Clover record in danger

MERCER, Pa. (AP)  George Kaminski, who has spent more than half of his life behind bars, has one more reason to hate prison.

"There are no four-leaf clovers here," Kaminski, 53, told The Herald of Sharon for Friday's editions.

Kaminski, serving time for crimes including burglary and shooting at a police officer, has collected a world record 72,927 four-leaf clovers since 1995. He found all of them on the grounds of various Pennsylvania prisons.

But now that he moved to a minimum-security facility with fewer clovers, he's worried about the competition.

Edward Martin Sr., of Soldotna, Alaska, claims to have collected more than 76,000 four-leaf clovers. The 73-year-old retiree has applied to Guinness to be recognized as the new record holder.

"I've got file cabinets full of clovers," said Kathy Dawson, Soldotna's mayoral assistant. "The mayor had kids from the schools counting all these clovers, and there are still more to be counted."

Kaminski complained that the competition with Martin is unfair.

"The guy's got the whole world — I have two or three acres," Kaminski said from the visitor's room of State Correctional Institution-Mercer, about 55 miles north of Pittsburgh.

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