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A
tweet by Trump in May read simply: "Despite the constant
negative press covfefe."
White House officials batted away questions about what the word
meant and even the dictionary company Merriam-Webster drew a
blank. Trump left it up to the reader to divine his meaning,
with a follow-up: "Who can figure out the true meaning of
'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!"
But he was not alone in leaving readers scratching their heads.
Even outside Washington, the year produced a spate of weird
news, including odd pranks and poorly considered crimes.
Los Angeles residents awoke on New Year's Day to find the
four-story white letters of the world-famous "Hollywood" sign
had been altered to read: "Hollyweed." The prank came just two
months after California voters approved the recreational use of
marijuana despite a federal ban.
Austin, Texas, police were tipped off to an illegal brothel when
hundreds of condoms clogged a city sewer pipe in March. The
blockage at Jade Massage Therapy was the smoking gun that led to
the arrest of two people for prostitution and money laundering.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were spared a
spine-chilling surprise when a California man was arrested in
July for trying to smuggle three highly poisonous king cobra
snakes hidden in potato chip canisters.
Crooks had planned the latest haul of snakes in a can after all
20 king cobras in a previous shipment died in transit,
authorities said.
Back in the political arena, an octogenarian ex-con New Jersey
politician revived her burlesque act at a May fundraiser -
although she kept her clothes on.
Former Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, who is in her
early 80s and danced as "Hope Diamond," performed in a gown and
feather boa to raise cash for a non-profit dance company, three
years after being released from prison following a bribery
conviction.
Animal stories also captured the public's attention.
Millions watched via webcam as April, a giraffe, gave birth to a
6-foot-tall (1.83-meter) male calf. From around the globe, her
fans watched her endure the conclusion of a 16-month pregnancy
at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York - in April,
of course.
Months earlier, a small moth with a yellowish-white coif of
scales was named for then-President-elect Trump, who wears a
similar hairstyle, researchers told the scientific journal
ZooKeys.
The new species of insect, Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, is native to
Southern California and Mexico's Baja California, and is likely
capable of flying over the proposed border wall with Mexico that
was a central promise of Trump's presidential campaign.
(Editing by Scott Malone and Bernadette Baum)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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