No duh: Florida is America's bizarre news capital

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

This will hardly come as news to loyal readers of this blog, but a Web site has concluded that Florida is the bizarre news capital of America. And Tampa is tops among Florida cities.

Tableseed.com which helps restaurants e-mail customers, analyzed 2,000 Associated Press “strange news” stories published during the past year. It counted the number of stories in each state and city. Then the number was adjusted for population.

The end result: Florida’s the strangest, followed by New Hampshire and Alaska.

Tampa’s the strangest among Florida cities, ranking No. 20. New York City was ranked the strangest nationwide.

Here are some of the stories the study mentioned as examples, all of which have appeared on BizarreFlorida.com:

• “Man calls 911 after eatery runs out of lemonade” — Boyton Beach, FL

• “Dead shark left in Miami street after failed sale” — Miami, FL

• “Man allegedly flings jellyfish at teens at beach” – Madeira Beach, FL

Posted by Times Editor at 1:04:56 pm on November 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments |

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About the bloggers

Weird news stories, bizarre news, strange but stories. You've come to the right place: Bizarre Florida, where weird is the norm. Exploding pythons. Armless, one-legged drivers. Yep. We certainly have unusual news stories. Offbeat news. Strange, interesting stories. Weird, unusual, true news stories. Get the picture? Have a story suggestion?

E-mail Bizarre Florida: bizarre@tampabay.com

Florida Newspapers

The Boca Beacon
Boca Raton News
Bradenton Herald
The Daily Commercial
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The Florida Times Union
The Fort Myers News-Press
The Gainesville Sun
The Island Reporter
The Key West Citizen
The Lakeland Ledger
Miami Herald
Naples Daily News
Northwest Florida Daily News
Ocala Star-Banner
Orlando Sentinel
Palm Beach Post
Pensacola News-Journal
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Florida TV Stations

WTVJ | Miami - NBC Channel 6
CBS 4 - South Florida
WPLG Local 10.com - Miami, Fort Lauderdale
WSVN-TV - Channel 7 - Miami - Fort Lauderdale

Other Strange Resources

Dave Barry's Blog
Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird
Charlie Carlson's Strange Florida
SpookHunters.com
Weird Florida Attractions
Weird Florida History IQ Test
Eliot Kleinberg - Books
Tacky Fabulous Orlando
Cryptozoology

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