ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Swedish police find black flags and beards equal good deeds

HELSINKI

Alerted by a passer-by that bearded men with a black flag were acting suspiciously at a castle ruins in Sweden, police found to their relief that it wasn’t a group of Islamic State sympathizers but a meeting of hirsute do-gooders.

John Ekeblad, co-founder of the Swedish chapter of the Bearded Villains, says the Oct. 10 incident ended with police acknowledging their mistake and even ignoring the brotherhood’s illegal parking on the roadside by Brahehus Castle, outside the city of Jonkoping.

Ekeblad said last Monday that the incident was “hilarious,” and that police drove off laughing. He explained the group promotes equality and does charity work in Sweden.

Bearded Villains, founded in 2014 in Los Angeles, calls itself “a brotherhood of elite bearded men from all over the world.”

Running couple says ‘I do’ at mile 8 of Chicago Marathon

CHICAGO

One couple ran away to get married ... at the Chicago Marathon.

Stephanie Reinhart says she just wanted a “short and sweet ceremony.” Mark Jockel wanted a big wedding surrounded by friends and family. The 35-year-old Reinhart and 46-year-old Jockel compromised, marrying Oct. 11 at the 8-mile mark of the Chicago Marathon in the city’s Boystown neighborhood.

Reinhart wore a white running outfit and held flowers. Jockel wore a tuxedo T-shirt. They exchanged vows under a garden arch decorated with race medals. The ceremony took less than four minutes.

Reinhart says she got her simple wedding and Jockel got “several thousand guests.”

Chicago Marathon organizers gave the couple customized bride and groom bibs. They toasted with Gatorade.

The couple met two years ago through the Chicago Area Runners Association.

Police offer marijuana grower counseling in Facebook post

DANBURY, N.H.

A New Hampshire police department that recently pulled up some marijuana plants has offered the pot grower counseling in a Facebook post.

Last Monday’s post on the Danbury Police Department’s site says if the pot grower gets home, goes for a walk in the woods, finds the summer’s “horticulture project” gone and wants to talk about it, he or she should call.

It says, “We will offer you some counseling to get through your loss.” It says a business card was left.

Accompanying the Facebook post was a photo of marijuana plants on the hood of a police car.

The town of about 1,200 residents is about 30 miles northwest of Concord.

Associated Press