Some people really don't like spiders.
Chris White, a punk assistant prosecuting attorney in Logan County, West Virginia, has been suspended for pulling out a gun and threatening to shoot fake spiders set up around the office as Halloween decorations, according to WCHS, the ABC station in Charleston.
The station reported that White has arachnophobia, or a fear of spiders.
"He said they had spiders everyplace and he said he told them it wasn't funny, and he couldn't stand them," Logan County Prosecutor John Bennett told WCHS.
He said White pulled out a gun and while he didn't wave it around or point it at anyone, he threatened to shoot all the spiders.
"It had no clip in it," Bennett was quoted as saying. "Of course they wouldn't know that, I wouldn't either if I looked at it, to tell you the truth."
Bennett told the station that White had been with the office for five years without incident, and that as of now he does not intend to fire him.
A short video of a little boy dressed up for Halloween as infamous Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar is drawing criticism from those who say it's inappropriate to dress up a toddler as a man who was one of the world's most wealthy and violent criminals.
They may as well have dressed him in a nazi uniform with a tiny mustache.
The video generated more than 14 million views after Break, an entertainment website, shared it on Facebook. The Facebook caption reads, "Little Pablo Escobar runs the biggest fun size Snickers cartel…"
Colombian authorities killed Escobar in 1993, but the recent Netflix original series, "Narcos" has sparked new interest in the narcoterrorist and his drug empire.
"If you think this is ok you are very uneducated on exactly who Pablo Escobar was, the terrorist acts he caused and the lasting effect it has had on the Latin world," wrote one commenter opposed to the costume.
The toddler holds a weapon in one hand, a briefcase full of cash in the other, and sports Escobar's characteristic mustache. Some people on social media defended the costume.
"You can dress your kids up as a ghost or the devil but not Pablo Escobar?" someone asked.
"Technically he's in the spirit of Halloween ... Pablo Escobar was a real life monster," wrote another.
If you've ever spotted an animal carcass on the highway and wanted to know how it tasted, and I cannot imagine who has, you're in luck, Hotel Vermont's "Wild About Vermont" festival is offering the opportunity for attendees to try selections straight from its roadkill grill.
The Burlington-based business will host the festival on Nov. 7, which will also accept wild fish and game donations from locals to serve to members of the community, reports WPTZ News Channel 5.
Attendees who pay the $75 fee will have the chance to try geese, deer, bear, moose and muskrat.
“The idea is to get people connected to their local food sources, but also to showcase the traditions of Vermont,” hotel chef Doug Paine told WPTZ.
More adventurous types may feel inspired to try a different selection. The festival will also supply three animals injured or killed on highways in the vicinity.
If the thought of eating a flattened animal makes you salivate, you're not alone.
Many states have laws that allow people to eat roadkill provided they report the dead animals to the state or get a permit to keep them, according to a 2013 article from Modern Farmer.
PETA's website says that roadkill isahealthier option than store bought meats pumped full of antibiotics, and is more ethical than eating animals killed in slaughterhouses.
Some experts disagree.
In a 2011 Food Safety News article, Deb Cherney of Cherney Microbiological Services, suggested roadkill may pose some risks.
“When you’re a hunter, you control the scenario, it’s so very different than finding something and having to deal with the unknown questions,” she said.
With roadkill, it's hard to know whether the animal was healthy before it was hit, she said. If an animal walks around with open wounds, it could expose itself to pathogens that are harmful to humans.
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