Open Thread ... Sweet Merciful Friday

Thanks for another great week on the Open Thread! It's been a lot of fun, and I really appreciate the comments and links that people have posted. (This is, of course, the place for off-topic comments and links.)

PROGRAMMING NOTE: We'll have an OT tomorrow and a handful of items. I'm going on vacation all next week, but Sara will be here Wednesday through Friday. John Shultz will mind things on Tuesday. I'm a little up in the air about Monday -- we'll try to have a fresh OT, but posting may be very, very light.

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, and have a great Friday!

Love's Labors Defrauded

Awful story about a 77-year-old man who thought he'd won the heart of a woman 40 years younger ... only she was stealing about $50K from him, police say. Story is from Cali.

Woman stole $20K to pay for breast lift, police say

And a tummy tuck, too!

Do you know this man and woman?

From OP Police: The Overland Park Police Department is releasing photos of the suspects and the suspect vehicle use in the robbery on 8/23/08. The robbery occurred at 8698 College Blvd.  This was the robbery where one on the suspects assisted the victim with pumping gas then robbed her of her wallet.

The Overland Park Police Department is asking anyone that knows these people to call the Overland Park Police Department or TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

Utah man pays $30 to stop being stabbed

I think we can all agree that it was money well spent.

The good news: We got your money back

The bad news: You might not want it back once you learn where the thief was hiding it.

Hat Tip: Saw this via Fark!

Midtown Miscreant

I like his philosophy: "When all else fails, give the readers crazy people."

DOJ plans to lighten up a little on white-collar crime

Justice is issuing a new set of guidelines for prosecutors investigating white-collar crimes -- the DOJ had faced criticism that it was being TOO aggressive when going after suspects. Snip from Reuters:

The government has faced criticism, from business groups to lawyers and legislators, for pressuring companies to cooperate in criminal probes or else risk indictment.

Among the tactics critics said were too aggressive were demands that companies waive attorney-client privilege or stop paying attorney fees for employees under investigation.

LAPD searches for a serial killer

Creepy, but interesting story about Los Angeles homicide detectives, who are hunting down a serial killer responsible for at least 10 murders over the past 23 years. (They're looking to see whether he's connected to 30 others.) For the longest time, nobody knew the guy was operating because the slayings were so sporadic.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

Should pregnant inmates be shackled during labor?

You've got to admit -- it would be an unlikely time for an escape attempt. A federal appeals court has agreed to hear the case of a former inmate, a woman who did time in Arkansas for credit-card fraud, who says she was shackled to the bed for most of her labor.

Cybercows terrorize British countryside

From The AP: This is an undated image released by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of a curious cow who got her head stuck in the drum of a washing machine drum that was illegally dumped in a field at Higher Fraddon, southwestern England The lucky cow escaped injury after her ordeal - but the RSPCA warned that Friday Aug. 29, 2008 that illegally dumping of rubbish can cause animals harm.

Where is Caylee Anthony?

Casey Anthony, the Florida mother who waited a month before reporting her 2-year-old, Caylee, missing, is out on bail, but there's a good chance that her bondsman is going to send her back. (Just the other day, police found physical evidence that a dead body had been decomposing in Casey Anthony's car trunk.)

3 injured in KCMO, 1 dead and 1 injured in KCK

Like reporting on a damn war zone ... From Bob Cronkleton:

Three people are in the hospital this morning after being wounded in what police believe were two unrelated shootings.

The shootings occurred before 2 a.m. today at 41st Street and Park Avenue and at 42nd and Olive streets, police said. Originally, police thought the shootings were related, but now they are believed to be separate incidents. At least one person was taken to the hospital with critical injuries.

More from Cronk:

Police are investigating an early morning shooting in Kansas City, Kan., during which one person was killed.

The shooting occurred about 5:20 a.m. Friday in the 500 block of S. 78th Street, according to dispatchers. Further details were not immediately available.

The injury shooting was about 6:30 near the 2600 block of Nebraska.

Not remotely crime-related

Hail to the Repo Man! (Clip is from "Colbert" -- I'm not taking sides on the political commentary leading into the piece, I just like the joie de vivre this man has. Especially when he talks about repossessing an old man's hearing aid.)

