In Virginia, the Marine Products Board has a plan to prevent cow-nosed rays from gobbling newly sown oysters in the Chesapeake: thinning the ray population by marketing them around the world as culinary delights. The board distributed barbecued ray wings at a festival last year and recently sent a trade mission to South Korea to sell some of the kite-shaped creatures, the Virginian-Pilot reports. We know, “Tastes like chicken — but”…

On the Eastern Shore, the Salisbury city council is aggravating developers by demanding that they pay impact fees for new construction, the Daily Times reports. Draft legislation calls for payments of $5,231 for single-family homes and $1,524 for each unit in condos, apartments and townhouses. The fees would defray the cost of schools and roads along with police and fire protection for the developments…

In Michigan, the University of Michigan became the latest institution to order Coca-Cola products off campus in a protest of the soft drink giant’s foreign policies. Advocacy groups have accused Coke of draining water tables in Asia and partnering with right-wing death squads in Colombia to intimidate labor unions. Coke denies the allegations…

Our Creature Feature is a tale of feline heroism from Ohio so remarkable that it made the front page of the Columbus Dispatch on New Year’s Eve. Wheelchair-bound Gary Rosheisen has been telling people for years that he trained his orange striped cat, Tommy, to speed-dial 911 in an emergency.

When the ambulance arrived at Rosheisen’s apartment on Dec. 30, he was lying on the floor in his bedroom unable to move. In the living room sat Tommy, on the floor next to the phone. EMTs were skeptical. But Rosheisen swears that Tommy saved the day. “He’s my hero,” he told the Dispatch.