Bratislava
Man steals eight kilos of ham on Ash Wednesday
The Slovak tradition of fasting on Ash Wednesday did not prevent a 23 year-old Bratislava resident from breaking into a butcher's delivery car and stealing two blocks of ham weighing almost eight kilograms on February 28. In a shop, the pork would have cost around 1,000 Slovak crowns ($21).
The police apprehended the culprit within a few minutes after the theft. When asked why the police had been able to apprehend the young man so quickly, Bratislava police spokesperson Marta Bujňáková said: "Why? Because the young man didn't know it was Ash Wednesday, and God punished him for his appetite for meat."
Banská Bystrica
Charges to be laid against teenage pot smoker
A Banská Bystrica investigator proposed that 17 year-old Tomáš K. from Detva, who last year in Zvolen purchased marijuana from an unknown dealer, be charged with possession and dealing of drugs.
Tomáš K, who was arrested smoking September 2000 in a Zvolen school yard, had offered the marijuana to seven boys and girls below the age of 15 and then explaining in detail how to inhale the drug. If found guilty, Tomáš K. may be sentenced to up to eight years in jail.
Jasná
Skiers stuck on broken chair-lift for two hours
Some 80 skiers were forced to spend two hours on a stalled chair-lift in the ski resort of Jasná-Záhradky in the Nízke Tatry (Low Tatras) on March 3. When the lift originally broke down, 160 skiers were left in the air, but attending staff managed to return half to the platforms.
To rescue the remaining skiers, who were reportedly quite patient with the turn of events, the mountain rescue service had to climb pillars four to 15 metre-tall and help each skier to the ground. Some, however, decided to jump from the chairs, which resulted in no reported injuries.
Compiled by Martina Pisárová
from SITA, TASR and press reports
