1 man dead in shooting in the 3300 block of Spruce

From KCPD: Tonight (September 15, 2008) at about 7:30pm, KC Police Officers were called to the 3300 block of Spruce on a shooting. On arrival officers were directed to 3307 Spruce where they found a black male suffering from at least one gunshot wound laying in the yard there.

MAST ambulance and KC Fire Department personnel arrived and found that the male had died from his injuries.

Homicide detectives were advised that a red 1990’s Chevy Blazer occupied by two black males were involved in this incident. No suspect(s) are in custody and anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 474-TIPS (8477).

How does marching help fight crime?

JOCO SOB is unimpressed.

1 critical after shooting Saturday on East 68th

From Mark Morris:

Kansas City police are investigating a Saturday afternoon shooting that left one man critically wounded.

Sgt. Tony Sanders said officers answered a disturbance call about 2 p.m. Saturday in the 3200 block of East 68th Street and found one man who had sustained wounds to his chest and shoulder after an argument.

He was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries that police described as “critical.”

Have you seen this car?

From Gladstone PD: This vehicle was stolen from the driveway of a residence located in the 1600 block of NE 67th Street in Gladstone, MO, on September 6, 2008, between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.

1980 Chevrolet Corvette VT, black with mirrored T-tops and Louver exhaust pipes on down the side. Vermont license plates DKE-118.

Carjacking (sort of) foiled by manual transmission

The victim still got beat up pretty badly, but the bad guys didn't get away with his car -- they didn't know how to drive it.

For the love of God, man, just do the dishes!

A Texas woman is accused of biting her boyfriend and swinging a sword at him because he didn't do the dishes.

Fetch me the world's tiniest violin!

In which a moron sobs over being jail for wearing short shorts and a babydoll T-shirt in court. "I was dressed cute!"

Hat Tip: Saw this via QuizLaw!

Dog calls 911 after owner has seizure

I'm just trying to imagine what a cat would do in that situation.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, FanDanGo!

Wichita abortion doc wants misdemeanors kicked

From The Eagle:

Lawyers for Wichita abortion provider George Tiller today filed a motion asking a judge to drop misdemeanor charges against him because of alleged misconduct by former Attorney General Phill Kline.

In a 153-page brief filed this morning in Sedgwick County District Court, Tiller's lawyers outlined evidence they say showed Kline and his office "lied" to a Shawnee County judge to open a secret inquiry into Tiller's clinic and another operated by Planned Parenthood in Overland Park.

UPDATE: Wisconsin man steal veterans' big-screen TV

He's a veteran himself, and he says he was stealing it for his disabled wife. The judge didn't care -- sentence is one year in federal prison. Snip:

In court documents filed this week, Polak said he first had the notion of stealing the television when he went to Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center for food stamps in April on his wife’s birthday. When he came to fetch his wife, he found her watching the 52-inch Samsung, “looking as peaceful as I have ever seen her.”

... He dressed up like a repairman and one afternoon he wheeled it out, telling questioning vets he was taking it to be repaired.

“I owed my wife a present, the military owed me a lot, the military possessed something that would make a perfect gift to my wife,” he said in an affidavit. “I saw myself as simply taking something from the military, knowing that the military could replace the television.”

Fact: Breast massages do NOT stop hair loss

A handful of UK woman learned this the hard way.

Hat Tip: Saw this via Fark!

Christians' protector uses shotgun's butt to turn atheist attacker's cheek, police say

Story is from Colorado Springs, where an atheist man allegedly wanted to behead two women because they're Christians. One of their neighbors got a shotgun and, when the atheist guy came near him, smacked the atheist with the gun's butt -- causing him to lose an eye. (If your eye causes you to offend ...)

Is Nebraska's safe-haven law TOO broad?

Most states have laws that let mothers leave their newborns or infants at hospitals, firehouses, etc., if they don't want to care for them anymore. Nebraska's, however, covers everybody under age 19. This weekend, a 15-year-old and an 11-year-old were both officially given up.

