[johngriffen]

IN OTHER NEWS
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12

A new "news cycle" has begun.
Time for our Ace Reporters to file another story

As a reminder...
How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You may post One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can enter only once a day
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them to under a minute, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

[FRKJ]

Some coffee with your coffee? Dunkin’ launching cereal line



As if 2020 wasn’t weird enough, Dunkin’ is getting into the cereal game.

The Massachusetts-based coffee and donuts empire is releasing two new breakfast cereals based on two of its most popular coffee drinks: Caramel Macchiato and Mocha Latte.

The team-up with Post Consumer Brands, the makers of Honey Bunches of Oats, Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran and other familiar cereals, is expected to hit grocery shelves later this month.

The companies say Dunkin’ coffee concentrate is added to the cereal, which consists of little crunchy spheres mixed with flavored marshmallow bits. A serving has about as much caffeine as a tenth of an 8-ounce cup of coffee.

Reaction on social media has ranged from enthusiastic anticipation to horrified yet intrigued.

Skeptics -- and there are many -- see another sign of the apocalypse while others see redemption for an otherwise dreadful year.

“I love to pretend like I’m not a die hard New Englander but if I don’t get to try the Dunkin’ donut cereal, I will absolutely lose my mind,” said one Twitter user.

[Fivetide]

World's last Blockbuster video store listed on Airbnb



The world's last Blockbuster video store in Oregon is being listed on Airbnb for a series of 1990s-themed movie sleepover parties.

Sandi Harding, who has been store manager at the 20-year-old store since 2004, listed the Blockbuster in Bend on the accommodation-finding site for up to four people to stay on three available dates in September.

Harding had a living room set up inside the store, complete with a large 1990s-era TV, a VCR and a plethora of tapes.

"It's our 20th year as a Blockbuster, we were hoping to celebrate that this year, but with Covid throwing a wrench into everybody's plans, we were really excited to be able to pull this off," Harding told CNN.

She said the Airbnb listing is a way to give back to the community that has kept the video store in business while all of the other Blockbusters have gone bust.

"It's only $4 for the night, a penny more than what you would spend for a new release," Harding said.

https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/08/11 ... 597179575/

[Zbignieww]

Nude man in custody after spending night atop railroad crossing sign in Eugene



EUGENE, Ore. - A man who spent the night perched nude atop a railroad crossing sign in Eugene jumped down and tried to make a run for it, only to be stopped by a law enforcement K9.

KVAL

Eugene Police said the man who spent the night perched nude atop a railroad crossing sign attempted to run from police after more than 12 hours on the pole.

K9 Cwyk caught up the suspect, who "was actively fighting" the police dog when officers got to them. Police said the suspect put the dog in a headlock and punched it several times.

Officers arrested Brandon Lee Jackson, 39, of Eugene. He faces a long list of charges in crimes dating back to March.

Police said the situation started Monday night.

Around 9:23 p.m., officers responded to the 200 block of Washington Street regarding a "nude male subject who had exposed himself to bystanders in the area, and subsequently started throwing objects at two people and struck a male victim in the head with a rock," police said.

Responding officers located the suspect, who had climbed atop a railroad crossing sign. He remained there overnight.

Crisis negotiators made contact with the man again Tuesday morning. Shortly before 8 a.m., police asked motorists to avoid the area.

A reporter at the scene saw the man get down from the railroad crossing sign and run. Officers caught up to him with the help of a police dog.

[PennySerenade]

Stray dog who visited car dealership every day gets adopted and lands dream job



After spending his life until now on the streets, Tucson Prime is now in charge of meeting and greeting customers at a car dealership, and he couldn't be happier.

Persistence has paid off for a stray dog who refused to stop turning up to a car dealership – after he was adopted and simultaneously landed his dream job.

The lonely pooch kept going to a Hyundai Prime branch in Brazil, and after staff fell in love with him they decided to adopt him and put him to work.

Newly-named Tucson Prime is now in charge of meeting and greeting customers to the dealership, and he couldn't be happier.



