A strange year, from pizza logo suit to Jeter maze

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A pizza company sued over its logo, a pet bobcat that kept running away from home, and a corn maze shaped like Derek Jeter highlight the odd news from 2014 in New Jersey. The strange details:

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TURNPIKE PIZZA LAWSUIT

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority wants a Florida pizza shop to pay a big toll for using a logo similar to the Garden State Parkway's green and yellow signs. The agency sued Jersey Boardwalk Pizza in federal court in July over the logo it uses for its two pizza shops and on merchandise sold online. It said in the suit that the company is trying to trade upon the fame of the Garden State Parkway logo to attract customers and potential franchisees.

The company says there's no way anyone would confuse a highway and a pizza place 1,300 miles away, but the lawsuit in federal court continues.

Like the Parkway logo, pizza shop's logo includes a green map of the state and its title written in yellow.

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ROCKY THE BOBCAT

A pet bobcat that has escaped from its owner's home multiple times since April was ordered to live at a zoo by a judge last week. Rocky the bobcat has been the subject of a legal fight between owner Ginny Fine and town officials because of the repeated escapes. A judge in Stafford Township fined Fine $500 and ordered her to pay $560 in restitution to the zoo, where the bobcat has been since it last escaped in October.

Fine has said Rocky is a hybrid of a bobcat and a Maine coon cat. But DNA tests were inconclusive. She would have needed a special permit if Rocky were a purebred.

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CAPTAIN'S CORN MAZE

The VonThun Farm in South Brunswick honored retired Yankees great Derek Jeter with a 5-acre corn maze carved in his honor this fall. "Thanks Captain Clutch" was carved into the maze, along with a baseball with Jeter's No. 2 on it.

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SNOWPLOWED REPORTER

A television news reporter covering the aftermath of a snowstorm in Woodstown was blasted by a wall of snow from a passing plow during a March storm. Fox 29's Steve Keeley said he was 20 feet from the road, which shows how far plows can throw snow at high speeds.

He joked that a reporter from another TV station must've been driving the plow.

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SPRINGSTEEN-POLL

It's no secret Gov. Chris Christie is a Bruce Springsteen megafan, and New Jersey residents don't seem to mind the obsession, according to a Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll issued in September in honor of the Boss's 65th birthday.

The poll found nearly half of Jersey residents say Christie's obsession is "kind of cool" - more than double the number who find it a little embarrassing.

And the governor's in good company. More than 40 percent of those polled described themselves Springsteen fans, while 34 percent have Springsteen music in their personal collections.