Former American Italian Pasta CEO, CFO plead guilty

From the SEC:

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Kansas City-based American Italian Pasta Company (AIPC) and its former senior executives for engaging in a fraudulent accounting scheme to artificially increase the company’s stock price and mislead investors about the company’s earnings.

The SEC’s complaints allege that AIPC’s former chief executive officer Timothy S. Webster, former chief financial officer Warren B. Schmidgall, and former executive vice president of corporate development and strategy David E. Watson orchestrated the scheme. Webster agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle the SEC’s charges.

In a related criminal action, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri announced today that it resolved its investigation of AIPC and that Webster and Schmidgall both pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their roles in concealing AIPC’s true financial condition and filing materially false reports with the SEC. In addition, AIPC agreed to resolve the criminal investigation of the company by paying a $7.5 million penalty.

Read the whole thing here.

Vandals break every single window in OR high school

That's more than 100 double-pane windows. The no-goodniks also spraypainted a message, along with a middle finger, saying they wanted to give the maintenance guys "something to do." The elementary school was spared, but they got to stay home, too -- administrators didn't want them to see the graffiti.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Jay!

Arizona carjacker throws baby from the car

Luckily, the thief stopped to do this, and the 4-month-old was in her car seat. She escaped with minor injuries.

Report: Suicide kills about twice as many as homicide

But it's not really a huge public concern, David Klepper notes. Snip:

“As a culture in general, we don’t have much compassion for people who die by suicide,” said Marcia Epstein, director of the Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence and one of the state’s top experts on suicide prevention. “And there’s a feeling there’s something wrong with families that lose someone this way.”

The indifference shows up in government spending, too. A decade after the surgeon general called for suicide-prevention plans, Kansas has yet to fund one or hire a statewide coordinator. Missouri implemented its current plan in 2005, but finding grants to fund the initiatives is a constant struggle.

Open Thread ... Monday

The Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion, is up and running on a lovely Monday morning! Thanks for spending part of it here! As always, if you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, 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, and have a great day!

A modest proposal: Arrest hurricane survivors

A gem from local blogger RDM:

Explain this one to me. If you are given a mandatory evacuation order and decide to ignore that, shouldn’t you be arrested upon rescue? Wait. Hear me out.

In town here, if you’re driving in the snow on non-snow rated tires and get stuck, you’ll be ticketed on certain roads. They suggest you get chains or stay your tail home. People know that, so that’s why they rush to get away before the cops show up.

That’s all I’m saying. I caught some footage of people who were now stuck in mutiple feet of standing water in their homes. No power. Nothing to eat. Now, they want to be rescued.  Well, consider the expense of rescuing these people. Why are they not ticketed? Why are they not charged for their own rescue?

Midtown Miscreant chimes in here, comparing the people of Texas to Tina Turner:

Let me be really clear here, Hurricane Ike was no joke, and it walked a mudhole along the Texas gulf coast. People were warned, threatened, pleaded with, cajoled, to leave, scram, get the f**k out while you still can. Like Davey Crockett at the Alamo facing down that Santa Claus guy, a couple hundred thousand people defied all warnings, they stayed.

Before Ike had planted his boot completely up the ass of Galveston, comes this headline, "Those who stayed plead for rescue in Galveston, Texas as Hurricane Ike storms ashore." If it were up to me, we would air drop everyone who stayed a set of water wings and a pool toy.

Search and rescue workers drive down a flooded road as they search the Sabine Pass area of Port Arthur, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 following Hurricane Ike. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Not remotely crime-related

Scooter, a local blogger, is leading a walk of both downtown KCMO and KCK on Sept. 21. He's organized several similar walks before, and I always hear good things about them. Learn more here.

Patrol recognizes MO women who found missing boy

The Missouri Highway Patrol is giving certificates of appreciation to Shelley Tucker and Kacie Luetkemeyer for helping authorities locate Kenyon Brock, a missing Independence boy. (We wrote about him here.)

Kenyon's mom took him from his grandma, who had custody, the patrol reports. A statewide alert was requested because police were sure that Mom was headed to Holt's Summit, near Jeff City. Before the alert could even be issued ...

