Brickbats

The next time you're passing a forged check, pay attention to the teller's name. When two teens gave teller Jenny Ortiz a check for $250 at a Redwood City, California, Wells Fargo bank, she realized that the check belonged to her father. Observing that neither of the youths was old enough to be her father and remembering that Dad's car had been broken into while he was parked near a high school recently, she notified bank security and had them arrested.

We've reported in the past about people nabbed by police because someone mistook them for felons profiled on America's Most Wanted. But this is a first. Christopher Cotton was grabbed by Nashville, Tennessee, cops after two women spotted him and thought he looked like a man they'd seen on the TV show. He should: Cotton was the actor who played a suspected arsonist in a reenactment.

Celebrities Should Just Take Their Clothes Off and Shut Up Department. Actress Susan Sarandon had this to say about her political activism: "I feel passionately about feeling passionately. More and more, as things get demeaned and deadened, I feel that political commitment is what can save us all."

In Dallas, Texas, an appellate court has ruled that Ann Marie Lindsay's suit against the Cabaret Royale can go forward. Lindsay, 40, filed an age-discrimination suit against the men's club when, she claims, management refused to promote her from waitress to topless dancer.

Hide the cedar chest. The Environmental Protection Agency has declared that the cedar chips sold in some "green" shops as moth repellents are pesticides and must meet all of the regulatory requirements of such. Until the needed tests are completed, it has banned the sale of cedar as a moth repellent.

Reacting to complaints from animal-rights activists, the city of Los Angeles has announced that it will no longer trap coyotes—even with harmless "live capture" traps and even if the animal is suspected of having rabies. "I've been waiting for this moment for 23 years," said Lila Brooks, director of the California Wildlife Defenders. No word yet on how animal defenders will protect the cats and dogs routinely preyed upon by coyotes.

In Nevada, the state Senate has approved a measure that would ban barbers and beauticians from wearing frilly lingerie. "Can you even imagine somebody dressed like that washing your hair? It's just one of the most repulsive things I can even imagine," said Sen. Ann O'Connell. The bill will prevent the A Little Off the Top barber shop from opening. But never fear, the women who were planning to work there might be able to find work at the G-String Car Wash, which is located just across the street from the barber shop.

You might think that a group called Citizens Against Sexual Exploitation of Men in California Prisons would have its work cut out for it. Unafraid to tackle sensitive subjects, the group has made its first priority the installation of privacy screens in prison showers so that female guards won't be able to look at prisoners. The women are guilty of "visually raping [prisoners'] nude bodies as they shower," said a spokesman for the group.

For those of you who can't get enough of Bill Clinton, here comes Clinton—The Video Game. 3D Games has developed an interactive game that will allow the player to form policy, manipulate the press, and deal with Congress. Just what every 13-year-old boy wants for Christmas.

Denver City Councilperson Cathy Reynolds thinks she has the answer to violence among teens: make it illegal for them to so much as touch a weapon, even with a parent's permission. Her legislation would forbid parents to take their kids hunting or teach them how to handle a gun. What's more, the law's definition of weapon is so broad that it includes BB guns, slingshots, paint guns, water guns, baseball bats, and heavy boots. This should put a damper on those drive-by stompings that have been plaguing Denver.