Why nobody likes to drink with Brazilians

In Orlando, a Brazilian man is accused of urinating into two cups and putting them on the bar at the House of Blues. I'm having a hard time deciding between "still tastes better than Bud Light" or "they were later sold for $7 apiece."

Zero citations during underage-drinking campaign

Over the past few months, Blue Springs police have been checking local stores to see if they'll sell alcohol to minors. There are always a few, but last night, there weren't any. None of the 19 stores that were checked broke the law.

Quote of the day

"When the cops come and bother me that's when I think 'Run, Colton, run. Fly, Colton, fly.' I'm proud he taught hisself how to fly."

-- Pam Kohler, mother of the Colton Harris-Moore, the alleged Barefoot Bandit.

Is cheating the elderly a hate crime?

In Queens, N.Y., prosecutors have started pursuing some cases with elderly victims as hate crimes, the New York Times reports. Most of these situations involved financial fraud, not assaults, but thanks to a unique twist in state law, prosecutors don't have to prove the defendants "hated" the elderly. The standard is that a crime was committed because the bad guy held a belief about a certain group -- for example, that elderly people are slower mentally and, thus, easier to trick.

A thief could technically love the elderly and still get busted for a hate crime.

I know a lot of our regular readers have serious concerns about hate-crime laws and their fairness. But prosecutors note that, thanks to the hate-crime add-on, they've been able to get stiffer sentences against crooks who've ruined the elderly's financial lives. Does this one pass the smell test?

I have a new favorite photograph

From AP: A Capitol Hill police officer arrests a protester on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 17, 2010, as BP CEO Tony Hayward testified before the Energy and Environment subcommittee on Oversight d Investigations hearing on the role of BP in the Deepwater Horizon Explosion and oil spill. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Don't you just hate it when your pen explodes?

Wichita mom accused of making bomb threats to kid's school

A Wichita woman is accused of making bomb threats to her child's elementary school because, a detective testified, she didn't like how the principal talks to children, the Eagle reports. The police allege the woman got the idea from a TV show about police:

Five to 10 minutes after every bomb threat, Loman would show up at the school, Holmes said.

After the last threat, Holmes said, Loman came in and asked whether anything exciting was happening, shortly before officers arrested her.

The woman's defense lawyer says there's not enough proof that she made those calls.

Should parents be jailed for missing parent-teacher conferences?

In Detroit, the local prosecutor wants to throw parents in jail if they don't attend at least one parent-teacher conference per year, the Detroit News reports.

Violent crime increases in hospitals, report says

This is according to the Joint Commission, an independent oversight group that studies the health-care industry, USA Today reports. There are a lot of reasons for the increase in violence. Regular hospitals are seeing more psychiatric patients because there are fewer facilities specializing in those cases, and they're receiving more patients who are on drugs and acting out.

FBI to release files on Ted Kennedy

Later today, the FBI will release thousands of pages from its files on the late Ted Kennedy, and a lot of it will likely revolve around the death threats that Kennedy received. MSNBC has a story compiling information about previously known threats.

UPDATED: Here's a link to the FBI site with the files.

Cops called on Topeka karaoke singer

Police were called after a man set up an "amped-up karaoke machine" about 7:30 Sunday morning in the Regency Inn & Suites in Topeka and proceeded to wail away, the Cap-Journal writes. He had fled before officer arrived.

Obama prosecutes more officials for leaking to the media

The Obama administration is actively pursuing prosecutions against government officials who leak classified information to the media, more than recent presidents have, the New York Times reports.

You probably remember the case from last week of an Army specialist accused of sending video and other documents to Wikileaks, but there have been others, including an NSA bureaucrat who complained about the government wasting money on bad eavesdropping programs. That man's defenders says he was trying to expose problems in the government and didn't cause any real harm, but government officials say leaks like these endanger national security.

Is 'Ladies Night' unfair to men?

Minnesota is cracking down on "Ladies Night" -- the kind they have at bars, not the Kool & The Gang song -- saying that it's a form of illegal gender discrimination.

Fact: 911 is not a dating service

An Ohio woman was arrested after she allegedly called 911 five times and told responders that she needed a husband, the AP reports.

Told that she could face arrest for misusing 911, Scott responded, "Let's do it."

Alcohol might be a factor.

This one won't be in the wedding album

A lot of people like to get married outdoors, and some couples hold their ceremonies in parks, near lakes or even on the beach. Obviously, there are drawbacks, like unexpected rain or some guy pulling down his swim trunks midway through the exchange of vows. The alleged motive?

