• Shortly after Macy's on State Street closed last night, a man plummeted from the eighth floor balcony to his death. Suicide is suspected but not certain. Personally, I wouldn't "off" myself that way because I just don't like the feeling of falling. But if I did, I think that store would be a pretty dramatic place to do it. Check out the first photo on this page.
• If the first story didn't make you too acrophobic, check out this video of window washers at the John Hancock Center, part of the Tribune's "Unauthorized Access" series.
• A cat in a Rhode Island nursing home has a knack for determining when someone is about to die. His arrival usually means the patient has less than four hours until death. Having lived with cats against my will for the past nine years, the last thing I would want is a creepy "Kitty of Death" coming in to lie with me in my final hours. Can't I have a dog instead?
• In a story near and dear to my heart, San Francisco's taxi commission decided not to retire the cab number 666. It's great to have a joker running the union:

  "How dare you take Lucifer's number away?" said Thomas George-Williams, cab drivers union chief, who sported red horns.

  While I was in school, I worked at JC Penney for a few years. My associate number was 666. How did I get it? My mom worked in the personnel department!

Labels: Chicago, weird news

- posted by David Johnsen @ 1:58 PM