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

C-store clerk shot in the head ... THEN calls 911

Execution-style, no less, but she's still alive at last report. Story is from South Carolina. Snip:

WIS obtained the tape of a 911 call Brammer made after the shooting, where she tells the operator she was shot, along with "my head's killing me" and "I can't see right."

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Jay Tee!

KCPD's homicide count is high and rising

I have no idea how the police are juggling all this. They've been able to close a lot of cases quickly, it seems, but the last week has been ridiculous. Four murders in the space of a day? I'm not sure what's driving all of this. We had a couple of shootings they THOUGHT might be related, but that was mentioned and never really brought up again.

The last time we had a run like this, it was back when police were warning the public about gang violence. Nobody's offered that as a theory now.

From Christine Vendel:

Four homicides recorded in less than 24 hours — including the shooting death of a pregnant woman Wednesday — pushed Kansas City’s monthly total to a level not seen this decade.

As of Thursday, the city had logged 19 homicides in August, the first time that has happened since December 1998. And the month is not finished.

Homicide detectives have pulled three all-nighters just this week.

“They’ll finish working one homicide and try to go home to rest, only to get called back in,” said homicide Capt. John Mueller.

This month’s surge has inched the year’s total of 81 past the 79 recorded by the same date in 2005, which was the city’s most violent year for homicides this decade.

Maybe E-Verify isn't the solution to our problems

E-Verify is a government program that checks workers' papers to see if they're legal to work in the United States. It's designed to weed out illegal immigrants, but guess who was a loyal user of E-Verify? Howard Industries of Mississippi, where the feds arrested nearly 600 undocumented workers, the Washington Post reports.

Turns out E-Verify isn't particularly foolproof, if you're savvy enough to give someone else's Social Security number.

(AP Photo/Matt Bush, The Hattiesburg American)

Woman shot during mugging on Quality Hill

Missed this from last weekend, but a woman in her 20s was shot in her side during a mugging about 2 a.m. last Saturday near 10th and Washington. She was with a man, walking to a residence, when two muggers popped up and demanded their keys and wallets. Even though they complied, the woman was shot in her side, though she's apparently going to live.

Martin Sheen: NOT a complete bleeding heart

Actor Martin Sheen is also well known for holding liberal political views. So it was a little surprising to see him oppose a California initiative that would send more drug offenders to treatment instead of prison, the Los Angeles Times reports.

But Sheen also has first-hand experience dealing with addiction -- his alcoholism, his son Charlie's drug habit. He says that a lot of addicts need the threat of prison to get clean.

Twilight of the New England Mafia?

Great story from the Boston Globe about the New England Mafia and how it's dwindling away -- mostly because they can't attract quality employees. Snip:

The local Mafia, which traditionally denounced drugs, now tolerates addicts in its ranks. And some members of the old guard have turned down promotions or become inactive because they fear going back to prison or have lost faith after seeing Mafiosi around the country break omerta, the code of silence, and turn informant or government witness, police said.

TX mom offered to let strangers have sex with her kids, police say

As it turns out, Independence police played a big part in cracking this case, the AP reports.

Robber holds gun to customer's head in c-store stickup

From Christine:

A robber pointed a gun at a customer’s head and threatened to kill him in a holdup at the Fast Stop on Wednesday night near 75th Street and Holmes Road.

Several customers and two employees were inside when the gunman, who was wearing a blue bandanna over his face, walked into the store about 11:15 p.m.

One employee ran into the restroom and locked the door. The second employee started to run but stopped when the gunman shouted, “Get to the front of the store before I kill someone!”

Good news! DUI crashes are down

We saw a drop of 3.7 percent between 2006 and 2007. Missouri saw a 12.4 percent drop; Kansas, 8.8 percent. More here.

U.S. inmates have 1.7 million kids under age 18

That's according to our friends at the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Those kids represent 2.3 percent of the U.S. resident population under 18.

Also? There were 744,200 fathers and 65,600 mothers behind bars in July 2007. Curious who was taking care of the kids while they were locked up? Here's a PDF of the report.

Say, how's our old friend, Drew Peterson?

Well, he's headed to court on a gun rap.