MOSCOW — Russia’s satellite navigation system is still taking shape, but President Vladimir Putin already has a plan for how to use it: to keep tabs on his black Labrador.
Putin on Monday listened to First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as he briefed the cabinet on the development of GLONASS, the acronym for Global Navigation Satellite System. The Russian leader then asked: “When will I be able to buy the necessary equipment for my dog Koni so that she doesn’t run too far?”
Ivanov responded that collars for dogs and cats with satellite-guided positioning equipment will be available for private consumers in the middle of next year.
GLONASS was developed during the Soviet era as a response to the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS. The system originally had 24 satellites, but their number dwindled after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Thanks to Russia’s booming oil revenues, the government has earmarked funds to revive the system to its full strength and offer it to global consumers.
Wrong number still reaches the right Santa
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — When the wrong numbers started flooding in last year, John Dickson didn’t just hang up.
Instead, he said “Ho ho ho” and solemnly heard requests for laptops and light sabers from children seeking Santa Claus.
Dickson, who runs a Web site promoting Santa Barbara attractions, can be reached at 800-SANTABARBARA (800-726-8222). On a phone pad, that number varies a mere one digit from 800-SANTACLAUS (1-800-726-8225), which enterprising boys and girls had been dialing — and misdialing — like crazy to reach the jolly old fat man of their dreams.
This year, Dickson, a 44-year-old Santa Barbara native, prepared for the onslaught. In fact, he encouraged it, rounding up about 100 volunteers and alerting the media that Kriss Kringle and his emissaries would be taking calls from the world’s children.
“Doing this is more important than my job,” Dickson said. “Santa Claus is really a big deal — a gigantic deal — for these children.”
Since he kicked off the effort a week ago, thousands of kids have checked in, eager for an audience with Santa. After a national TV news spot, more than 1,500 messages cascaded into Dickson’s voicemail in just an hour.
Baby Jesus returned to Texas nativity year later
BRAZORIA, Texas — A figure of the baby Jesus has been returned, a year after it was stolen from a nativity scene.
The figure and the manger that held it were stolen last December from the display off Highway 36 in Brazoria, about 55 miles south of Houston.
The figure mysteriously returned sometime last week.
Resident Bill James said he and his family noticed on Dec. 16 that strong winds had knocked over the figures in the display, and went over to fix them.
“When I went over to stand them up, I saw that the Jesus was back in the manger,” he said. “It’s the same one that was there before.”
Police have no suspects or leads in the theft from the display, which the Brazoria Chamber of Commerce has used for years.
Coin worth more than $1,000 donated
PENSACOLA, Fla. — A platinum coin estimated to be worth more than $1,000 couldn’t fit in a Salvation Army kettle, so the donor handed it over to the bell ringer.
An unidentified person donated the coin Friday outside a Belk department store.
“The man who donated the coin tried to put it in the kettle, but it wouldn’t fit,” Salvation Army spokeswoman Yvonne Warthen said. “So he just handed it to the bell ringer. It just shows how honest our bell ringers are.”
The coin’s face value is $100, but the Salvation Army had it appraised, and initial estimates put its value at about $1,300.
The Salvation Army has also received at least eight gold coins in its kettles this year. One, a one-ounce South African Krugerrand worth about $800, turned up earlier this month in Snohomish County.
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