The Odd Truth, March 22, 2003
The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.
No Taxation, Period
LAS VEGAS - A federal judge ordered a man who claims that tax paying is voluntary in the United States to stop selling his book and giving seminars.
Irwin Schiff is the author of "The Federal Mafia: How It Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes," and offers paid seminars on the topic. Schiff said the judge's temporary order violates his First Amendment rights.
"Banning a book! The government is trying to prevent me from telling the truth about the income tax," the 75-year-old said Thursday.
Department of Justice lawyer Evan Davis said Schiff advised people to file false income tax returns listing zero income and zero liability, and had 3,100 clients attempting to evade $56 million in taxes. Davis called it one of the largest tax scams in U.S. history.
The judge issued the temporary order against Schiff on Wednesday and will decide April 7 whether to make it permanent.
Swingers Busted On Commuter Train
MINEOLA, New York - The train was a rockin' and the cops came a knockin'. A threesome was busted on a New York commuter train for having sex in front the passengers. Now, Dennis Greene has been found guilty of public lewdness. His brother Lyle and sister-in-law Francine were also arrested last September. They've since pleaded guilty. Authorities say the three were going at it in a Long Island Rail Road car occupied by at least 15 other people. All three will be sentenced in May and face up to 90 days in jail.
Jakarta's Finest To Grow Jakarta's Finest Produce
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Cash-strapped police shaking down citizens for some of the green stuff is part of daily life in Indonesia. To reel back graft, a police chief wants his officers to develop green thumbs instead.
Bogor Police Col. Anton Bachrul Alam said Friday he was encouraging officers to grow tomatoes, lettuce and flowers at home to supplement their often meager income.
"Their official wages are barely enough to live on. It's better than extorting people or taking bribes," he said.
Alam said a hydrophonics expert would teach officers and their family to grow plants using nutrient solutions rather than soil, making them easier to harvest. A police cooperative will help them sell their crops, he said.
Bogor has about 3,000 policemen who earn on average one million rupiah, or $111 dollars per month.
Indonesia's security forces are notorious for petty graft, running illegal enterprises and taking bribes from drug smugglers and gambling operators.
BellSouth Customers Greeted With Phone Sex
ATLANTA - They may expect Southern charm, but some BellSouth Internet customers found the service was a little too friendly when they called a toll-free number listed in the phone book.
The number for a phone sex operation was mistakenly printed in most of the 50 million residential phone books the company sent out in the past year.
In previous years, BellSouth's White Pages listed the number for its Internet services line as 1-800-4DOTNET. In the 2002 books, the company decided to put the corresponding numerals, but botched one number.
The mistake was caught Feb. 13 when a customer complained, BellSouth spokesman David Rogers said this week. Residential phone books sent out since then have been corrected.
The wrong number was listed in the front customer guide section of the White Pages, Rogers said. However, the correct number was still under the appropriate heading in the business listings, he said.
BellSouth had considered buying the phone sex operation's number to avoid confusion with its customers, but abandoned that idea, Rogers said.
Giant Lunchbox Named Cultural Monument
LOS ANGELES - Want a side of history with that burger? How about a little culture with that chili dog?
The Munch Box, a 300-square-foot hickory-burger joint where burly bikers are often seen lunching alongside millionaire developers, has been added to the city's list of historic-cultural monuments.
"These types of establishments that once abounded virtually no longer exist and are only seen in old photographs or movie clips," Councilman Hal Bernson said when the City Council unanimously passed his motion this week.
The Munch Box, opened in 1956, which resembles an oversized lunch box, once sported a hitching post so riders could tie their horses and join patrons such as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in consuming chili dogs and root beers.
More than 1,500 residents signed petitions to save the stand, some describing it as one of the valley's best surviving examples of so-called Coffee Shop Moderne architecture.
Let The Grumping Begin!
READLYN, Iowa - The welcome sign for Readlyn says it's home to 857 friendly people - and one old grump.
That person isn't identified, and each year several people vie for grump-of-the-year distinction.
The two qualifications are that they're residents of Readlyn in northeast Iowa and are at least 65 years old.
On Saturday, residents cast their votes during the Readlyn Community Club membership dinner.
Wilbert Hagenow says the distinction is dubious but he hopes it's him.
He's lived here for 83 years.
