The Weird Week in Review

Two Arrested for Bike and Fence Theft

You have to admit you would have been suspicious of the two young men walking down a street in Beckenham, Greater London, England. They were carrying a bicycle with a piece of fencing attached to it by a bike lock. The two teenagers were spotted carrying their burden just after midnight on Saturday. They were arrested for bike theft and criminal damage in the case of the fence, which was determined to have belonged to a nearby pub.

Owner Claims Pink Cat

Last weekend, a cat in Swindon, England was turned over to the RSPCA in a suspected case of abuse because it had been dyed bright pink. The shelter found the cat to be in good health, and could see that whoever died it had taken care to keep the dye out of the cat's face, leaving a white mask effect. A few days later, the cat's owner, 22-year-old Natasha Gregory, stepped forward and admitted she dyed the cat with food coloring to match her own pink hair.

Miss Gregory has now contacted the RSPCA, who have been caring for the cat named  Oi! Kitty, to ask them to return the animal. Officers have washed the cat since it was found, and its colour has faded slightly.

California Cops Become Ghost Busters

William Jimenez, Salvador Vela, and Glen Mayernick are all retired crime scene investigators from the California Highway Patrol. Jimenez, who has experienced paranormal phenomena all his life, began investigating hauntings in his off-duty time even before retiring. Now the three former cops have a thriving business called Paranormal Investigative Technology. The team has investigated over 100 ghost sightings in places from a Navy base to a desert park. They do not charge money for their investigations, but do it to help people who are disturbed by ghosts, and for their own satisfaction.

Mole-killing Stunt Leads to Loss of Fingers

A man in Aspach, Austria had an idea for getting rid of moles in his garden. He taped a pipe to the exhaust vent of his lawnmower and pushed the pipe into a hole in the ground. He thought the exhaust fumes would poison any moles underneath the ground. However, one mole tried to escape through the gap between the pipe and the ground. The man reached to stop the mole, and the blades from the running lawnmower cut off two fingers! The man was hospitalized Monday, but it is not yet known whether the fingers were reattached.

Bacon Kevin Bacon

Artist Mike Lahue created a bust of actor Kevin Bacon made out of ...bacon! A Seattle company that makes bacon products, J & D Foods, commissioned the sculpture. Company owners Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow partnered with the website What Do Bacon Do? for the art stunt. The bust is up for sale on eBay to benefit a group that helps children with cancer and their families.

Accidents Increase After Texting Ban

Some states have passed bans on texting while driving, but the laws do not seem to have increased road safety. In three states, the number of accidents increased after the bans went into effect.

"In California, Louisiana and Minnesota," the HDLI reports, "the bans are associated with small but statistically significant increases in collision claims (7.6%, 6.7%, and 8.9%, respectively)."

Correlation, as the saying goes, is not causation — but the HLDI's study does prove that those states' texting bans did not correlate with a measurable drop in collision claims.

Possible reasons suggested are that people who are distracted by texting are also distracted by other things, or that maybe the act of texting while trying to hide the act may contribute to accidents.

Lottery Office Flooded with Stolen Ticket Claims

Officials of the Ontario Lotto announced that they are looking for the rightful owner of a winning lottery ticket stolen by a convenience store clerk seven years ago. The ticket is worth $12.5 million. Is it any wonder that the office was immediately flooded with calls claiming the ticket? As of yesterday, 87 people have claimed the ticket is theirs. Claimants were questioned and screened, and so far, only twenty have passed to the next level of investigation.