NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Oh, Fudge
KCCI TV in Des Moines, Iowa, reported on June 27 the loss of a tractortrailer load of chocolate when the truck caught fire near Dexter, Iowa. The trailer, full of chocolate from Hershey, Pennsylvania, was westbound when it experienced brake problems that caused it to ignite. The driver pulled off and was able to detach the trailer from the cab before it caught fire. No injuries were reported.
Weird Science
Montgomery, Alabama, resident Kayla Rahn, 30, had been trying for months to lose weight, but instead experienced dramatic weight gain and pain in her stomach. She became out of breath just taking a short walk. Finally, in May, Rahn’s mother took her to the emergency room at Jackson Hospital, where doctors discovered a growth attached to her ovary and removed what turned out to be a 50-pound, benign cyst, reported WSFA 12 News. The cyst resembled a large watermelon in size. “This is one of the largest I have ever seen,” Dr. Gregory Jones told reporters. “We are very excited things went well for her.”
Weird Food
Minor league baseball teams come up with some wacky promotional ideas, and “Sugar Rush Night” at the Erie (Pennsylvania) SeaWolves game on June 23 didn’t disappoint. WNEP TV noted that one highlight was the cotton candy hot dog: a wiener nestled in a cloud of cotton candy, then sprinkled with Nerds candies. Brave SeaWolves fans could top off the meal with a cotton candy ball: ice cream covered with sprinkles and enclosed in cotton candy. Maybe the sugar rush was too much for the players; they lost 5-3 to the Altoona (Pennsylvania) Curve.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Early on June 26, a man who had been sleeping on the South Miami Avenue bridge over the Miami River got a rude awakening as the drawbridge started to raise to allow a boat to pass underneath. Witness Khadijah Andrews had seen the man as she was walking to an early yoga class, she told WSVN TV, and she looked for him when the bridge began rising. Fortunately, he woke up after sliding down a ways and was able to hold on until the bridge was lowered. Andrews said the unnamed man walked away with no apparent injuries: “You think you’re about to watch a man lose his life. It’s just terrifying. I never want to see that again.”