Brickbats

A Loudon County, Virginia, school bus ferried students to and from various locations for two days with explosive material in its engine compartment. The CIA had accidentally left the material in the bus after using it for a training exercise.

When University of North Dakota professor Heidi Czerwiec saw members of the school's Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program conducting a previously announced training exercise on campus, she called 911 to report them. She says the dummy weapons they carried "terrorized" her and that she will continue to call 911 each time she sees them training.

Chicago has banned the use of smokeless tobacco in baseball parks, even by players. Those who violate the ban could be fined $100 to $250 for each violation.

Caldwell County, Texas, sheriff's deputies arrested Larry Faulkenberry for assaulting a police officer, among other charges. But security video shows deputies beating him up. Prosecutors dropped all charges after seeing the video, but so far, none of the deputies involved has been disciplined or charged with a crime. In a response to a lawsuit filed by Faulkenberry, the sheriff's office insists that the deputies' account of what happened is correct.

The Washington, D.C., Office of Tax and Revenue is blaming a computer error for taking a total of some $7 million from the bank accounts of 581 people. The individuals had previously authorized electronic withdrawals to pay their taxes, but during a test of new anti-fraud software, the revenue collectors withdrew money for a second time from their accounts.

Joe Vandusen and his wife separated almost two decades ago and have hardly even spoken since. But because they never divorced, the Iowa Department of Human Services is billing him for child support for the baby his wife gave birth to last year. Vandusen called the department to explain he's not the father and offered to take a paternity test to prove it. He was told it doesn't matter—under Iowa law, a father is responsible financially for any child born in his marriage.

New York City Councilwoman Inez Barron has introduced an ordinance that would require restaurants to place posters in their dining areas warning that excessive consumption of sugars and carbohydrates could put customers at risk of diabetes.

Elizabeth Harrison, 82, had to be hospitalized after Chicago cops knocked down the door to her home and demanded to know the whereabouts of a man she'd never heard of. Later, as the police were explaining to her family how to file a request to have the door repaired, the man they were looking for walked up and told them he lived at 126 and they'd just raided 136. The officers declined to make an arrest, because they had no evidence against him.