15 DUI arrests at KC checkpoint

From Tony Rizzo:

Kansas City police arrested 15 motorists for driving under the influence during an overnight sobriety checkpoint in midtown.

The checkpoint at 4040 Main Street was conducted from 11 p.m. Friday until 4 a.m. today and also resulted in two people cited for driving with a suspended or revoked license; four other traffic violations; three hazardous moving violations; and one possession of marijuana charge.

Four people were arrested because of outstanding warrants.

There were 542 vehicles stopped during the checkpoint.

Third-grader sells gun for $3 at school, NY police say

A lot of people are upset about this, especially since the gun had three rounds in it. In his defense, it was only a 9mm.

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, please email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

16-year-old gets 25 years for KC drug-deal murder

From Glenn Rice:

A 16-year-old was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for killing a man during a drug deal in a Northland apartment.

Mikeise Levon Boyd of Kansas City pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder for the Aug. 23, 2009, shooting death of 20-year-old Robert Moran IV. Moran was killed in an apartment in the 3000 block of Northeast 37th Street in Kansas City, North.

This is an unusual -- but probably effective -- way to win an argument

An Iowa woman is accused of biting her boyfriend's penis during a recent argument, the Press-Citizen of Iowa City reports.

KC police can now work two years longer until mandatory retirement

Kansas City's police board has changed its rule on mandatory retirement for officers, Christine Vendel reports. For decades, officers had to retire after 30 years of service. Now, it'll be 32. Not a huge change, but it'll help the department's retirement plan, officials said. There had been talk of pushing the limit to 35 years, or until age 65, but there were concerns that it would limit younger officers' opportunities to get promoted.

Judge sides with pregnant suspect who was handcuffed during labor

A federal judge in Nashville says that authorities were wrong to handcuff a pregnant suspect to her hospital bed while she gave birth, the Tennessean reports. The judge has scheduled a hearing to see what kind of damages are owed the woman, who was arrested for careless driving and failure to have insurance.

I wonder what he gets for Christmas

From WFTS-TV: An Iowa woman allegedly tried to hire a prostitute for her 81-year-old dad while they were visiting Florida, police say. Bonus Points: On Easter.

Kansas might get a DUI repository after all, legislator says

Kansas' DUI commission recently released a plan to improve how the state punishes drunken drivers, but those improvements would cost about $11 million -- which probably isn't realistic, considering the budget.

State Sen. Tim Owens, who represents Overland Park in the legislature, says they might be able to fund a central repository / database of Kansas DUI convictions, a project that would cost $3 million, the Wichita Eagle reports. That database would make sure that judges know exactly how many prior DUIs a defendant had, allowing them to levy harsher punishment if necessary.

Guilty verdict in Olathe murder

From Joe Lambe:

Terry Hayes said he was going to kill his estranged wife a day before they argued and he shot her to death, but was the murder planned or done in sudden anger?

Johnson County jurors deliberated about two hours today before convicting him premeditated first-degree murder. They also found him guilty of aggravated assault for threatening his wife’s friend with a gun.

Report: Alleged mistress testifies while wearing promise ring

In Waterloo, Ill., the trial of Chris Coleman, who's accused of murdering his wife and two sons, continued with testimony from his alleged mistress. The Belleville News-Democrat noted that she wore a promise ring that he'd given her. If you love sordid details, wow, did the prosecution come loaded for bear.

Elderly woman sells suicide kits

The Daily Beast has a story about a 91-year-old woman who sells suicide kits over the Internet at $60 a pop. Her annual sales are just under $100,000 per year.

“I’m too busy to cash the bloody checks,” she told The Daily Beast. “I haven’t made a deposit in three months.”

She says she started the business because of her husband's slow, painful death from cancer. Oregon is mulling over a law that would criminalize the sale of these kits.

Friday's Open Thread

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, please email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

If thine third eye offend thee ...

In Georgia, an elementary-school teacher was arrested for allegedly walking around the school naked after he'd just learned that he was losing his job, the Journal-Constitution said:

The police report says Porter had been behaving unusually. Teachers told police that he was a vegan who'd sworn off soft drinks, yet he'd gone to Taco Bell for tacos in the hours before he stripped.

