Weekly Daily Brickbats Archive 2009 June 8-31

A loud banging woke Terry Speck one morning. Several men charged into her Mustang, Oklahoma, home, demanding to know where her nephew, Cory Davis, was. She told them he was in prison, where he had been for the past four months. They didn't believe her and spent 20 minutes tearing the place apart looking for him. They left without ever identifying themselves. Speck and her husband finally figured out they were state narcotics agents. They haven't yet found out why they didn't know Davis was in prison.

Austin, Texas, now requires the sellers of homes more than 10 years old to get energy audits for their houses. The audits, which are expected to cost $300 to $400 for a typical home, must be shown to prospective buyers.

Venezuelan prosecutors have charged Guillermo Zuloaga with usury. They allege that he was keeping vehicles at car dealerships he owns off the market in hopes of getting a higher price for them. Zuloaga just happens to also be president of Globovision, the only Venezuelan TV station that will criticize President Hugo Chavez.

In Pennsylvania, school officials have asked police to charge 17 Lehigh High School students with trespassing. The 17 scaled the school's walls and camped out overnight in a courtyard as a senior prank. They didn't break or take anything, but school officials say they'll likely impose their own disciplinary action as well as the criminal sanctions they've asked for.

Stephan Munday spent £20,000 installing a windmill to power his Oxforshsire, England, home. He met all the planning requirements and meets all the noise laws. That didn't keep neighbors from complaining about the sound of the windmill, which is 164 feet from the nearest home. The local council has ordered him to stop running the windmill.