xxxNews Of The Weirdxxx
Bizarre but true stories about real people collected by syndicated columnist Chuck Shepherd.
In October, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on the heated clash in the Twin Cities suburb of Eden Prairie over how much money to spend on a new historic preservation program, which the Star Tribune noted was ironic because the town was nothing more than farms until the 1950s. Said a city council member, “I think an argument can be made that the word ‘historic’ is being loosely used.”
An August Boston Globe story deglamourized Plymouth Rock, supposedly where the first pilgrims stepped in 1620 as they disembarked near what is now Plymouth, Mass. It’s just a large rock, kept in an open pen (and was named by TV’s Learning Channel as one of America’s 10 lamest landmarks).
In October, North Korea’s official news agency reported that Japan had broken a promise to return five people to North Korea. The five are Japanese citizens who were kidnapped by North Korea in 1978 but released to see their families in October 2002. North Korea’s position is that they were released only temporarily and must be returned to North Korea.
In November, the town of Bolinas, Calif., voted 314-152 to adopt the following ballot measure (the official wording): “Vote for Bolinas to be a socially acknowledged nature-loving town because to like to drink the water out of the lakes to like to eat the blueberries to like the bears is not hatred to hotels and motor boats. Dakar. Temporary and way to save life, skunks and foxes (airplanes to go over the ocean) and to make it beautiful.” A San Francisco Chronicle reporter attributed the town’s support for it to the fact that its sponsor, artist Jane “Dakar” Blethen, is a beloved, though eccentric, local character.
Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, Fla. 33679 or Weird@compuserve.com
Copyright © 2001 by Chuck Shepherd
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
