Odds and Ends

SOUTHBURY, Conn. - No matter what the deal, don't expect this city official to shake on it.

First Selectman Mark Cooper held a news conference Thursday to announce that he won't be shaking hands with anyone until flu season is over sometime next year.

"As a man who shakes many hands... I don't want to be a vector for flu transmission," he said. "I certainly don't want to be associated with, 'Oh sure, didn't I shake Cooper's hand last week? Now I've got the flu.'"

Cooper said if anyone offers their hand, he will politely decline and give them a brochure on how to stay healthy this winter. He says he wants to set an example by limiting his contact with people.

"Flu season has started, and I don't want to pass along those germs," he said.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommend that people sneeze into their hands because that makes it easier to spread germs. People should sneeze into the crux of their elbow or a tissue, health officials say.

"The problem is most people can't grab that tissue in time," Cooper said.

---

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The boo birds said Chris Birkett's Halloween display was too scary, and now he's in trouble with the law.

Birkett, who stages elaborate holiday displays at his home, was charged with disorderly conduct this week following an Oct. 30 police report over his Halloween display, police said Thursday.

Birkett's neighbor told police she has small children who were frightened and couldn't sleep because of the ghostly sounds.

Officers attested that they could hear the noise from the neighbor's home and submitted their report to prosecutors, police spokesman Sam Bailey said.

Another neighbor called police recently about Birkett's winter display. That neighbor complained about the noise from crews working to put up the display and traffic and debris left by sightseers.

Birkett advertises his holiday displays on his answering machine and Web site, calling them Winter Wonderland and Haunted Graveyard. A recording boasts the winter display includes a computerized show that includes 150,000 lights and snow.

Police said Birkett faces a $2,500 fine and six months in jail if convicted of disorderly conduct.

---

SALT LAKE CITY - Rescue the hounds!

A pack of cougar-chasing hounds that went over a cliff near Zion National Park was saved by a daring rescue worker who rappelled two steep cliffs.

Jeff Allen was guiding a client on a mountain lion hunt Monday in southern Utah when his five dogs and the big cat went over a cliff and landed 30 feet below on an icy ledge, said David Owens, director of the county's emergency services.

Allen phoned a sheriff's deputy, who got permission to rescue the dogs stranded in Isolation Canyon, about 40 miles northeast of Kanab.

"We didn't want anyone going over the cliff with a cotton rope to save the dogs," Owens said. "That is something we are trained for and have the right equipment to do."

Owens said the five dogs trapped the lion on a ledge and, during a confrontation, the cat knocked one hound off - sending it on a 40-foot fall to a second ledge.

The client hunter shot the frightened cat, which then disappeared over the ledge - followed by another of the dogs.

When rescuers arrived at the scene, John Johnson rappelled to the three dogs on the first ledge and used pulleys to hoist them to safety.

As night fell, Johnson dropped to the second ledge to grab the dog knocked off by the mountain lion. The fifth dog was recovered alive the next day, along with the dead mountain lion.

Owens said the dogs were in good condition and "seemed happy to see some people."

---

ROCHESTER, N.H. - It may be the first documented case of multitasking rage.

Police say Tony Carr got angry with a clerk last month because he wanted to pay for his burger while it was microwaving it at a convenience store.

But the clerk, Scott Litzenberger, told Carr he had to bring the burger to the counter 15 feet away to pay for it, police said.

After a sharp exchange of words, investigators say, Carr walked back to the microwave, removed the steaming burger and walked back to Litzenberger.

The two apparently exchanged a few brief words again, and Carr shoved the steaming patty into the clerk's face, burning his face and eye, police Sgt. Anthony Triano said.

Carr, 37, of Berwick, Maine, turned himself in Wednesday. He was charged with simple assault and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors, and released on $5,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 3.

"That time of night, you tend to get people who are belligerent. They want things they can't have and we just try and do our job," said Bill Rollo, another clerk at the store.