House hunter

A dollhouse warehoused in a Tennessee storage unit proved to have the greatest anti-theft protection of all: It was too big to steal. Security footage at the Action Rental in Kingsport, Tenn., filmed a woman taking a $1,000 dollhouse out of an unlocked unit and trying to shove it into her car’s trunk on June 27. When that didn’t work, the unidentified woman tried squeezing the object into her back seat. After a few minutes of trying without success, the woman discarded the dollhouse and drove away in what authorities believe was an Oldsmobile Alero.

Dominating performance

Kenyan vice-presidential candidate Eliud Muthiora Kariara enjoyed plenty of time to answer questions during the televised debate on July 17 ahead of the nation’s Aug. 8 election. He was the only candidate to show up. Through a combination of protest, miscommunication, and tardiness, independent candidate Kariara was allowed to field questions posed by a pair of moderators while surrounded by empty podiums. Incumbent William Ruto said he had been unaware of the date and time of the proposed debate, a claim event organizers disputed.

Not child’s play

It made a child’s day—and it made for a good story for a local television crew—but not everyone appreciated an act of kindness by two Algerian pilots. In July, the Air Algerie pilots allowed a 10-year-old orphan to man the controls of a commercial flight scheduled to fly from Algiers to Sétif. The once-in-a-lifetime experience for the orphan was filmed by a local television crew and aired as part of a charity initiative on July 26. And though the footage only shows the orphan, dressed as a pilot, helping the crew with the preflight checklist, the airline still suspended the two pilots for breaching aviation regulations.

Math is too hard

The California State University system looked at graduation rates and decided the numbers didn’t add up. So they axed the numbers. With just 21 percent of students graduating in the standard four-year time frame, administrators fingered a universitywide requirement for intermediate algebra as the reason why. “This previous idea of ‘algebra for all,’ is that really what we’re trying to do?” Student Affairs Vice President Ed Mills asked. “Is that necessary for everybody in every career?”

Running with a record

How far has Detroit fallen since its heyday in the 1950s and early 1960s? Out of eight primary candidates on the Democratic ballot for mayor on Aug. 8, fully half were convicted felons. The crimes, which the four mayoral hopefuls committed between 1977 and 2008, run the gamut from drug offenses to gun crimes. Spinning the unusual slate of candidates positively, a past spokesman for former mayor Dennis Archer told The Detroit News that voters shouldn’t immediately dismiss the felons. “Black marks on your record show you have lived a little,” Greg Bowens told the paper. “But they also deserve to have the kind of scrutiny that comes along with trying to get an important elected position.”

Down underfoot

Do the clothes make the criminal? They did in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 4 when authorities at Sydney International Airport arrested an American woman for trying to smuggle about 4.4 pounds of cocaine into the country. The unidentified woman tried to hide the contraband in her clothing, makeup products—and the heel of a high-heeled shoe. “This Cinderella,” federal police said in a statement, “shouldn’t expect a handsome prince anytime soon.”

Digging in

Andy Llewellyn of Derby, U.K., probably didn’t expect jogging to lead to a head injury. But while out for a jog on Aug. 1, he was startled by a bump on his head and blood trickling down his face. Moments later Llewellyn realized the culprit: a hawk that had dug its talons into his bare scalp before flying away. The bird was later identified as a Harris’s hawk, which typically weighs 1.5 pounds and has a 4-foot wingspan. Though bloodied, Llewellyn finished his run before seeking medical attention. A local wildlife expert said the bird was probably not trying to attack Llewellyn but was more likely an escaped falconry bird attempting to land on its handler.

Read the label

The cover-up in a Muncie, Ind., drug case may not have been worse than the crime, but it was bad enough. After receiving a tip, authorities say they stopped 33-year-old James Jason Buck on July 23 and found him carrying methamphetamine. At the station, Buck gave police a false name, but something foiled his plan: his own neck, which carries a tattoo of his real name. Authorities charged Buck not only with possession, but false informing too.

Prodigy with a pole

Vermont has a new record holder for catching the largest fish: 11-year-old Chase Stokes, who in April caught a carp weighing 33.25 pounds. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department announced the new record last month, after determining the fish was bigger than the previous record holder by a quarter pound. The department’s Shawn Good says Stokes, who was 10 when he caught the record fish, has caught more trophy fish than anyone else in Vermont’s Master Angler Program. He is, says Good, a “fishing maniac.”