oddly enough

oddly enough

Doomsday haven offered under Mojave Desert

BARSTOW, Calif.

A salesman with a doomsday plan is taking money for what he promises will one day be a comfortable, nuke-proof bunker in the Mojave Desert.

Robert Vicino, who runs the Del Mar-based company Vivos, already is taking reservations for the bunker in Barstow. He says the 13,000-square-foot underground structure will include an atrium, gym and jail on the inside and sloppy joes and pearl potatoes on the menu.

Experts say the demand for bunkers is growing because of strong earthquakes, terrorism and predictions that the world will end in 2012 when the ancient Mayan calendar ends.

About $50,000 will get you a spot in Vicino’s facility. He says half of the 132 spaces planned in the bunker have been reserved, and he’s still taking deposits of $5,000 for adults and $2,500 for kids. Pets are free.

Calif. district investigating high school strippers

PARAMOUNT, Calif.

The assistant principal at a California high school has been placed on leave after a campus talent show where male students pranced seductively in underwear and Speedos.

The Paramount Unified School District began an investigation after video of the student performances showed up on YouTube and local television news reports. One performer, Christian Dominguez, says he simply wanted to “pump up” the class at Paramount High School.

But some parents complained.

Superintendent David Verdugo says the performance was inappropriate, and the assistant principal who was present has been placed on administrative leave while the district investigates who arranged and managed the acts.

No students have been disciplined.

20,000 pieces of mail end up in Pa. carrier’s garage

PHILADELPHIA

The United States Postal Service has recovered approximately 20,000 pieces of mail — some of them more than a decade old — from a Philadelphia postal carrier’s garage.

Special Agent Scott Balfour says it took three mail trucks to remove the letters. The carrier worked in the city’s Bustleton neighborhood.

Balfour says some of the mail dates back to 1997.

Postal officials say they recovered the mail April 28 and it was to be delivered to customers last week.

Balfour wouldn’t comment on what prompted the investigation but says the carrier hadn’t been to work since February.

Postal officials haven’t identified the carrier. Balfour says they’re still trying to find the man so they can question him.

Associated Press