Monday 3/8/10

Human Interest News   —   Posted on March 8, 2010

By The Editors of WorldMag.com

Snowy states
All snowmageddons are local. The blizzard that buried Washington, D.C., under snow in early February was far from an isolated incident. On Feb. 13, 49 of the 50 U.S. states reported snow on the ground. That includes Dallas, which received over a foot of the white stuff in a record one-day snowfall; Atlanta; and even parts of the Florida panhandle. The lone holdout was Hawaii, which sometimes-but not presently-does have snow atop its highest volcanoes.

Barking orders
Police charged a Gainesville, Fla., man with striking a police animal on Feb. 9, but 21-year-old Mario Duane Porter never laid his hands on the police dog. The violation happened when police stopped Porter for a traffic violation and a K9 unit began sniffing around his car to check for drugs. Porter interrupted the dog’s work by commanding it to sit. The dog obeyed the suspect until officers were able to quiet Porter. The dog eventually found a bag that probably once contained marijuana sitting under the driver’s seat.

Product placement
KFC officials are advising anyone with a healthy appetite and knowledge about a January theft of a bust of Colonel Sanders from a Kentucky store to contact police. According to a KFC spokesman, the fast-food chain is offering $500 worth of grilled chicken as a reward for information leading to the return of a bronze bust of the chain’s founder to a KFC in Berea, Ky. Why not a cash reward? “We think KFC’s world-famous chicken is a better motivator than money,” the spokesman said. The bust is valued at $1,200.

Down the hatch
Some people collect stamps. Others plant gardens. Chayne Hultgren’s hobby is a bit more dangerous. The 31-year-old Australian man swallows swords. And on Feb. 8, the street performer broke his own record for number of swords swallowed at one time. Hultgren managed to swallow 18 swords at once-each nearly 30 inches in length. “It’s amazing,” he said. “I’ve been preparing for this since I was 16.”