News of the Weird: Ambitious food thief chickened out

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when students in Harvey (Illinois) School District 152 were learning remotely, the district provided meals that families could pick up. According to WGN-TV, food service worker Vera Liddell, 66, allegedly helped herself to some of that food — to be specific, 11,000 cases of chicken wings. The theft was uncovered during a routine audit that found "individual invoices signed by Liddell for massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones," prosecutors said. Liddell would place the orders, then pick up the food in a district van. Officials didn't reveal what Liddell did with all the wings, which were worth $1.5 million. She was charged with theft.

Jean Merritt of Philadelphia has a knack for spreading goodwill. She writes letters. According to Philadelphia magazine, Merritt solicits mailing addresses and then responds with a handwritten ("in meticulous cursive") letter on "captivating" stationery. "I've been writing letters since I was a little girl, and never stopped," Merritt said in a letter to reporter Victor Fiorillo. Along with requested letters, she writes to people in nursing homes through Letters Against Isolation and to people in prisons. "My mother collected stationery, and I'm still using the stationery I found in her house when she died in 2011. ... I see stationery on clearance, and I can't resist it." She noted, "Doing this is also just really good for my brain."

Varsity basketball coach Jahmal Street and assistant coach Arlisha Boykins were fired from their positions at Churchland High School in Portsmouth, Va., after Boykins, 22, came off the bench pretending to be a 13-year-old sub in a Jan. 21 girls' JV game, the Washington Post reported. After the game, the opponents filed a complaint about a player who demonstrated skills beyond her age. After confirming the incident, Churchland administrators, none of whom were in attendance (it was an away game), canceled the team's remaining games.

Musa Hasahya Kasera, 68, has a problem, but he admits it stems from his own irresponsibility, Yahoo! News reported. The eastern Ugandan man has 12 wives, 102 children and 578 grandchildren. "At first it was a joke," he said, "but now this has its problems. ... Two of my wives left because I could not afford the basics like food, education, clothing." He also struggles to remember names. "Some of the children, I can't recall their names," Kasera lamented. "I have learnt from my irresponsible act of producing so many children that I can't look after."

The Long Island Railroad's new Grand Central Madison terminal, which was built to the tune of $11 billion, opened in New York City the last week of January. But, NBC New York reported on Feb. 1, the new facility is marred by a spelling mistake — etched in stone. A carved quote from artist Georgia O'Keeffe sports a misspelling of her name, with only one F. "We clearly F-ed this one up, and it's being fixed," said MTA Communications Director Tim Minton.