The grump coronation caps the city's Grump Days, which will be held June 11th-through-22nd this year.
The winner is crowned with a white baseball cap.
New Mexicans Name Everything After New Mexico
SANTA FE, N.M. - New Mexico could soon regain its title as the "Land of Enchantment" -complete with its own butterfly, toad and lizard.
A bill that would restore the distinction plus name new official state critters won approval from the state Legislature and awaits the governor's signature.
The Sandia hairstreak - a small, green-and-gold butterfly found in much of the state - would become the official state butterfly.
The New Mexico whiptail lizard would be the official state reptile, while the New Mexico spadefoot toad assumes the role of official amphibian.
They would join a list of official symbols that include a state bird, tree, animal, vegetable, gem, grass, fossil, fish, flower, cookie and insect.
The legislation makes New Mexico "the Land of Enchantment" again. The nickname was accidentally deleted from state statutes when that portion of the law was amended a few years ago.
But one colleague wasn't so enchanted.
"It seems to me we spend an awful lot of time and an awful lot of money worrying about these things," said Sen. William Sharer.
Bad Moon Rising
ATHENS, Texas - A man who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault had an additional six months tacked onto his eight-year sentence after he mooned the judge.
Judge Jim Parsons held 40-year-old Ray Mason in contempt of court Monday after he dropped his pants and showed Parsons and the rest of the court his backside.
"He said something like, 'Hey, judge, look at this," Assistant District Attorney Barry Spencer recalled. About 70 other people were in the courtroom at the time, Spencer said.
"I've been practicing criminal law for well over 20 years, and I've seen a lot of things," said Mason's defense attorney John Sickel. "This is the first time anything like that has happened."
Man Eats 19,000th Big Mac, And Lives
FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Don Gorske is already in the Guinness Book of World Records for eating Big Macs - but it's not about the fame anymore.
Gorske, who downed his 19,000th Big Mac Tuesday, said he wouldn't know what else to eat if it weren't for Big Macs.
"I'd be clueless," he said, adding that he ate a piece of pizza recently, but it "just wasn't the same."
"It wasn't my first choice," he said.
Gorske, 49, of Fond du Lac, eats two Big Macs per day and drinks little else beside Coke. He also keeps track of everything he eats in a notebook.
"I admit I'm obsessive compulsive," he says. "I have so many compulsions."
At 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, Gorske said he proves that foods you love don't have to make you fat.
In fact, attorneys defending McDonald's against a lawsuit claiming its food makes people fat used Gorske as an example of someone who frequently ate fast food but stayed slim.
FBI Recovers Stolen Bill Of Rights
PHILADELPHIA - An original copy of the Bill of Rights stolen from the North Carolina statehouse by a Union soldier during the Civil War was recovered in an undercover sting, the FBI said Wednesday.
An FBI agent, in a two-hour meeting in Philadelphia on Tuesday, posed as a philanthropist trying to buy the document for the National Constitution Center, a new museum being built in Philadelphia's historic district. The agent met with a broker representing the seller, who wanted $4 million, authorities said.
After some discussion, the broker called a courier.
"A courier appeared with this document in a cardboard box, if you can believe that," said Jeffrey A. Lampinski, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia office.
The handwritten document - one of at least 14 copies made in 1791 for the first 13 states and the federal government - is faded but in "reasonable condition," said Joseph Torsella, the museum's president. Curators put its value at $20 million to $30 million, he said.
"It's telling that in America our treasures aren't gold or jewels, but ideas," Torsella said.
No arrests were made, but no one has been promised immunity, the FBI said.
Tomb Raider's Tomb Raided
LONDON - Actress Angelina Jolie was left frockless for Sunday's Academy Awards after the gown she planned to wear was stolen from the car of British designer Scott Henshall in central London.
The $4,700 gown was among seven dresses and jewelry and accessories worth a total of $62,400 that were snatched from the back of the designer's convertible in the fashionable Knightsbridge district on Wednesday, said spokesman Paul Bhari.
A "devastated" Henshall is now on a plane to Los Angeles with alternative dresses for Jolie to consider, Bhari said.
"He is so upset. He was in Harvey Nichols (an upmarket department store) when he came out to find someone had slashed through the soft-top of his BMW and had taken the dresses on the back seat," he said. "I think his reaction was immediate panic. He started looking in bins nearby."
