Handbag in hiding

Martha Everett recently recovered the purse she lost at Jeffersonville High School in Jeffersonville, Ind., but she didn’t get it from a lost-and-found bin. That’s because Everett is 82, and she lost the purse when she was a student at Jeffersonville High in 1954. Workers found the purse behind cabinets in a science classroom when they were demolishing part of the school in January, and school officials used social media to track down Everett in Florida. Among the purse’s contents: a wallet, a prom invitation, lipstick, photos, and gum wrappers.

Excess energy

Federal officials are on the lookout for thieves who are armed—with an abundance of energy. The FBI is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of cargo pilfered in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 2 or 3. According to authorities, thieves stole a tractor-trailer from a parking lot overnight. Local police found the vehicle days later, but the trailer, which contained nearly $65,000 worth of energy drinks, remained at large.

Choppy ride

A new $227 million fleet of Canadian vessels has hit a major snag: It’s making Canada’s sailors sick. Crews of the Hero-class vessels reported the ships rolled “like crazy,” causing sailors to suffer intense seasickness during a trial run by the Canadian Coast Guard. According to reports obtained by the CBC, designers promised the 140-foot ships would operate well even in choppy seas. Now the Canadian agency is trying to figure out how to retrofit the pricey vessels with stabilizers so the ships can operate in normal seas.

A law with teeth

Residents of one French town are being held accountable for their dogs’ actions. Mayor Jean-Pierre Estienne of Feuquières in northern France signed an ordinance placing a ban on dog barking. Saying that incessant barking had created “an unbearable situation” in his village, Estienne announced that owners of loud dogs could be subject to a $77 fine. “The town has nothing against dogs,” Estienne told Le Parisien, “but when you decide to have them, you educate them.”

Zero coordinates

A slight error from furniture giant Ikea has upset residents of an entire country. One shopper in Washington, D.C., noticed that a world map being sold at a local Ikea store inadvertently left out New Zealand. After the shopper posted the mistake to social media, New Zealanders began to take notice. The cartographical error has become common enough that last year Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern launched a promotional campaign—called #getNZonthemap—that included Kiwi celebrities. In an apology to the BBC, Ikea took responsibility for the mistake and said it would pull the erroneous maps off the shelf.

Mom on a mission

Police in Towson, Md., are warning local university students about a woman haranguing female students. According to a Feb. 8 missive from Towson University Police, an unidentified woman in her 50s has approached females and prompted them to look at pictures of her university-aged son on her cell phone in hopes of getting him a date. Chief Charles Herring said officials don’t want to arrest the woman, but simply want to warn students about the woman.

Blown over

Cleveland’s National Weather Service office issued an unofficial “Small Dog Warning” wind advisory on Feb. 12 ahead of gusty weather. The agency predicted wind gusts up to 50 mph, saying that residents should be prepared for downed trees, power outages, and blown-over trash cans. The agency also warned residents to pay attention to their pets. “Hold on to your pooch!” an official posted on the office’s Twitter feed.

Two-letter mistake

For one Kentucky couple, it was the thought that counted. Misunderstanding his wife Nina—and having a poor understanding of horticulture—Allan Harris of Hartford, Ky., accidentally purchased turnips for his wife on Valentine’s Day this year. She had asked for tulips. “I didn’t know how to react,” Nina Harris told WCMH. “It dawned on me. I didn’t think he was really paying attention when I suggested [tulips].” Nina said she asked for the perennial flowers because she wanted to plant them in her front yard and enjoy them every year. When the embarrassed husband figured out his mistake, he quickly went and bought tulips.

The Flint Hills factor

Think Kansas is flat? Six states are flatter, according to the published findings of a team of University of Kansas geographers. Back in 2003, researchers in the journal Improbable Research demonstrated that Kansas was statistically flatter than an IHOP pancake. But now, KU researchers writing in Geographical Review have found that Illinois, North Dakota, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Delaware are all flatter than Kansas. And, according to the recent research, Florida is the flattest state of them all.