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Odds & Ends 12/13
snow for wife
Gene Long, of Long County, Ga., 50 miles west of Savannah, Ga., stands on his property early Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006. Long spent Friday night and Saturday morning spreading snow from a snowblowing machine he built on his southeast Georgia property. Long, who is an avid snow lover, said he did it for his wife, Crystal, a native of Pennsylvania who misses snow during the mild Georgia winter months. - photo by Associated Press
Man gives his wife snow for Christmas
ATLANTA — Living in balmy south Georgia, Gene Long knew his wife Crystal pined for the winter snows of her native Pennsylvania.
    So he decided to do something about it.
    Armed with a homemade snowmaking machine, the 41-year-old paramedic and firefighter stayed up overnight during a rare subfreezing snap and crisscrossed their property.
    Saturday morning, he presented her with an inch-deep blanket of snow on their lawn.
    ‘‘She thought it was pretty cool,’’ Long said. ‘‘We actually had a little snowball fight.’’
    Crystal Long said her longing for snow grows deep this time of year.
    ‘‘Oh yes, especially at Christmas time, because people down here are still wearing shorts and tank tops in the middle of December,’’ she said. The 23-year-old native of Cresson, Pa., and her husband have lived in south Georgia’s Long County for five years. The community is about 46 miles west of Savannah.
    Tapping into plans he found on the Internet, her husband built the snow maker from a pressure washer and an air compressor.
    ‘‘I find it kind of fun,’’ he said. But he added, ‘‘It’s kind of ironic, because I don’t like cold weather.’’

Man reports he has been robbed of a pound of marijuana 

    WICHITA, Kan. — A Wichita man called 911 to report he was the victim of an armed robbery.
    The theft? A pound of marijuana worth about $1,100 that he had been trying to sell at his home.
    The victim told police Thursday that a buyer had pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and stole the drugs.
    Police brought a drug-sniffing dog to the house and located more marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
    The victim was booked into Sedgwick County jail on several charges, including possession with the intent to sell drugs.
    The thief has not been found.
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