oddly enough

oddly enough

Texas ‘weather nerd’ comes to NYC to see storm firsthand

NEW YORK

Texans Steve and Kathleen Yarborough weren’t quite like the other travelers stuck in New York this weekend: They came to the city because of the big snowstorm.

“I’m a weather nerd,” the husband said in an upbeat tone Monday as the couple waited for a return flight to Houston. “I came out to see the storm.”

Steve Yarborough, a Texas born and bred aviation-data specialist, said that in Houston, the closest he gets to snow is on the aviation maps he pores over.

He said when he saw the weekend storm building up, he and his wife booked a flight to see it firsthand. They got onto the last United Airlines flight to leave Houston for New York.

“People thought we were crazy,” he said. “We played in the snow all day Saturday. Walked down Park Avenue in the middle of the storm. We walked all over the city.”

On Monday, the couple waited at LaGuardia Airport. Their morning flight was canceled, but they were able to get booked standby on an afternoon flight.

“I just like snow, because we don’t see it,” he said. “I just think it’s incredible.”

Skull found at spiritual shop prompts investigation

COMPTON, Calif.

Authorities have found one human skull and eight containers with potentially more at a Los Angeles-area shop that sells spiritual items.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Katz says deputies responded to the Compton business Friday after a woman complained of animal cruelty.

Katz says when investigators arrived, they found a skull inside a pot. He says the coroner’s office collected the skull and eight other pots that also may contain skulls.

Katz says there’s no evidence of a homicide and that it appears the skull may have been purchased from a legal source and was being used for a religious ceremony. He says it’s unclear whether animal remains were found.

The sign outside the store reads “Omi Relekun” and describes itself in Spanish as a spiritual store and school.

Runaway cow roped by NYC police gets new home

NEW YORK

A cow that was captured by police after fleeing from a New York City slaughterhouse has been taken in by an animal sanctuary and renamed for rock legend Freddie Mercury.

Online video showed the brown and white cow trotting past shops and restaurants Thursday afternoon.

The founder of the Skylands Animal Sanctuary in Wantage, N.J., Mike Stura, picked up the cow Friday morning in New York and says he’s named the creature after the late lead singer of the band Queen.

The cow was scheduled to be killed Friday. Instead, Freddie rode through rush-hour traffic in a trailer, then visited a vet, before arriving at a farm.

Stura says Freddie will enjoy “a life of leisure,” being cared for alongside “cow friends.”

Associated Press