Posts Tagged ‘local-news’
(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Many academic journalism observers argue that the “objectivity” model of U.S. journalism is outdated or, worse, destructive.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)
Police Blotter of the Day: Woman opens fire with right breast
“POWELL, Ohio — A drunk Westerville woman sprays deputies with breast milk after she gets into a fight with her husband at a wedding reception, deputies say.
“Stephanie Robinette, 30, appeared in court Monday to answer to charges of domestic violence, assault, obstructing official business, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. …
“She is at the Delaware County jail.”
Full story (WCMH-TV of Columbus, Ohio)
Police Blotter of the Day: Cheese Danish road rage attack
“The video shows a man get out of his car, approach the victim with a cream cheese Danish pastry in his hand. He proceeds to smear it on the man’s windshield while sharing a some choice words before he gets back in his car and takes off.
“‘He’s chewing on it walking toward his car. At that point he starts smearing his Danish all over my windshield, and I’m just like, “Yeah, alright. Good for you,”‘ he said. …
“Turns out the man with a temper when it comes to transportation works for the Department of Transportation, directing traffic on the very ferry route Schiller takes everyday.”
Full story (KING-TV of Seattle)
Police Blotter of the Day: TV station gets it wrong (was: Inattentive jogger slams back of school bus)
Update: The Greensboro News & Record reports that this story is wrong in just about every particular. Making a point to call out the station by name, it quotes the woman’s husband and the police incident report as saying that she did not run into a stopped bus and that she was not distracted by her mp3 player. Worse, it says, she was quite seriously injured.
Thank you to NCDawn, who alerted me to this in the comments.
Full story (News & Record)
“A jogger who Greensboro police said wasn’t paying attention was injured by running into the back of a stopped bus at about 8 a.m. …
“No charges were filed.”
Full story (WGHP-TV of Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Reporting: Police on radio scanner apps: That’s not a 10-4
Police Scanner is available for $2.99 in the iPhone App Store.
This report was cross-posted on msnbc.com’s Technolog blog. Read it in context here.
Matthew A. Hale, 29, was arrested last week in Muncie, Ind., after he allegedly fled the scene of a failed stickup at a pharmacy.
Police accused Hale of being the getaway driver for an accomplice who was supposed to rob the pharmacy. But Hale drove off when things went sour, only to be stopped and arrested shortly thereafter, they said. Bail was set this week at $25,000 on felony charges of attempted armed robbery.
It’s all pretty run-of-the-mill stuff, except for one thing: How did Hale know the heist was falling apart inside the pharmacy as he sat outside in the car?
How did he know to take off?
Matthew Hale, it turned out, had a smartphone — specifically, a Droid from Verizon Wireless. And on that Droid he had an app that he used to monitor Muncie police radio traffic, Detective Jim Johnson said.
If you’re one of the millions of smartphone users who’ve downloaded scanner apps with names like iScanner, PoliceStream and 5-0 Radio Police Scanner, pay attention:
You might be breaking the law.
Police Blotter of the Day: Woman tries to trade salad for drugs
“A 33-year-old woman was charged Monday with trying to trade an undercover police officer $2 and a box of salad from the Salt Lake City Olive Garden for $10 worth of cocaine. …
“[T]he woman told the undercover officer … that she would also return later with more money or Olive Garden gift cards in exchange for the cocaine, charging documents state.”
Full story (Salt Lake Tribune)
Alex Johnson - Journalist at Large 