As a local news organization, Patch covers stories of all kinds, from heartbreaking tragedies to inspiring tales of community brotherhood. But some stories are just plain weird. Here are some of the stranger headlines from the past seven days.
This week, both of our weird stories are coming from the Hamptons.
Paint Job, Abstract Art or Public Nuisance?
A small cottage in Maidstone Park in East Hampton looks like someone threw a bucket of paint at it — and that's because they did.
A hand-painted plywood sign out front of the Fanning Avenue house reads: "Help paint a starving artists [sic] home. Throw a pint."
Owner Rian White, who was the subject of a property-maintenance case between 2002 and 2009, was given a court summons this spring, once again, for allegedly failing to maintain his property. Town code enforcement is investigating further, thanks to the new paint job.
Splotches of orange and yellow paint appeared all over the exterior of the small cottage, including the windows and a door, this week.
Betsy Bambrick, the director of the code enforcement division, said her department received a complaint about property maintenance issues at the Fanning Avenue property and the adjoining parcel on Feb. 21.
"A Notice of Violation was sent for the homeowner to correct violations on March 28, 2012. When the inspector received no response - charges were drafted," Bambrick said in an email on Thursday.
A pair of baymen aren't trying to catch sharks and yet they keep finding them in their nets.
Brothers Danny and Paul Lester caught two more in the bay on Wednesday and Thursday, just two weeks after finding the first of the season, a sand shark, in their net off Little Albert's Beach on July 21.
Danny Lester said he discovered a sandbar shark, measuring eight-feet long, in their trap, in an area known as "waterfence," east of Napeague Harbor on Wednesday. Lester said it was a live and he cut some rope from around the sandbar shark to let it swim off.
The next day, he found a dead Thresher shark in a bluefish net in the same area.
There doesn't seem to be too much cause for alarm — the types of sharks found in the bay don't usually attack.
Sand sharks, the first type found last month and let swim off — live close to the shoreline and don't bother humans much. According to the International Shark Attack File, there have are 29 unprovoked attacks with two fatalities.