Bright Idea

Out in ski country, employees at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado hit the slopes in early June for a completely different event: the Mountain Cleanup Day. KDVR-TV reported that 150 workers cleared about 780 pounds of debris off the mountains — stuff that had fallen out of pockets or flown off skiers as they schussed down the runs. Unusual items included a hamburger flipper, a $2 Canadian coin, piles of ski poles, and a message in a bottle, which turned out to be a Covid-19 vaccination record. The resort hopes the cleanup will remind people to “pack out what you bring in.” [KDVR, 6/24/2025]

Freak Accident

A lifeguard in Asbury Park, New Jersey, was trying to set a chair umbrella in its holder on June 25 when it got away from her and ended up impaling her through her shoulder, WABC-TV reported. “She fell backwards off the bench and the umbrella came with her … and landed on her arm,” said lifeguard Joe Bongiovanni. Firefighters cut most of the pole away but left a piece about a foot long in her arm before she was transported to the hospital and in stable condition. [WABC, 6/25/2025]

News That Sounds Like a Joke

The Chongqing Forestry Bureau has sucked all the fun out of a gimmick at a hotel in Pengshui, China, according to United Press International. The bureau ordered the Lehe Ledu Liangjiang Holiday Hotel to cease using red pandas to make wake-up calls to guests, UPI reported on June 25. For an extra charge, hotel guests could sign up for one of four red pandas to come to the room and climb onto the bed. They could linger with guests depending on their mood. The forestry bureau said the service could be considered animal abuse because the pandas are sensitive and their stress responses could endanger themselves or the humans. [UPI, 6/25/2025]

The Golden Age of Air Travel

The U.S. Sun reported on June 26 that a woman aboard Aeroflot flight SU734 from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Egypt finally had to be restrained after she launched into a tantrum about not being upgraded to business class. The woman screamed at flight attendants that she had “pain in my butt” and needed business class “because I was working.” She then threatened to open the emergency exit and began to remove her shirt, presumably hoping that would help her cause, but no: Some burly passengers moved her to the back of the plane, where she was restrained until Egyptian authorities took her off after landing. [U.S. Sun, 6/25/2025]

Crème de la Weird

Neil Hopper, 49, a vascular surgeon from Truro, England, has been the subject of a two-and-a-half-year investigation after he allegedly tried to defraud two insurance companies, The Guardian reported on July 23. Devon and Cornwall police said that in 2019 he “made a false representation to insurers, namely the injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and were not self-inflicted.” Hopper is accused of amputating his own legs in the scheme, hoping to gain $320,000 from one company and $314,000 from the other. Before his legal problems, he was short-listed in the European Space Agency’s search for an astronaut with a disability. He was scheduled to reappear in court on Aug. 26. [Guardian, 7/23/2025]

Saw That Coming

Or not. Several victims reported on July 19 that they had been subjected to an involuntary “golden shower” at The Landing in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Smoking Gun reported that 30-year-old Matthew Day “entered the rooftop bar … and urinated from the balcony onto the sidewalk,” according to police, with urine striking people on the ground. Security officers saw the incident and showed Day the door; he was charged with disorderly conduct and released on $500 bond. [The Smoking Gun, 7/21/2025]

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NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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