Čereňany
Giant sunflower
THE GIANT sunflower was a surprise for the Vincúr family.photo: TASR
A FOUR-METRE-TALL sunflower decorates the garden of Amália and František Vincúr from the village of
Čereňany near Nitra in western Slovakia.
The giant sunflower is also special because unlike regular
sunflowers, it has dozens of flowers making the plant look more like a tall sunflower bush.
The family says
that they never planted a sunflower seed and it is therefore believed that the wind must have blown it into their
potato field.
Turzovka
Melon-eating marathon
INHABITANTS and visitors in Turzovka in northern Slovakia have set the first-ever record in a watermelon-
eating relay.
A total of 1,003 participants ate 67 red melons weighing 274 kilograms in just under 12 hours,
said Igor Svítok from the Slovak Records organisation.
According to Svítok the Turzovka melon relay was
the first of its kind in the world.
Brezno
Biting off less than he can chew
STRONGMAN Martin Božík, 26, from the western town of Trnava beat his personal best by lifting 130
kilograms with his teeth at a football stadium in the central Slovak town of Brezno on August 14.
Shortly
before his performance the wannabe Guiness book recorder said: "I hope nothing will happen to me and that my
teeth and my neck remain unhurt."
"My goal is to lift 300 kilos with my teeth," he added.
Zvolen
Candlelit toilet goes up in flames
TWO flats burned down after a nine-year-old left a candle alight in a toilet.
The daily Pravda reported that
the young boy lit the candle because the power had been disconnected after his parents failed to pay the bill.
After leaving the toilet, the boy forgot about the candle and a large fire started eventually damaging two
flats and causing damage of an estimated Sk1 million (€24,000).
Košice
New cycle route opened
A NEW cycling route was opened near the eastern town to Košice to the joy of hundreds of local sports fans.
The 40-kilometre-long route known as the Hornád, named after the local river, starts off in the Košice
suburb of Krásna nad Hornádom and continues to Skároš village close to the Hungarian border before looping
back to Košice.
It is planned that the new route will in the future be connected with the Hungarian side of
the border.
Štefan Szabó from Košice's Sosna Civic Association said: "I think that the opening of a border
crossing would be profitable for the development of tourism in both border areas. It would also enable us to
connect the Hornád route with existing routes our neighbours have built."
Dolná Maríková
Crumbling kindergarten
WITH NO money for repairs, pupils in a kindergarten in Dolná Maríková will continue to face constant danger
in a building that is threatening to crumble any minute with a large crack on one outside wall.
Maríková
mayor Marián Lokšík told the daily Nový čas that his village could not afford the Sk500,000 (€12,000) needed
for the repairs.
"The whole wall needs to be pulled down and a new one needs to be built. The roof must
also be fixed," Lokšík said.
Lokšík has already asked the Education Ministry for special funds so that he is
able to address the critical situation. The ministry has refused to help.
According to the ministry's
spokeswoman, Michaela Dobošová, there was no extra money to spend on similar requests.
"Currently the
money from the maintenance [budget] must [go to] covering energy costs," she said.
Bratislava
Activist caught drug-driving
HEAD of activist group People Against Racism Ladislav Ďurkovič was involved in a car accident between
Bratislava and Stupava in which four people were injured on August 18.
Tests carried out on the
campaigner following the accident showed traces of marihuana and hashish in his urine, private TV Markíza
reported.
Initially, Ďurkovič claimed that he had not taken any drugs, but later he told Markíza that, prior to
the accident, he had been in an environment where drugs were being taken and that his friends had played a trick
on him by making him eat a cake containing marihuana.
