Brickbats
Stuart Kennedy of Aberdeen, Scotland, has been charged with impersonating a police officer 22 times—and cleared of the charges in court 22 times. Kennedy is a stripper who does a police officer routine. Although the word stripper is written on the front and back of his uniform, some police officers apparently feel people might mistake him for the real thing. So far the legal battles have cost taxpayers £170,000.
A teacher at Wiley Elementary School in Richland, Washington, asked students to assemble autobiographies. One 8-yearold boy included a photograph of his father, a member of the Army National Guard, in uniform and holding his rifle. School officials told the boy to remove the picture, saying it wasn't appropriate for the classroom.
The New York City Housing Authority has banned Boston terriers from housing projects. The dogs weigh only about 10 pounds on average, but they are one of about 30 breeds the housing authority considers dangerous.
St. Cecilia's Catholic Church in Rochester, Pennsylvania, has sold homemade pies as part of its fish-fry fundraisers for as long as anyone can remember. But this year a state inspector warned the church that it's illegal to sell homemade foods. Fortunately, a nearby bakery donated a few pies for the church to sell. State officials say churches often snitch on other churches that don't meet all the state requirements.
In Italy more than 100 people are being investigated for allegedly rigging traffic signals at intersections with stoplight cameras to increase the number of fines. The amber lights apparently were set to change after three seconds instead of the required five or six. Thousands of drivers issued tickets from the cameras are expected to ask for compensation.
It seemed like a routine traffic stop until a Brisbane, Australia, police officer ordered Chad Hastings out of his car. The policeman handcuffed Hastings, called for backup, told him he was under arrest, and demanded to know why he had a gun in his car. Hastings didn't know what the man was talking about. After the other officers arrived, they searched the car and found the "gun" was actually a steering-wheel lock.
In Indiana more than 11,000 crime victims were incorrectly notified that the criminals who victimized them were being released from prison. The Department of Corrections says the company that runs its victim notification website caused the problem while conducting routine maintenance on the site.
The city of New Orleans sent Mary Kieff 226 parking tickets in two years, with fines totaling nearly $20,000. Kieff insisted she hadn't violated any laws. Finally, after a local TV station got involved, the city admitted she should not have gotten the tickets. Kieff has a personalized license plate that says ZZ—after the rock band ZZ Top—and the city uses ZZ as the code for vehicles without license plates. City workers were entering that code in the wrong place on the ticket forms and as a result she was getting every ticket issued to a vehicle without a plate.
