You might think a murder trial would hold a judge's attention, but that wasn't the case with Lincoln County (Oklahoma) District Judge Traci Soderstrom, the Associated Press reported. In July, Soderstrom was captured on a court camera texting on her phone during the trial. Soderstrom's texts included comments on jurors' and prosecutors' appearances and saying of a police officer who was testifying, "I could look at him all day." She has been suspended with pay pending a hearing. The chief justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court recommended her removal: "The pattern of conduct demonstrates [Soderstrom's] gross neglect of duty, gross partiality and oppression," he said.

Really slow readers

In 1995, the Seattle Times reported, filmmaker Gerry Fialka of Los Angeles started a book club with an unconventional schedule: Members read "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce — one page at a time and then meet to discuss what they've read. They finally finished on Oct. 3, 28 years after they started. When people ask what book the club is going to read next, Fialka explains that they're simply starting over again. He said that the book ends with a run-on sentence on page 628, which then continues on the first page of text. "So it's a cyclical book. It never ends. We'll read page 3 again next."

The joke's on him

Stephen Taylor, an educator at the Mill Creek Campus alternative school in Olathe, Kan., lost his job over videos he posted to TikTok, Fox4-TV reported. In the videos, Taylor, who also does stand-up comedy, claimed that he gives students misinformation when they "annoy" him: "I tell them Abraham Lincoln invented the car, that's why it's named after him." When Taylor was called before the school board, he said, "The reason I'm doing comedy on TikTok is to make money because you only pay me $45,000 a year and I work all the time." He was relieved of his duties and has no plans to return to teaching.

Animal antics

A family outing to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas, got awkward when a giraffe lost its footing and crashed into the windshield of Kari Hill's car, Fox7-TV reported. People drive through the park and feed the animals. As Hill and her family communed with a giraffe, it stuck its head through her sunroof. But then the animal slipped and fell, became panicked and started flailing its legs. After it recovered and ran off, Hill realized her windshield was shattered. No one was hurt, but Hill said her ego took a bit of beating when she had to explain the damage claim to her insurance provider.

Plenty of pumpkins

Eccentric septuagenarian Reginald "Reggie" Tim Perry of Cranston, R.I., has an over-the-top way of celebrating Halloween, WJAR-TV reported. This year, his decorations will include about 1,400 pumpkins. Cranston starts carving the pumpkins on Oct. 1. "Everybody thanks me for doing it," Perry said. "They look forward to it every year. The kids go nuts." Through a Facebook fundraiser, he also collects donations to help families affected by cancer.

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