Offbeat

Bears healthy, ready to reenter society

ARLINGTON, Wash. ““ Corky and Pumpkin were together when
agents seized them in a drug raid at the Canadian border. Together,
they were nursed back to health.

This week, the two black bears will leave the Sarvey Wildlife
Center together to join more than 600 creatures at the Wild Animal
Orphanage in San Antonio.

“They went through the abuse together and are bonded to
each other,” Sarvey volunteer Jeff Guidry said. “When
something is happening to one, the other gets very upset and tries
to defend. They’re absolutely inseparable.”

The bears were seized Jan. 27 when U.S. Customs agents found 166
pounds of marijuana in a trailer carrying the bears at the border
crossing in Blaine on Jan. 27.

At the time, the bears weighed 300 to 400 pounds, rather than
the normal 200 to 300, because they had been fed whole turkeys.
They couldn’t climb and their teeth and claws were
broken.

After months of eating fruits, vegetables, berries and breads,
each has lost more than 100 pounds. Both have shiny coats and are
energetic and playful.

During the raid, agents arrested Duane Christopher Bradley, who
pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to distribute marijuana and
was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

At the time of his arrest, Bradley told investigators he was
taking the bears to Hollywood for a movie.

Outhouse enthusiast tries to keep the memory
alive

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. ““ Few people enjoy bathroom humor as
much as Mary Frazier Long. The 71-year-old retired schoolteacher
often gets phone calls from strangers looking to share a few dirty
jokes of their own.

That’s because Long has spent almost 20 years collecting
photos, stories, jokes and information about outhouses, which are
fast becoming a thing of the past.

In 1984, Long and her husband, Dean, published a book called
“Old Georgia Privies,” with photographs of Georgian
outhouses, accompanied by pertinent poems and sayings.

When she retired a decade later, the Lawrenceville resident
began lecturing around the state to civic clubs and church groups.
She donates fees from her talk ““ titled “Privial
Pursuits” ““ and profits from book sales to scholarship
funds.

Idaho named home to the second-best vodka

GRANT, Idaho ““ These spuds make good spirits.

A little vodka operation in the heart of Idaho’s potato
country found itself in rare company with last week’s release
of the 2003 International Review of Spirits.

Silver Creek Distillers’ Blue Ice Vodka was given a 93
rating “”mdash; second only to the Stolichnaya from Russia and
Monopolowa from Austria, each with a score of 94.

Silver Creek’s other potato vodka, Teton Glacier, received
a 92 rating and earned a gold medal.

The results are a pretty sure sign that Idaho potatoes have what
it takes to make world-class vodka, said Gray Ottley, Silver
Creek’s director of strategic planning and customer
relations.

Blue Ice is ready to launch a major marketing campaign in the
coming year.

“They haven’t branded the product yet,” Ottley
said. “Right now it’s just vodka in a pretty
bottle.”

Reports from Daily Bruin wire services.