Foiled by a fly

An insect foiled a Guinness world record attempt in Germany on Aug. 3. Volunteers in Nidda, Germany, were nearly finished setting up dominoes for what they hoped would be the most mini dominoes toppled in a chain reaction. A fly landed on one of the tiny, fingernail-sized dominoes, causing the chain reaction to begin in the wrong place. Organizer Patrick Sinner said the run took volunteers two weeks to set up. The insect landed near the beginning of the set, so the run—though shortened—still lasted 15 minutes, toppled nearly 600,000 dominoes, and captured three lesser world records.

Plant in a pothole

Residents of a Toronto neighborhood have found success fighting against potholes by adopting horticultural tactics. After spending weeks demanding the Canadian city address a massive pothole on Poplar Plains Road, residents pitched in to plant tomatoes in the space. With the plants having grown and setting fruit, the impromptu garden garnered attention from a local television station on Aug. 16. The next day, city workers dug up the tomatoes and patched the road. City officials say workers transplanted the maturing plants to a nearby community garden.

A drink too far

A Montana man who allegedly filled his free water cup with soda at a restaurant is now facing a felony charge. Police arrested 48-year-old Daniel Robert Stine on Aug. 9 after an Arby’s employee reported the incident. According to police, Stine put soda in his water cup then tried to kick an employee who tried to stop him. Authorities later found Stine in the restroom of a nearby Denny’s restaurant. After a brief altercation in which officers used a Taser to subdue the suspect, Stine was booked on a felony robbery charge as well as misdemeanor counts.

Long-lasting lens

Doctors in Scotland have removed a contact lens that had been stuck in a woman’s eye for 28 years. The patient, 42, recently complained to a doctor in Dundee, Scotland, about swelling around her upper eyelid. The doctor found a cyst that contained a very old contact lens. According to the patient’s mother, she was hit in the eye by a shuttle during a badminton game when she was 14. She had assumed her contact lens had been knocked out.

Cat whisperer wanted

Do you like cats? Joan Bowell may have the job for you. In an August Facebook post, Bowell wrote that she’s looking to hire someone to run her cat sanctuary located on a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. According to the God’s Little People Cat Rescue owner, the ideal candidate would be older than 45 and have “cat-whispering skills.” Duties would include the caring and providing for 55 cats, and the job would provide living accommodations on the island of Syros and what Bowell calls a “living wage.”

Laboring together

Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz., is currently dealing with 16 pregnancies—and that’s only counting the nurses in the intensive care unit. The nurses say they didn’t plan to become pregnant at the same time, but that it happened that way. The hospital says it’s planning for a nursing shortage as the nurses are all due between September and February. The hospital cafeteria, meanwhile, has made changes, too, reportedly responding to a request from one of the pregnant nurses by making two additions to the salad bar: pickles and olives.

Fourteen and fourth

Ethan Sonneborn had an odd Election Day for a gubernatorial candidate. While other candidates vying for Vermont’s Democratic nomination cast ballots for themselves, 14-year-old Ethan was preparing to enter his freshman year of high school. Sonneborn began his quixotic political campaign in 2017, taking advantage of Vermont’s lack of an age requirement for candidates. In the Aug. 14 Democratic primary election, Ethan captured 8.2 percent of the vote and finished fourth. The teenager did slightly better in Addison County, where he lives, taking 15.8 percent. The winner, Christine Hallquist, is considered a long shot against incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott.

Same old song

Authorities in a small Slovakian town have arrested a woman and charged her with harassment after she allegedly blared an opera on her stereo system for 16 years. According to police in Sturovo, Slovakia, the woman—identified only as Eva—had been playing a four-minute segment of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata on a loop from sunrise to sunset every day since 2002. Neighbors claimed she began playing the music, which features vocals from Plácido Domingo, in order to drown out the sound of a barking dog. And even after she received a court order to stop, she persisted. “I like Plácido Domingo, but not like this,” one neighbor told the Hungarian news outlet Parameter.

Hoof-licking good?

Police in a small New Zealand town deployed fast food to capture a pig causing chaos on a busy street. Officials in Waihi in the northern part of the island nation received phone calls about a stray pig that weighed in excess of 300 pounds on Aug. 12. After conventional tactics to round up the hog failed, officers turned to KFC. Police used french fries and rolls to trick the animal into a makeshift pen constructed on the lot of a Presbyterian church. A police spokesman said he believes the pig was an escaped pet.