Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird

“What was once a gentleman’s hobby among a few dozen enthusiasts at the turn of the 20 th century,” wrote The New York Times in July, “has evolved into a multimillion dollar industry,” namely, collecting strands of hair of famous people.

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Family keeps slain shopkeeper’s memory alive

Despite the best efforts of medical staff, Childress never emerged from a coma induced two weeks earlier, after emergency surgery to repair extensive damage to his cranium. Somebody armed with something blunt had made a mess out of the broad bones of his face.

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Trial and error in rite of passage

What a week it has been since I left you last. My dad has finally gone out on his own and opened up an automotive restoration shop in Lewisville, Joe’s Garage, opening soon. The whole family ordered pizzas and helped him move in on a late Sunday afternoon.

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Chuck Shepherd’s News of the Weird

The other “Fight Clubs” are for sissies: At the August Dog Brothers “Gathering of the Pack” in southern California, it was “[A]nything goes,” according to one warrior (look ing to fight with “blunted knives”). A Reuters reporter witnessed two men without padding beat each other with heavy sticks and two others fight with electrically charged knives.

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Alamance's Summer of Fear

How a library employee was turned over to immigration authoritie

Nothing is certain, the saying goes, except for death and taxes. And sometimes, in the twilight existence of those who live without documentation in the central North Carolina Piedmont, the two intertwine in strange concert.

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Palin criticized for the wrong reasons

John McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, purports some pretty scary views. She believes that a woman who has an abortion is a criminal. She believes that certain books should be banned from public libraries. She sees nothing wrong with civilians owning AK-47 assault rifles.

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Limerick: Bringing old school back in style

Lead guitarist Evan Bloom was in the middle of a gig when his phone lit up and caught his eye from the stage. It was the hospital informing him his wife was going into labor. Now, when I say “in the middle of a gig,” I don’t mean they were at a venue loading in or schmoozing with fans… I mean they were in the middle of a song.

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Broach founder leaves legacy

News of the Weird

Italian and UK legal authorities have recently discarded rule interpretations based on embarrassingly anachronistic stereotypes of women.

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Time to invoke the Overman Doctrine

I never know from week to week which hat I’ll be wearing come column-writing time. It vacillates from pessimist to cynic to provocateur to realist to satirist to visionary to wiseass at the… well, drop of a hat. But one hat you’ll rarely see me wear is that of optimist.

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