weird news

A suburban Detroit man who found himself facing fines after a wild turkey moved into his overgrown backyard has made friends with the large bird.

Garden City bans residents from keeping wild animals as pets. The city fined Mark Johnston $100 for harbouring the turkey and another $100 for dumping brush at his kerb after he cleaned up his backyard in an effort to get the 30-pound turkey to leave.

The city eventually dismissed the turkey ticket since Johnston wasn't keeping the animal as a pet, The Detroit News reported. Johnston is still fighting the other one.

Meanwhile, the turkey remains in Johnston's yard. Johnston said that as far as he's concerned, the bird can stay as long as he wants.

"I have no kids. I'm in the middle of a divorce. I have no one at home," said Johnston, 45, a tow-truck driver. "He kinda keeps me company. It gives me something to come home to."

Johnston previously hunted turkeys but said he's given it up, considering his backyard guest.

A beauty queen in the Southern California desert community of Phelan has given up her crown rather than cover up her tattoos.

Sierra Leyde didn't have tattoos when she was named Miss Phelan at age 17.

But she celebrated her 18th birthday with tattoos of flowers on her upper arm and shoulder, and a shark on her forearm.

The Phelan Chamber of Commerce then asked her to sign a contract saying she would keep the tattoos covered while in her sash and crown.

Leyde told KCBS-TV that she doesn't think she should have to cover up because tattoos are now normal, but she decided to drop her title.

The chamber says it has no issues with a Miss Phelan having tattoos, other than asking that they be covered during official events.

A couple moving into a Massachusetts home have found what they believe is a stash of Prohibition-era booze.

The Patriot Ledger reports that Ian Sutherland and his girlfriend, Alexa Lee, found dozens of dusty glass bottles and clay jugs shelved behind a false wall in their Quincy home.

A contractor uncovered the hidden compartment while working in the basement in July after the couple had moved in from Connecticut.

Some of the 56 bottles still contain liquid that Sutherland says appears to include beer and moonshine, and that now give off a vinegary smell.

The head of the Quincy Historical Society says it's still too soon to know how long the bottles were hidden.

Quincy banned alcohol sales in 1880 amid the temperance movement. The house was built in 1910.

A Hawaii judge has ordered the eviction of the tenants of an Oahu rental home that advertised naked parties and gained the ire of neighbours.

The judge sided with the property manager, citing lease violations, multiple disturbances and running a business out of the Nuuanu home, Hawaii News Now reported last Thursday.

Neighbours have complained of the so-called Freedom House's loud parties, like naked yoga, and a fire that consumed a car. Neighbour David Brown said he frequently reported the parties to police.

An attorney for property manager Sakuma Realty said the home operated as an illegal business, which advertised online. The renters have denied that allegation.