|
 While there were many tragic instances of gun violence in 2015 in
the United States, with the highest gun ownership rate in the world,
firearms also played a leading role in the year's oddest stories. A
Colorado man was cited in April for muscling his uncooperative
computer into an alley and "killing" it with a handgun. In Texas,
meanwhile, a man shot an armadillo and was wounded in the face by a
bullet ricochet.
Another man's alcohol-fueled birthday celebration at a bar in
Oklahoma was so much fun that the birthday boy made it home before
noticing that he had been shot twice. In neighboring Arkansas, a
hungry dog known to enjoy illicit snacks including a television
remote, a lawn-mower gas filter and bras, feasted on 23 rounds of
ammunition in May.
The hound named Trigger was simply stretching his legs during an
October waterfowl hunt when he stepped on his owner's 12-gauge
shotgun and shot her in the foot.
 In a more calculating move, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier
piloted his one-man "gyro copter" onto U.S. Capitol grounds in April
in an effort to draw attention to campaign finance reform - and
instead drew police with handcuffs and the bomb squad.
Further cracks in the federal armor were exposed in October when a
high-tech U.S. military blimp designed to detect missile attacks
became untethered, floating across state lines, knocking out power
to thousands and wreaking havoc over Pennsylvania.
SNOWPOCALYPSE
The weather was responsible for chaos in Boston, where 9 feet (2.8
meters) of snow fell last winter in a series of record-breaking
storms, causing roof collapses and extensive school closures and
paralyzing mass transit. An ugly reminder of the mayhem lingered
until July 14, when the last of a filthy mountain made from cleared
snow finally melted.
But balmy weather in recent weeks in Buffalo meant the typically
blizzardy western New York city broke a 116-year record for no
measurable snow this far into the season. By this time last year,
Buffalo was buried under nearly 7 feet (2.1 m) of powder from a
single storm.
On the political front, voters and local officials held their own in
terms of weirdness. In Arizona, a woman was sentenced in May to
3-1/2 years for running over her husband with the family car because
he failed to vote in 2012. She was upset that in his absence, the
rest of the country re-elected President Barack Obama.
[to top of second column] |
Leadership of the tiny town of Dorset, Minnesota, meanwhile, was
handed to a 3-year-old boy from the current mayor, his 6-year-old
brother. The experienced office holder's advice to his successor?
"Be nice when you talk to people and don't say any poopy talk."
SUCH A DEAL
Enterprising Americans who found a way to make a buck in 2015
included a Massachusetts man who offered people wanting to see New
England's colorful fall foliage the chance to stay at home on the
couch and instead receive a shipped bundle of leaves for a mere
$19.99.
The sale of a 100-acre (40-hectare) wooded compound in New Hampshire
was finalized in October, despite concerns the property might be
booby-trapped. Its previous owners, a couple who rejected the
federal government's authority to tax citizens, had waged a
nine-month standoff before federal agents posing as pizza
deliverymen got through to make an arrest.
Meanwhile, toymaker Hasbro Inc's sale of a plastic toy hamster
prompted a lawsuit filed in New Jersey in September by Fox News
Channel anchor Harris Faulkner, who said the rodent shares her name
and her likeness in its complexion, eye shape and eye makeup. The
resemblance damaged her credibility as a journalist, she said, and
has caused her to suffer "substantial commercial and emotional
damages."
(Reporting from Reuters correspondents around the U.S.; Writing by
Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Scott Malone and Frances Kerry)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
