Unusual news stories interest readers in 2015

Looking back on 2015 is not just about exploring the stories that made a difference or were startling or shook the world.

There are also the other stories. The ones that really don’t have a category where they fit neatly, but still made people do a double-take. Every news agency has them, and the Centre Daily Times was no exception.

Perhaps one of the strangest moments was when one of our reporters became part of the story.

Shawn Annarelli left the newsroom when reports about missing kids came over the scanner. He just wanted to find out what was happening. What he found instead were the two boys, who had skipped getting onto the bus that morning, hiding under a bush.

All around the country, different outlets put the story out there, loving the angle of a journalist-turned-rescuer.

A beauty queen turned cancer patient is a story that tears at people’s hearts. When the cancer isn’t real, that’s fraud. Brandi Lee Weaver-Gates’ arrest in August for theft by deception and receiving stolen property made national headlines.

The story has continued as more charges have been added.

Police get involved in squabbles and altercations of all kinds all the time. Sometimes, the way people fight can raise eyebrows. In 2015, police reported scuffles that involved a model airplane, a McChicken sandwich and a cheesecake.

And sometimes, it might all just be a lot of manure.

People snickered through reading about a parking issue at Penn State, when an abundance of pigeon droppings had the university calling in a special crew to shovel well, um, stuff.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Unusual news stories interest readers in 2015."