School Worker Jailed For Stealing $1.5 Million Worth Of Chicken Wings, And More Of The Week's Weirdest World News – Digg
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what the cluck
Welcome to another entry in our column, The Week’s Weirdest World News. The world, you might have noticed, is a very strange place — so every seven days, we’ll be rounding up the most bizarre things that have happened across the globe, purely for your enjoyment.
From a food bank unknowingly handing out meth to someone stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings, these stories are sure to inspire wonder — or, at the very least, befuddlement — at the weird ol’ world around us.
A food bank in New Zealand unknowingly gave out candies containing a potentially lethal dose of methamphetamine in its food parcels.
On Wednesday, Auckland City Mission said it was trying to track down parcels that could contain the sweets, which were donated by a member of the public. The charity, which works with homeless people in the area, was first alerted by a food bank client who said the candy was “funny-tasting.”
The New Zealand Drug Foundation, which tested the candies, said they contained up to 300 times the amount of meth someone would typically take and could be lethal. The solid blocks of the drug were disguised in wrappers bearing the branding of Malaysian company Rinda.
A spokesperson for the Foundation said the candies had a high street value of NZ$ 1,000 ($608) per sweet, so the donation was more likely to be accidental than “a deliberate attack.”
Authorities said three people were treated in hospital after consuming the meth-laced sweets, but were later discharged.
New research has found that horses are more intelligent than previously thought, and have the ability to plan ahead and think strategically.
The groundbreaking study by equine scientists at Nottingham Trent University, England, analyzed horses’ responses to a reward-based game and discovered that they could adapt their approach “to get the most treats — while making the least effort.”
Lead researcher Louise Evans told the Guardian: “Previously, research has suggested that horses simply respond to stimuli in the moment, they don’t proactively look ahead, think ahead and plan their actions — whereas our study shows that they do have an awareness of the consequences and outcomes of their actions.”
Evans added that she hopes her team’s research leads to improved welfare for horses. According to her, the study also shows that “in training, you really don’t need to use aversive methods or anything too harsh to get really good performance out of horses.”
Disney has argued that a man cannot sue its theme park over his wife’s death because of terms he signed up to in a free trial of Disney+.
Jeffrey Piccolo filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney after his wife died after consuming allergens at a restaurant in Disney World in 2023.
Piccolo’s wife, Dr. Kanokporn Tangsuan, passed away after a meal at the Florida theme park’s Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant. The couple had been assured that Tangsuan’s allergies could be accommodated, but she suffered a severe allergic reaction after eating and died at a local hospital.
In May, Disney said the $50,000 lawsuit should be dismissed and resolved out of court, in a process called individual arbitration. According to the multinational conglomerate, Piccolo agreed to settle any disputes with the company via arbitration when he signed up for its streaming service, Disney+, in 2019.
Piccolo’s lawyers called Disney’s response “preposterous” and said the “notion that terms agreed to by a consumer when creating a Disney+ free trial account would forever bar that consumer’s right to a jury trial in any dispute … is so outrageously unreasonable and unfair.”
An Illinois school worker has been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings.
Former Harvey School District food service director Vera Liddell, 68, was charged with theft and operating a criminal enterprise.
Court records say Liddell ordered more than 11,000 cases of chicken wings using district funds between August and November 2021, before keeping the food for herself. It is not known what became of the chicken wings.
Prosecutors said Liddell was rumbled when the district’s business manager did a routine audit and discovered the district was $300,000 over its annual food service budget just halfway through the school year.
Liddell is in custody at the Cook County Jail with a $150,000 bond.
Kansas City Chiefs star Chris Jones has offered to pay back the $1.5 million Liddell stole in exchange for her freedom.
Still hungry for more weird news? Check out last week’s roundup.
[Image credit: Brian Chan]
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"Court records say Liddell ordered more than 11,000 cases of chicken wings using district funds between August and November 2021, before keeping the food for herself. It is not known what became of the chicken wings."
Could it be possible she may have donated them to some church or service club for the sake of a charitable fundraiser?
(Actual church bulletin announcement: "This Tuesday evening, there will be a bean supper in the church hall. Music will follow.")
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