Jolie, the star of "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," won a supporting-actress Oscar in the year 2000 for "Girl, Interrupted."
All seven dresses, featuring heavy beading and trimmings such as ostrich feathers, were from Henshall's catwalk collection of 20 dresses that were shown at last month's London Fashion Week. No copies had been made.
Jolie's outfit was a body-hugging, red corset dress decorated with cherubs. Also stolen was a harlequin sequined mini-dress destined for millionaire hotel heiress Paris Hilton.
S.C. House Suggests Dixie Chicks Play Free
COLUMBIA, South Carolina - If the Dixie Chicks want to show that they're sorry - they could give a free concert for U.S. troops.
That's the suggestion from members of the South Carolina House. It's the latest reaction to comments from a member of the country music trio criticizing President Bush for moving toward war against Iraq.
The Dixie Chicks are scheduled to perform the first concert of their U.S. tour in Greenville, South Carolina, in May.
And one state lawmaker says they should perform for free, for South Carolina troops and their families. Her resolution was approved by a vote of 50-to-35.
Lead Singer Natalie Maines told an audience in London last week that she's "ashamed" that Bush is from Texas - which is also where Maines is from.
She has publicly apologized. But radio stations around the country are boycotting the group.
Fearful Potato Farmers Proclaim 'Amercian Fries'
BOISE, Idaho - These red, white and blue spuds are for you. The Potato Growers of Idaho want you to forget about french fries. They're now American Fries. The growers' group is worried that anti-French sentiment could put a dent in fry sales, in light of France's opposition to the war against Iraq. So, the spud ranchers have given an all-American name to the nation's favorite type of potatoes.
Lewinski To Host Fox Reality TV Show
LOS ANGELES - Handbag designer and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky has a new job: reality TV host.
Lewinsky has been hired for the Fox series "Mr. Personality," a dating show in which a female contestant is courted by men whose looks are kept hidden.
Fox says the men "must rely strictly on their personalities to captivate" the woman.
In a statement released by the network, Lewinsky says "Since Fox is the network that has had the greatest success with this genre, I was very excited when they approached me to host the show. It sounds like good fun."
Fox has scored ratings hits with reality shows, including "American Idol" and "Joe Millionaire."
The series is scheduled to begin April 21st.
The Undisputed Stinker
MONTPELIER, Vt. - An annual rotten sneaker contest included a little international competition when an entry came in from the crew of the USS Montpelier submarine.
The sneaker arrived double-bagged from an undisclosed location in the Persian Gulf where the submarine is currently deployed. But the shoe arrived with an unmistakable odor of fish.
Contestants are required to be under the age of 15, but contest organizers still gave the military shoe an honorary title of "most rotten sneaker."
"That's a weapon of mass destruction right there," said commentator Dave Moody, who moderated the 28th annual contest.
The rotten sneaker contest began in 1975 as a way to help a local sporting goods store sell shoes.
Ten-year-old Jeffry Soto walked away with the contest's top prize Tuesday — a $500 savings bond. However, he's not taking full credit for the sneakers, which stumped a judge in the "heels" category because they didn't have any heels left.
The fifth grader says his pit bull helped make his entry the winner.
"I had a fight with my dog," said Soto, who lives in the Bronx, N.Y., and advanced from the local competition held there last November. "I was trying to get it away from him because he uses it as a chew toy."
Supreme Contradiction
CLEVELAND - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia banned broadcast media from an appearance Wednesday where he will receive an award for supporting free speech.
The City Club usually tapes speakers for later broadcast on public television, but Scalia insisted on banning television and radio coverage, the club said. Scalia is being given the organization's Citadel of Free Speech Award.
"I might wish it were otherwise, but that was one of the criteria that he had for acceptance," said James Foster, the club's executive director.
The ban on broadcast media, "begs disbelief and seems to be in conflict with the award itself," C-SPAN vice president and executive producer Terry Murphy wrote in a letter last week to the City Club. "How free is speech if there are limits to its distribution?"
The club previously gave its award to former U.S. Sen. John Glenn after his retirement in 1998 in recognition of his opposition to a constitutional amendment to flag-burning.
