Quick Takes

Diet danger?

A man in the far-eastern city of Vladivostok, Russia, dialed police after his wife reportedly forced his two children to become vegetarians. According to police, the unidentified man complained to authorities that his wife was endangering the welfare of their children. After checking with Russian social services, police quickly dropped the criminal investigation.

Out of his gourd

Believing he was half a mile from becoming a world-record holder, Rick Swenson had a tough decision to make. Should he be satisfied topping the old world record for floating down a river in a hollowed-out giant pumpkin and pull to shore after 15 miles? Or should he risk the structural integrity of his gourd by pushing ahead? In the end, Swenson made the right decision on Oct. 15, pushing his pumpkin to the limit and finally docking his squash at Oslo, Minn., 25.6 miles down the Red River from where he pushed off. Now, Swenson has a record and the Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton, N.D., has the massive pumpkin on display until Halloween, whereupon it will then be fed to the animals.

Sundae topped

What measured 2,970 feet, occupied eight city blocks, and gave thousands a cold treat? Answer: the world’s largest ice cream sundae. House of Flavors created the concoction on June 1 in Ludington, Mich., and Guinness World Records announced in October that it was the largest ice cream dessert ever made. The previous record was set in Manurewa, New Zealand, and measured 1,957 feet and 1 inch.

Big house break-in

A drunken Newfoundland, Canada, man got his wish on Oct. 7. Authorities say the 32-year-old man was attempting to climb over a prison fence and break into jail when police apprehended him and held him behind bars until he sobered up. Authorities have charged the man with criminal mischief, and he will appear in court in December.

Using his noodle

An avid cyclist in Toronto, Canada, has an inventive way of keeping cars from creeping too close. Since 2015, Warren Huska has been peddling the streets of Toronto with a pool noodle hanging sideways from his bike. The floppy foam toy extends horizontally to the left of his bicycle. He says cars now give him a wider berth during his 11-mile commute but that only one other cyclist has adopted the same technique. He suspects the pool noodle hasn’t caught on because of the way it looks. “I’m unconcerned about looking good,” he told the Toronto Star. “I’m concerned about my safety most.”

Okra alert

Police in Austin, Texas, had to shut down a busy street near the State Capitol building on Oct. 17 when they received reports of a suspicious package in the roadway. After some investigating, however, police were able to determine the brown lunch sack simply contained a jar of pickled okra. Officers quickly reopened the road and disposed of the vegetables.

Smoked out

A man trying to barter for a snowmobile featured on Craigslist made the wrong offer to the wrong man. Police said 29-year-old Jason Owen proposed to trade one pound of marijuana for a snowmobile in early October. Unbeknownst to Owen, the seller of the snowmobile was an Oregon State Police trooper. After notifying his superiors, the trooper met up with Owen at a Brooks, Ore., gas station where officers arrested Owen for attempting to sell marijuana outside of the state’s legal framework.

Nightmare nap

A nap in a dumpster turned into a nightmare for an unidentified man in Wichita Falls, Texas. Authorities say a man in his 60s was asleep in a dumpster on Oct. 7 when workers unloaded its contents, including him, into a trash truck. He then survived being compacted and taken to a transfer station, where workers found and retrieved him before he would have been compacted again and sent to a landfill. Workers took him to the hospital for evaluation.

PH balance

Seattle Seahawks kicker Stephen Hauschka has finally corrected the record. Ever since North Carolina State athletics officials accidentally spelled the placekicker’s full first name with a ‘v’ instead of a ‘ph,’ he’s been known as Steven Hauschka in media publications. The misspelled first name has followed him from N.C. State to six separate NFL teams since his professional debut in 2008. That all changed when a diligent cameraman with KCPQ asked him to spell his name prior to an interview with the station. The only public source that appears to have been spelling Hauschka’s name correctly is Wikipedia.