Judson King and his pet hedgehog, Little Luke

The trials of Mark Mangino and the Jayhawk football team are at the top of the list for 2009 newsmakers. But another Lawrence resident with a prickly exterior had the nation talking as well: Little Luke the hedgehog.

For those with short memories, Little Luke arrived in Lawrence just before Christmas last year. He was a gift to 11-year-old Judson King, a sixth-grader who lobbied Lawrence city commissioners to lift a ban on hedgehogs.

First reported by the Lawrence Journal-World, Judson’s quest and ensuing victory created a story with legs far longer than Little Luke’s.

After lobbying the city to make hedgehogs legal, 11-year-old Judson King is now the proud owner of his own pet hedgehog, Little Luke.

CNN aired it. Soon after, Judson found himself awake at 5 a.m. to do a live interview for the “Fox and Friends” morning show.

A few weeks later, “CBS Evening News” reporter Steve Hartman made the trip to Lawrence to meet Little Luke (who bit Hartman after smelling the remnants of a Subway sandwich, according to Judson).

And in February, a crew from “The Colbert Report” spent six hours with Judson and his family. The tongue-in-cheek piece — “The Enemy Within – Hedgehogs” — accused Judson of playing “the cute card” and warned of a “hedgehog Armageddon” that was downgraded to a “hedgehog pandemic” and ultimately reduced to a “containable hedgehog outbreak” in Kansas.

That segment still makes Judson laugh.

“They weren’t making fun of me as much as City Hall,” said Judson, who is now 12.

Judson wasn’t the only Lawrence kid who received 15 minutes of national fame in 2009.

Wyatt Carson kicked off a fad that had second-grade boys wearing ties to Pinckney School. Wyatt even showcased his tie-tying ability on the “Rachael Ray Show.”

And Beanies the cat appeared on CNN for hitching a ride to California at the same time her owners went on spring break.

‘Alive and hissing’

In the year since the hedgehog media frenzy began, Little Luke isn’t so little anymore. He’s lengthened by about an inch and a half and has gained about a pound. It’s a significant growth spurt for an animal that can sit in the palm of your hand.

“At least he is still alive. That’s a plus,” mom Rebecca Weeks said of the pet who was purchased with a book titled “The Hedgehog Primer.”

“We like to say he is alive and hissing,” Judson said.

Here’s what Judson and his mom have learned so far about the nocturnal creature who prefers his own company to theirs:

• Hedgehogs need baths regularly.

• Hedgehogs are extremely good swimmers but hate water more than cats do.

• A pet store in Johnson County carries hedgehog food, but Luke would rather have cold cuts, high-grade cat food and scrambled eggs.

• Hedgehogs move quickly and can hide in extremely small places.

• When hedgehogs are unhappy, their spines stand straight up and they hiss through their noses.

• The closest you can get to petting a hedgehog is rubbing its belly.

Even with that knowledge, taking care of a hedgehog isn’t nearly as bad as Weeks had anticipated.

“They’re good pets, but not cuddly ones,” she said.

A scandalous vacation

Speaking of pets, Beanies the cat made local and then national news in April when she took a vacation to San Diego while her owners, Anita and Ian Sotomayor and their four children, were in St. Louis on spring break.

The Sotomayors were dismayed when they returned from their trip to find the black-and-white cat missing. But a neighbor offered hope when he said his wife found a cat in a truck that had been packed in Lawrence and driven to California.

“She flew home Continental. She stayed in San Diego on a week-and-a-half vacation,” Anita Sotomayor said. “When she came back she sniffed us a bunch and then came right back into the flow of things.”

Anita Sotomayor, right, holds one of Beanies the cat’s kittens. Beanies gave birth to four kittens in August. Beanies, top photo, is the cat who accidentally wound up in California last spring after wandering into a neighbor’s truck.

The story took a scandalous turn in August when Beanies gave birth to four kittens.

Sotomayor doesn’t have the specifics on just when the kittens came to be, but she hasn’t ruled out a spring fling in California.

“It’s like ‘Wow, Beans, you young little runaway,'” she said.

Two of the kittens stayed with the family, which includes children ages 12 to 4. Mercutio is a Beanies look-alike with a soul patch on his chin. Spooky is all black and a “little tough guy.”

The offspring of the adventurous cat were in hot demand. The other two kittens went to good homes, Sotomayor said.

“I had people from the minute Beanies was pregnant that wanted one,” she said.

Beanies’ escapades brought some extra attention to the family. An author asked Jules, 10, to write a forward to a children’s book about a cat who took a similar trip on a plane.

And the family gets frequent inquiries about how Beanies is doing — from neighbors, the school lunch ladies and people they don’t even know.

“Some people crack me up that they remember and they know to ask,” Sotomayor said.

From ties to PJs

Wyatt Carson, center, a second-grader at Pinckney school, started a fashion fad after choosing to wear a tie to school. Now several second-graders are wearing ties. In class Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008, from left are Milo McKay, Arthur Hughes, Carson, Oliver Broce and Hunter Jones.

A group of five second-graders melted hearts last winter when the Lawrence Journal-World reported on their new fashion craze: wearing ties to school.

In January, trendsetter Wyatt Carson appeared with his mom, Amy Haake, on the “Rachael Ray Show.”

“It was a lot of fun meeting Rachael Ray and going to New York,” she said.

Wyatt’s first trip to New York City was a chance to see the Empire State Building, ride the subway and stay in a fancy hotel.

Wyatt can’t watch his television premiere without getting embarrassed, Haake said. But it’s been a lot of fun for other friends and family members to see.

At the end of the segment, Ray gave Wyatt a rack of ties. He has worn every single one of them and given some to friends.

Alas, the tie-wearing fad ultimately proved to be, well, just a fad. While Wyatt still wears ties on holidays and for special occasions, he and his friends don’t don them for school.

The newest trend is something a little less dressy and a little more kid-friendly: designer Paul Frank’s monkey pajamas.