Police Blotter of the Day: Guy dumps human waste on himself, hides in portable toilet
“A man doused himself with a bucket of liquid human waste and hid in a portable toilet after plowing his Jeep into a carport at a Longview riverfront condominium Tuesday afternoon, police said.
“‘It looks like alcohol was involved,’ Longview police Sgt. Ed Jones said. …
“Flavia told officers he’d splashed himself with the contents of a bucket outside a portable toilet ‘because he thought the dogs were coming, and he was trying to throw off the scent,’ Kazensky said.”
Full story (Longview, Wash., Daily News)
Police Blotter (and Mugshot) of the Day: Naked fugitive nabbed in corral full of horses
“A 44-year old fugitive sits behind bars in Madera, facing a number of charges, including indecent exposure, after he was caught naked inside a horse corral.
“Deputies nabbed David Ramirez Lopez of Madera inside the corral near his neighbor’s mailbox in full view of traffic and children playing nearby.
“… Lopez showed obvious signs of being under the influence, including a strong odor of alcohol and slurred speech.”
Full story (KSEE-TV of Fresno, Calif.)
Reporting: FAA dispute costing millions more than it would save
Did Congress really pass up more than a billion dollars in tax revenue just to save $16 million in subsidies for 13 rural airports?
The partial shutdown of operations at the Federal Aviation Administration has already cost the government far more in tax collections than what would be saved by passing the funding extension offered by House Republicans — $200 million a week and counting, potentially adding up to $1.2 billion by the time Congress can return to Washington and pass a funding bill in early September.
As with the larger deadline showdown over the debt ceiling, the reason for the standoff is more complicated than portrayed. And it may lie in Atlanta, home of Delta Air Lines, which Senate Democrats have singled out for criticism.
Full story (Alex Johnson/msnbc.com)
Right: A flight takes off past a half-completed control tower at Oakland International Airport. Construction work on the tower and on hundreds of other FAA projects has been halted. (Getty Images file)
(Bonus) Police Blotter of the Day: Idaho residents annoyed by neighbor in bunny suit
“Police in Idaho Falls have told a 34-year-old man to stop wearing his bunny suit in public because it was annoying his neighbors and frightening their children.
“A police report says officers responded Monday after a resident reported her son had been frightened by William Falkingham wearing a black bunny costume and hiding behind a tree pointing his finger at the boy like it was a gun. …
“They also reported he occasionally wears a tutu with the costume.”
Full story (AP via KHQ-TV)
Police Blotter of the Day: Masked teens ‘just wanted to have fun’ at McDonald’s
“Police surrounded the restaurant while the boys were still ordering their food and at least eight officers waited with guns drawn for the boys to come out.
“‘They had all types of guns out; AK-47[s] and stuff, it was crazy,’ said a witness.
“Police did not expect to see two teenagers coming out of the restaurant, with food in hand.
“‘They said they just wanted to have fun. These kids came out with masks on and we had guns drawn and it could have gone in a bad direction. Luckily things worked out,’ said Sgt. Kirk Zilke.”
Full story (WFTV-TV of Orlando, Fla., via UPI)
By the way, it’s ‘Barack’
Many academic journalism observers argue that the “objectivity” model of U.S. journalism is outdated or, worse, destructive. Disclose your point of view, they argue, so the reader or the viewer can assess whether you’re being fair. They’ve managed to persuade some actual journalists.
One of them, apparently, is Neal Barton of KETK-TV of Tyler, Texas. KETK is one of the few remaining broadcast stations that observe the tradition of delivering an on-air editorial.
Usually, such editorials are delivered by the station manager or the community director. Neal Barton is the news director at KETK — by title, at least, the head of all news gathering.
That is, the journalism side.
Police Blotter of the Day: Cops graciously accommodate crook
“A fugitive fool who taunted cops on his Facebook page, ‘Catch me if you can, I’m in Brooklyn’ — has been captured by U.S. marshals.
“And guess where.
“Victor Burgos was sitting at a computer with his Facebook page open when a task force of marshals and NYPD detectives tracked him down in an apartment on Jefferson St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. …
“‘He told us via Facebook to come and get him and we did,’ Utica police Sgt. Steve Hauck told the Daily News yesterday.”
Full story (New York Daily News)
Police Blotter of the Day: Bullets can fall out of the gun?
“Shandra Kidd didn’t realize her gun was empty when she tried to shoot a Chicago Police officer.
“All the bullets fell out when she was running from the officer.
“Unfortunately for her, the officer’s gun was loaded. And the officer shot her in the buttocks.”
Full story (Chicago Sun-Times)
Reporting: Porn piracy wars get personal
Cross-posted from msnbc.com’s Technolog blog, where it originally appeared. To read it in context, with all information boxes and art, click here.
Ron Jeremy is one of more than a dozen adult video stars who talked about the damage piracy can cause in public service announcements published last year by the Free Speech Coalition, the industry’s trade association.
It’s not fun, but all things considered, John Steele is OK with being a villain.
In recent months, Steele’s Chicago law firm has filed almost 100 federal lawsuits seeking to identify thousands of “John Does” who downloaded pornographic videos in violation of their producers’ copyright. Federal court records indicate that none of Steele’s cases — in fact, no case of this type ever — has ended with a verdict at trial.
Sometimes, the cases run into roadblocks from skeptical judges over jurisdiction or whether the defendants have been appropriately identified. Others end in settlements for a few thousand dollars from defendants who are relieved that they get to remain anonymous.
Reporting: Murdoch’s ‘foggy’ performance may have served him well (updated)
(Cross-posted from msnbc.com, where it originally appeared. To read it in context, with all information boxes and art, click here. This is a complete writethrough that significantly updates an earlier version and corrects the spelling of Milly Dowler’s first name.)
Rupert Murdoch, for decades one of the most powerful and feared media figures in the English-speaking world, appeared to many who watched his grilling Tuesday to be a confused old man. And from his standpoint, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, professional crisis managers said.
During 40 years running News Corp., the dominant media company in Great Britain and owner of some of the most prominent media properties in the United States, the 80-year-old Murdoch has built a legend as a man able to decide elections, change the political agenda and severely punish anyone who gets in his way.
But appearing before a committee of the British Parliament on Tuesday, Murdoch claimed to have been out of the loop while reporters for his News of the World tabloid broke into the cell phone voicemail accounts of thousands of people to get scoops, and while his company paid off British police.
Alex Johnson - Journalist at Large 