Mad Minute stories for Monday, August 14th - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

DANVERS, Mass. (AP) -- No, a live alligator was not lurking by the side of a Massachusetts highway this weekend: It was just a plastic toy.
The Salem News reports that police in Danvers got their first report of an alligator along Route 128 at around 8:40 a.m. Sunday. One person walked into a police station to report the alligator on the southbound side of the highway a couple of hours later.
The reports prompted a frenzy on Twitter.
Officers who went to investigate found a foot-and-a-half plastic toy discarded by the side of the road. They removed it.

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WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- Police in New Jersey were put to the test over the weekend when they were called to catch a loose pig.
Three Woolwich Township police officers responded to a call about a mischievous pig roaming a neighborhood Saturday morning. Police said three officers used a makeshift lasso and dog treats to lure the pet pig back into its owner's yard.
In a self-deprecating Facebook post , the Woolwich Township Police Department quipped, "No pig(s) were hurt in the process." The department also invited commenters to make their best "pig/bacon/cop" jokes.
The department's piggy post has received more than 700 likes and 70 comments.
One commenter asked if the pig could become the station's new mascot. Several said the post made them want to move to the township.
Another commenter wrote, "Way to bring home the bacon, fellas."
 
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HAMBURG, N.Y. (AP) -- When it comes to chowing down on kale, Gideon Oji is once again the top dog, beating back a challenge from hot-dog-eating champ Joey Chestnut.
Oji gulped down 22½ 16-ounce bowls of the leafy green vegetable in eight minutes during Sunday's Kale Yeah! Competition at the Erie County Fair in New York. The kale was served raw with oil and vinegar.
The contest is billed as the world's healthiest eating competition.
Chestnut, of San Jose, California, consumed 20 kale servings. He is the reigning hot dog-eating champion at the Nathan's Famous in New York City.
Oji is Nigerian and now lives in Marrow, Georgia. He took the inaugural kale-eating title last year, consuming 25½ servings.
Sunday's event was an unlikely partnership between the Independent Health Foundation and Major League Eating.

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Philadelphia man who fell into a sinkhole says he was putting traffic cones around it because he was worried about the safety of children playing outside.
Eugene Clark tells WCAU-TV he was near the sinkhole Saturday night when the asphalt gave way and he tumbled 10 feet (3 meters) into it.
The 58-year-old calls it a "shocking situation to be in."
Clark has injuries to his ankle, wrist and lower back. He says a city firefighter pulled him out about an hour later with his bare hands "like Hercules."
He says the water department recently came out to deal with other issues on the street but never fixed the sinkhole. The department says there appears to be a sewer line leak and they will look at the hole this week.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- He won't even be able to vote, but a 16-year-old Wichita high school student says he's serious about his bid to run for governor of Kansas.
Jack Bergerson has filed to run as a Democrat in the 2018 race for governor of Kansas, saying he wanted to give people another option, The Kansas City Star reported . And it doesn't faze him that he won't even be old enough to vote in the election.
"Under Kansas law, there is no law governing the qualifications for governor, not one," said Bryan Caskey, director of elections at the Kansas secretary of state's office. "So there's seriously nothing on the books that lays out anything, no age, no residency, no experience. Nothing."
When Bergeson, a junior at The Independent School in Wichita, found out about the lack of requirements, he thought, "Oh, I could do that."
"I thought, you know, let's give the people of Kansas a chance," Bergeson said. "Let's try something new that has never really been tried anywhere else before."
The teenager said he wants to "radically change" the health care system and would support legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, while being willing to explore legalization for recreational use. But he is conservative on gun rights and supports laws that allow people to openly carry their weapons.
"I think if you offer the people of Kansas something radical, something new so then that shows that we can move in a new direction, I think that will put the Democratic Party in a good position to win the seat next year," Bergeson said.
A classmate, 17-year-old Alexander Cline, will be his lieutenant governor. Cline will be able to vote in the election, since he will be 18 by then.
Other Democratic candidates running for the seat include former state Secretary of Agriculture Josh Svaty, former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and Arden Andersen, an Olathe doctor.
Bergerson's announcement Monday garnered national attention, including an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." He told Kimmel one of the main reasons for his unusual campaign is to try and spark an interest in politics among his peers.
Michael Smith, a political scientist at Emporia State University, said that could be a positive part of the teenager's unusual campaign.
"If this guy is at all reasonable, it could be a very good thing," Smith said. "It's always such challenge to get young people to politically engage. ... I'm not saying he'll win the nomination or anything, but if he could talk to other, maybe not 16-year-olds but people just turning 18 and get them to engage, I mean it could be a really good thing."

