The chilliest chapel

This winter, a tiny central Russian town finally has a place where local Orthodox Christians can worship. Unlike other churches, though, the new Sosnovka house of worship will melt when temperatures climb above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Sosnovka resident Alexander Batyokhtin labored for two months this winter to build a 10-foot-tall chapel made entirely out of snow in his remote Siberian village. Using 424 cubic feet of snow, Batyokhtin braved temperatures as low as minus 22 to complete the temporary structure. “The main thing is to say a prayer and keep a fast for some time, then just go do it,” Batyokhtin explained.

Back on his feet

For years, doctors told Roger Logan he was simply too fat. Turns out, that was a misdiagnosis. The 57-year-old Mississippi man is now recovering after doctors in California removed a 130-pound benign tumor that had been growing in Logan’s abdomen for 15 years. Logan had been confined to an armchair because of the tumor and nearly despaired of his life before finding a doctor willing to perform the risky surgery. After the procedure, Logan walked again for the first time in several years. He credited his wife, Kitty, for helping him find the surgeon. “She just kept pushing,” Logan told The Bakersfield Californian. “She wouldn’t let me quit.”

Flight risk?

If the weapon had belonged to anyone else, airport security officials might have been less amused. A bronze-handled cane set off the X-ray machine at Myrtle Beach International Airport in South Carolina, and when TSA officials took a closer look at the object, they discovered a sword hidden inside. The owner turned out to be an 80-year-old woman who was intending to carry her walking stick aboard her plane. Asked about the hidden weapon, the elderly woman gave a simple explanation: She had no idea there was a blade inside the cane, which her son had given to her as a gift years before. After giving up the dangerous cane to TSA officials, the woman caught her flight.

Obamacare and confusion

With an attack on the Affordable Care Act on the horizon, some congressmen might look to political polling to determine which way the public mood is blowing. But what’s a lawmaker to do if the public doesn’t know what the act does, or what it even is? A Morning Consult poll published in The New York Times Feb. 7 revealed that 35 percent of respondents either believed or weren’t sure whether the Affordable Care Act and Obamacare were different policies. President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare by critics, into law in March 2010.

Honor student

After playing hooky for more than six decades, Norm Johnson finally has his diploma. In 1950, a judge in California gave Johnson, now 83, a choice: sign up for the military or stop skipping classes at San Diego High School. The 17-year-old Johnson chose the Air Force. In the ensuing years, Johnson served as a bodyguard for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, took community college classes, and became a newspaper writer. On Feb. 8, Johnson got an honorary diploma from the San Diego County Office of Education. “I was surprised that it actually does matter to me this much,” Johnson told the Los Angeles Times.

Acquaintance and accomplice

Greg Kreiser thought he was being neighborly by offering a ride to a man he met at a Columbia, Pa., tavern on Jan. 30. Before long, Kreiser said, the stranger, identified as Shannon Steckbeck, began making unusual requests. First he wanted to stop for cigarettes. Next Steckbeck wanted to personally inspect Kreiser’s car. Before long, Kreiser found himself waiting outside a local bank unaware while Steckbeck was inside robbing it. The 58-year-old former letter carrier said he dropped Steckbeck off after the bank heist a few miles down the road, and only grew suspicious when he saw police cars racing past him toward the bank. That’s when Kreiser returned to the bank, informed police of his suspicion, and led officers to Steckbeck, who was promptly arrested.

Chunk of change

Some people find enough change in their couch to buy a soda. And then there’s Jonathan Humbert. The British auctioneer found more than $37,000 worth of precious metals, including gold coins and silver bars, in a suitcase under a sofa on Jan. 25 in a home he was preparing to auction off. “I went to pick it up and I almost pulled my shoulder out of its socket, it was so heavy,” Humbert told the BBC. “So I had to drag it out unceremoniously.” The treasure’s proceeds went to the unnamed Northamptonshire homeowner.

Dance-free zoning

Residents of Henryetta, Okla., were looking forward to a local Valentine’s dance this year. That is, until they realized attending the event would be illegal. An obscure town ordinance long on the books forbids dancing within 500 feet of a house of worship—which meant the scheduled dance at Rosie LaVon’s Marketplace wouldn’t be lawful. “It’s never been enforced my entire life,” said Henryetta Mayor Jennifer Clason of the ordinance, according to KTUL. “But I’d never looked at it because it never came up.” While the town police chief confirmed he had no intention of breaking up illegal shindigs, the organizer of the Valentine’s dance canceled the event anyway. That’s largely because the organizer’s husband is the city attorney. “He said his oath is to uphold the law,” Clason explained. The City Council planned to discuss abolishing the ordinance at a February meeting.

Flag bill

Does this mean Nebraska needs a new flag? For 10 days, the flag of Nebraska flew upside down over the state Capitol in Lincoln without anyone noticing. State Sen. Burke Harr revealed the faux pas in February when he introduced a resolution to redesign the state’s flag. The North American Vexillological Association ranks the current Nebraska flag, which features a detailed state seal on a blue background, among the worst state flags in the nation.