Today's Disturbing Fact: Almost 20 states have no laws against bestiality

Including Florida. Experts say these laws are needed because there's a link between animal and child sexual abuse.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, You're A Mean Drunk R2D2!

A new low

Social worker accused of stealing wedding rings after woman dies at the hospital.

WA woman faked brain cancer so she could skip work, police say

She's employed ... excuse me, was employed as a social worker. She's been charged with stealing $21K worth of sick days ... and that's not counting the food that coworkers brought her.

Hat Tip: Many thanks to the Invincible Patty PV!

HIV-positive man's spit was a deadly weapon, jury says

He's been sentenced to 35 years for spitting into a Dallas officer's eyes and mouth. (No word if the officer contracted HIV as a result.) Because the attack involved a deadly weapon, the man will have to serve half of his sentence before he can be paroled.

Is this bill going to stop (or slow down) scrap-metal thieves?

Missouri's legislature is sending the governor a bill that promises to crack down on scrap-metal thieves. There are quite a few new rules, most of them applying to people who buy scrap metal. For example, they can't buy manhole covers, bleachers or anything that looks like it was funded by taxpayers unless a local government gives written permission. Then there's this:

The legislation, given final approval Wednesday night, requires scrap metal dealers to get a copy of a photo identification for people who are not regular business customers but are selling them more than $50 worth of metals such as copper and aluminum.

Dealers would have to save those records for two years in case law enforcement officers want to inspect them. Dealers who violate the provision could be charged with misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, up from the current fine of $25 to $500.

I hope it works. Everybody from churches to farmers have been screwed over by all the copper thefts going on now. I'm just curious how vigorously this is going to be enforced. It's like Missouri's "crackdown" on cold medicine sales / meth makers. Stores keep records of people who buy certain kinds of meds -- but it's all on paper, and none of it gets sent to a central database. It's an absolutely toothless law.

KCPD plans sobriety checkpoint for May 23

That's a Friday. Your one hint? It'll be somewhere in the Northland. Hope that narrows it down.

Man kills mother-in-law's chihuahua with a shovel

For everybody who said, "Not a jury in the world will convict him," you were wrong -- one in Colorado did.

“You know, he should try spending a little more time in his own country.”

Don't read this story unless you've taken your blood-pressure meds. It's about an Italian man, a complete innocent, getting thrown into jail for 10 days because, well, a customs agent thought he was a funny-lookin' furriner. (He's a successful lawyer who was visiting his American girlfriend.)

God save us all from the mental midgets with an ounce of authority and almost that much brain ...

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Keith G in PV!

I call this one "Bitey"

Bite marks have a mixed reputation in the legal field. Some forensic experts use them to tie suspects to crime scenes, but others -- and I'm talking defense attorneys here especially -- say they're not accurate enough to be used as evidence. The Innocence Project says seven people have been freed after being wrongly convicted over bite marks.

At Iowa State, they're building a computer database to show how rarely or frequently certain bite characteristics appear in the population. That way, some suspects can be ruled out.

(If you're interested in learning more about forensic dentistry, here's a fairly comprehensive resource ...)

One Year Later: Who killed Chris Bartholomew?

Chris Bartholomew, 21, was shot and killed on May 20 last year near 39th and Broadway. Bartholomew was just a bystander when two other groups got into a drive-by shooting. It was a weekend night near Westport, and there should have been dozens of witnesses. Despite a $30,000 reward, though, there have only been a few calls to the TIPS Hotline, says Misty Kirwan, Chris' mom.

Bartholomew's family has planned a vigil for 2 p.m. Sunday (May 18) at the Children's Fountain, 9 Highway and North Oak in North Kansas City. The public is invited to attend.

At the time of his death, Chris was taking classes at Maple Woods so he could eventually become a police officer. He'd just moved out on his own. Here's a Web site devoted to his case and his memory.

"Trying to find out who did this, that's my life now," Kirwan said.

Sheriff Joe takes a shot in the pocketbook

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio had been doing a lot of immigration enforcement around the Phoenix area lately -- something that mayors there weren't thrilled about -- but that might be complicated. The governor has cut off Arpaio's access to a state fund he'd been using to round up illegals.

For his part, Arpaio vows to soldier on: "Nothing changes," he said. "Watch out. They're not going to stop me from enforcing the laws."

Report: Judge suggested suicide to minor in possession

Just saying ... if everybody did that, my college graduating class would have been 10 people.

Open Thread ... Thursday (Friday Eve)

Thank you for joining the Open Thread on a lovely Thursday morning. As always, this is our spot for off-topic comments, caterwauling, etc. Feel free to post a link if you've seen an interesting story elsewhere!

Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. I read the OT, but if you need to contact me directly, my email is jhart@kcstar.com.

Thanks again, and have a great Friday Eve!

Soccer coach accused of binding, gagging and hanging boys from the rafters of his garage

Story is from Lincoln.

Open Thread ... Wednesday

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic coments and discussion. Of course, if you've seen an interesting story elsewhere, feel free to post a link below.

Please sign your comments, and please avoid profanity, as well as racially and sexually abusive language. And when you sign your comments, please use only one nickname. I read the OT, but if you need to contact me directly, my email is jhart@kcstar.com.

Thanks again, and have a great Wednesday!

That was no way to treat a lady

A New York woman has won a $35K settlement after a restaurant's bouncer threw her out of the women's bathroom because she looked too much like a man -- even though the woman showed ID proving that she's a lady.

Click It Or Ticket

Just so you know, Riverside WILL be participating in the annual crackdown on seatbelt scofflaws. The campaign will run May 19 through June 1.

UPDATED: KCPD joins the Click It Or Ticket Juggernaut, too.

The postman rings twice ... the boyfriend climbs in a window

An 18-year-old from Ohio allegedly decided to climb through his 15-year-old girlfriend's window -- which was unfortunate because she was gone, but her dad wasn't. There's a lovely mugshot after the jump, wherein you can see that Pop gave him a workover before calling 911.

Where is Jesse Fernandez?

From Crime Stoppers:

Kansas City, Missouri Police and the FBI Violent Crimes and Fugitive Task Force are asking for the public's help in locating Jesse V. Fernandez, a Hispanic male, 18 years of age. He is wanted on a Jackson County warrant charging him with the murder of Mark A. Palacio on April 18th of this year at 5518 E. 23rd Street.  Fernandez is listed as being 5'5" tall and weighing 130 lbs., with brown eyes and black hair.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 816-474-TIPS.  A cash reward is available for information leading to an arrest.

(Palacio was 32, the father of three and worked as a brick layer.)

Teacher arrested after making boy, 7, clear clogged toilet with his bare hands, police say

Story is from Louisiana. The boy says Teacher threatened to make him do the unclogging with his teeth if it happened again. She's now facing a charge of cruelty to a juvenile. Snip:

An affidavit we obtained states that Trevor's teacher, Julie Landry, intentionally forced the child to place his hand in a toilet containing human feces and urine. However, that's not where the embarrassment ends.

"S--sssy (pronounced Essy) hands. Here comes sssy hands," says Michael Williams, Trevor's father. He says that's what the kids called his son the next day.

Via the always excellent News of The Weird!

Hat Tip: Many thanks, kmb!

Man gets convicted of murder ... then goes for deputy's gun

The video is pretty wild. Story is from Michigan.

UPDATE: Inmate sues after losing 100+ pounds in jail

The inmate, who now weighs about 300 pounds, might have just doomed his own lawsuit. The authorities say they caught him giving away food.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, QuizLaw!

Seriously, this was an old "Reno 911" episode ...

In Gerald, Mo., the town has suspended the police chief and two of his officers after they let a man posing as a federal drug investigator tag along on raids, arrest people, break down doors, etc. (The city even hired him as a code enforcer.)

The guy had all the right props -- guns, lights, badge -- but he allegedly conducted searches without warrants, which let a local reporter, Linda Trest of the Gasconade County Republican, catch him.

UPDATE: 2nd FLDS mom gives birth

The other day, we had a story about a second FLDS woman giving birth while in state custody. There was some debate whether the woman was an adult or not -- she said she was, the state demurred. Turns out, she's 18. But she's staying with the baby, who is in state custody.

An FLDS spokesman has accused the state of treating these women as underaged so the authorities could hold onto them and their kids.

Man gets arrested after getting booted from graduation over dress code

It happened at Independence's Community Christ Auditorium, where Ruskin Heights held its graduation, KBMC reports. The man was told he couldn't attend the ceremony because he wasn't following the dress code, which led to him getting angry, which somehow led to his arrest. (Corrected from earlier version, which listed him as Dad -- sorry about that, Ni.)

RDM doesn't feel sorry for the guy: "Moral of the story? Suit yourself … you knew the rules!!!"

Tony, though, says these rules are usually enforced unfairly:

Sadly, if these rules were enforced across the board they might be defensible (not really) but they're not ... The real world application of these arbitrary dress codes serves as nothing more than flimsy justification to chase young, minority males away from Kansas City destinations. Pretending otherwise is nothing more than willful ignorance or tacit support for this town's current manifestation of racism.