Dateline: SpainWhen new government austerity measures bumped tax rates on theater tickets, a rebellious theater owner in the small Catalan village of Bescanó found the perfect loophole: selling carrots. Carrots are plentiful in the farmlands of Catalonia and, as a staple crop, are exempt from the tax hike. Over the summer, the value-added tax rate on tickets jumped from 8 percent to 21 percent. Carrots, however, are only taxed 4 percent. So Bescanó Theater owner Quim Marcé is selling carrots for 13 euros and 15 euros ($17 and $19). With each carrot sold, buyers get free entrance to a show. Since Marcé launched his carrot revolution, shows at the theater have been selling out. “There’s an announcement before the show begins that says photos are not permitted, and that you should turn off your cell phone. So now we’re going to add, ‘No chomping loudly on your carrots during the show,’” Marcé told NPR.Dateline: ArizonaA suburban Phoenix woman, angry over the re-election of Democratic President Obama, ran over her husband with the family car because he forgot to vote, according to police. Daniel Solomon, 36, told police his wife, 28-year-old Holly Solomon, became angry over his “lack of voter participation” in the Nov. 6 presidential election. Holly allegedly believed her family would face hardship as a result of Obama winning another term, police say. In a case of self-fulfilling prophecy, she got into an argument with her husband in a parking lot, chased him around the lot with a Jeep SUV and eventually ran him over as he attempted to flee to a nearby street, according to police. “He got out of the car, and she was screaming at him. And he started walking away, and she started driving in circles around him, and she wouldn’t let him go. So finally he took off to try to get away, and she ran into him,” one witness told a 911 dispatcher. When police arrived, Daniel’s body was pinned to a curb by the SUV. It’s unclear what Holly thought her husband’s vote would have accomplished. Republican Mitt Romney won Arizona by nearly 100,000 votes before losing nationally. Daniel was listed in critical condition at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center but is expected to recover. Holly was taken into custody and booked for domestic violence and aggravated assault. Drugs and alcohol were not involved. Daniel told police his wife was six months pregnant at the time of the incident.Dateline: ConnecticutAfter stealing the car of a Chinese food delivery man, an enterprising thief decided to finish out the delivery route himself by rushing hot food to hungry customers. The delivery driver had left his car running outside Bristow Middle School in West Hartford just before noon on Friday, Nov. 9. When he returned, it was gone, he says. He called police and told his boss to inform the restaurant’s customers that they wouldn’t be getting their orders. As it turned out, however, several of the deliveries had already been made. Police in Hartford were notified, and the thief was soon arrested. Police charged Keith Hinds, 45, with larceny for taking the vehicle and for collecting money from the customers for the Chinese food. Hinds was also found to be in possession of a joint, a crack pipe and some Seroquel antipsychotic drugs. Dateline: ColoradoThe U.S. Postal Service is defending a mailman who stepped over the dead body of a homeowner to deliver the mail. According to police, Dale Porch, 46, was dropped off at his home earlier this month after working the night shift for the Regional Transportation District. Unfortunately, he never made it inside, passing out and collapsing on his front steps. The grown son of Porch discovered his father about an hour afterward and called 911. Efforts to resuscitate Porch were unsuccessful. “When we found the body later around noon, he was still warm. Maybe if the mailman had done something, he would still be here,” Porch’s sister-in-law Kimberly Cordova told Denver’s KMGH-7 News. USPS acknowledged that one of its mail carriers did deliver to the home that day and encountered Porch’s body but mistook it for a mannequin. “We do know the carrier delivered mail to the house that day, and he remembered seeing something he thought was related to Halloween,” the postal service said in a statement. “When the carrier learned that was not the case, he was shocked and extremely upset.”
Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. Email your weird news to devin@alibi.com.
