The Romanian senate rejected a proposal by two legislators to regulate, and tax, fortune-tellers and “witches,” even though the government is otherwise desperately seeking new sources of revenue.
A prominent witch had complained about potential record-keeping burdens on the “profession,” but one of the bill’s sponsors told the Associated Press he thinks opposition came from lawmakers who were frightened of having spells and curses placed on them.
Bite marks
still questioned   
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood continues in the thrall of what forensic experts everywhere discredit as pseudo-science (everywhere except Mississippi, that is).
Hence, death-row inmate Eddie Lee Howard’s date with destiny approaches.
Although only scant physical evidence was presented at his murder trial, the jury famously heard from local dentist Michael West, who, using fancy equipment, somehow identified scratches on the victim’s body as “bite marks” unique to Howard’s teeth.
In 2008, News of the Weird mentioned the DNA-inspired release of two accused Mississippi rapists who had served 12 years in prison — having also been positively identified by West on the basis of bite marks.
Between then and now, West’s theories have been nationally, resoundingly rebuked, but the attorney general has chosen to defend Howard’s original, West-based conviction rather than look anew at the case, and Howard remains marked for execution.
(Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa Fla. 33679 or go to www.newsoftheweird.com.)