The City Club selected Scalia for protecting free speech in several Supreme Court cases, including voting to strike down a Texas flag-burning ban.
Cameras and recording devices are banned from the Supreme Court chamber, and Scalia prefers not to have camera coverage in other settings, said Kathleen Arberg, spokeswoman for the court.
"The Constitution just sets minimums," Scalia said. "Most of the rights that you enjoy go way beyond what the Constitution requires."
Upset Fan Chews Off Soccer Player's Ear
CORBY, England - Nineteen years after scoring the winner in a cup semifinal, former Watford striker George Reilly had his ear bitten off by a fan of the losing team.
Reilly was Watford's matchwinner in his side's 1-0 victory against Plymouth Argyle in the 1984 FA Cup semifinal. After retiring from soccer, he became a bricklayer.
Reilly was working on a construction site earlier this week in Corby in central England when another workman punched him to the ground, chewed off his right ear and whispered, "Plymouth" into the other ear.
The unidentified attacker fled. No arrests were made.
The former Watford, Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion striker needed 50 stitches to sew his ear back on and eight more stitches for a gash above his eye.
"I can't believe someone held a grudge for that long," Reilly was quoted as saying Wednesday in the Sun tabloid . "I know people have strong loyalties but this is taking it a bit far."
The 1984 game was the closest Plymouth has been to reaching the final of English soccer's most prestigious cup competition. Watford lost to Everton in the final and has never won the trophy.
CNN Rebuffs Turner As War Correspondent
NEW YORK - CNN is saying no thanks to founder Ted Turner. The media tycoon says he volunteered to go to Baghdad as part of the network's reporting team. Turner lost control of CNN in the company's merger into AOL Time Warner. Turner told a breakfast sponsored by Syracuse University's Newhouse School that his offer was turned down. Turner jokes that he's pretty well wiped out financially, so he might as well go down in flames.
Getting Grandma Drunk
OSLO, Norway - Residents of five retirement homes in Norway drank a toast to the police this week, thanks in part to the 2,000 cans of free beer they got from them.
Police in Vaagsoy, 373 miles northwest of the capital, Oslo, confiscated the German beer earlier this year, but weren't sure what to do with it.
They didn't want to dump it, but they couldn't keep it for themselves, either.
"The other option would have been to destroy the beer," police inspector Nils Bakke said Wednesday.
Rangnhild Hold, the administrator of the Brygja Retirement Home said the beer was a welcome addition to the menu.
"People like to have a beer with food," she said.
"Since we got the beer this weekend, only about three cans have been emptied," Holm said. "We have enough beer for a very long time."
Holm said it made more sense to give it to residents of the retirement homes.
"There will be a more controlled use here," she said.
Resume Returned 31 Years Late
YORK, Pennsylvania - Lottie Kiessling now knows why she didn't get a job she applied for 31 years ago.
Her application never arrived.
She found that out last week when the yellowed envelope showed up - unopened - in the mail at her Pennsylvania home.
With it was a letter from the Postal Service explaining that the letter had been delivered to the wrong address.
Kiessling had written to the Community Progress Council in 1972, applying for a job as community outreach organizer.
She mailed the application with an eight-cent stamp.
Kiessling is now 80 years old. She says she wonders if the job is still available.
Gator Capers Could Face 20 Years
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Two men were arrested on charges of stealing young alligators from a moat around a miniature golf course.
Brett Lassetter Clark, 21, and Philip Andrew Bryant, 19, were charged Tuesday with one count each of burglary and grand theft, though police said they are certain they are responsible for the thefts of the remaining four alligators, each about 3 to 4 feet long, in December.
"We don't know where the other four are," said Clearwater Police Sgt. Doug Griffith.
Police said the men admitted to stealing only one alligator, which they said they released into a creek.
But Griffith said that since the creek has salty water, the alligator likely did not survive. Police haven't found any alligator carcasses.
Griffith said police are still looking for two other people believed to have witnessed the thefts.
Clark and Bryant face up to 20 years in prison, Griffith said. They were being held at the Pinellas County jail, and a bond amount had not yet been set.
Rats Getting Bad Rap, Say Rat Lovers
FERNDALE, Mich. - Rat lovers say the furry creatures often get a bad rap, and Hollywood isn't helping things.
