The skinny

Trouble brewing
Sam Adams May let Sam Adams use his name
The makers of Sam Adams beer didn't find any humor in the fact that the company name was being evoked in a mayoral election in Portland, Ore. So they sent a letter, asking for ceasing and desisting, and surrendering of the Web addresses samadamsformayor.com and mayorsamadams.com. "Boston Beer has used the trademarks 'Sam Adams' and 'Samuel Adams' since 1984," the letter said. The thing is, the guy running for mayor in Portland is, in fact, named Sam Adams. "I've been using it since 1963," he says. The brew company says it didn't know there was an actual Sam Adams running and is willing to discuss the possibility of Adams using his name in his campaign.

Fire alarm
Family bird is now the family's hero
The fire alarm was going off in the Muncie, Ind., home of Shannon Conwell and his 9-year-old son last Friday. And the fact that they didn't hear it could have been tragic, except for the fact that their Amazon parrot, Peanut, did hear it. And Peanut likes to imitate sounds he hears. So about 3 a.m., with the Conwells asleep on the couch - they had been watching a movie - Peanut started mocking the fire alarm. "He was really screaming his head off," Conwell said. "I grabbed my son and my bird, and got out of the house." Conwell said that if they had made it to bed that night, things might've turned out different, because they may not have heard the alarm or the bird.

Autos and animals
Fiat more roomy than ever guessed
A man in rural South Africa tried to steal two cows and two goats on Thursday. It was probably not premeditated, because he tried to steal them by cramming them into a Fiat Uno. The Uno is a small car, not typically used to transport livestock ... or even particularly large people. Residents of KwaZulu-Natal alerted police to the situation, and the man tried to speed away, a task made more difficult by the fact that the car was carrying two cows and two goats. While he couldn't outrun the police in the car, he found that he could outrun them on foot, and made off into the bushes. Police are still looking for him. But the animals are safe.

Be on lookout for kamikaze squirrels
Lindsey Millar, 23, thought it was weird enough that her 2006 Toyota Camry was on fire in the driveway of her Bayonne, N.J., home last Wednesday. Then she found out it was the work of a kamikaze squirrel. Firefighters say they found evidence that the squirrel, who has not been named, was on a power line above the car, and chewed through the line. As if part of a natural Rube Goldberg device, the squirrel proceeded to catch on fire, falling from the power line, hitting top of the car, sliding into the engine compartment ... and blowing up the car. Ta-da! "It's something to laugh about once she has a new car," Lindsay's brother Tony told the Jersey Journal. "It's not funny yet."

LED Weekend
Sandwich Maker