the "Headline That Caught My Attention or the WTF" thread

seems to be a lot of weird headlines in the news this morning - end of year syndrome?

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/sex-toy-electronics-show-award-050801243.html[/URL]

[SIZE=7]Cars get trapped by tumbleweeds on Washington state highway[/SIZE]
It took 10 hours on New Year's Eve to clear the road of a pile of tumbleweeds that stood up to 15 feet tall.

WEST RICHLAND, Wash. — Some people spent part of their New Year’s Eve trapped on a Washington state highway after tumbleweeds blocked their route, authorities said.

YakTriNews reported that the Washington State Patrol announced via Twitter at about 6:30 p.m. that State Route 240 was closed in both directions near West Richland.

Trooper Sarah Clasen told KAPP-KVEW that vehicles were trapped in a pile of tumbleweeds that stood up to 15 feet tall.

The state Department of Transportation used snow plows to clear the scene.

Trooper Chris Thorson said it took about 10 hours to clear the road, which opened again around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Thorson says five cars and one 18-wheel semi truck where trapped in the tumbleweeds. No injuries were reported.

[SIZE=7]Three mountain lions killed after feeding on human remains[/SIZE]
They were not suspected of killing the person, but were determined to be a danger to the public.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TUCSON, Ariz. — Three mountain lions found feeding on human remains near a popular Tucson hiking trail have been killed, Arizona authorities said Wednesday.

They were not suspected of killing the person, but were determined to be a danger to the public because they showed no fear of officers trying to remove the remains, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said in a statement, according to the Arizona Daily Star.

The area in the Coronado National Forest was closed for a day while officials attempted unsuccessfully to trap the mountain lions.

The medical examiner will work to identify the name and cause of death for the person found Tuesday morning off the Pima Canyon Trail.

The trail at the base of Mount Lemmon was reopened on Wednesday, ahead of a planned Jan. 14 re-opening, after authorities decided there was no danger to the public.

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/gma/police-warn-abbreviating-2020-legal-documents-could-lead-203221681--abc-news-topstories.html[/URL]

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/police-called-parrot-screaming-for-help-175829490.html[/URL]
[
]('https://www.yahoo.com/news/defenders-history-aim-trumps-threat-132020433.html')

[Police]('https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/tagged/police/') in [Florida]('https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/tagged/florida/') got quite the surprise when they responded to a call reporting the sounds of a woman in distress, only to discover it was just an extremely vocal parrot.

“Our deputies in Lake Worth Beach came to the help of someone screaming for help,” the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a [=68.ARDetN6aALPaNmuEhkQ5EF1xNs1W6Pir7KCSYfi0Epx0E2x7xWtj7ogjLXrPDMsk_NCTmsgi2w7H0k15a4Av-LExRQlZ4V_5nCQ7eA2yl_VD42v09D2PfAiNYbPk22bkn4GNZmbeaElopPuJFrbwaXO2coxLVY']Facebook]('https://www.facebook.com/palmbeachcountysheriff/posts/3343734749034693?__xts__[0) post on Saturday. “Hilarity ensued.”

Quoting the parrot’s owner, whose identity was not revealed to the public, the post shared that the man was working on his wife’s car in the driveway last week while his parrot, Rambo, sat near the home’s entrance singing and talking to himself. Rambo’s cries of “Let me out! Let me out! Ohhh! Ohhh! Ohhh!” were so lifelike that a neighbor called the police, concerned that a woman was actually in trouble.

"I was changing the brakes on my wife's car and had my 40-year-old parrot, Rambo, on his outside perch where he sings and talks. Sometime later four police officers showed up saying a neighbor called because she heard a woman screaming for help,” the owner said. “I promptly introduced the officers to Rambo and we all had a good laugh.”

I’ll bring out the screamer to you,” Rambo’s owner can be heard saying to the officers in the video as they stand in the driveway. He then walks off camera and grabs Rambo, a bright green and yellow parrot, and introduces him to the police.

“Oh man!” the officers can be heard saying in the video, which was caught on a Ring camera.
After the incident, the owner also introduced his feathered friend to the neighbor who had called the police, mistakenly thinking a woman was in danger.

