Lead Stories
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In September a judge in Newmarket, Ontario, found professional dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford, 39, guilty of running a house of prostitution, despite her claim that she was selling only role-playing sessions. The judge based his decision on evidence that some customers masturbated during the sessions. The court also heard testimony about a customer who wanted to be chased like a fly by a swatter-wielding Bedford and a man who pretended he was a floor tile while Bedford walked on him.
Unexpected Benefits
In September schoolteachers in the Altai region of Siberia reluctantly agreed to accept 15 bottles of vodka each as partial back pay from the nearly bankrupt government. In October thieves in Volgograd, Russia, stole eight tons of mud, worth about $1,000, from a health spa. Also in October the Russian railway ministry announced it wouldn’t carry any more mail until the post office pays its overdue bill, about $13 million. And in Thailand porn star Morakot Maneechai complained in September that the economic downturn is ruining her career. She claims her bust size has shrunk from 39 inches to 37 because she’s lost weight.
In June a study released by the Huelsenberg Agricultural Testing Station in Germany concluded that cows that slept on waterbeds, listened to Mozart, and received massages produced more and better-tasting milk. Two months before the study was released, Promat Ltd. in Ontario made plans to manufacture 45,000 cow mattresses, which the company thought would improve milk production by allowing cows to feel more comfortable when standing and sleeping.
News of the Weird has reported several times on construction workers who survived accidentally shooting themselves in the head with nail guns. In July a coworker of Travis Bogumill, 21, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, accidentally fired a 31/4-inch nail into Bogumill’s head. He recovered, but says math is more difficult for him than it used to be.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration by Shawn Belshwender.
