News and Grooves

News and Grooves June 25 Vending Raccoons and TV Santa

• Jim Murray

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News and Grooves brings you the strangest true stories you've never heard paired with original music that captures life's unexpected moments. From raccoons trapped in vending machines to mysterious house cleaners who tidy but take nothing, we explore peculiar tales that remind us how fascinating our world truly is.

• A raccoon gets trapped in a Florida high school vending machine, becoming an instant celebrity before being safely released
• Henrico, Virginia residents wake to find old TVs on their porches, delivered by someone wearing a TV as a mask
• Massachusetts homeowner Nate Roman returns to find his house mysteriously cleaned by an unknown visitor
• A Welsh couple in their 70s faces assault charges after spraying their neighbor with a garden hose during a property dispute
• Archaeologists confirm that a 13th-century Carmelite monastery sits beneath a bus station in Gloucester, England
• Original songs including "Friday Night Dance," "Invisible Walls," and a moving piece about desert temptation

Join us next Sunday for another episode featuring the most amazing original music on the internet – an episode you simply can't afford to miss.


Speaker 1:

You're listening to the News and Grooves Podcast.

Speaker 2:

Snack Bandit. Police officers in Volusia County, florida, got a call they weren't prepared for. In August, a raccoon was stuck in a vending machine at a local high school. Students and staff spotted the critter behind the glass, looking guilty. Though the raccoon appeared happy in vertical snack heaven, the vending machine was wheeled outside and propped open, and the masked bandit eventually emerged snack-free. Next time it'll need to bring change, like the rest of us. In August, homeowners in Henrico Virginia woke to find that old televisions had been left on their porches in the night. The eerie delivery only got creepier when home security footage revealed that they'd been delivered by an ominous visitor. The figure sported a navy jumpsuit and gloves and masked its face with what appeared to be an actual TV. Before leaving, it turned to the security cameras and waved. Police have collected 52 TVs but are still baffled as to what the motive might have been. Hopefully Henrico's TV Santa brings flat screens next time.

Speaker 3:

The jukebox hums a glowing tune tonight. My polished shoes are gleaming in the light. The Santa Cola fizz hangs in the air Crowded room, but I don't have a care. Oh, the Friday night st stops where we'll sway. Hearts are racing in a rhythm that won't delay. Hold my hand, let's twirl and spin around.

Speaker 3:

The Friday night dance is where love is found. My dance is where love is found. Guitar twang keeps tapping at my feet. In the corner I spy a face so sweet. She's laughing, twirling a vision in a dress. One glance and my pulse is a tangled mess. Oh, the Friday night storm swear will sway. Hearts are racing in a rhythm that won't delay. Hold my hand, let's twirl and spin around. The Friday night dance is where love is found. Undercolored lights, we're flying free Every step. She smiles back at me. The world fades out with every move we make. This Friday night reveal is no mistake. We're lost in rhythm. Until the morning glow, our steps align and set the floor aglow. The clock strikes 12, but we don't break away. Hey, the friday night dance is calling up to stand. The Friday night dance is where love is found.

Speaker 2:

Unlikely Invader. One evening in May, nate Roman returned to his Marlboro Massachusetts home to find that his door was unlocked and his house smelled different Clean. In fact, roman saw that his five-year-old son's room had been meticulously tidied, with his stuffed animals lined up neatly on the bed. The other bedrooms and the bathrooms were similarly orderly. The mysterious organizer hadn't stolen anything, which left Roman to speculate that this was the work of a house cleaner who happened to go to the wrong home on a day he'd left the door unlocked. His son, on the other hand, was just thrilled to have gotten out of cleaning his room that day.

Speaker 3:

Sharon turned eight the other day and Jody will be six next month. They are my world. I love them so much. How I miss their love and touch. I wonder why I am the way I am. Doctors said because of the war. Fighting for freedom is not free. I pray at night God will help me. Those invisible walls keep me in this sorry shape that I am. I appreciate that. I am Wife and kids have to leave. It was my fault and I won't win. When I woke up this morning I thought Maybe I can recover from the war. I need God's help and love much more. God as my general. I will open the door. Invisible walls I will break through To be with my family once again. I must move on from invisible walls. Think about now and forget about then. Guitar solo Visible walls I will break through To be with my family once again. I must move on from invisible walls. Think about now and forget about then Tense Fences.

Speaker 1:

Barry and Helen Lee, both in their 70s, were charged with assault in June 2018. The Welsh couple's crime Spraying their neighbor, harold Burroughs, with a garden hose over their shared fence. The neighbors had been squabbling for years, but things escalated one day while the Lees hosed down their driveway. When Burroughs confronted the Lees about yard waste, the strain was pushing onto his lot. They turned up the drama and turned their hose on him. Burroughs, who recorded his surprise shower, later presented the footage as evidence to a judge. The court imposed a two-year restraining order and the Lees have decided to look for a new place to live. Hopefully, with some time and space, the debacle will just be water under the fence.

Speaker 3:

Out in the desert, bit by a snake. It's a long way from the coast. He took me in with a smile on his face. Now, with my money and my hope, don't get close, but I'm drawn to him. I knew it when I heard that hiss, a siren song of his venom, a forked tongue full of bliss. And the poison it burns and it makes me weak and the pain it gets worse every day of the week. He drags me back in when I get away, but I'll follow him until the grave. He ain't a python, he ain't a viper, he don't strangle a stripe. I let him crawl in. He's my Pied Piper. He's in my head day and night Out in the desert. I got bit. I don't know how long I've got. He's all around, I'm surrounded by him. It's going to take a miracle from God. And the poison it burns and it makes me weak and the pain it gets worse every day of the week. He drags me back in when I get away. But I'll follow him until the grave, thank you.

Speaker 2:

Hidden History. For some transit riders in Gloucester, England, the commute to work got more interesting. In January, the city's archaeologists confirmed suspicions that something more than dirt was sitting under a bus station the remains of a 13th-century Carmelite monastery. According to historic maps and evidence from other local digs, the old monastery belonged to the Whitefriars monastic organization, who lived outside the city to avoid its sinful influence. Who knows what kind of sinning they might have gotten up to if they ever managed to catch a lift into town.

Speaker 4:

I saw you smile through the drizzle's haze, like a spark of sunshine on a cloudy day. In the rhythm of the rain, I found my way. Your laughter broke the clouds and stole the gray. Every step together feels so right. You're my color in a world of black and white. White puddles shimmer like mirrors at our feet. We leave footprints where our hearts quietly meet. You took my hand without a single word. Suddenly, the rain became less absurd. In the rhythm of the rain, I found my way. Your laughter broke the clouds and stole the gray. Every step together feels so right. You're my color in a world of black and white. Rain can't stop the magic in the air. Can't stop the magic in the air. We'll dance through every storm without a care, echoing heartbeats like a thunder song, with you by my side, where I belong. In the rhythm of the rain, I found my way. Your laughter broke the clouds and stole the gray. Every step together. Feel so right.

Speaker 1:

You're my color in a world of black and white. Thank you so much for joining us. It's our next podcast Dropping this Sunday, featuring the most amazing original music on the internet. This is an episode you simply can't afford to miss. We can't wait to share it with you then.