According to Bored Panda, one night when it was particularly rainy, manager Emerson Mariano invited the pooch inside and let him have some food and water.

[hija]

The Golden Labrador Who Keeps on Giving



Stumpy (above) is a handsome labrador who was destined for a career as a guide dog. Sadly, problems with a deformed leg meant it wasn’t to be. But then Stumpy found a new way to help others: by giving blood.
The nine-year-old labrador has saved more than 100 canine lives since the age of one by donating blood for emergency transfusions.
Stumpy has been crowned the United Kingdom’s most prolific blood-donor dog. He has a negative blood type which is especially valuable because it allows his blood to be given to any dog.
Stumpy’s owner, vet Elly Pittaway, says: “Stumpy obviously has no idea what he’s doing it for, but if he did, I’m sure he’d be very proud of himself.”
[Source: Daily Mail, BBC News]

[eradicator2]

Tennessee woman's driver's license bears photo of empty chair



A Tennessee woman was left surprised and confused when she received her new driver's license in the mail and noticed something missing from the photo -- herself.

Jade Dodd of Hickman County said she renewed her license online, but when the ID card arrived in the mail she quickly noticed it bore a photo of an empty chair where her face should be.

Dodd said she visited a Department of Motor Vehicles office to get the error corrected.

"The lady at the DMV did not really believe me when I was like 'hey, I need my license fixed,'" Dodd told WKRN-TV. "Then, she looked it up in the system and goes, 'Oh, I need my manager for this.'"

Wes Moster, a DMV spokesman, said the error resulted from the wrong photo being saved to Dodd's profile.

"When the customer recently renewed her driver license online, she received an image of a chair because that was the last picture taken on file," Moster told CNN. "When the Department was made aware of her situation, we immediately made things right with the customer and provided her with a license with her actual photo and have addressed this situation internally."

[Governor3]

Naughty Exmouth seagull pinches packets of crisps every day from shop
The bird normally opts for a packet of BBQ sauce flavoured crisps



A newsagents in Exmouth is owed a ''lot of money''' from a seagull who visits the shop on the daily, helping himself to a packet of crisps.

The seagull in question is well-known within the town as it is often seen wandering into Moores Newsagents.

Member of staff, Kathleen Goddard said: ''He walks in and pinches whichever packet is on the bottom closest to the floor, he's not fussy about the flavour. But he normally goes for the BBQ sauce.''

Despite the crisps being sold at only 39p a packet, Kathleen adds: ''He comes in almost everyday so he must owe us a lot of money.

''Although, my dad chased him out of the shop once and spotted a five pound note on the floor.

''We had this joke that he must have left it for us to pay off his crisp debt.''

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-ne ... 682318f0ec

[peaceableone]

[goldie0608]

Panther on the loose clinging to a park bench turned out to be a stuffed toy

Police called to a park after receiving reports of a ‘panther’ on the loose discovered it was a soft toy left on a bench. Officers were notified about an ‘apex predator’ roaming the area in Steyning, Horsham, West Sussex. They raced to the park and saw what appeared to be a creature the size of a panther. But it turned out to be a stuffed toy that had been left on a park bench. Sussex Police said: ‘Reports of a large apex predator in the Steyning area turned out to be true. ‘It may be a stuffed toy, but the attending officers didn’t necessarily know that at first.’



https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/24/panther- ... -13032099/

[angellove0810]

Suns surprise team with pregame intros from family members

Phoenix Suns starters were treated to a surprise when their family members announced their names before a game this week

NBA players are separated from their families in the protective bubble on the NBA campus in Orlando, but the Phoenix Suns organization surprised its players by having them introduced virtually by family members back home.



The gesture by the Suns to their players, who are the surprise of the restart with a 6-0 record, was appreciated by other players on the NBA campus.

[Fatima99]

A trooper stopping a car with a suspected “impaired driver” on a U.S. highway on Monday was bemused to find a 5-year-old in the driver’s seat, the Utah Highway Patrol tweeted.