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NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio (AP) -- A northeast Ohio sheriff's office is auctioning off a nearly century-old machine gun to help pay for new weapons for deputies.
The Dover-New Philadelphia Times Reporter reports that an expert has estimated the Thompson Model 1921's value at $37,000.
The weapon was purchased by Tuscarawas County Sheriff Abe Laird in 1934. Sheriff's Office staff is unsure what the machine gun was originally used for. Lt. Brian Alford says the Thompson was a popular law enforcement weapon during Depression-era mine riots.
Alford says the weapon is nearly original and is cleaned several times a year. He says he was the last person to fire the weapon five years ago.
Sheriff Orvis Campbell expects the gun to fetch nearly $50,000 at a September auction.

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ATHENS, Ala. (AP) -- Authorities say an Alabama man whacked his twin brother with an aluminum baseball bat because he didn't want to share tacos.
The News Courier reports that 19-year-old Tyler Dukes of Athens was arrested by Limestone County sheriff's deputies Thursday and charged with second-degree domestic violence.
A criminal complaint states that Dukes' twin brother and grandmother brought food home with them. But Dukes became "irate" because he didn't want to share tacos and didn't get a drink he wanted. Deputies say he hit his twin brother in the back and head with the bat, cutting the twin deeply.
Dukes later told a deputy that his twin is "always disrespecting me." He remains jailed without bail. It's unclear if he has a lawyer.
The twin was released from a hospital after treatment.

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BOSTON (AP) - Boston police say they have recovered a handgun that was reported stolen more than 35 years ago.
Police say they found the long-barreled pistol early Friday morning in a backpack that was dropped by a man being chased by police in the Mattapan neighborhood.
Officers had been following a slow-moving car that wasn't using its headlights when a man jumped out a rear door and the car sped away.
The car and the man eluded officers, but police say the man dropped a backpack containing a loaded .22-caliber gun and an ammunition magazine.
Police later discovered the gun had been reported stolen in the nearby city of Brockton in 1981.
A police spokeswoman says officers will try to return the gun to its rightful owner after it's processed by detectives.

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MERCER ISLAND, Wash. (AP) - Authorities in northwestern Washington state say a woman driving an SUV called 911 Saturday morning to report a stuck accelerator as she careened past stop signs and traffic lights.
Mercer Island Police tell KOMO-TV that the 54-year-old woman reported using the brake and parking brake on the Nissan Xterra, but they became less effective as they heated up.
Police say the vehicle reached speeds of about 45 mph (72 kph) before 911 operators told the woman to turn off the SUV's ignition and she rolled to a stop.
Police say officers at the scene couldn't determine what caused the gas pedal to stick.
The woman arranged for the vehicle to be towed.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) - Las Vegas police say the man who jumped onto the stage at a Britney Spears concert will face a trespassing charge.
The man was identified as 37-year-old Jesse Webb.
Police say security had asked him to leave the Wednesday night concert before he jumped onto the stage and started dancing.
He was arrested and taken to the Clark County jail.
Emanuel Rotari was at the show and said Spears was escorted backstage after the man appeared.
A video taken from the scene shows fans booing as several men restrained the trespasser on stage.