By Hamaad Murtaza
Staff Writer
Every month, the headlines are filled with important political news. Sometimes, they also feature strange stories. Here are some of the weirdest stories so far in 2026.
1. Man Stuck in a Porta-John
On July 14th, Kansas City Fire Department firefighters were dispatched to open a portable bathroom with a man inside that was not opening properly after an event regarding the World Cup. After arriving at the scene, the firefighters were stunned when a man’s head was sticking out of the toilet.
It was found that the man had dropped his MNTN Dew in the toilet and decided the only solution was to hop in the toilet and attempt a rescue operation. Firefighters had to cut open the door and rescue the man who was stuck inside for multiple hours. Afterwards, the firefighters had to wash the man off.
“I like Mountain Dew, but I wouldn’t do all that to save my drink,” said junior Edwin Castillo. “Once it goes in, I would just be done with it”
2. Discovery Of A meteor crater off of Google Maps.
In May of this year, a young man was going on his Google Maps app looking over an area and saw what looked like a crater. The man posted about it on X, leading to scientists going in to take a look at what they determined as the site where a meteor landed many years ago. Though the majority of us use online maps to look for places, one man found a meteor crater.
“If I found this, I would likely not tell anyone about it for free,” said sophomore Elena Ayre.
3. The Great Bee Escape.
This summer millions of bees were accidentally freed when crates on a truck holding them opened. Police had to halt the flow of traffic so that beekeepers who were sent in from the city could clear them up.
“If I got stuck in traffic because of bees for that long, I would definitely be pissed and crash out,” said senior Peyton Lee.
4. Squirrels Turn a Car into a Home.
Three months ago, a driver in Wichita, Kansas, with car trouble decided to take their vehicle to a repair shop after going through weird and faulty warning lights that kept making odd sounds. After the mechanics working on the car opened the engine lid, they failed to see any damaged pipes or broken wires. The mechanics ended up finding a whole bunch of squirrels that had found their way into the engine and turned it into their home.
“With housing prices skyrocketing, I don’t blame the squirrels for setting up a free house in an engine,” said sophomore Spencer Bradley.
Nowadays, news tends to focus on important topics, like politics and natural disasters. Whether it’s diving in a porta-potty to retrieve a soda or bees escaping from a truck onto traffic, the news always has some wacky stories.
