Offbeat News

FRANKLIN, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve captured a man suspected of dumping his grandson’s soiled diapers along several New Jersey roadways over the past year. Franklin Township police say an officer acting on a hunch spotted 68-year-old William Friedman leaving a load of

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii police are trying to find a rare bonsai tree that was stolen from a nursery owner who says he spent 56 years caring for it. The tree was taken in September from David Fukumoto’s nursery in the Big Island community of Mountain View, he said. Fukumoto began growing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man whose excessive flatulence forced a police detective to cut shot an interrogation has pleaded guilty to federal gun and drug charges. The Kansas City Star reports that 25-year-old Sean Sykes Jr. entered the plea Monday. The charges stem from a police traffic stop

BOSTON (AP) — A 12-pound chunk of the moon that fell to the Earth as a lunar meteorite has been sold at auction for more than $600,000. Boston-based RR Auction announced Friday the $612,500 winning bid for the meteorite, composed of six fragments that fit together like a puzzle, came from a

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin’s former bodyguard has rejected an opposition leader’s invitation for a television debate after challenging him to a duel. Gen. Viktor Zolotov, chief of Russia’s National Guard and Putin’s long-time bodyguard, recorded a rare video

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man who police dubbed the “Brazen Botanist” after he was captured on a surveillance camera stealing plants from a porch has pleaded guilty. The Salem News reports 43-year-old Joseph Gardner was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail. Police say a

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Officials are trying to determine how a young antelope named Taylor Swift managed to get out of its enclosure at the Sacramento Zoo. The bongo calf’s escape led officials to briefly close the zoo Sunday. Zoo spokeswoman Laurel Vincent tells the Sacramento Bee the

SACRAMENTO (AP) – A high school student mixed her cremated grandfather’s ashes into homemade sugar cookies and shared them with several classmates, police in Northern California said Wednesday. The student and a friend baked the cookies and shared them with at least nine classmates at

ATLANTA (AP) — A passenger traveling from Ecuador was relieved of leftovers when an intrepid beagle found a roasted pig’s head in baggage at the world’s busiest airport. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the Agriculture Detector dog named Hardy alerted to the baggage at