oddly enough

oddly enough

Siberia’s novel reward for shedding the pounds: coal

MOSCOW

Shedding the pounds in Siberia can come with a particularly welcome reward: coal.

When Aman Tuleyev, the long-serving – and somewhat overweight – governor of Russia’s Kemerovo region promised earlier this year to reward locals with 1.5 metric tons of coal for every 10 kilos lost, everyone thought it was just a joke.

But Tuleyev made good on his promise on Wednesday when Yelena Salnikova, a nurse from a small town of Berezovskiy, got a truck full of the black stuff from authorities in the coal-rich region for losing 30 kilos (66 pounds).

“I had insomnia, headaches – I could hardly climb stairs to the fourth floor,” 43-year-old Salnikova told Mir television.

Her ensuing decision to lose some weight paid dividends Wednesday when local authorities brought a truck to Salnikova’s coal shed and gave her a framed “coal certificate” for losing weight.

The nurse, who went on a diet and started working out, said she had to buy a new wardrobe for the winter season and was happy to save money on heating.

Posses no longer passe in western Pennsylvania county

CLEARFIELD, Pa.

Apparently, the idea of a posse is no longer passe – at least in one western Pennsylvania county.

The (DuBois) Courier-Express reports that Sheriff Wes Thurston is forming the first Volunteer Clearfield County Sheriff’s Posse.

The members will help the sheriff and his deputies respond to natural disasters, or to search for missing children or endangered people, and gather information or other non-emergency tasks.

The sheriff is recommending that volunteers carry a firearm, though he says that’s not necessary to be a volunteer. Thurston says simply, “I think everyone should carry a firearm.”

The largely rural county is seated in Clearfield, about 110 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Police: Man leaves chickens in lobby of Oregon tax office

EUGENE, Ore.

Police say an Oregon man angry with his tax situation left a flock of seven chickens inside the state revenue office.

Police in Eugene said in a news release that they responded to a report Wednesday afternoon of chickens left in the lobby of the Oregon Department of Revenue.

Police and an animal welfare officer rounded up the fowl, and they were taken to an animal shelter.

Officers gave 66-year-old Louis Adler, of Creswell, a trespass notice requiring him to stay away from the office or risk a citation.

Associated Press