Weird Iowa Rewind: More Drunks in Campustown, Goose on the Loose, and Gun Fired in Hy-Vee

Editor Deb Belt compiled the latest edition of Weird Iowa, a collection of weird stories from Iowa's Patch.com sites. The column runs each Saturday. Read what you missed below:

Ouch.

That's all we can say about the story of state wildlife officials trying to capture a Canada goose on the lam with an arrow lodged through its body. The bird has eluded authorities for a week as it wanders around West Des Moines.

it’s illegal to shoot geese within the city limits, but not in rural areas. It’s unclear where the goose was shot or how far it has wandered.

Residents of one Ames neighborhood are worried that weird activity -- maybe even inappropriate behavior -- will increase if a planned housing development is built.

The Ames school board sold 48 acres that once served as a middle school to an Austin, Texas, company. But residents worry the Breckenridge development would lead to even more inebriated people walking past their homes, leaving trash behind and urinating in their yards as they leave Campustown at night. One person was so upset that he said he wished the board was struck by lightning.

Drunk people in Campustown? Say it ain't so.

A man was apparently just "blowing his stack" when he said to no one in particular as he was leaving the Marion library that he was going to "come back with a gun and shoot you."

He was working on a computer while waiting for older women he was with to finish at a meeting. An after-school crowd of teens came in and were being noisy, which annoyed the man. Police investigated and determined the comment didn't warrant charges against the man. 

Iowa is too tough on crack cocaine possession, says a Cedar Falls legislator.

are crowded with non-violent offenders, and he'd like to reduce the penalty for crack cocaine so it is more in line with cocaine. For example, a person arrested for 10 grams to 50 grams of crack in Iowa faces the same penalty as someone with 100 grams to 500 grams of cocaine - up to 25 years in prison and up to a $100,000 fine.

Surveillance cameras in the Johnston American TV & Appliance store caught a middle-aged couple reportedly helping themselves to a computer on a display stand next to the exit without paying for it.

Witnesses described the couple as both being white adults about 50 years old. Cameras caught images of both, so their shopping spree might be short lived.

OK, this is a head-scratcher of a theft. Employees at Bob Brown Chevrolet in Urbandale reported the theft of a tailgate from a pickup truck.

That's it -- just the tailgate, not the whole truck. Odd.

Weird eating news made headlines when a Nebraska woman gobbled down the Jethro's Adam Emmenecker Challenge at the Waukee restaurant. Molly Schuyler -- who is a skinny 120 pounds -- wolfed down the 4-pound sandwich and 1 pound of fries at Jethro’s BBQ ’n Jambalaya in Waukee in less than 8 minutes.

The Adam Emmenecker Challenge includes: five pounds of sandwich and fries featuring a huge pork tenderloin, Angus steak burger, slabs of Texas brisket, applewood bacon and fried cheese, finished with buffalo chicken tenders. The sandwich is topped with melted cheddar cheese, and white cheddar sauce, topped with a spicy pickle.

Anyone need an Alka Seltzer after that?

And, last in our Weird roundup, Iowa City police arrested a reportedly homeless man with a prior record of weapons charges after he .

Employees at the Waterfront Hy-Vee were surprised to hear a single gunshot coming from within one of the store's bathrooms. They then saw a black man exiting and hurriedly making his way toward the Iowa City Homeless Shelter.

When officers arrived at the scene, employees told police that the man had been the only one in the restroom at the time of the incident, and they found a 9mm casing on the restroom floor. Officers then went to the shelter and spoke to the man identified by workers as the shooter, later IDed by police as, Braelon J. White, 23, address unknown.