After seeing a vehicle driving slowly and weaving in the left lane of the Interstate 15 freeway, the trooper turned on his siren, and the driver neatly pulled over to the side of the road.

Dashboard camera video posted by the police captures the conversation between the trooper and the driver, which has since been viewed on YouTube almost 760,000 times.

“You’re 5 years old?” the trooper says. “Wow!”

He then asks the child where he learned how to drive and takes down other details.

The boy, who was not identified as he is a minor, said he had left home in his parents’ vehicle after arguing with his mother, who had told him she would not buy him a Lamborghini.

“He decided to take the car and go to California to buy one himself,” the police said in a tweet, adding: “He might have been short on the purchase amount as he only had $3 in his wallet.”

[johngriffen]

IN OTHER NEWS
THURSDAY AUGUST 13

A new "news cycle" has begun.
Time for our Ace Reporters to file another story

As a reminder...
How do you play?
Just post a story that you have come across that made you smile, laugh, feel good...
BUT NOTHING DEPRESSING

Rules:
Each Edition of IN OTHER NEWS will be open for 7 days...
You may post One Story in any 24 hour period
So in other words, you can enter only once a day
Stories may be accompanied with images - but No big images, please! 800x800 pixels wide maximum
Videos are allowed, but please keep them to under a minute, and post a short summary for those that don't like to click on videos
No Duplicate stories - Where a post has been edited resulting in duplicates, then the last one in time gets disallowed.
And please limit this to reasonably family friendly stories

Reward:
Each news story posted that I feel is acceptable (must be a real story, too few words or simply a headline are not considered acceptable) will earn you 50 WRZ$
If you post multiple stories on any given day, you will only earn 50 WRZ$ for the first story of the Day
Special Bonus - Each week I will award "The Pulitzer Prize" for the best story of the week
The weekly winner of the "The Pulitzer Prize" will receive a 100 WRZ$ bonus
It's just my personal opinion, so my judgement is final

[FRKJ]

Man wins $200,000 while waiting for mom at the store



A Virginia man said waiting for his mother to finish her shopping at a grocery store led to his winning a $200,000 lottery jackpot.

Herbert Scruggs told Virginia Lottery officials he was waiting for his mother at the Food Lion store in Richmond when he decided to pass the time by purchasing a Winning Hand scratch-off lottery ticket.

Scruggs said he scratched the ticket off after arriving home and had to hand it over to his mother to confirm what he was seeing.

"She got all excited," Scruggs recalled. "She said I won!"

The ticket was a $200,000 top-prize winner. Scruggs said he doesn't yet know what he will do with the money.

"It feels sort of surreal," he said. "It still hasn't hit me yet."

[Fivetide]

Baby born on flight in Alaska is named Sky by his mother



ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The mother of a baby born on an airplane that was taking her to a hospital in Anchorage has named her son Sky because of his unique birth and first experience.

Chrystal Hicks gave birth to Sky Airon Hicks on Aug. 5 around 1 a.m. after boarding a plane to be flown from the small community of Glennallen to a hospital, KTUU-TV reported. She was 35 weeks pregnant.

“I was just having contractions and it wouldn’t stop, and it kept getting stronger and they thought we were going to make it,” Hicks said. “But we obviously didn’t make it very far.”

Hicks gave birth less than an hour into the flight, she said.

“It was shocking, it was really weird at first, I didn’t know what to think,” Hicks said. “But everybody kept talking about the baby on the plane.”

Hicks and her son made it safely to the hospital. Sky was placed on a breathing machine when he arrived because he was born a month premature. The baby is expected to be discharged from the hospital next week.

Hicks said filing out the birth certificate information was difficult because they were about 18,000 feet (5,500 meters) in the air.

“I just put Anchorage,” Hicks said. “I didn’t want to put on a plane or in the sky.”

Hicks has three other children — ages 3, 9 and 11.

https://apnews.com/ee3ce7a17348fbc8295c24128efbf525