Weird News Rewind: Race for iPhone 5, 'Lyin' Ryan' Heckles GOP Rally, Bottle Bomb Explodes

Editor's Note: Each weekend Johnston Patch brings you the top weird, or strange news from around Iowa. Here's a quick recap on what you may have missed last weekend.

If you aren't a devotee of Apple products, then you might find it weird that Iowans waited in line at the Apple Store in West Des Moines Friday to buy the new iPhone 5. Fans of the smartphone are racing to upgrade to the newest gadget, while those who aren't slaves to what's cool are going on with their lives. Now, that's just weird.

Politics often has an odd side to it. First up, a battle among workers for one of the now-failed GOP presidential campaigns has taken a new twist. A Johnston woman who once worked for former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has filed a theft report claiming an Iowa state senator stole a private email list a year ago and used it for the campaign's benefit. To be continued in court next month.

Political rallies often draw colorful characters, and Monday's rally in Des Moines, which featured GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, was no exception, reported Ankeny Editor Megan Verhelst. Outside the Embassy Suites rally was "Lyin' Ryan," 20-year-old Ethan Kelly of New York, a volunteer with Progress Iowa. He was dressed as a lion to get people to recognize Ryan's "lies."

And as always, we have some weird crime news.

A Waukee man,  after he allegedly took a checkbook from a parked vehicle. When we was caught attempting to write checks on the account, police say Husted began throwing things and hitting bystanders.

Iowa City police are looking for a woman who they say was caught on surveillance cameras ripping plants out of the planters in front of the Hotel Vetro building, destroying the plants in the process. A $1,000 reward is being offered in the case.

Urbandale police are investigating the third case of a bottle bomb since late July. Residents in the 4100 block of 159th Street found remnants of the bottle bomb, which had exploded before residents found it in their damaged mailbox.

Weird Rewind:

Weird Iowa: Constipated Cow, Totally Indecent Exposure and Losing is the New Winning

Weird Iowa: Dad Invades Soccer Game; Dad Calls Cops on Son; King Explains Comparing Immigrants to Dogs

Weird Iowa: Mother's Day Brawl; Stranger Danger; Reward Offered for Vandals; WWII and WWI Artifacts Stolen from Museum