Mother of 3 becomes police officer at 50

A 50-year-old mother of three has joined a county police force in Pennsylvania, following her son and daughter, who are both police officers.

(Photo used by permission of WTAE-TV Pittsburgh)

Drunken heathen vandals strike in NH

A New Hampshire couple were shocked to find someone had stolen a plastic Baby Jesus from the nativity scene in their yard and replaced it with a Budweiser Select beer can.

Update: Baby Jesus returned, but with devil horns

Blondie's bogus Kansas DMV adventure

Reader and link-provider extraordinaire blondie2hot7 sent me this story about a California DMV worker who was selling licenses out of her apartment for up to $800.

Those kind of DMV favors happen in Kansas, too, Blondie told me. In August, she said, she went to the DMV in Kansas City, Kan., to renew her license, but forgot her glasses and could not read the chart.

She watched the clerk send away a young black man who failed the eye test, and was thinking of stepping out of line. But when she got to the test, the clerk started clicking the letters until they "looked like billboards", Blondie said, and she walked out with her license.

"She didn't click any buttons for him," Blondie said.

This isn't selling licenses out of an apartment, but Blondie, who hours earlier had won $1,600 at a casino, said maybe it was her lucky day. The whole story

Please note:
1. Comments must be signed. Unsigned ones may be deleted.
2. No profanity or vulgarity, racially or sexually offensive speech.
3. Feeling off-topic? Visit the open thread.

Evel Knievel: Don't rock my persona!

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Evel Knievel has sued Kanye West, taking issue with a music video in which the rapper takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and tries to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon.

Hat tip to celebrity-touched reader DB, who says Evel Knievel bought him a beer last year!

Love and knife wounds in Oklahoma

This beat-up-looking Oklahoma woman is charged with aggravated assault for stabbing her mother's boyfriend in the chest and buttocks. Maybe she got that black eye walking into a door.

Hat tip to reader blondie2hot7!

Local meth kingpin guilty of 1998 murder

A federal jury late Tuesday found the former supplier of meth in eastern Jackson County to a local motorcycle gang guilty of a 1998 murder in which the victim was beaten, stabbed, shot and stuffed in the trunk of a car.

News release

Buddy the beagle shot dead in yard

A Leavenworth County woman said she came home from the store and found her 4-year-old beagle, Buddy, shot in the head with a .30 caliber bullet.

Hat tip to reader LB, who says, "People will be going bonkers about the poor dog. I think it's more cruel to chain a beagle to a tree than it is to shoot a beagle."

Police ride-along passenger critically hurt

Despite the fact that a civilian ride-along passenger was critically injured when the Sacramento police car he was in crashed, I still highly recommend riding a shift with police in your community. It's an excellent close-up look at day-to-day policework.

Hat tip to reader blondie2hot7!

Open thread Wednesday

This is the place to come for discussion of off-topic topics. It's also a good place to bring crime-related story ideas, especially with a link or hint to where I can find it. The blog is always hungry.

Today: Reader blondie2hot7 still cannot post comments. Neither TypePad, the Star's online staff or her ISP have any idea what the problem is. If you try to post a comment and an error message pops up saying you are spam or an abusive user, please e-mail me at greeves@kcstar.com.

Update from blondie2hot7 11 a.m.:

• Greg, would you do me a favor and tell the "bloggers" I miss them, and hopefully I'll be able to post soon.. Tell aqua to quit trying to take my place writting poems..LOL The one he wrote was pretty good though! Good stories today!

Local cops won't help immigration raid

This could just as easily have happened in Kansas?

The police chief of Grand Island, NE told federal authorities he would not help with an immigration raid on a meatpacking plant in that town. His department has to take care of the Latino community, he told them.

Six plants of the Swift & Co. meatpacking company were raided nationwide by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in a search for illegal aliens and identity theft.

In Salt Lake City, Raid leaves families in limbo

Hat tip to reader blondie2hot7, who still can't post!