Ms. Tucker, a local news director for the Zimmer Radio Group, became aware of the information and included it in her broadcast on Y107 (106.9 FM). Ms. Luetkemeyer heard the broadcast and then observed the vehicle and immediately contacted the Jefferson City Police Department by dialing 9-1-1. Ms. Luetkemeyer then followed the vehicle until officers arrived.

After a slow speed chase, the child and mother were taken into custody without incident. The 18-year-old male driving the vehicle was taken into custody after a brief foot pursuit. Because of the actions of these two ladies, a young child was located unharmed before a statewide Amber Alert could be issued.

Columbia might make it illegal to steal garbage

The city council is annoyed because some folks are picking up the bags of recyclables left on curbs, then selling the materials to recyclers. Which, of course, is cutting into the city's profits ...

Pictured: Suspect photo

WyCo jail has new administrator

Not sure why they're sending this out now ...

From WyCo Sheriff: On August 18, 2008 Sheriff Leroy Green Jr. appointed Mr. Jeffrey S. Fewell as the new Administrator of the Wyandotte County Detention Center. Mr. Fewell retired from the U.S. Army in January, 2008, encompassing over 20 years of service in Army corrections.  As a First Sergeant, Fewell served in numerous leadership positions at the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas and Guantanamo Bay Cuba.

Upon retirement, Mr. Fewell was hired as a Deputy Sheriff by the Johnson County, Kansas Sheriff’s Office. He worked at the Adult Detention Center in Olathe until he was hired as the Administrator of the Wyandotte County Detention Center.

Should Roberta Borden be a free woman?

Thirty years ago, Borden was convicted, with her lover, of shooting her husband through the heart while he was watching TV. The Springfield woman was supposed to serve 50 years before she could qualify for parole but a relatively new law is letting her and a few other female inmates apply for early parole -- if they can prove they were victims of abuse.

FBI: Crime dropped in 2007

Violent crime was down 0.7 percent -- it had been going up since 2005. For the fifth year in a row, property crime declined. (Car thefts alone were down 8.1 percent.) More here.

And here's a creepy statistic: Someone was murdered every 31 minutes in the United States last year.

Report: Russian Satanists stab, eat teenage goths

The story says a group of Satanists stabbed four teenagers 666 times each, then hacked their bodies up and cooked them on a bonfire. (This is from the Daily Mail, so I don't think anyone would blame you for taking an extra grain of salt with this story.)

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Keith G in PV!

Wendy Brown

Brown is the Wisconsin mother accused of stealing her daughter's ID so Mom could join the local high school's cheerleading squad and "live the childhood that she never had." (Daughter was living with Grandma in another state.) Mom is 33.

Edwin Hall

Sentencing is set for Tuesday, though it's already been set -- he'll get life without parole. Diane Carroll has a piece here about Hall, saying that we'll never know why he chose that day and that girl, Kelsey Smith.

Independence baby's death was murder, police say

From Independence PD: On Friday, September 15, 2008 Independence Police were dispatched to a residence in the 25600 Block of E. 31st. Terr in regards to an infant nonbreather. Upon their arrival they located a 1-year-old child dead at the scene. The subsequent investigation which included interviews of the child’s mother and the mother’s paramour, a search of the residence and a preliminary autopsy report resulted in the arrest of both the child’s mother and her paramour. Named in the arrest warrants are:

Kyle W. Cooper 25 years old of the residence on 31st Terr

Kimberly Helmes 21 years old also of the residence on 31st Terr.

Both parties have been charged with Murder in the 2nd Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. Bond has been set at $500,000 cash only. Both subjects will be arraigned later this morning at the Jackson County Courthouse in Independence.

A second child, a 2-year-old male, was taken into custody and transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital for a physical examination before being taken to a safe place by the Children’s Division. This is the seventh Homicide for 2008 as compared to seven at this same time last year.

KSHB: Riverside PD investigates double stabbing

Apparently related to some sort of domestic disturbance. Both parties are expected to live.

