Lee's Summit makes arrest in alleged Wal-Mart assault

From LSPD: This morning a warrant/charges were issued against 18 year old Lee's Summit resident Keath A. Pebworth for Class A Felony Child Kidnapping related to the incident at Wal-Mart in Lee's Summit. His bond was set at $250,000.00 and he remains in custody at the JC detention facility.

Man sets his house on fire after domestic disturbance, police say

Story is from Grandview!

Local man gets 25 for killing his grandpa with a claw hammer

The defendant's name is Justin Lowe. Snip from Mark Morris:

Prosecutors charged him with murder in December 2006 for killing James R. Lowe, 71, and taking his car and a credit card to visit his girlfriend in Coralville, Iowa. Jurors convicted him in December of a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and also robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.

Lowe’s aunt, Debbie Lowe of Roseville, Calif., tearfully told the judge that James Lowe spent more than $50,000 supporting Justin and his mother before his death, including buying prescription medications and paying legal bills for Justin’s defense in two prior robberies.

Off-duty JaCo deputy arrests 5 after gunfight

From Joe Lambe:

An off-duty Jackson County deputy saw a gunfight between people in two cars this morning, then chased down and arrested five people, police said.

The incident began about 1 a.m. at a convenience store in the 8700 block of east 63rd Street, where the deputy working as a security guard saw the gunfight and chased one car as it sped away, police said.

That vehicle crashed near 63rd Street and Manchester Trafficway and the deputy made the arrests, police said.

The most amazing thing you'll read today, period

Fact: Sometimes, it's just not your time to go.

Ohio mom was breast-feeding while driving, police say

Well, thank heavens that she's learned her lesson:

Compton said she will take the advice of the officers into consideration, but she may breast feed her baby while driving in the future if she feels that is is necessary.

Well, I'm sure we'll be reading about this family at some point in the future. Probably not in a happy context.

Dear Parents: Please do not put your infants in the dryer

Everybody knows that babies should be dried on a clothesline.

Okie woman is asked to leave motel -- then tries to remove maid's eye, police say

My general rule is to treat angry Okies like you would a starving bear ...

Tattoo artist accused of running underage fight club

Story is from New Hampshire. The tattoo guy, apparently wanting to be an even bigger negative influence on young people, is accused of hosting the fight at his place of business. Also, police say, he would do body piercings on kids without permission from Mom and Dad.

Open Thread ... Weekend Edition

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: 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. If you need to reach me, just email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Photo via icanhascheezburger.com!

Report: Kline, former deputies facing ethics complaints

From The AP:

A document says former prosecutor Phill Kline and two former deputies will face ethics complaints.

The state office that investigates allegations of misconduct against attorneys has sent their lawyer a letter saying complaints would be filed. Kline was Kansas attorney general in 2003-07 and Johnson County district attorney in 2007-09.

The Feb. 19 letter said a review committee for the state Board for the Discipline of Attorneys found probable cause to believe all three violated rules of professional conduct.

The Associated Press obtained a copy Thursday. The letter didn't spell out any allegations, though Kline has been criticized for his conduct in investigating abortion clinics. An attorney for the three men said the actions of Kline and his deputies were within the law.

Seattle-area deputy accused of assaulting suspect, 15

And the jail cameras caught the encounter, which was apparently ignited when she -- possibly accidentally -- kicked her shoe at him. Video after the jump!

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

Iowa courts will shut down for seven days

Because of a budget shortfall. I guess we're going to be seeing more and more of this over the next few years.

Teen shot in the hand while walking to school

From Christine Vendel:

A 16-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to his hand this morning when a gunman fired at him as he walked to school, Kansas City police said.

The boy was walking east on 24th Street near Elmwood Avenue about 6:30 a.m. when a black Ford Taurus with four young men drove by. One of the occupants said something like: “Hey you!” A passenger in the back seat then fired seven or eight shots at the boy.

One bullet grazed the victim’s palm. He ran and hid behind a house before walking home for a ride to the hospital.

Obama might undo "conscience exception" for health workers who refuse to help with abortions

Shortly before leaving office, the Bush administration enacted the policy, the New York Times reports:

The rule prohibits recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or assist in abortions or sterilization procedures because of their "“religious beliefs or moral convictions."

