Needle in Gas Pump (AL) – Attempted Abduction in Mall Toilet (Tulsa, OK) – Posters on Dreaming (Sheffield, UK)

http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/stories/forensic-needle-reported-taped-to-pump-at-stapleton-gas-station,88400

Gulf Coast News Today [AL]

23 January 2020

Forensic needle found taped to pump at Stapleton gas station

STAPLETON, Alabama — Loxley Police are looking for someone they say taped a forensic needle to a pump at a gas station in Stapleton. […]

https://www.fox10tv.com/news/urban-legend-turned-reality-man-stabbed-with-needle-at-stapleton/article_b75cc016-3ef9-11ea-b3a9-7787436f78c4.html

WALA [Mobile, AL]

24 January 2020

Urban legend turned reality? Man stabbed with needle at Stapleton gas pump

It’s a case that will have you thinking twice before you reach for the gas pump. Loxley Police said a man was pricked by a hypodermic needle that someone taped to the handle at a Stapleton convenience store. The victim has yet to meet with investigators and police said they have no suspects. […]

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https://ktul.com/news/local/tulsa-police-addresses-false-viral-post

KTUL-TV [Tulsa, OK]

22 January 2020

Tulsa police say they see no truth behind viral post about teen's abduction at mall

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Tulsa police say they see no truth behind a scary social media post that’s going viral. The story went like this: A mother stops some people – likely human traffickers – from drugging and abducting her 13-year-old daughter at the bathroom at Woodland Hills Mall. Police say they haven’t gotten any credible reports that this situation actually took place, and there’s no surveillance video showing something like this happening. […]

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https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/uk/would-you-know-if-you-were-dreaming-mysterious-posters-appear-in-sheffield/

Evening Express [UK]

30 January 2020

‘Would you know if you were dreaming?’: Mysterious posters appear in Sheffield

by Press Association

Mysterious posters asking people if they would know if they were dreaming have been popping up over Sheffield. The poster, which bears the crest of Sheffield City Council, asks: “Would you know if you were dreaming right now?” It goes on to list advice about how to tell whether or not the reader is dreaming. The council has distanced itself from the posters, which appear to be a street art project. […]

Van Steals Credit Card Data – Recording of Baby Crying (Pittsburgh) – Conscious Severed Head (1889)

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/sheriff-s-office-seeks-information-about-suspicious-van-seen-in/article_be470b08-d4d8-57da-bae6-ead477eb4900.html

Rapid City Journal [SD]

14 January 2020

Sheriff's Office seeks information about suspicious van seen in Wall

Local authorities are hoping to make contact with the driver of a white Ford transit van with Utah plates. Pennington County Deputy Gordon Larsen said his office didn't have any direct reports of criminal activity involving the van, but there have been some complaints from people in Wall. […] There has been a spike in credit card theft in the area and the van has aroused suspicion due to the out-of-state plates and a large antenna on the roof that some have said appears to be able to intercept WiFi signals. […]

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/driver-of-white-mystery-van-is-a-utah-businessman/article_30ade07c-facd-56f6-b869-ff5f329b5452.html

Rapid City Journal [SD]

20 January 2020

Driver of white mystery van is a Utah businessman

[…] A Pennington County deputy told the Journal that his office wanted to speak to the driver because there's been a recent spike in credit card theft in the area, and some people thought the van had an antenna that could intercept card numbers being used online. […] A deputy eventually got in touch with [Chris] Fox and confirmed nothing illegal was going on[.] […] Fox said he has no idea why people suspected his van was involved in illegal activity because there's no antenna on top of it, he's not even sure if its possible to steal credit card information that way, and even if someone wanted to do that, why would they target a small town like Wall? […]

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https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/01/24/recording-of-children-crying-south-side/

KDKA-TV [Pittsburgh, PA]

24 January 2020

Police: Multiple People Report Hearing Strange Recording That Sounds Like Child Crying On South Side

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Police are urging anyone who hears a strange recording in the South Side to call 911 immediately. Pittsburgh Police say they’ve received multiple recent reports from people on the South Side who say they hear what sounds like a recording of a baby crying or a child asking for help. On four separate occasions, officers have responded. However, they say in each case they were unable to hear the sound or figure out where it was coming from. […]

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https://www.facebook.com/historianofthestrange/photos/pb.247998878727985.-2207520000../1196902597170937/?type=3&theater

“His Head Was Alive,” The Lancaster Examiner [PA], 2 October 1889. “A brakeman named Thomas Higgins, Monday slipped between two freight cars on a moving train near Maple Ridge, Mich. […] The head was completely severed from the trunk, and lay several feet from the track. Fireman Byo picked up the head and was horror-stricken to see the eyelids close and again open and partly close again. […] This sign of consciousness was given several minutes after the head was severed from the body.”

Obscene Chinese Plaque in Orthodontist’s Office – Stress Causes Grey Hair – White Circles on Plymstock Roads

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2019/09/02/lettersboris-johnson-could-still-have-hold-election-wants-save/

The Telegraph [London, UK]

3 September 2019

Letters

Writing on the wall

SIR – Further to Colonel James Hardy’s letter (August 31), I was at a demonstration of Chinese writing in Hong Kong and the scribe asked what my profession was. Later I was given a plaque, which he told me read: “The world’s best orthodontist”.

It hung proudly on my waiting room wall until a Chinese patient one day said politely: “I cannot possibly tell you what it says but I suggest that you burn it immediately.”

Dr H L Eirew

Manchester

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122135313.htm

Science Daily

22 January 2020

Solving a biological puzzle: How stress causes gray hair

[…] For a long time, anecdotes have connected stressful experiences with the phenomenon of hair graying. Now, for the first time, Harvard University scientists have discovered exactly how the process plays out: stress activates nerves that are part of the fight-or-flight response, which in turn cause permanent damage to pigment-regenerating stem cells in hair follicles. […]

Bing Zhang, Sai Ma, Inbal Rachmin, Megan He, Pankaj Baral, Sekyu Choi, William A. Gonçalves, Yulia Shwartz, Eva M. Fast, Yiqun Su, Leonard I. Zon, Aviv Regev, Jason D. Buenrostro, Thiago M. Cunha, Isaac M. Chiu, David E. Fisher, Ya-Chieh Hsu. Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells. Nature, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-1935-3

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https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/homes-alert-white-circles-appear-3767488

Plymouth Herald [UK]

23 January 2020

Homes on alert as white circles appear on streets in Plymstock

Mysterious white circles have suddenly appeared on roads around Plymstock - but no-one knows who is responsible or what they mean. Suspicions were raised after a white transit van was clocked by eagle-eyed locals rocking up in the early hours of Monday on Colesdown Hill at the back of Billacombe. A bloke reportedly jumped out and began daubing the road in chalk before driving off. Some suspect travellers with a keen interest in nearby fields may be to blame - although it's not been determined what their reason or motive would be. […]

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/white-circles-plymstock-unexpected-explanation-3781436

Plymouth Herald

27 January 2020

White circles in Plymstock - the unexpected explanation

[…] Rumours were flying about what the circles meant, with some locals believing their dogs were at risk of being kidnapped while some elderly people thought the markings signified their house had been 'tagged' for a potential burglary. […] A source told Plymouth Live the markings are believed to have been carried out by a local Hashing Harriers running group, with the white circles marking different parts of the route the athletes take - usually between pubs. […]