News of the Weird

Compiled and Ridiculed by Joel Frady

Saved by a hair
A 20-year-old woman from Kansas City, Mo., was saved by her hair on Wednesday, Feb. 18, after her ex-boyfriend tried to kill her.

The woman said she was parked at a convenience store when a man flagged her down to tell her that her ex-boyfriend, with whom she had just ended an eight-month relationship, still loved her.

"Well I don't love him," she responded, but then heard gunshots. She turned around and saw her ex-boyfriend firing a handgun at her. She then jumped into her car and quickly fled the scene. She turned into a parking lot down the street and called police. Her ex and his friend were arrested shortly after her call.

But she noticed something very strange later in the day - a bullet, a mere inch from her head, that had gotten caught in her hair weave. The weave stopped the bullet completely, preventing a potential life-threatening injury and leaving the woman unharmed.

When asked about the incident, the woman said she was going to be a lot pickier about the men in her life - but doesn't plan on changing her hair-do at all.

Making change
An 18-year-old in Camden, Ark., was arrested after he visited a bank to turn $88 worth of coins into paper money. He had the change in a bag, but forgot about another item in the bag: a .44-caliber handgun.

A bank teller noticed the handgun in the bag and called police, who questioned the teen and obtained a warrant to search his house. They found $16,000 worth of property they believe to be stolen, and Police Captain Scott Rosson said that many of the nickels the teen tried to exchange were from a stolen coin collection. The suspect has been charged with resisting arrest and possession of a firearm, with more charges likely.

Rosson added that the case illustrates the importance of properly organizing paperwork and funds before visiting a bank.

"They're very busy and very attentive," he said of tellers, "and they're trained to notice things like the high-caliber weapon you were dumb enough to walk into a bank with."

Fish pedicures out
The Florida Board of Cosmetology has banned a pedicure procedure in which fish nibble dead skin from the foot. The treatment is popular in Asia and some U.S. cities. Florida has joined Texas, Washington and New Hampshire in outlawing the practice.

The board said they implemented the ban because it was not realistically possible to sterilize the fish tanks between treatments, and because having fish eat on your foot is both "out of line with the food chain" and "just kind of gross anyway."

Mullets again popular
Officials in Green Bay, Wis., expect to have issues with people stealing signs for Lombardi Avenue and Farve, but have unexpectedly had issues with another sign going missing: Mullet Place.

While the mullet might not be as popular a hairstyle as it was in the 1980s, unless you're Billy Ray Cyrus, officials say several Mullet Place signs have been disappearing each year.

The city has attempted to stop the thievery of the signs by mounting them 20 feet from the ground and out of anyone's reach. He noted that while the Mullet Place signs have continued to disappear, the move has helped prevent thievery of other fashionable road signs like Afro Lane and Carrot Top Alley.