ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. A Volkswagen beetle owned by the Carter County Sheriff's Department became an improvised pursuit vehicle - at about 20 mph. The beetle won.

AUGUSTA, Ky. Augusta Independent School Principal Robin Kelsch had enough to worry about with the flu. Kelsch didn't need a student's report of bedbugs at the school to make things worse.

HAMILTON, Ohio Members of Hamilton police Chief Neil Ferdelman's family have held public safety jobs serving their southwestern Ohio city for 87 years straight, but that run will end with his retirement next month.

NEW YORK It may not smell like a rose but a New York City sewage plant is offering tours for lovers on Valentine's Day.

MONTPELIER, Vt. Remember the pig hidden within the decal on the doors of some Vermont State Police cruisers?

LOS ANGELES A suspect in an auto theft was arrested Thursday after a bizarre five-hour standoff on the rooftops of a Westwood neighborhood.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. A California woman has her gold necklace back months after she accidentally flushed it down her toilet.

KARACHI, Pakistan Qasim Khan waged the unlikeliest of battles with Pakistani authorities Thursday over the right to charge hundreds of curious visitors the equivalent of 22 cents each to see a roughly 40-foot whale shark he bought from a fisherman.

LOS ANGELES The former mayor of a Los Angeles suburb has pleaded guilty to stealing a commercial food mixer from the local school district so he could make dough for his home pizza oven.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A spat over forgetting to wish his wife a happy birthday landed a South Florida man in jail on domestic violence charges.

RENTON, Wash. The Washington State Patrol says an irate driver apparently whacked a man in the shoulder with a small sledge hammer in a road rage dispute.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska Authorities in Alaska say a man threatened to teach "crackheads" how to make "electromagnetic distortion devices" unless the state paid him $85,000.

BUTTE, Mont. A Butte man who told officers he instigated a police chase because he always wanted to try it, found out it'll cost him a $1,000 fine to go with his tire damage.

MODESTO, Calif. Authorities say a helicopter encountered mechanical problems before making an emergency landing at an elementary school playground in a Modesto, Calif., neighborhood.

CHICAGO A Chicago college is offering a class on the Occupy movement.

PHILADELPHIA Competitive-eating champ Takeru Kobayashi (tah-kah-roo koh-bee-yah-shee) conquered Philadelphia's annual gustatory gorge-fest by eating 337 chicken wings in a half-hour before a crowd of nearly 20,000 at Wing Bowl XX.

STOCKHOLM Champis the bunny doesn't only hop - he also knows how to herd his masters' flock of sheep, possibly having picked up the skill after watching trained dogs do the job.

ALEPPO, Pa. A runaway elk can't go home to Pennsylvania, even if it wanted to.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio A woman who called the wrong number when she suffered a stroke still found help a couple of time zones away.

HELENA, Mont. A 250-pound man with a history of jumping on the backs of student athletes in the Pacific Northwest has pleaded guilty to assault.

BUTTE, Mont. A 55-year-old Montana man who says he "always wanted" to be part of a police chase can check that off his bucket list.

MONTPELIER, Vt. A prison inmate who makes stationery and license plates pulled a fast one on state police by adding the image of a pig to the state decal on their cruisers.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. With 120 lions, tigers and other big cats on the grounds, the owner of a Colorado refuge didn't think he needed a security system.

COLUMBUS, Ohio A woman's speeding got her a warning from an Ohio state trooper but wasn't enough to keep her grandchild from being born in her car.

WAYNESBURG, Pa. A woman who appeared to not have any teeth in surveillance photos from a bank robbery last month has confessed, apologized and told police she planned the heist because she needed the money for dentures.

LOS ANGELES A large seabird found in the back of a pickup truck in Los Angeles has been released to begin its long flight home across the Pacific.

HELENA, Montana A mountaintop Jesus statue can stay at a ski resort in the western U.S. state of Montana - for now.