Dateline: AlabamaA wanted man posted a video last week denying police allegations that he fed methamphetamine to what newspapers are calling an “attack squirrel.” Fox News reports that Mickey Paulk posted the video on his Facebook page and on YouTube last week in response to accusations made by the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office that he fed a squirrel methamphetamine to keep it aggressive. “You can’t give squirrels meth, it would kill them. I’m pretty sure—I’ve never tried it.” In the video, a squirrel can be seen running in the foreground. According to police, Paulk is wanted for multiple charges including possession of a controlled substance. Authorities raided a residence in Athens the day before the video was posted on a tip that Paulk was raising an “attack squirrel” in the home. Paulk wasn’t there, but another man was. The squirrel was also present. Police arrested the man on drug charges and released the squirrel into the wild. Authorities said they were unable to determine whether it had drugs in its system, because “there was no safe way to test the squirrel for meth.” Illegal substances, drug paraphernalia and body armor were reportedly confiscated at the scene. In his video, Paulk claims that the search was conducted at a home where he lived in the past. He claims he is no longer a resident there. He also questions how he can be charged if he wasn’t on the property at the time of the raid. Paulk, who has yet to be arrested, spoke in a phone interview with reporters at WAAY in Alabama. He called the squirrel his best friend and said it’s safe, healthy and completely unaware of its newfound fame. Paulk says he plans to get a lawyer before turning himself in. It is illegal to keep a squirrel as a pet in Alabama.Dateline: IndiaA farmer who calls himself President Donald Trump’s “biggest fan” unveiled a six-foot statue of the president on the leader’s birthday that he built for the purpose of offering up prayers. According to The Times of India, Bussa Krishna, a farmer from Konne village in the Jangaon district in India, applied tilak to the statue’s forehead and garlanded it before performing the Hindu ritual of abhishek and chanting “Jai Jai Trump” (“Glory be to Trump”). Krishna says he worships Trump because he admires the president’s “bold attitude” and “strong leadership.” He made headlines last year after he told reporters that he had put up a photo of the president in his prayer room and worshipped it as he did other Hindu deities. He reportedly offers the photo turmeric and flowers. Krishna claims that on the day of of the India vs Pakistan World Cup cricket match, Trump visited him in a dream. It’s because of this that he attributes India’s win to the president. He says he believes his devotion to Trump will improve relations between the US and India. Krishna hopes to meet the president. In the meantime, he has sworn to offer prayers to the statue every day.Dateline: MichiganA YouTuber has temporarily bought Hell, Mich., and renamed it “Gay Hell,” to irritate President Donald Trump. ABC-12 in Michigan reports that Elijah Daniel celebrated Pride Month by purchasing the small town for three days. The price of the transaction was not publicly disclosed. Daniel said he made the purchase in response to Trump’s decision to deny US embassies’ requests to fly the pride flag during Pride Month. He tweeted: “So as of today, I am now the owner of Hell, Michigan. I bought the whole town. And [in] my first act as owner, I have renamed my town to Gay Hell, MI. The only flags allowed to fly are pride.” Former mayor John Colone told reporters that the whole thing was a publicity stunt to raise awareness, and that Daniel is only in charge for three days. He said it was unlikely that he would consider selling the town permanently. “Unless he comes up with a lot of money,” said Colone. Media attention has brought tourists wishing to show their support to Gay Hell. Yvonne Williams, minister of Hell’s Chapel of Love, told reporters “everyone is welcome in hell and that’s what we’re all about.”Dateline: WisconsinA woman named Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck recently earned her Ph.D with her dissertation on uncommon names in the classroom. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Vandyck received her doctorate last month after eight years of study. Her dissertation, “Black names in white classrooms: Teacher behaviors and student perceptions,” earned her a Ph.D in leadership for the advancement of learning and service in higher education from Cardinal Stritch University. Vandyck said she struggled to prove herself in spite of her unique name. “People make such a big deal out of it, I couldn’t get away from it,” she told a reporter. “I’m going to be called Dr. Marijuana Pepsi.” She says people have tried to convince her to change her name legally or be called by something different, but she refuses. For her dissertation, she interviewed black students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater about the effect that their black names have had on their academic careers, focusing on how teachers respond to them. In many cases, she found that teachers singled out the students and asked them to explain their names. Vandyck has reportedly never consumed cannabis in any form.
Compiled by Joshua Lee. Email your weird news to josh@alibi.com.
