Matchmaker, matchmaker
A Chinese couple was arrested by police for running a fake matchmaking agency. The agency’s fees added up to more than $640 per client including consulting and membership fees. The couple’s scam? The husband promised men a date with Miss Right – instead sending his wife on the dates. The couple’s agency, based in Beijing, ran newspaper ads boasting a high number of rich and beautiful women on its roster. Police arrested the couple on information from a duped client.
Scary cat
A Chinese retiree was taken to the hospital recently after mistaking a painting of a tiger for the real thing. The woman, in her 70s, spotted what she thought was a tiger in a dark alley after shopping at a nearby supermarket. She screamed and turned to run, but slipped on some ice and fell. A passerby came to her aid, only to find her pointing down the alley and screaming about the tiger, which turned out to be a painting hung in a calligraphy and painting shop window.
God, turn down the noise
A Romanian man was arrested after he attacked a church with his axe because the bells were too loud. Iona Cozma, 42, demolished the church door, a marble cross and a little chapel after his requests to the priest to go easy on the bells were ignored. Cozma said he politely asked the priest on several occasions to not ring the bells so loud in the morning and night, but instead he said the bells became louder. Cozma faces charges following the incident.
Caveman
Jean-Luc Josuat-Verges decided to go explore some caves on Dec. 18, and ended up getting lost down there for a month. Josuat-Verges was found after three teens spotted his jeep near the cave entrance and alerted the police, who organized a 20-person rescue team to search the three miles of underground tunnels. The father of two had been lost for 34 days and lost 40 pounds. He said he survived by eating rotting wood and clay and drinking water from puddles. When it got cold he said he would stay warm by wrapping himself in plastic he found. His wife said the reason he survived could probably be attributed to the fact that he was a bit overweight and his extra fat helped sustain him.
Old School party busted
In what Durham police said was an homage to the movie “Old School,” partying Duke students were busted for a noise violation and found in a fraternity house basement with an inflatable pool, baby oil and women in bikinis. Police arrived early Sunday morning to respond to a noise complaint and cleared the house of 200 revelers, sending some of the women home in the subfreezing temperatures in nothing more than bikinis.
Maybe he’s a Scooby-Doo fan
An abandoned, but maintained, British Columbia mining town – complete with library, pub and hospital – has been sold to a Virginia property developer for less that $7 million. The isolated town of Kisault, located near the Alaskan Panhandle, went on the block in September after standing vacant for nearly two decades. Rudy Nielson, of Niho Land & Cattle, said 10 offers were submitted for Kisault. U.S. copper company Phelps Dodge maintains ownership of the actual mine. Nielson said the investor hasn’t decided what to do with the town yet, which was once home to several thousand people and still has 90 houses, 210 apartments, a dock, shopping center, gym and ice rink. According to Niho Land & Cattle, the new owner Nielson said is looking to refurbish the community and make a vacation resort, using the area’s fishing and heli-skiing potential to draw in visitors.
Virginia is for bat lovers
Del. Jackie Stump is looking to make the endangered Virginia big-eared bat – Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus in case you were curious – the official state bat. Stump said the goal of this measure is to educate people about Virginia’s caves and the positive role played by the bats inside them. He said one of the primary missions he hopes his measure will accomplish is helping people realize that bats are useful animals and not something to fear. The measure still must pass both houses of the General Assembly and be signed by Gov. Mark Warner.