Quick Takes

Mad mayor

If Norway, S.C., mayor Jim Preacher finds himself in hot water, it's not because he got pulled over for speeding. It's what came next that has authorities at South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division scratching their heads. Preacher admits he was speeding in his Dodge Charger on Jan. 18. But after a state trooper issued him a citation for driving 70 mph in a 55 mph zone, Preacher did something unusual. Flipping on lights and sirens in his own Dodge Charger, Preacher then pulled the trooper over. According to incident reports, Preacher said the office of mayor gives him the law enforcement powers of a constable. The Norway mayor demanded the trooper provide license and registration, but issued no citation or summons. After the incident, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety asked that the State Law Enforcement Division investigate Preacher's law enforcement jurisdiction.

Top dollar dog

Cognac lovers and hot dog enthusiasts finally have something in common: a cognac dog. The pricey wiener is the invention of Canadian hot dog restaurateur Dougie Luv, who owns and operates a hot dog eatery in Vancouver's entertainment district. Those who want Luv's "Dragon Dog" will have to fork over $100 and give Luv 12 hours' notice. But Luv says the price tag is appropriate, considering he plans to season each Dragon Dog with drops of 100-year-old Louis XIII cognac-a variety of brandy valued at over $2,000 per bottle. Other toppings on the hot dog include olive oil, truffle oil, and fresh lobster. Luv told the Vancouver Sun that the Dragon Dog will prove popular: "I have a lot of reservations [for the new dog] already."

Packing a punch

If it hadn't been for his wife, 82-year-old George Murphy may not have survived his brutal encounter with a moose on Jan. 20. Murphy and his 85-year-old wife Dorothea Taylor had just finished exercising their dogs near the Willow, Alaska, airport when a large bull moose began to charge Murphy. With no trees to hide behind, Murphy dove into a snow bank to hide. But the angered moose quickly found him and began stomping on the retired man's body. Hearing the commotion, Taylor-who stands 5 feet tall and weighs 97 pounds-jumped out of the truck and grabbed a shovel from the bed of the pickup. With nothing but the shovel and some courage, Taylor managed to bludgeon the beast into stopping its attack. "I hit it with everything I had," she told the Anchorage Daily News. Murphy was then rushed by medical helicopter to a local hospital where he's expected to make a full recovery.

Security bees

Looking for ways to stop hoodlums from vandalizing historic buildings in a North Wales heritage park, local officials may soon turn to an unlikely ally: bees. Officials charged with preserving several historic mills at the Greenfield Valley Heritage Park near Holywell, Flintshire, have been considering a proposal to introduce bee hives near the buildings to scare off potential vandals. "They could be a deterrent," Barbara Chick, publicity officer for the Welsh Beekeepers' Association, told the BBC. "I haven't heard of them being used as security bees." But, she allowed, if nothing else, they could help pollinate wildflowers.

Selling point

Asking for a starting bid of $1 million might be steep for any Chrysler product, even one that used to be driven by President Barack Obama. In January, eBay seller Lisa Czibor placed a listing on the site's automotive section purporting to be the late model Chrysler 300 that was once leased by then-Sen. Barack Obama. Czibor, on behalf of owner Tim O'Boyle, provided a copy of the vehicle's title showing Obama as a lessee, but few expect Czibor and O'Boyle to get their asking bid of $1 million. The presidential limousine used by President Franklin Roosevelt sold at auction for only $270,000, while the hearse that carried a dead President John F. Kennedy garnered only $160,000 at a recent auction. In 2007, Obama traded the gas-guzzling Chrysler for an environmentally friendly Ford Escape Hybrid prior to his presidential election campaign.

Chilled thrill

For the five runners who crossed the finish line of the Running Club North's Chilly Buns Mid-winter Fun Run, the impressive part about it wasn't the distance. It was the temperature. When the six runners started the 6.5-mile race, thermometers showed temperatures at 49 below. The yearly event staged on Jan. 26 at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks campus tests not only the physical fitness of competitors but their ability to generate heat and endure the cold. This year, Alaskan Dirk Nickisch finished the 6.5-mile course first with a time of 50 minutes and 14 seconds.

Lego astronaut

With $400 and some hard work, a pair of Canadian teens have managed to send their toy Lego man very nearly into space, and create a stunning video in the process. Toronto 17-year-olds Matthew Ho and Asar Muhammed used an $85 weather balloon to launch a Lego man carrying a Canadian flag up 80,000 feet to the upper boundaries of Earth's atmosphere in January. Inspired by a similar project completed by MIT students over a year ago, the two Canadian teens needed just a few months to build the contraption. They rigged their balloon with a video camera to capture the incredible footage of the planet's curvature as well as the darkness of space. Once uploaded to YouTube, the video of the soaring Lego man carrying a Canadian flag became an instant hit, bringing in hundreds of thousands of views. The pair also attached a GPS-enabled mobile phone to the floating project so they could track its descent back to Earth.

Busted in

Coconino, Ariz., Sheriff's deputies had no choice but to place Martin Batieni Kombate under arrest-for refusing to leave his jail cell. The 44-year-old Kombate had been booked into the county jail in January on a trespassing charge and was scheduled to be released on Jan. 23. But when detention officers asked him to exit his cell, Kombate allegedly refused and became disorderly. That left deputies little choice but to arrest Kombate again and charge him with a fresh count of trespassing.

Atlantic voyage

Two years after being tossed overboard by rough waves from his 26-foot pleasure boat off the coast of Nantucket, Mass., Scott Douglas finally has an end to his fishing story. The incident forced the New Jersey native and his brother-in-law to swim two hours to reach the shore after the August 2008 incident. More than three years later, Spanish officials reported spotting Douglas' vessel 20 miles off their coast on Jan. 17. Despite the trans-Atlantic drift, the Queen Bee was said to be intact-though covered in barnacles. Douglas said he doesn't expect to be reunited with his boat though. He collected the insurance money on the vessel years ago.