WV cop Tasers pregnant teen, firefighter, police say

What, were there no sickly children around? Snip:

"He Tasered me because it was my birthday," the firefighter said, adding that his back was turned when Smith used the Taser on him.

The firefighter said it didn't hurt, though. He thought it was horseplay more than anything.

Homophobe gets beatdown, avoids criminal charges

From the Denver Post:

It was his tight, white jeans, snakeskin shoes and the fairy that Nima Daivari wore on a chain around his neck that prompted a stranger to call him a faggot and attack him.

And it was Daivari's boxing training that led him to pound back at his assailant, headlocking him until police arrived at the scene on the 16th Street Mall.

What's interesting is that police refused to charge the first guy, and the victim has lost a court case arguing this was a hate crime. The judge said that gay men aren't a protected class under the Constitution.

Tater Salad speaks

About "the incident." He says it's medicinal ...

Springfield babysitter drops tot, 2, from second-story window

She's getting five years of probation, largely because the baby didn't get hurt. She claimed two boys asked her to drop the kiddo:

Woods told police two children playing outside the apartment complex called up to her, asking her to drop a 2-year-old boy from a window.

"She told (police) she thought it was a bad idea because (the toddler) might 'be killed or break a leg,' " a statement used to charge Woods said. "She said she then lifted (the toddler) out the window and dropped him."

The distance from the window to the ground was approximately 13 feet, 9 inches.

Isn't that great? She thought it was a bad idea, but went ahead with it anyway. The baby-catchers say they just happened to be there to save the baby.

How Missouri reforms young offenders

The Post-Dispatch had a piece this weekend about Missouri's juvenile justice system and how it sends kids to correction centers that resemble dorms, not prisons. The system just recently won a $100K award from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Missouri has a much lower juvie repeat-offender rate than other states, who want to copy our program. (Though the P-D story makes a good point: Missouri lets some teens be tried as adults -- which means the worst cases might not be going through juvenile justice.)

Dream big

If you're going to steal a vehicle, why not grab a fire truck? (Personally, I'm just waiting for someone to leave a replica of either the Batmobile or General Lee parked on my street.)

Naked dog-walker says he was only following Allah's orders

Story is from Florida. Snip from The AP:

The man was asked what he was doing and told the officer, "Allah told me to watch a Bruce Willis movie and walk the dog," McCranie said.

They ended up Tasering him. I'd just like to take this opportunity and say, way to go, Florida police. They actually stopped and asked him questions first, which is more restraint than I would have shown to a naked dog-walker prowling my street. The rule is Taser first.

Will the ex-con vote impact the fall elections?

The New York Times has a piece here about some groups, such as ACORN and the Brennan Center for Justice, that are working to register more ex-cons in states like Florida, where the rules have changed to make it easier for former felons to vote. Snip:

“You’re talking about incredible numbers of people out there who now may have had their right to vote restored and don’t even know it,” said Reggie Mitchell, a former voter-registration worker for People for the American Way. In Florida, “we’re talking tens of thousands of people,” he said.

“And in the 2000 election, in the state of Florida, 300 people made the difference.”

Who killed Terrence Timmons?

Here's the KMBC take on the case of a Kansas City cab driver killed last week.

MO baby thief gets 30 years

That would be Shannon Torrez, who entered an Alford plea to charges she stabbed a Franklin County woman and stole her 7-day-old girl, Abby. (Mom and baby were both OK, eventually.)

(AP Photo/ Sarah Conard)

Meanwhile, in Iowa

Girl, 13, arrested for smacking 12-year-old boy with mop handle.

The lawyer who wasn't actually a lawyer

A Minnesota man is facing trial in North Dakota for allegedly posing as a lawyer -- and working on cases in 10 different states, including Missouri. He's already told a federal judge that he doesn't actually have a law degree, though that didn't stop him from tackling big cases. Snip from The AP:

Kieffer's federal case log includes a major criminal complaint in Colorado, where he unsuccessfully defended a woman accused of trying to hire a hit man to murder her son's father. A judge has not yet ruled on her motion for a mistrial due to an ineffective lawyer.