The White House has filed notice that it's going to review the policy.

Quote of the day

"So I killed a man - that makes me a bad guy?"

-- hate-crime suspect Keith Phoenix, as reported by the New York Daily News.

Judge suggested runaway could end up as "toothless, dead crack whore"

In Miami, a judge specializing in juvenile cases had to apologize to a runaway girl who didn't want to be returned to her home. What precisely had the judge said to her? Here we go:

''You're throwing your life away,'' Eig told the girl. "You could end up on the street toothless. You've seen these toothless hags on the street? You know how they get there? They blow their opportunities in life when they're 15. They run away, they end up -- people turn them into whores.''

"Toothless, dead crack whore -- dead at age 19? Is that the destiny you're looking for?'' he added.

Nicky Hilton, Crimefighter

After a homeless man allegedly shoved her, she placed him under citizen's arrest and helped a police officer restrain the dude.

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

The mysterious death of Hugues de la Plaza

I love locked-room mysteries -- the seemingly impossible murders that you usually only find in Agatha Christie novels. The case of Hugues de la Plaza, though, is very real.

De la Plaza, a man who held French and U.S. citizenship, was found stabbed to death in his locked apartment in San Francisco. The authorities decided, somehow, that de la Plaza was a suicide -- even though there wasn't even a bloody knife or suicide note in the apartment. The dead man's friends and family were outraged, and they convinced the French government to investigate.

Now? The French have released their theory: Hugues de la Plaza was stabbed in the street, based on blood outside the building, but managed to get inside and lock the door. He passed out before he could call 911. Pretty logical. You wouldn't think you'd need to Hercule Poirot to solve this one. Then there's this from the dead man's father:

He said he found it "appalling" that it had taken French action for police in "one of the richest countries in the world, and one of the riches cities in that country," to investigate the case properly.

Not everybody's happy about spending stimulus cash on police

The stimulus plan includes about $1 billion to hire 50,000 cops, but critics say the plan -- which is a revival of a Clinton-era program -- doesn't have enough oversight. The original program required local departments to pay 25 percent of salary and benefits for any officer hired with the federal grant. The revived program does away with that rule.

A lucky break for Barry Bonds?

His former personal trainer refuses to testify against him. And the trainer was sort of the star witness.

OP woman guilty of assaulting Olathe cop

From Joe Lambe:

A Johnson County jury this afternoon convicted an Overland Park woman of assaulting an Olathe police officer during an incident two years ago.

Kimberly Hudson was found guilty of aggravated assault on a law enforcment officer. Hudson, now 27, was shot during the encounter and seriously wounded.

The verdict came in the third criminal trial for Hudson, who has sued two police officers, the police chief and the city of Olathe over the incident, which occurred on April 23, 2007. Jurors could not reach verdicts in the first two trials.

Two police officers said they shot Hudson after she walked toward one of them with a butcher knife. Hudson admits she refused to drop the knife in a drunken stupor but says she never got off her bed and was no threat to police.

Open Thread ... Sweet Merciful Friday

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: 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. If you need to reach me, just email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: 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. If you need to reach me, just email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: 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. If you need to reach me, just email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: 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. If you need to reach me, just email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Welcome back to the Open Thread, our blog's space for off-topic comments and discussion. If you've seen an interesting story somewhere else, feel free to post a link below.

As always, please follow our standard rules: 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. If you need to reach me, just email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

They keep finding bodies in the desert ...

Just a little followup about the news from Albuquerque, where authorities have now found 11 sets of remains buried in the desert -- the work of an apparent serial killer. (Or what was once desert -- apparently, they were partly uncovered by work on a new development.) One of the victims was a mother of two who was four months pregnant when she died. Police are still trying to ID all the victims. They're combing through a stack of missing-persons reports. The common denominator? Most of the victims had high-risk lifestyles as prostitutes or drug addicts.

Teacher accused of shooting student in class

With a frigging Nerf gun. The teacher has been placed on leave, but that's not good enough for Snowflake's Mom, who wants to pursue an assault charge. Story is from South Carolina.