oddly enough

oddly enough

NY tourism website urges visitors to go to Florida instead

ITHACA, N.Y.

The tourism office of Ithaca, N.Y., is waving the white flag on winter and advising visitors to its website to check out the Florida Keys instead.

VisitIthaca.com’s home page displays Sunshine State vacation photos and provides links to the website for tourism information about the Florida Keys and Key West.

The top of the Ithaca page reads: “That’s it. We surrender. Winter, you win. Key West anyone?”

Referring to “this ridiculously stupid winter,” the Ithaca website suggests visiting the Florida Keys this week and returning “when things thaw out.”

Ithaca and the rest of upstate New York have been in the grips of a snowy and brutally cold winter. The most-recent cold snap sent temperatures plunging as low as 28 degrees below zero in the Adirondacks early Tuesday.

Sea lion pup hitches ride with family on kayak in California

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.

A family out for a kayak trip in California picked up an unexpected hitchhiker: a sea lion pup that hopped on for a 20-minute ride.

Video aired by KEYT-TV shows the little sea lion enjoying the sunshine on the back of the kayak in Santa Barbara on Saturday.

The family from Orange County says the sea lion hopped up and made itself comfortable, even cuddling up with the dad as he paddled with his kids.

A crowd gathered on the pier to watch as the pup relaxed and enjoyed the journey.

Judge officiates man’s marriage, then sentences him

CODY, Wyo.

A Wyoming man’s “I do” wasn’t followed by a kiss, cake or honeymoon but a prison sentence for an August crime spree.

The Powell Tribune reports that 25-year-old Israel Silva wore an orange jail jumpsuit and shackles when District Judge Steven Cranfill wed him and 19-year-old Ivy Koryne Smith in a Cody courtroom last week. Smith stayed 15 feet away from Silva to comply with the jail’s “no contact” rules. Right after, Cranfill sentenced Silva to six to 10 years in prison for a drunken crime spree in which he stole and crashed two pickup trucks, fired shots at other vehicles and led police on a chase that reached speeds of up to 110 mph.

Arrested ex-minister wants to wallpaper her cell

BUCHAREST, Romania

A former Romanian tourism minister in detention on corruption charges has asked to be allowed to wallpaper and paint her cell walls.

Marius Stribulea, lawyer to Elena Udrea, said his client, one of the most influential Romanian politicians in the past decade, wanted to renovate her current accommodation.

“As you know, the conditions are not the best,” he said Tuesday. Mediafax reported that the flamboyant 41-year-old politician wanted to wallpaper her cell walls, as well as paint the bars and radiator.

Associated Press