“Afterwards, I also introduced Rambo to the neighbor who called in the screaming. She too had a good laugh,” the owner said. “Sometimes Rambo yells 'help, help, let me out.’ Something I taught him when I was a kid and Rambo lived in a cage."
:D

Gee, I thought Seth was talking about Old Mud since it is his home town. Then again, believe it or not, Mud is younger than this unlikely guy...

[SIZE=7]‘Late Night’ show host jokes about fox attack-prone Bath man[/SIZE]
[pressherald.com/2020/01/09/late-night-show-host-jokes-about-fox-attack-prone-bath-man/]('https://www.pressherald.com/2020/01/09/late-night-show-host-jokes-about-fox-attack-prone-bath-man/')

By Darcie Moore Times RecordJanuary 9, 2020
[]('

Seth Meyers references the most recent fox attack on 88-year-old Bath resident Norman Kenney about a minute into a monologue Wednesday night.

BATH — An elderly Bath man who fought two rabid foxes in the past four months got some national limelight Wednesday when his story became joke fodder on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

“An 88-year-old man Maine fought off his second fox attack in four months this week by choking the animal with his bare hands. Usually, the only person who’s the victim of this many Fox attacks is Hillary [Clinton],” Meyers said, taking a jab at the right-leaning cable news network.

Norman Kenney, 88, of Getchell Street was first attacked by a fox at his home on Sept. 7. The fox bit at his leg but never punctured the skin, sparing Kenney from the post rabies vaccinations.

Last Friday, a second rabid fox jumped him outside his home and bit him above his eye before he fell to the ground. Kenney tried to strangle the animal for several minutes before a jogger stopped to help. That fox has since tested positive for rabies.

Kenney, a retired fire chief, laughed at the poke when reached by phone Thursday. He hadn’t heard that his story had made it to Seth Meyers’ show.

“Well I’m not going to comment on that,” Kenney said. “That’s politics for you.”

Despite the jokes, rabies has become a serious concern in the area, with dozens of attacks and incidents in Bath and surrounding communities.

Bath City Manager Peter Owen said Wednesday that Rep. Sean Paulhus of Bath, also a city councilor, has written to the state requesting help with the rabies problem in Bath. The state’s Rabies Working Group is meeting Jan. 21 and plans to discuss Bath’s issues, he said.

Sixteen animals tested positive for the rabies virus in 2019 in Bath, the most out of any community in Maine. That year, three animals tested positive in Brunswick, one in Freeport, one in Lisbon, one in Bowdoin, three in Bowdoinham, one in West Bath and 16 in Bath. Statewide, 105 wild animals have tested positive for rabies in 2019.
In 2018, nine animals tested positive for rabies in Brunswick, three in Lisbon, four in Bowdoin, two in Bath and one animal tested positive in West Bath, according to the Maine Health and Environmental Testing Lab. Statewide, 112 wild animals tested positive.

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture drops oral rabies vaccine baits by air and ground every year in northeastern Maine to stem the spread of raccoon rabies, the department said it has no plans to distribute baits in the Midcoast.
Recognizing the unusual nature of his run-ins with foxes, Kenney said he understands the interest in his story. He’s taken calls from the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun and a couple of talk shows in addition to Maine media outlets.
Thursday, Kenney said he continued to heal from his skirmish with the fox.

“His neck was in my hands,” he said. “I realize right now how close I was to really getting chewed.”

Kenney has to go back to the hospital Friday for another rabies shot and has to get one more shot after that. He bought himself a canister of mace in case he should meet another fox and is working on a way to reinforce his collapsible cane. He remains vigilant when outside his home.

“If I never see a fox again, it will be too soon,” he said.

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Today’s paper

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/news/navy-ufo-top-secret-090726606.html[/URL]

Breaking news active shooter at Air Force Base in Tennessee

Breaking news active shooter at Air Force Base in Tennessee

did you just tell me that was where your son was headed?

did you just tell me that was where your son was headed?

Yes

Breaking news active shooter at Air Force Base in Tennessee

been looking but can't find any info on that??

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sam-springsteen-becomes-jersey-city-214930740.html[/URL]

been looking but can't find any info on that??

False alarm, thankfully. (y)

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