Pet rats are intelligent and loyal, owners and breeders say. But they fear those virtues are being obscured by "Willard," the new remake of a 1971 horror film about a young man who trains an army of killer rats.
"The funny thing is, I've had mice, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and I've been nipped by all of them. I've never been bitten by a rat," said Pat Hunt of B'wana Don's Pet Center in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale.
Rats often serve as classroom pets because they get along with children and they're smart enough to be trained. They're nothing like the bloodthirsty beasts portrayed in "Willard," said Christine Reed, manager of a pet store that caters to rat owners.
"Professionally speaking and as a pet owner of rats, I can say this movie is generating people wanting rats for the wrong reason," Reed said.
Kesha Greenwood, 20, of Detroit saw "Willard" last weekend and said the movie did nothing to improve her view of rats.
"Rats. Rabies," she said. "Rats as pets? That's just not right."
A few rat fans have embraced "Willard." A group called the Rat Fan Club staged a look-alike contest for rats resembling the stars of the movie.
NCAA = Billions In Lost Productivity
CHICAGO - March Madness could be making your boss mad. Personnel consultants Challenger, Gray and Christmas Incorporated estimate the NCAA tournament is costing 1.4 billion in lost worker productivity. The Chicago-based firm did some rough calculations, estimating that college grads would spend about ten minutes a day talking about the tournament. But there's an upside to the basketball mania. The company says filling out those brackets and the watercooler talk could provide some needed relief in these stressed-out times.
'JEWBAN,' And Proud Of It
MIAMI - State officials say a Florida man's personalized license plate that reads "JEWBAN" is OK after all.
That's because the term is commonly used by Cuban Jews in South Florida to describe themselves.
"It became apparent that the prevailing interpretation of Jewban is not derogatory to a group," said Bob Sanchez, spokesman for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Tabares Gomer, 63, said he got the plate last year because he is proud of his Cuban Jewish heritage. But the Highway Safety department wrote him asking that he remove the plate, which could be construed as anti-Semitic.
Gomer appealed.
"I am a Cuban Jew and people call me Jewban. That's not offensive to anyone," Tabares Gomer said. "If they take my plate away, they take away my identity."
The department told him Friday that the plate was his for keeps.
82-Year-Old Nude Man Used As Company Symbol
CLEVELAND - The Progressive insurance company is taking full disclosure to the extreme. Progressive features a naked man in its annual report. The Cleveland-area company has spiced up the usually straight-laced financial document with photos of a nude 82-year-old man. But the old guy doesn't reveal all of his hidden assets. Strategically placed hands and knees protect his modesty. Progressive President Glenn Renwick says the bare report is in keeping with the company's theme of transparency in its financial transactions.
Tenn. Bans Porno Movies In Cars
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Porno and driving don't mix — at least not in Tennessee. The state Senate has voted unanimously to ban X-rated videos from cars and other vehicles if the TV screens can be seen from the street. Senator Mark Norris filed the legislation after getting a complaint from a constituent. The man said his daughters could see a sex tape being played in a van stopped at a red light. But the measure wouldn't outlaw all mobile red light districts. Porno fans could still watch sex tapes if their car windows are tinted or covered by shades.
Justice Is Blind, Careless
ST. LOUIS - A judge signed the wrong paperwork and sent a burglary suspect to jail three months ago, but the man was never tried and never convicted.
While rules bar lawyers from publicly discussing the case, court documents reported Sunday by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provided some details.
Circuit Judge Julian Bush said the suspect's lawyer evidently prepared a judgment document in anticipation of a guilty plea, but Michael Cook instead pleaded innocent.
"I carelessly did not look at the papers carefully enough and signed the sentence and judgment," Bush said Wednesday in a hearing transcript. "And off went Mr. Cook. It's my fault."
Bush rescinded his five-year sentence for Cook, 46, of Belleville, Ill., who has been in custody since he was charged nearly a year ago with second-degree burglary in two break-ins in 2001. He is unable to raise his $5,000 bail.
If Cook is found guilty, he will simply get credit on his sentence for time spent waiting for a trial. However, if he's found innocent, the error could have cost him extra months behind bars.
