Považská Bystrica
Doctor fired for slapping child
DOCTOR Peter Prekop, the head of the otolaryngology department in a Považská Bystrica hospital was fired for slapping a three-year-old child during an examination.
During a regular appointment, Prekop slapped Michal Vallo in front of the boy's mother, who was holding him in her arms.
According to the SME daily, Prekop considers the price he had to pay for slapping the boy inappropriate. He told the daily that the boy was shouting, crying, and kicking, and so he slapped him, a method he considers "normal to calm a child down ". Prekop also said that he did not smack the boy very hard.
Michal's mother, Mária Vallová from Horný Moštenec, immediately went to see the hospital's director, who decided to fire Prekop on the spot.
The boy was hospitalised with laryngitis.
Vallová said that the doctor gave her boy a hard slap and that the incident left Michal in shock because he had never been hit before.
The mother also said that even the next day the doctor's fingers were imprinted on the boy's face and the bruise only disappeared after a week.
"The consequence is that now when we recently had an appointment he was scared to go to the hospital," Vallová said.
She denied that Michal was restless during the incident, arguing that he only "slightly hit" the doctor with his leg, to which the doctor reacted with the slap.
Podbiel
Cop on a Wehrmacht bike
BORDER officer Vladimír Krupa, an enthusiast collector of military technology, has a German military bike the Nazi army used during the second world war, and every time he goes out in the streets, he attracts major attention.
The three wheel antique bike is in good shape, but Krupa says that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find spare parts for it.
"I don't drive it very often. I want to save it," Krupa told the Pravda daily.
He bought the bike, produced in 1939, 25 years ago from a collector from Prague, the Czech Republic, and he then rebuilt it according to photographs from the time.
Galanta
Granny found by helicopter
AN 80-YEAR-OLD grandmother who disappeared on July 12 was found three days later in a search using a helicopter just two kilometres away from her house in Vinohrady nad Váhom in the Galanta district.
According to the private news agency SITA, the woman left her home on the evening of July 12. Police were told that she was missing one day later and immediately launched a search.
When police found the woman, she was sitting in a field and sorting grain. According to SITA, she thought she was sitting at home. The old woman suffers from sclerosis.
READY for a snack.photo: SME - Ján Krošlák
Bojnice
Elephant females 20 years in zoo
ELEPHANT females Maja and Guľa are celebrating their 20th year in the zoo of the western Slovak town of Bojnice.
They came to the zoo at the age of two and now belong among the oldest and arguably the most popular of its animals.
Each of the elephants weighs around four tonnes and eats around 170 to 200 kilos of fruit and vegetables a day, wrote the SME daily. Their annual diet costs the zoo around Sk160,000 (€4,008) each.
Visitors, however, help feed Maja and Guľa. The zoo sells packages of vegetable and fruits that can be handed out to the animals.
"We watch carefully so that the elephants do not eat too much. Every day we count how many packages were sold and the elephants are then fed with the rest of their daily ration," said Ivan Kmeť from the Bojnice zoo, which enjoys a large number of visitors every year.
Maja and Guľa also entertain visitors with a short programme. They know how to grab a ringing bell with their trunks, step over their trainer, and play soccer.
"This is not typical circus training. We want this to be fun not just for the children but also for the elephants. It should also fill their long day to some extent," said Kmeť.
Elephants only sleep around four hours a day, usually while standing.
Trenčín
Big baby girl
A BABY weighing 6.1 kilograms is the biggest born in the last 30 years in western Slovakia's Trenčín city hospital.
Vanesa was 54 centimetres long at birth, the state run news agency TASR wrote, and came by way of a caesarean section.
"In 36 years of experience I haven't seen such a big baby," Veronika Vicianová, head of the maternity ward, said to TASR.
The doctors expected the baby would be this big and in order not to scare the mother they told her that it would weigh 4.5 kilos.
The mother, Jana Hlávková, 39, was in good condition after the birth, doctors said.
Vanesa has two twin brothers waiting for her at home - 12-year-olds Dušan and Daniel - and a 10-year-old brother named Roman.
"After [I got] anaesthesia I heard that it was six kilos 10. I did not believe that it was mine; that I could give birth to such a big baby. But I was very happy. It's a great happiness when a baby is born healthy," said Hlávková.
Zuberec
School turns into hostel for the summer
AN ELEMENTARY school in the northern Slovak village of Zuberec turns into a hostel over summer vacation.
Tourists rather than pupils occupy the classrooms and school desks are replaced with beds, the SME daily wrote. The summer activity helps the school earn some extra money.
"We started working in tourism in 1998. Our school was the first in the Tvrdošín district to become a legal subject [entitled to carry out business activities]," said school principal Marta Šimičáková.
"We started off with funding provided by the municipal office, with which we bought the beds," the principal said.
Gradually, as the tourists multiplied, the school was able to buy more equipment and later had enough money to invest in reconstruction and new toilets. The building, which also houses the school gym, now also has nine rooms to rent and, in case of need, beds are also placed in the classrooms.
One night costs Sk80 (€2) and a full day's meals cost another Sk180 (€4.5).
The business venture has paid off for the school.
"It was worth it. We have funds for maintenance, reconstruction, and we also set up a computer room. We don't lack money for school tools and we never start a new year in debt," said Šimičáková.
Bratislava
Comedian may be sentenced for deadly accident
THE WELL known Slovak comedian Štefan Skrúcaný may go to jail for up to five years for killing a woman in the town of Považská Bystrica on June 11 as he was speeding in his Mercedes E320.
Police found that he was exceeding the speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour by more than 30 km/h, the private news agency SITA wrote.
According to Trenčín Police Spokeswoman Katarína Hlavá-čová, in addition to speeding, the celebrity did not give right of way to the victim, who was in a crosswalk. Skrúcaný was sober at the time of the accident.
The victim, a 73-year-old retired woman, died immediately, suffering injuries to her head and multiple fractures. Skrúcaný cancelled all his performances after the tragedy.
Hlaváčová said that Skrúcaný faces a jail term of between six months and five years, or a fine.
