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News of the Weird

Staff
Saturday April 13, 2002

 

Geek Prom Debuts 

 

DULUTH, Minn. — If you play lots of video games and are frequently taunted as a “spaz,” a new prom may be just for you. 

The inaugural Geek Prom is planned for Saturday at Duluth’s NorShor Theater. 

“We’re not covering anything up,” organizer Paul Lundgren said. “It’s spastic fits of clumsy dancing.” 

The theme of the Geek Prom is “We are through being cool.” 

“No matter how much of a geek you are, there will be someone there who is a bigger geek than you,” he said. “Unless you end up being King or Queen Geek. And to be the best at anything, that can’t be bad, can it?” 

The night is being promoted as a party for adults who don’t fit in to have some fun with their own kind. And Lundgren said it’s not a slam against geeks. Everyone’s a geek in some way, he said, including himself. 

The evening will include video games where geeks can square off against each other. And Promoter Scott Lunt said the bar will serve drinks named after geek icons, like pocket protectors and Leonard Nimoy. 

 

Skunk Deters Getaway 

 

LEWISTON, Maine — Police who were chasing a man after a traffic stop got an unlikely assist from a skunk, who sprayed the suspect in the face. 

Kenneth Rideout, 32, was nailed after he ran into the woods Tuesday night. He was wanted for violating release conditions stemming from a domestic assault. 

The skunk didn’t stop Rideout but it slowed him down enough that police officers were able to catch up with him. 

“It was powerful enough to pretty much incapacitate him,” said police Lt. Tom Avery. 

Officer Eric Syphers arrested the smelly suspect. The squad car reeked by the time the prisoner arrived at the police station. 

“Sometimes we get help from where we don’t expect it,” Avery said. “We’re calling this skunk Officer Pepe LePew.” 

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — There’s a moose on the loose, and Federal Express workers are being told to keep their distance. 

The company ordered its employees at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to stop feeding an orphaned moose calf that had been hanging around the company’s hub. 

While there is some risk the young moose could starve to death, feeding the animal causes an even greater risk, said biologist Rick Sinnott of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. 

“If it gets aggressive, the only solution we have is to destroy the moose,” he said. 

Sinnott said as long as the calf doesn’t stick around long enough to become dangerous to people, it will eventually find grass and other food to eat elsewhere. 

“It is perfectly capable of moving out on its own,” he said. 

Sinnott said many people are unaware of how dangerous moose can be. They don’t realize that the animals, who can kick their sharp hooves with blazing speed, have killed people in the city, he said. 

“It’s those big brown eyes and the long lashes, and they look so cute,” he said. “I blame it all on Walt Disney and Bambi.”