Fortunately, New Englanders came through with some welcome pandemic distractions. Rhode Island's signature squid took center stage at the Democratic National Convention. A Connecticut city named a sewage treatment plant in comedian John Oliver's (dis)honor. And a soybean farmer in Vermont harvested a prosthetic leg that a skydiver had lost during a jump. A guide to some of the region's stranger stories from the past 12 months: CALAMARI COMEBACK Rhode Island was a big sensation at the virtual Democratic National Convention for its unconventional video plugging calamari — the state's official appetizer. In a nationally broadcast made-for-memes moment, a lawmaker and a restaurateur with a heaping plate of sauteed squid stood on a beach and proclaimed Rhode Island the "calamari comeback state." State Democratic Party chair Joseph McNamara said he wanted to highlight how the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the seafood industry. Rhode Island's 30-second spot, part of the DNC's roll call where states formally nominated Joe Biden for president, was an instant social media sensation.