Man Falls Asleep In Dryer
LAKE CARMEL, N.Y. - In Putnam County, a woman screaming about a leg in a dryer had Kent Police thinking they had a murder case. Sergeant Ronald Yeager went to the 24-hour Self Service Laundromat in Lake Carmel at 6:30 yesterday morning and saw the leg hanging out of the large commercial dryer — just where the woman said it was.
However, Sergeant Yeager opened the door and looked inside the dryer. He found 41-year-old Kevin Johnston of Lake Carmel.
Police say Johnston told them he was walking home from a nearby tavern and decided to seek temporary shelter from the cold. He climbed into the dryer and fell asleep.
He was allowed to go home.
Thou Shalt Not Steal
OSLO, Norway — Pastor Stig Laegdene knows the Ten Commandments, including No. 8: "Thou shalt not steal."
Car thieves in his neighborhood, however, seemed to have skipped it.
Laegdene, a Lutheran pastor who preaches to small-time criminals and others on the streets of Tromsoe, 1,100 miles north of the capital, Oslo, had his car stolen twice last week.
"I know hundreds of criminals, but I don't know if it was 'my criminals' who stole my car this time," Laegdene told The Associated Press Sunday.
Since he started preaching in Tromsoe, his 1986 Saab 900 has been stolen seven times. It's typically returned — or someone tells him where to pick it up — the next day after word gets out about its owner.
"When they find it was my car, I get it back," he said, usually in the same condition.
The last time it was stolen, March 12, his car was returned to him with nearly everything in it, including his robe. Missing was a bottle of wine and a sheaf of his sermons.
"I hope they read them," he said of the thieves. "They were pretty good."
Donald Duck Beats Saddam In Finn Elections
HELSINKI, Finland - Saddam Hussein's time might be running out, but he can take small comfort that at least one Finn thought he should serve in the Nordic country's parliament.
The ballot for the Iraqi president was among 24,400 rejected votes, representing nearly 1 percent of the total votes cast in Sunday's national elections for the 200-seat parliament.
Some 70 percent of Finland's eligible 4.2 million voters cast their ballots in the election.
Other unusual vote winners included Osama bin Laden, who got a pair of votes; Cuban leader Fidel Castro with one vote; and the classic French character Obelix. But cartoon character Donald Duck got the most oddball votes.
"Donald got about a dozen votes. He always wins," said Heikki Liljeroos, second secretary of the Helsinki electorate committee.
All ballots are handcounted.
If a ballot is scribbled, empty, illegible or has an invalid number on it, it is automatically rejected.
In the last election in 1999, 28,800 ballots were rejected, representing 1.1 percent of all votes cast.
Labor Not Very Laborious
BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio - Motherhood really snuck up on Linda Erwin-Hutchins.
The Ohio woman started feeling abdominal pains Thursday and seven hours later, she gave birth to a baby girl.
Erwin-Hutchins didn't even know she was pregnant.
She said she was never sick, never gained weight and never got tired.
The 41-year-old said she and her husband were not trying to have children, but they are both delighted. The couple has been married for ten years and this is their first child.
Erwin-Hutchins says when her husband found out he was a dad, his eyes were as big as saucers.
Little Caitlin Meryl Hutchins is said to be doing fine. She weighed in at five pounds, one ounce.
Poor Man Leaves Millions To Church
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. — Bill Seefeldt's friends thought he was just scraping by, living in a cluttered cabin, clutching coupons and wearing threadbare clothes.
But when Seefeldt died last year at 89, he left $4.6 million to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
"He never let on that he had that kind of money," said Jean Thompson, a friend and music director at Prior Lake's Church of St. Michael, where the retired military chaplain celebrated Mass every Monday until he was 87. "Father Bill was so tight. He was a cranky old thing, but lovable."
Seefeldt was a chaplain for 30 years — first for the Army during World War II, then for the Minnesota National Guard and the Minneapolis Veterans Medical Center.
But for the past 20 years, St. Michael's was his spiritual home and family. Once a week he would arrive at the parish office with stale doughnuts or his signature banana bread for the staff, bragging about the deal he got on bananas.
Seefeldt parlayed a family inheritance of $100,000 and pensions from the Army, civil service and his Social Security into a fortune with the investment advice of Roy Stueve, a friend of 50 years.
"Father Bill had the Midas touch," Stueve said. "He gave me some money to invest in the market. I said I could lose it all. He said not to worry, the good Lord would provide."