The Odd Truth: June 24, 2005

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Meredith Stoffel.

Down Town Gets Pep Talk

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - People here were buzzing for days over a cryptic announcement from the mayor's office that promised, "Something UNBELIEVABLE is about to happen in Wilkes-Barre."

They wondered: What could Mayor Tom Leighton possibly be planning?

After nearly a week of rampant speculation, nearly 1,000 people showed up to hear what Leighton had to say.

It was a pep talk. Apparently, Wilkes-Barre is so down on itself that the mayor felt compelled to tell people to buck up.

"We must reverse this negative attitude. We must be taught how to believe again," the mayor declared.

And with that, Leighton unveiled a new slogan — "I believe ..." — that has since shown up on buttons, keychains and signs distributed by the mayor's office.

If Wilkes-Barre's working class is skeptical, it is because history hasn't exactly been kind to this once-prosperous city in a valley about 100 miles north of Philadelphia.

The last mayor, Tom McGroarty, rode into office nearly a decade ago with plenty of enthusiasm and ideas. But he was unable to deliver on many of his promises. By the time voters kicked him out of office in 2003, the city was $10.8 million in debt, its credit rating was shot and a political web site had named him the worst mayor in Pennsylvania.

And yet, despite residents' glum outlook, signs are everywhere that Wilkes-Barre is coming back.

Penny Pinching Pays Off

FLOMATON, Ala. - Edmond Knowles started out saving pennies in a 5-gallon can. Thirty-eight years later, he was storing them in four 55-gallon drums and three 20-gallon drums.

The result? Nearly 1.4 million pennies in all.

Knowles, who runs a gas station in a small Alabama town on the Florida line, cashed them in pocketing $13,804.59 after they were counted at a bank.

"It's just something that happened," he said. "I started so long ago that I don't even remember why."

He got some help along the way from customers at Ed's Service Station.

"Customers would come by and say: 'Ed, throw these in your drum,'" he said.

Coinstar Inc., a company that maintains coin-counting machines in banks and supermarkets, said Knowles' 1,380,459 pennies breaks the record of 1,048,013 held by Eugene J. Sukie of Barberton, Ohio.

Coinstar spokesman George White said the company's research and U.S. Census data indicate that coins worth more than $10 billion are sitting idle in American homes. White said the amount collected by Knowles is about the same amount that passes through a person's hands over the years.

"Ed just took the time to close his hand," White said.

Pedal Power

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio - Paul Kramer took the slow lane to get to his niece's wedding.

Kramer, who lives in Southern California, hopped onto his bicycle on April 12 and pulled into his brother's driveway in Ohio, 71 days and 4,250 miles later.

"This is the end of the trail," said Kramer, 61, removing a rearview mirror attached to his glasses. "I'm a little sweaty."

Kramer traveled with about 60 pounds of equipment, a stove, gas bottle, tent, spare inner tubes and bicycle repair tools.

He rode 60 to 65 miles a day and allowed so much time that he arrived ahead of schedule. So he went on to Pittsburgh to visit relatives, then doubled back for Saturday's wedding.

"I took the long way around," he said. "The weather was so nice."

Kramer didn't carry a cell phone because there would be no way to charge it. He sometimes stopped at public libraries to send an e-mail message home.

Kramer plans to pedal home in a few weeks. He says the scenery is worth the effort.

"You are part of the environment," he said. "You are with the birds and animals."

Money Stashed In Woman's Bra Seized

BOSTON - A woman who apparently stuffed $46,950 in cash in her bra before trying to board a plane to Texas for plastic surgery has sued a federal agency, demanding the return of her money.

The money was seized from Ileana Valdez, 26, after a security check at a metal detector at Logan International Airport. Valdez told authorities she was heading to Texas for plastic surgery on her buttocks and breasts.

"I don't know why she was carrying it in her bra," said Boston lawyer Tony V. Blaize, who filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Boston.

In her suit, Valdez said a male Drug Enforcement Administration agent told her she had a nice body and didn't need surgery and then seized the cash, claiming it was drug money.

Valdez said she has no criminal record and earned the money by selling her Dorchester business and two parcels of property in Boston's Jamaica Plain section.

Anthony Pettigrew, a spokesman for the DEA in Boston, said he could not comment on the lawsuit. But he said federal asset forfeiture laws allow agents to seize suspected drug profits.

Lucky Mistake

HOWLAND, Ohio - Eleven dental workers in northeastern Ohio are very happy one of their co-workers made a mistake.

The worker played the wrong lottery game this week for the group. They'd been buying MegaMillions tickets for a year. Instead, she bought an Ohio Super Lotto ticket.

And they ended up winning Saturday's $15 million jackpot.

Lottery officials say the workers will remain anonymous until all eleven come into the claim office.

The winning ticket was sold at the Giant Eagle in Howland, about 14 miles northwest of Youngstown.

'Dream Home' Not Such A Dream

TYLER, Texas - The winner of a Texas "dream home" isn't getting any help from the local government as he tries to find a way to pay his taxes.

The Tyler City Council has refused to change an ordinance that bars Don Cruz from renting out part of his property. He had hoped the rent money would help cover his tax bill.

Cruz says he can't afford the $631,000 in federal taxes he owes on the house he won in this year's Home and Garden Television sweepstakes. He also owes about $32,000 in local taxes.