The arresting officer wrote in the incident report that Porter spoke of a "new level of enlightenment" and said "he wanted everybody to be free now that his third eye was open."

"I then explained the obvious problem with his third eye being opened in public," the officer wrote.

 

Boba Fett, Stormtrooper witness IHOP melee

An Atlanta woman is accusing an off-duty cop of excessive Force.

Are you on drugs AND welfare? Urine trouble

The Missouri Senate is very close to voting on a measure that would deny welfare to people who fail a drug test, the Columbia Tribune reports. The House has already passed the bill, but the Senate's version has an additional wrinkle:

During a discussion of whether the bill would require the department to also investigate the welfare recipient as a child abuser, supporters said the requirement was automatic. But Sen. Luann Ridgeway, R-Smithville, wanted to make sure and added the provision requiring the investigation.

Homeless woman charged with larceny for sending kid to wrong school

Connecticut prosecutors have filed criminal charges against a homeless woman who sent her son to kindergarten in the wrong community -- thereby allegedly stealing more than $15,000 worth of education.

KC puppet theater victim of theft

Even for Kansas City thieves, this is a pretty dirtbag move.

Thieves stole more than $5,000 in sound equipment from Kansas City’s StoneLion Puppet Theatre earlier in the week, the nonprofit’s artistic director said. StoneLion was forced to cancel one performance on Tuesday, when the thefts were discovered, and the group is scrambling to find replacement gear for a festival on Friday.

Meanwhile, in Sheboygan ...

A Sheboygan man is accused of bringing along his daughters, ages 7 and 3, when he allegedly went and stalked his ex-wife, police say.

Va. Tech resists fine over how it handled 2007 mass shooting

Virginia Tech is fighting a $55,000 fine imposed by the federal government, which says the school waited too long to warn students about the 2007 massacre, which left 32 victims dead.

The federal agency imposed the fine in March after finding that Tech had violated campus safety law by waiting too long to notify the campus of a potential threat after two students were shot to death in a dormitory.

An email alert went out more than two hours later, about the time student Seung-Hui Cho was chaining shut the doors to a classroom building where he killed 30 more students and faculty and himself.

Fundraiser planned for KCPD mounted patrol

Suburban Lawn & Garden, 4 W. 135th St. in Kansas City, is planning a fundraiser for KCPD's mounted patrol from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. The store promises to donate 10 percent of all purchases that night to the nonprofit that supports the mounted patrol, police said.

Police: Hummer-driving teen runs over ducklings at McDonald's

In Ann Arbor, Mich., a 19-year-old man is accused of deliberately running his Hummer over four ducklings after he and some buddies got food at McDonald's. The man's lawyer says that his client didn't know that he had hit the birds.

Hat Tip: Saw this via the Obscure Store!

Thursday's Open Thread

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, please email jhart@kcstar.com. Thanks again, and have a great day!

Jury acquits man of stealing 99-cent hot dog

Good column from the Spokesman-Review, which writes about the case of a man who was accused of stealing a 99-cent hot dog from the grocery store. One juror says it's pretty clear that he simply forgot to pay, seeing as how he did pay for $28 in groceries before he left the store. He tried to pay up once confronted outside, but it was too late:

McKay said the reason this ended up before a jury is that Richardson refused to accept a deal. Here’s an example of a deal he was offered: In exchange for the charges being dropped, he’d pay restitution for the sausage, and pay the store owners a $200 civil penalty.

“So now the $1 hot dog was a $201 hot dog,” Richter said.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Mad Keith!

Charges filed in Northland homicide

From The Star:

A Kansas City man was charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly asphyxiated his girlfriend late Monday or early Tuesday, Clay County prosecutors said.

Police found the body of Julie A. Johnson, 40, in a home in the 10300 block of North Tracy Avenue about 12:20 a.m. Tuesday. Prosecutors charged William M. Shivers, 43, in her death.

Shivers allegedly called his estranged wife after the slaying and told her what had happened, court records state. The wife’s boyfriend then called police.