According to the arrest warrant, Deese said the mere fact there was a wedding going on gave him the motivation to expose himself.

7 Olathe stores busted for selling alcohol to underage people

On Friday, Olathe police, with help from the Johnson County Sheriff's Department, tested local stores to see if they would sell alcohol to underage people. In most cases, the businesses followed the law. Of the 51 businesses that were checked, seven did sell, though, and they've been cited, the police department reports.

Suspect spent too much time in grocery store's bathroom, police say

In Fort Walton Beach, Fla., a man was arrested for trespassing after spending too much time in the bathroom of a Tom Thumb grocery store. Previously, he'd gotten a warning for being drunk and harassing other shoppers, the Northwest Florida Daily News reports.

Women face criminal charges over suicide attempt

In Upper Darby, Pa., authorities have charged two women, a set of twins in their 50s, after they allegedly tried to kill themselves by turning on the gas from their stove. They did this inside an apartment building, and police say several other people could have been killed by the explosion if the gas had ignited, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

N.J. men wanted to join terror group, authorities say

On Saturday, two young men from New Jersey were arrested at Kennedy Airport because they allegedly planned to fly to Somalia and join a terrorist group, the AP reports.

Federal authorities had been monitoring Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 24, for a few years. An undercover agent allegedly recorded the two men making statements about wanting to commit terrorism. They don't sound like the sharpest knives in the drawer, though:

The only weapons they possessed were two folding knives Alessa said he would use to kill police if they tried to get near him: "I'm-a cut them in half with it, even if I die," he said, according to court documents.

The authorities take cases like this very seriously. Though Alessa and Almonte are U.S. citizens of Palestinian and Dominican descent, there have been others, many of them native Somalians, who have gone to that country and trained with al-Shabab, an al-Qaida affiliate. Some experts worry those men could be used to eventually carry out attacks on U.S. soil.

Image: A news crew outside Alessa's home. (AP Photo/Joe Epstein)

Sentencing today for Dan Rinehart

Dan Rinehart is going to be sentenced today in Cass County for incest, felony murder and other crimes, Don Bradley reports.

A jury found him guilty April 20 in a trial that included his daughter’s testimony that he carried on an incestuous relationship with her that began when she was 5 years old and produced four babies.

Only one, a 4-year-old boy, survives. Authorities found the bodies of two infants in sealed chest-type coolers in a shed on a small farm where the family lived north of Harrisonville.

Senator pushes anti-murderabilia law

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is announcing a new bill that would make it harder for convicts to make money off "murderabilia" -- collectibles that are tied to notorious crimes. If passed, the law would make it illegal for prisoners, or their proxies, to mail items for interstate commerce, the Houston Chronicle reports. This wouldn't completely stop murderabilia, but it would stop one of the big sources: letters, paintings, even hair that prisoners send from behind bars.

Cunning plan somehow ends in failure

In Columbia, 18 teenagers were arrested after they allegedly sneaked into their high school after midnight Thursday and tried to fill the school's office with 2,000 balloons, the Tribune reports. Luckily, they're still going to get graduate. I can't imagine how their cunning plan failed. I mean, it should be very easy for a group of 18 people -- most of whom, I going to presume, were giggling -- to infiltrate a building that's the object of recurring police patrols. It's just like "Ocean's 11," if the cast were made up entirely of slow readers.

Feds caught legislator stuffing bribe under her shirt

Dianne Wilkerson, a former state legislator from Boston, has pleaded guilty to taking bribes from an undercover investigator. Probably hard to deny the charges when they got you on camera stuffing money in your shirt. 

(AP Photo/U.S. Attorney's Office, File)

Shawnee arrests several teenage boys in vandalism spree

Shawnee police say they've arrested several teenage boys, about 13 or 14 years old, for causing about $60,000 in damage to three new but unoccupied homes, as well as Prairie Ridge Elementary, Mill Valley High and Monticello Trails Middle. The damage at one home in the 22500 block of West 58th was estimated at over $40,000.

Dead chickens dumped in Mo. creek

In Barry County, Mo., authorities are investigating after someone dumped hundreds of dead chickens in a creek there.

The worst person in the entire world?

In Salem, Ore., a man is accused of setting his dog after a rabbit that several little girls were watching at a park and, once the rabbit was dead, taunting one of the upset children. He was arrested on animal-abuse charges.