavarian Alps sold for about $18,750, the Sun reported.
Ragnvald C. Borch, a U.S. soldier, was one of the first to arrive at the Berghof at the end of World War II. His senior officers told him to “get what you want” from the damaged property, so Borch grabbed a toilet seat and shipped it home to New Jersey, where he displayed it in his basement.
Bill Panagopulos of Alexander Auctions said, “This was as close to a ‘throne’ as the dictator would ever get.” Borch’s son put up the “trophy” for auction; the buyer was not identified.
Family that jabs together
Joanna Zielinski, 62, of Naples, Fla., was arrested Feb. 11 after stabbing her sister, Laura, 64, multiple times with an Epipen, according to authorities.
Investigators said the two spent the evening drinking and taking drugs, and Laura fell asleep on the couch.
“At some point,” said police, “Joanna went crazy and attacked Laura with an Epipen,” because “I’m allergic to drunks,” and she wanted to sober up her sister.
The Smoking Gun reported the Epipen was prescribed to Joanna, but Laura wasn’t affected by the medicine because it wasn’t injected. Joanna was charged with domestic battery.