In a league of their own

A youth football team in Texas has been booted from its league for being too good. The Flower Mound Rebels, a team of 7- and 8-year-olds from a Dallas suburb, outscored their opponents 199-6 through the first seven games of the season, putting them in good position for the league’s postseason tournament. That’s when coaches for the other teams in the league in nearby Keller, Texas, decided to act. “They are too good. I fully admit it,” Keller Youth Association Vice President Rhett Taylor told KXAS. “They are a select-level team. They are too good for a rec-level team.” So Taylor, who coaches a team that lost badly to the Rebels, voted along with the league’s board to kick the Rebels out of the playoffs. Rebels coach Ragan Montero dismissed Taylor, telling KXAS, “He’s a sore loser.”

Postmortem vote

In 2020, Las Vegas businessman Donald “Kirk” Hartle gave media interviews questioning the integrity of Nevada’s presidential election after claiming someone submitted a fraudulent mail-in ballot on behalf of his deceased wife. Maybe he shouldn’t have publicized the case. A year later on Nov. 15, Hartle agreed to a plea deal for voter fraud, admitting he had been the one to cast a ballot for his wife. According to the deal, Hartle will accept a $2,000 fine and probation. At the time, Hartle used his experience to cast doubt on Nevada’s election results. “That is pretty sickening to me to be honest with you,” Hartle told KLAS in 2020.

A sweeping pursuit

Police in Richmond, Ind., got into a low-speed chase after responding to a call about a stolen street sweeper. Police responded in the early morning hours of Nov. 7 and say they discovered Sammy H. Allen behind the wheel of the equipment. According to officers, Allen had been swerving into oncoming traffic and had driven into the yards of residents. Once confronted, Allen led officers on an hour-long chase reaching speeds of 10 to 15 mph. Police say Allen was able to elude spike strips. They apprehended him after he crashed the equipment into a river.

Trashy shores

A Danish beachfront community has come under fire after Denmark’s state radio reported in November how the town deals with its beach trash. According to the report, the city of Slagelse spends $150,000 to clean up seaweed and litter from the town’s public beaches. But rather than dispose of the refuse responsibly, Danmarks Radio reported the town simply dumps all the garbage back into the ocean just a few yards from shore. “This is by no means a helping hand to nature,” an oceanography professor at the University of Copenhagen told Vice. “This is about one thing—convenience for beach goers.” City officials defended the practice, saying their beachgoers want pristine beaches like ones found in Southern Europe.

Freeway free cash

Money fluttering out of an armored car on Interstate 5 north of San Diego caused pandemonium on the California freeway Nov. 19. “For whatever reason, money was falling out of an armored car,” California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt said. “It was free-floating bills all over the freeway.” According to the CHP, the truck’s back door malfunctioned, and a bag full of mostly $1s and $20s fell out. Social media users uploaded videos of motorists pulling over to scoop up piles of cash. According to Bettencourt, motorists themselves shut down the motorway to clean up the cash. But CHP warned that keeping the money spilled from an armored truck could lead to criminal charges.

Overly friendly ­neigh-bor

A British court has issued a restraining order against a 67-year-old grandmother after complaints that she was harassing a local horse. Prosecutors near York said Margaret Porter had taken to feeding the horse carrots after deciding the chestnut gelding named Nelson looked sad. Nelson’s owner, Suzanne Cooke, asked Porter to stop overfeeding the animal, but the pensioner persisted. After a few calls to police, the dispute came to a head Nov. 18 when Porter was arrested and ordered by the court to leave the animal alone. This is the second time Porter faced the court: In 2005, she was convicted of assaulting her estranged brother with three sticks of rhubarb.

Senior sprinter

Sporting a red USA Track & Field top and a pink flower in her white hair, Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins set a new record for the 100-meter dash. And while Hawkins’ time might not be impressive—1:02.95—completing the race at age 105 is. Hawkins set the record in the 105+ age category at the Louisiana Senior Games Nov. 6, claiming she had wanted to complete the 100 meters in less than a minute. Hawkins began competing at the senior games in her 80s as a cyclist but eventually retired from that when she could no longer find competitors her age. Having turned her attention to sprinting, Hawkins set the 100-meter record for women over 100 in 2017, clocking 39.62. “I love to run,” she said, breathing heavily after the race. “I want to keep running as long as I can.”