Happy Ending For a Lobster Tale: Mike Dodges Menu

--Monster Mike is back home after a close call with a dinner menu. The 22-pound lobster owes its narrow escape to an Alaskan doctor who paid to have the creature flown from Anchorage to Maine and set free in its native Atlantic Ocean. “It’s the biggest lobster I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure,” said Maine Marine Patrol Lt. Joseph Fessenden, who dropped the lobster into the ocean. The crustacean’s odyssey began when it was caught in the Gulf of Maine, possibly in Massachusetts waters, and shipped to a grocery in Wasilla, Alaska, by a fish distributor, Fessenden said. Within hours, someone bought the lobster, which Fessenden estimated to be at least 40 years old, for $270 and planned to feature it at a dinner party. But George Macris of Palmer couldn’t bear the thought of such an aged lobster being boiled alive. So he phoned the buyer and asked to purchase it. The buyer, who was apparently having second thoughts about his main course, wound up giving the creature to Macris free of charge. Macris wrapped the lobster in saltwater-soaked towels and ice packs, drove 60 miles through a snowstorm, paid $171 for plane fare and arranged for Fessenden to meet Monster Mike at the Portland International Jetport in Maine after the 3,300-mile trip.

--Urbain, recognized as the tiniest town in Illinois, also survived a close call. The Franklin County village in southern Illinois, with an official population of 21, voted 5 to 4 against a dissolution proposal.

In 1983, residents defeated a similar move by 11 to 9. The community, which has no village hall, post office or businesses and a minuscule budget, doesn’t have a marker sign. “You can go through it and not know you’ve been here,” said Jane Flowers, wife of Mayor Gene Flowers. The mayor still plans to resign and lead residents of Urbain--”as many as want to go”--in seeking annexation to Christopher, Mrs. Flowers said.

--An Oklahoma City family had a difficult time getting rid of an uninvited guest. When Linda Alvarado went to investigate a commotion in her yard, she found that her pet terrier had cornered a 6-foot ostrich near a shed. While her son and daughter helped guard the large bird, Alvarado telephoned for help. The sheriff’s department responded with: “We don’t do ostriches, ma’am.” The Oklahoma City Zoo said: “It’s not one of our ostriches.” And Oklahoma City Animal Control officers simply asked: “A what?!” Hours later, the ostrich’s owner and a friend came in search of the errant bird and took it away.