oddly enough

oddly enough

Mystery donor drops annual $1,000 into Morgantown kettle

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.

Someone has slipped a $1,000 bill into a Salvation Army kettle in Morgantown, W.V., every year for nearly four decades.

The long-running holiday mystery continued Saturday when a $1,000 bill was found in a kettle at a supermarket.

Salvation Army Lt. Allen Adkins told media outlets that the donation is a big help. He says it also energizes the Salvation Army’s kettle fundraising campaign.

No one knows who the donor is. The anonymous donation began appearing in kettles in the late 1970s.

Tired of dog-eat-dog politics, Siberian city backs cat for mayor

BARNAUL, Russia

Tired of the dog-eat-dog politics in their Russian city, the residents of Barnaul say they want a cat to be their next mayor.

The Siberian city of 650,000 people, which lies 1,800 miles east of Moscow, is to get a new mayor next week when a commission comprising the city council and the regional governor choose from among six candidates.

But none of the six appears to spark much affection among Barnaul’s residents. An informal online poll asking residents to express their preferences among the six and a Siamese cat named Barsik showed the feline nabbing more than 90 percent of the vote.

Barsik has attracted much amused attention in the Russian news media. Still, some local politicians understand there’s a more- serious message coming from the people of Barnaul, which, like many Russian cities, has been riddled with purported corruption.

“Through the image of Barsik the cat, our people are sending definite wishes to the future head of Barnaul,” says regional Gov. Alexander Karlin.

“The conclusion has been made that there’s absolutely no trust among voters for any of the candidates,” said local Communist Party official, Ivan Karpov.

Deputies bring drivers to tears with $100 bills, not tickets

FORSYTH, Ga.

Deputy sheriffs in a central Georgia county have been surprising motorists, some of whom expect a ticket.

Instead, they’ve gotten $100 bills.

The Telegraph reports that Monroe County Sheriff John Cary Bittick gave officers 54 $100 bills to hand out randomly over three days during the past week. The newspaper reports that the money came from an anonymous benefactor.

Bittick said the donor had seen the concept somewhere else and thought it would be a great idea in light of tensions nationwide between police and the public.

The Telegraph reports that some of the recipients were so moved they broke into tears. But not everyone.

Deputy John Thompson said one motorist cussed him out before learning about the money, and she didn’t get a $100 bill.

Associated Press