oddly enough

oddly enough

Officer dressed as turkey patrols Vegas crosswalks

LAS VEGAS

A giant turkey is roving crosswalks in Las Vegas to squawk on drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians.

Officers dressed in Thanksgiving bird finery were walking across the road Tuesday as part of a sting operation. It’s the fifth annual appearance of the safety mascot dubbed “Butterball One.”

Police waiting at the sides of the crosswalks are slapping drivers who don’t stop with fines starting at $191.

The festive campaign underscores a sobering problem in southern Nevada. Safety advocates say 46 pedestrians have died so far this year in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located. That’s ahead of last year’s pace.

Police chief to be shot with Taser to raise money

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind.

Knightstown police Chief Danny Baker has used pig roasts and golf tournaments to augment his department’s shrinking budget, but badly in need of $9,000 for a new squad car, he’s reprising his most shocking fundraising approach to date: getting shot by a stun gun.

The jocular 63-year-old chief and another Knightstown official were planning to have a detective shoot them with a Taser at a free event tonight in the middle-school gym in their small eastern Indiana town. Spectators — who Baker hopes feel compelled to donate — will get a firsthand look at how 50,000 volts of low-amp electricity affects the human body.

“It’s a shame we have to go to the extent of having fundraisers and getting electrified and so forth, but with small-town budgets, you have to do something to get by,” said Baker, a lifelong Knightstown resident who has been in law enforcement for 35 years.

Associated Press