Odds and Ends

ALUM BANK, Pa. -- Harley-Davidson fans can finally take their final ride in style.

Tombstone Hearse Co. two years ago began building hand-crafted Old West-style casket carriers that are pulled by a modified Harley-Davidson Road King.

"We take a regular bike and turn it into a motortrike with special gears to pull a heavier load," said company co-founder Dave Follmar. "We can accommodate most caskets, including oversized units."

Follmar, a retired cabinetmaker, came up with the idea 12 years ago. With the help of construction expert Jack Feather, Follmar has now franchised the idea and has a network of hearses in service stretching from Texas to Michigan and New Jersey.

Rental prices for the hearses range from $500 to $600. Traditional hearses range from $125 to $475.

Tombstone's hearse is designed with the traditional amenities but features a glass-enclosed carriage with curtains and tassels. Four gold lanterns adorn each corner and it's fitted with a black vinyl top.

Tombstone's drivers are dressed in white tuxedo shirts, string ties, black pants and cavalry-style knee-high boots with a single spur.

"For any guy or gal who has sat their butt in a Harley seat all their lives, it doesn't seem fitting to lay them in the back of a Caddy for a farewell ride," Feather said.

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WEYMOUTH, Mass. -- Giving birth is like clockwork for Cheryl Stelljes.

The Cohasset woman gave birth to a son, Adam, on Sunday at 10:12 p.m.

That was four years to the minute after the birth of her daughter, Lindsay, on June 27, 2000.

"None of it was planned. It was all coincidence," father Stephen Stelljes said.

Both babies had a June 15 due date and were nearly two weeks late. But they were born at different hospitals.

Lindsay weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and Adam is 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

Cheryl Stelljes said she "really didn't want them to have the same birthday," but 4-year-old Lindsay doesn't seem to mind.

"I'm going to share," she said.

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LANCASTER, Calif. -- An 11-year-old boy had to be rescued by firefighters after he got stuck in a chimney while trying to get into his friend's locked house.

"I wasn't Santa Claus," said Rance Hill, who spent 1 1/2 hours in the chimney Tuesday.

The Antelope Valley boy said he was trying to help a friend when he shimmied down the chimney at about 4:30 p.m. and got stuck feet-first. His friend was unable to pull him free and called Los Angeles County firefighters.

They tried to get him out from below and even knocked a hole in the chimney at a point where it narrowed to about 8 inches but that didn't work, fire Inspector Mike McCormick said.

"My foot was stuck," Hill said.

Finally, they were able to haul up the sooty youngster with a rope.

It felt "like I was flying, just going up real fast," he said.

He also had some advice to other kids.

"Never go down a chimney or do something crazy like that," he said. "Not even for a thousand dollars."

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Barbecue champ Paul Kirk is flaming mad over the theft of his custom-made $18,000 grill.

"It was a slap across the face of mankind," said David Klose, the Houston man who built the giant custom-made barbecue cooker. "It's like stealing a man's Corvette; it's a cardinal sin."

Kirk's 15-foot grill and the $8,000 van that pulled it were stolen over the weekend, along with food intended for a catering job - at least 10 pounds of brisket, a few chickens and a tall stack of ribs.

The cooker and the van were recovered Tuesday at an apartment complex in Merriam, Kan. Roeland Park, Kan., Police Chief Rex Taylor said police had no suspects and are investigating the crime as an auto theft.

Kirk is a seven-time barbecue champion who teaches barbecue classes, caters events and is known nationally as the "Baron of Barbecue" to readers of his half-dozen barbecuing books.

The thief struck the Kirk family's quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Roeland Park while they slept after a big day of grilling at the Kansas State Barbeque Championship. The keys to the 1999 Chevrolet van were on the floorboard Saturday night. By 5 a.m. Sunday morning, the van and grill were gone.

Since it was stolen, angry messages have ignited on TheBBQForum.com Web site, one comparing the heist to someone running off with a man's wife. Messages on the competitive barbecue forum served up talk of possible grill alarm-systems or LoJacks.