Strawberry sausage anyone?

A strawberry festival in Wisconsin will have big competition this year for the best strawberry sausage. Yes, strawberry sausage.

The strawberry brat market at the festival was for years cornered by Hoffmann's Market, but the owner of the business, Dave Hoffmann, retired and closed up his shop in November, leaving three sausage makers scrambling to fill the strawberry brat niche, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday.

Steve Biertzer, a former Hoffman's Market employee who was tapped as his former boss's official successor, will be selling the strawberry bratwurst -- in accordance with his predecessor's recipe

-- at the festival's food court, while two others have announced plans to sell strawberry sausages elsewhere along Washington Avenue during the event.

"The strawberry brat is a novelty available only once a year," Biertzer said. "I'm sure there will be a few copycats on the street, but competition is a good thing. It keeps us on our toes."

I think I'd skip the sausage. Strawberry sausage doesn't sound good to me.

Statue theifs return

A Michigan town is facing a series of statue thefts.

First, it was the yard gnome. Now, it’s a chef wearing a Dooleys T-shirt.

A 7-foot-tall, 50-pound statue of a chef wearing a white Dooleys shirt was snatched from the rear patio of the restaurant, 12141 Hall Rd., police said today.

The restaurant manager told police the theft occurred between 2:30-6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The statue is valued at $300, Lt. Luke Riley said.

Two weeks ago, a red gnome was taken from the front yard of a home in the 35000 block of Doyle. The only clue about its whereabouts was a note left on the front door that stated: “Hi, me and Leroy the deer took a walk to check out the area. Be back in a few days — Gnorman.”

I hope the statues are returned soon, and the thief includes a gift with the statues to pay for the anguish that the statue owners have faced.

Prostitute takes box of chips as payment

An Oklahoma woman accepted a box of chips as payment for her services as a prostitute.

Police said Lahoma Sue Smith, 35, admitted to making the deal with the man, who said he was a Frito-Lay employee.

Officers found Smith and the man, both partially clothed, inside Smith's car.

The man was not charged and his name hasn't been released.

Smith, who police said has a history of prostitution, was fined $1,142 after entering her plea.

I wonder if she got to keep the chips.

Firefighters respond to fire at their own station

Several firefighters in Hawaii were surprised when they got a call to report to a fire: at their own station caused by food left cooking on the stove.

Fire Capt. Terry Seelig said firefighters left food cooking

when they responded to reports of a traffic crash May 22. They received a second call on their way back from the crash to put out a fire at their own station, the Honolulu Advertiser reported Tuesday.

"The firefighters (at the station) are very chagrined about it," Seelig said. "It goes to show that no one is immune."

Seelig said unattended cooking is one of the top causes of fires locally.

"The fire's cause was attributed to unattended cooking," Seelig said. "We, like everybody else, need to be careful and attentive when cooking."

You'd think that firefighters would be more careful about fire safety wouldn't you?

Pigs shut down highway

An Arkansas highway was closed today because of runaway pigs after a trailer accident.

Arkansas State Police say a tractor-trailer rig hauling pigs overturned early Monday on a major highway and some of the four-legged hogs got loose.

The wreck and the roaming porkers closed a stretch of Interstate 430 connecting Little Rock to North Little Rock.

State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said morning commuters were detoured around the area as troopers and others tried to corral the escaped hogs.

The swine could weigh as much as 800 pounds each.

MMMMM pig, delicious.

Man mugged for his sandwich

An Oklahoma man was mugged while waiting for the bus for his bologna sandwich.

Roger Hamilton, 24, told investigators that he was waiting for the bus Wednesday at the Hudson

Street bus station and preparing to put mayonnaise on his sandwich when he noticed a man, described as African-American and in his 30s, staring at him, The Oklahoman reported Friday.

Hamilton said he asked the man if he could help him and the other man responded by punching him in the mouth and running off with the sandwich, which the police report valued at 76 cents.

I could see assaulting someone for a burger or a or sub sandwich but bologna?