oddly enough
oddly enough
Spanish town celebrates bizarre, turnip-throwing fest
PIORNAL, Spain
Hundreds of people ran through the streets of a tiny town in southwestern Spain this week, chasing a fancy-dressed, beastlike figure and pelting it with turnips.
The event is part of the bizarre “Jarramplas” festival, which takes place in Piornal each Jan. 19-20.
Following the yearly tradition, a town volunteer donned a costume of multicolored ribbons and a protective devilish mask with horns Wednesday. He then charged through the streets, beating a drum and continuing for as long as he was able stand the punishment.
Local farmers supplied some 18 tons of turnips for the festival. Its origins are uncertain, but the local tourism office says the “Jarramplas” figure represents a cattle thief. Others say it has religious roots.
The festival finished later Wednesday with musical and gastronomic celebrations.
Man faces insurance-fraud charges after 23 car crashes
SALT LAKE CITY
Utah officials say a man accused of getting himself into almost two dozen car crashes to collect insurance money has been charged with fraud.
Navid Monjazeb was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with 12 counts of insurance fraud. Authorities say he collected more than $55,000 from insurance carriers over five years.
Armand Glick with the Utah Insurance Department’s fraud division says those charges came in cases where investigators could show the car was damaged before the crash.
Monjazeb also was charged with a pattern of unlawful activity, two counts of forgery and seven counts of reckless endangerment.
Glick says his department opened a six-month investigation after an insurance company recognized similar claims with the same vehicle.
No attorney was immediately listed for Monjazeb in court records.
Man charged after driving car almost totally covered in snow
BRUSSELS, Ontario
An 80-year-old man has been charged after driving a car that was almost completely covered in snow with only a portion of the driver’s-side windshield cleared for vision.
Ontario Provincial Police said Wednesday the man received a $110 ticket after an officer spotted a car resembling a pile of snow on the road in Brussels, Ontario, on Tuesday.
The man, whose name was not released, was charged with having an obstructed view.
Police spokesman James Stanley says the man said he was too old and weak to brush it off and that he was just going for a short drive. The officer cleared the snow from the man’s car and let him on his way.
Associated Press