In addition to the important stories in 2019 that chronicled the Chattanooga area's political wrangling, businesses' wheeling and dealing, and cultural highs and lows, there were plenty of head-scratchers.
Those are the stories that make you go back and read the headline again, wondering, "Did I read that right?"
From the man who opted to sue Popeyes, claiming he damaged his car driving all over town looking for one of the chain's much-ballyhooed chicken sandwiches, to inmates intentionally flooding their cellblock with sewage, to a drunken break-in that led to a beloved bobcat making a getaway, Chattanooga saw its share of weird stories in 2019.
The sandwich that launched a thousand stories
In the world of fast food, 2019 will forever be known as the year Popeyes ruled the roost when it came to the over-the-top marketing coup the restaurant chain scored with the rollout of its new chicken sandwich.
All over the country, news outlets reported on rabid customers taking to the streets in droves, seeking out the elusive chicken sandwich. Arguments, physical confrontations and more resulted from the perfect storm of high demand and low availability of the coveted sandwich.
Chattanooga entered into the national media firestorm when resident Craig Barr filed a lawsuit in August, accusing Popeyes of false advertising and deceptive business practices, claiming he was forced to hunt and peck all over town in search of a restaurant that still had sandwiches for sale.
Barr claimed he was hustled out of $25 by a man who posted a Craigslist ad claiming he could procure sandwiches that had been squirreled away in the back of one restaurant. Barr added that his Mercedes suffered rim and tire damage to the tune of $1,500 as a result of his search.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Craig Barr, left, and David Barry, a local attorney representing Popeyes, are seen in Judge Gerald Webb's General Sessions Court room in the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Courts Building on Monday, Oct. 28, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Barr is suing Popeyes for running out of its popular chicken sandwich.And that doesn't take into account the humiliation suffered when his friends laughed at him for his pursuit of chicken sandwich Nirvana, the suit stated.
"I can't get happy; I have this sandwich on my mind. I can't think straight," he told the Times Free Press. "It just consumes you."
Call it a case of sandwich bites man.
The trial date has been set for Jan. 8.
Their lavatories runneth over
Don't foul your own nest. Don't shoot holes in your own boat. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
There are plenty of adages that apply to the events of March 4, when the inmates of Cell Block 4 at the Walker County (Georgia) Jail jammed a shampoo bottle down a toilet and then repeatedly flushed the toilets, causing sewage to seep onto the floors and run into the cells, according to Sheriff Steve Wilson.
The sewage overflow prompted a brief lockdown in the jail, he said.
The inmates were left stuck in their cells, standing in puddles of sewage and holding their food trays aloft as they ate dinner. The sewage backup began around 3:30 p.m. and was not fixed until 11:30 that evening.
Perhaps the most surprising detail? It's a common form of protest, the sheriff said.
"A jail is kind of like kindergarten," he said. "We have to run it sometimes like an elementary school. If they don't get their ways, they'll act out, cause problems."
So how do jail staff find out who is responsible in such situations? Often, Wilson said, inmates will sell out the guilty parties, angry after having to sit in their cells with the foul stench for hours and hours.
Staff photo by Doug Strickland / Evi the bobcat is seen in her enclosure at Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Bobcats and beer don't mix
In June, 21-year-old Cayden Melia and a friend were drinking and kayaking when Melia suddenly felt the urge to play fetch with a bobcat.
So, he broke into the Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center, smashed open the cage holding Evi, the nature center's beloved bobcat, and proceeded to throw a ball for the 3-year-old animal to fetch.
In response, the 14.2-pound feline crawled under the barbed wire, cutting herself in the process. Then she headed up the wooded slopes of Lookout Mountain, setting off a weeklong search.
A cash reward was offered and the nature center fielded a flood of calls offering help.
Eventually, the bobcat, who had been reared at the nature center after being abandoned by her mother, was found back in her cage.
Evi was covered in cuts and had lost an estimated third of her body weight.
Melia, who confessed to police about his drunken escapade after an anonymous tip from the public, was charged with vandalism and criminal trespass. A judge ordered him to pay a $387 fine and perform 80 hours of community service, including removing invasive plants from the nature center. Apart from his work there, however, Melia has been banned from the wildlife exhibits at the nature center.
Abraham Lincoln / Photo from Collegedale Police Department
The Great Emancipator needs emancipation
A man named Abraham Lincoln was arrested in November after he handed a note to a teller at the Apison Pike First Horizon Bank in Collegedale.
The 51-year-old's note recommended that the teller call the police.
Officers reportedly arrived on the scene 36 seconds after that, and Lincoln surrendered to them in front of the bank.
No injuries were reported and no money stolen.
Lincoln allegedly told police that he never had any intention of robbing the bank "or harming anyone," but rather he wanted to be taken to jail because of his "past actions in life."
The police obliged the man, charging him with filing a false report and disorderly conduct.
The aptly named cat who was a 'good boy'
Kristin McCoy, 38, was unloading her dishwasher in August when her new cat, whom she'd had for about a month, decided he wanted some attention. McCoy attempted to shoo him away, and that's when things when wrong.
She tripped over the cat and stabbed herself with a steak knife in the process.
"It felt weird," she said of the sensation. "I calmly sat up, reached for my phone on the counter, called my daughter and my boyfriend, then called 911."
And that cat's name? Lucifer.
Contributed photo by Kristin McCoy/ Kristin McCoy, of Trenton, Georgia, was injured Sunday after she tripped on her cat and fell onto a kitchen knife. Seen here is Lucifer, the cat, with McCoy the day he was brought home.McCoy told the Times Free Press that 20 years of medical experience led her to leave the knife in place - a vitally important decision, she later learned, as the knife was just millimeters from a major blood vessel and she was taking blood thinners at the time.
After spending 10 hours in the hospital, McCoy returned home to find her three cats waiting to be loved on again, including Lucifer.
"I had to give him a hug when I came home," she said. "He was a good boy."
Contact Colin M. Stewart at 423-757-6366 or at cstewart@timesfreepress.com.