Chuck’s Hand-Picked Overnight Weird News for Thursday

A 1970s icon to disappear: the hospital that housed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
They're finally tearing down the long-since-abandoned Oregon State Hospital building where Nurse Ratched tormented McMurphy, mainly because by now it must be haunted (since state legislators touring the facility in 2004 found the remains of 3,600 mental patients, in copper canisters). Meanwhile, last week, in one of the active buildings on the OSH campus, a patient escaped a serious lockup (that required at two different points that a guard look on the monitor to see if the ID [belonging to a female staffer] matched the person seeking egress [the patient who stole the ID, a man]). Despite that, an OSH administrator said "staff negligence" was not a factor in the escape. Associated Press via Seattle Times // Associated Press via Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Comments 'cuckoos_nest'

Recurring: She's suing the bar because she got hurt drinking underage, and the bar shouldn't have let her in in the first place
The 20-yr-old agreed, for some reason, to accept the bartender's invitation to try the flaming shot of Bacardi 150. She's OK now, but she got burned badly that night and wants the bar to pay her $8,500 medical expenses plus lost wages. Tampa Tribune
Comments 'flaming_shot'

Texas executive takes The Only Way Out . . . with panache
Nobody knows yet what Thomas Hickman's backstory was, but he drove into the New Mexico desert, rigged a gun to helium-filled balloons, and shot himself in the back of the head, most likely to create the impression that he was murdered (because the gun would float away). However, the gun got snagged in some bushes. It's always somethin'. Dallas Morning News
Comments 'balloon_suicide'

Update: Divorce final
The super-brave Yemeni 10-yr-old, who walked into court in April and demanded a divorce from her arranged, much-older husband, was granted it. (Fellas! She's back on the market!) However, tribal law is slow to change: Her family still owes compensation to the ex-husband. CNN
Comments 'yemeni_divorce'

Dispatcher no help in catching murder suspect
Cristobal Jaimes allegedly shot a man in Dallas, Tex., last month (might have been self-defense), and there was a warrant out, and he called 911 to find out how to give himself up. You'll just have to go to [a certain] jail, the dispatcher said, and you'll have to get there on your own (walk, bus, taxi, etc.). KDFW-TV (Dallas)
Comments 'cristobal_jaimes'

Update: The murder suspect in the lion's head slippers
William Torres was arrested in Pennsylvania in January and charged with a couple of unremarkable murders, but when police finally apprehended him, he happened to be wearing lion's heads on his feet. He had his preliminary hearing this week, and you can once again check out the slippers. Morning Call (Allentown)
Comments 'lions_slippers'

I wish I could believe that some guy in the Australian outback regularly spends $1,000 (even A$1,000) a week on downscale beer
That's what his lawyer said (though not under oath), and the Northern Territory News published what the lawyer said, and Reuters reported what the Northern Territory News reported, and thus it must be true. Reuters
Comments '1000_beer'

Creepy life-like baby dolls
An outfit called Reborn Baby sells painstakingly-built dolls, in aesthetic and biological detail, for, well, for practice in holding, maybe, or for cuddling, or for, well, there must be dozens of uses. Price ranges from the equivalent of about $500 to about $3,200. And, of course, the dark side: Last week in Australia, a Reborn Baby was left in a hot, locked car, and a passerby panicked and called the authorities, who broke down the window and rescued the "baby." (On the other hand, it seems perfectly OK to buy an adult Real Doll, at more than $5K a pop, because, well, Real Dolls are consenting adults!)
Reuters // Courier-Mail (Brisbane) // Reborn-baby.com // [Not Safe for Work] RealDoll.com
Comments 'reborn_baby'

People Whose Sex Lives Are Worse Than Yours
Luella McAdoo, 68, Tampa, babysitting a mute, mentally-disabled 35-yr-old man, allegedly convinced him to drop down and make her feel good. Tampa Tribune
Comments 'luella_mcadoo'

Your Daily Jury Duty
[no fair examining the evidence; verdict must be based on mugshot only]
By overwhelming reader contribution, we have two today: (1) Elizabeth Kommes, 30, who might have been driving drunk and who might have offered her body up if the charge went away (but who was definitely driving a car with "TROUBLE" as her vanity plate). (2) Daniel Everett, 33, who might have been meeting a "14-yr-old girl" for sex (aka undercover cop) while wearing a "World's Greatest Dad" t-shirt. (Everett's actual family status was unreported.) Daily Register (Portage, Wis.) // WXYZ-TV (Detroit)
Comments 'elizabeth_kommes'

More Things to Worry About on Thursday
A Dutch company is selling machines, for taverns, that release the scent of cigarette and cigar smoke (for atmosphere, now that smoking is banned) . . . . . A San Jose, Calif., marijuana grower made the bad decision to discard his sick plants by burning them in his fireplace, to the joy of the whole neighborhood (but not the police). Today's Newsrangers: Emmitt Dove and Jeff Spirko, plus a slew of people making sure I didn't miss the the Jury Duty stories!
Comments 'worry_080717'