Daily 2 Cents: Happy Holidays! -- Ohio Resident Ordered to Remove Zombie Nativity -- Winter Solstice at Stonehenge

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Ohio Resident Ordered to Remove Zombie Nativity

SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP, Ohio, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The suburban Cincinnati owner of a nativity scene with a zombie twist said he hasn't decided whether to comply with an order to remove the undead display.

Jasen Dixon was threatened by Sycamore Township with a $1,000 fine if he does not remove the Christmas/Halloween mash-up display, which he dubbed the zombie nativity, from his yard by Friday.

Officials said a pair of anonymous complaints led investigators to determine the 10-foot by 10-foot nativity scene in Dixon's yard violates property maintenance codes.

Dixon, who manages the Thirteen Rooms of Doom Haunted House in Rising Sun, Ind., said he and fiance Amanda Baker are huge Halloween fans, so when it came time to decorate for Christmas, they decided to work with the objects they already had from the other holiday.

"[We had] ugly stuff to work with," Dixon told WLWT-TV.

The "ugly stuff" turned into a display featuring partially skeletal wise men and a pale baby Jesus with empty white eyes.

Township Administrator Greg Bickford said the order is not a result of the content of the display, which he called "comical." He said the size and location of the display prompted the order to have it removed.

The "township is not anti-zombie or anti-nativity," he told Cincinnati.com.

Dixon said he hasn't decided yet whether to comply with the order.

"I haven't decided," he told the Columbus Dispatch. "I don't really know what's going to happen." - UPI

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Man Killed by His Own Coffin

New York Times" for July 28, 1856:

On Saturday night last, a man who resided in Twenty-ninth-street was killed in a most singular manner. The following are the peculiar circumstances, as far as our reporter has been able to learn them--for, in consequence of the opinion entertained concerning his relatives by the deceased, who was a man of considerable wealth and respectability, they have made great effort to keep the particulars from the public ear. It appears that nearly a year ago the deceased, who was fifty-three years of age, became strongly impressed with an idea that, when he should die, the parsimonious disposition of his relatives would lead them to put him in a cheap coffin, while he had a strong desire to be buried in one of polished rosewood, lined with white satin and trimmed with silver. Soon after this strange idea got possession of his mind, he discovered an elegant coffin in one of the principal warehouses, which suited him. He purchased it for $75; had it sent to his residence at nightfall, and stowed it away in a small closet adjoining his bed-room, where it remained until the time of the accident. How it occurred is not known to a certainty, for the first intimation the family had of the lamentable occurrence was from a servant, who, on going to call him to breakfast, found the door wide open and the deceased lying upon the floor, dead, with his coffin at his side. She screamed, which soon brought the family, and on raising the body the skull was found crushed in upon the brain. He was discovered about 8 o'clock yesterday morning, when, to all appearance, he had been dead several hours. On examining the closet, a bottle containing a quantity of sherry wine was found, and as Saturday night was excessively warm, he is supposed to have gone to the closet in order to procure the wine to use with some ice-water he had on a small table by his bedside. It is thought that he must have sought for it in the dark, and by some mistake upset the coffin, which stood nearly upright. Becoming sensible that it was falling, he probably made an effort to get away, when he fell, and the outer end struck his head with sufficient force to fracture his skull and cause almost immediate death. The inquest will be held with all possible secrecy. The unfortunate impression of the deceased concerning his relatives is a sufficient reason for withholding the names of the parties.

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Winter Solstice at Stonehenge

The winter solstice has been celebrated by about 1,500 revellers who gathered to watch the sunrise at Stonehenge.

Druids and pagans were joined by a mass of revellers at the ancient monument, accompanied by a soundtrack of pounding drums, chanting and dancing.

Although Sunday was officially the shortest day, Monday's sunrise was the closest to the moment when the North Pole was tilted furthest from the sun.

Senior druid King Arthur Pendragon, said: "What we're really here for is to celebrate the fact that the cycle of the world turns, and from now on the days get longer and it's the return of the sun.

"It's a time of change and hope is renewed - the same message really from a pagan perspective as from a Christian perspective.

"That's what this season is all about - a message of hope." - Winter Solstice: Stonehenge crowd gathers for sunrise

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'Chopping Houses,' Fears of Witchcraft Leave Trail of Dismembered Bodies in Buenaventura

The two fingers were found along the main road that borders the Camilo Torres barrio, in the Valley of Cauca, port of Buenaventura, in southwest Colombia. At least, that's what the girl told the police.

She said she picked up the fingers one by one, put them in a plastic bag she had inside her purse, and then she thought — accurately: These are my brother's fingers.

Luis Fernando Otero was a 17-year-old car washer. Around the time of his sister's discovery, rumors began circulating among the more than 390,000 inhabitants of Buenaventura, the most important port in the Colombian Pacific, that Luis Fernando had fled several weeks before because he was being chased by a gang.

Locals also said that he had returned to the port town two weeks before, but no one could say why. What they did say is that he smoked weed in the street, and that he was involved in something shady. Some said he had been charging people extortions, without the permission of the Usagá clan, one of the gangs battling for control of Buenaventura's barrios. That is why he was killed, they said. Continue reading at 'Chopping Houses,' Fears of Witchcraft Leave Trail of Dismembered Bodies in Buenaventura

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