Editorials

Beach wedding at 7-Eleven 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A former manager and employee of a convenience store returned to the place they met for their wedding — the 7-Eleven at 7:11 a.m. on July 11. 

“I figured if I got married at 7:11 on 7/11 in 7-Eleven, it’d be hard to forget my anniversary,” groom Randy Kimball said. 

Kimball met his bride, Sharon Stehli, at the store when she applied for a job two years ago. 

“We met here so we didn’t consider getting married any other place,” Stehli said. 

The brief ceremony was performed Thursday by Dee Blazina, a notary who is an assistant manager at another 7-Eleven store. 

The couple also hauled in a pile of sand for their altar — the concrete slab between the convenience store and the parking lot — to give their wedding a tropical theme. 

The groom wore dark sunglasses, a Hawaiian shirt and shorts. The bride donned a Hawaiian print sarong dress. Both wore shark tooth necklaces. 

After the ceremony, the newlyweds sipped coffee from a foam 7-Eleven cup. 

Late officer buried at pet
cemetery near late police dog  

INDIANOLA, Iowa — A man loved his drug-sniffing dog so much that he decided they should remain together after death — at a pet cemetery. 

The cremated remains of Jim Crovetti and his Rottweiler, Lady, are buried in separate urns at the Loving Rest Pet Cemetery in Warren County, about 10 miles south of Des Moines, in a section dedicated to service animals. 

Nancy Crovetti, Jim’s widow, said she knew people might question burying a man in a pet cemetery, but it was her husband’s wish. 

“It is a beautiful spot,” she said. “When I go there, I remember the good times when I had them both. For them to be together forever gives me comfort.” 

She said her husband and Lady spent thousands of hours teaching kids about drugs with the program he created called “Keep Your Paws Off Drugs.” 

“The morning Lady died, I thought I would lose Jim that same day. Lady and Jim were so close. The bond between them was phenomenal. They were always together,” she said. 

Jim Crovetti died of a heart attack in November 2000, less than six months after Lady died. He was 69. 

Fla. couple catches a big one  

KEY WEST, Fla. — A young couple fishing in the Florida Keys reeled in a big one — a leather bag with about $80,000 inside. 

The couple, visiting from Vero Beach, Fla., found the bag floating south of the Seven Mile Bridge in the Keys on Saturday. And they can keep the money inside if the owner doesn’t claim it in three months, authorities said. 

“They saw a baseball cap floating out there, and they were going to retrieve the baseball cap, and they found a little leather bag,” said George Rogers, head of the U.S. Customs Service in Key West. 

The couple called the FBI, who contacted Customs. 

“It’s either drug money or alien smuggling money,” Rogers said. “It was soaked, it had been floating in the water for a while.” 

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is holding the cash. State seizure rules allow people who find unclaimed property to keep it if the legitimate owner doesn’t come forth in 90 days. 

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