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The Latest Breaking News from Brickbat

Sherri Chance's son called 911 when he noticed flames shooting out of the clothes dryer at their home in DeKalb County, Georgia. He expected a quick response since there was a fire station just two miles away, but he was put on hold—for 41 minutes. Family members and neighbors tried…

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Brickbat: Paint It Black

Victor Silva Sr. says he used to paint over graffiti on the fence of his home in Oakland, California. But the 102-year-old adds that since he has been confined to a wheelchair that has been difficult. City officials don't seem to have any sympathy for Silva's plight: They sent him…

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Brickbat: Science Doesn't Lie, but Scientists Do

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) says it has found that former CBI forensic scientist Yvonne "Missy" Woods manipulated data in the DNA testing process or posted incomplete test results in hundreds of cases. The CBI says it has found 652 cases affected by Woods' work between 2008 and 2023,…

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Brickbat: Unsafe at Home

Mayor Earl Johnson of Andalusia, Alabama, has apologized to Twyla Stallworth after an officer entered her home and arrested her for not showing her identification. Under Alabama law, police officers can only demand ID from someone who is in a public place and has committed a crime or whom they…

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Brickbat: Pint-Sized Prison

A girl in the United Kingdom's Wetherby Young Offender Institution twice had her clothes removed while being restrained by an all-male team of prison officers, according to a report by the Inspectorate of Prisons. The girl was reportedly trying to use her clothes to harm herself. Wetherby is a correctional…

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Brickbat: Swift Justice

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said she won't file felony charges against Officer Kevin Dave of the Seattle Police Department, who fatally struck Jaahnavi Kandula with his patrol car in January 2023. "Our legal analysis reveals that the PAO (Prosecuting Attorney's Office) lacks sufficient evidence to prove beyond a…

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Brickbat: Taking the Piss

A man says he was threatened with arrest after his dog urinated on a public street in Bournemouth, England. Steve Schuurman said an "aggressive" female Dorset police officer shouted at him to "clear your fucking dog piss." Schuurman said he would have cleaned up if his dog had defecated but…

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Brickbat: Watch What You Say

In Canada, Charlie Angus, a New Democratic Party member of Parliament, has introduced a bill that would make it illegal "to promote a fossil fuel, a fossil fuel-related brand element or the production of a fossil fuel." Regular citizens who violate the act would face a fine of up to…

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Brickbat: Royal Trouble

An appeals court in Thailand has sentenced democracy activist Mongkol Thirakot to 50 years in prison for Facebook posts he made that were critical of the country's monarchy. A trial court had sentenced him to 28 years, but the appellate court found him guilty on 11 more counts during his…

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Brickbat: Taking Their Word for It

Canadian officials said that, on second thought, they aren't going to block Maria Kartasheva from becoming a citizen. Just before she was due to take her oath of citizenship, an official informed her she'd been tried in absentia in Russia, her home country, and found guilty of "public dissemination of…

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Brickbat: Filed Away and Forgotten

Officials in Jackson County, Indiana, have agreed to pay $7.25 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of a mentally ill man who starved to death over 20 days while being held in solitary confinement at a local jail. Joshua McLemore was found lying naked and confused on…

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Brickbat: Making It Up As We Go Along

A report by the New Brunswick, Canada, auditor general's office found that the provincial Department of Public Health could not provide documentation to support any of a sample of 33 policy recommendations it made during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The department was unable to provide requested documentation, acknowledging that they 'did…

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Brickbat: Sorry, I'm Late for an Appointment

In Putnam County, West Virginia, a former U.S. Postal Service carrier faces up to one year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to desertion of mail. Michael Burdette reportedly tossed a total of more than 200 pieces of mail into a service station dumpster on two…

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Brickbat: The (Artificial) Grass Is Greener

In 2015, in the midst of a drought, California lawmakers banned cities and counties from prohibiting synthetic grass. The logic behind the law was that artificial turf was better for the environment because it saved water. But state lawmakers now argue artificial turf is bad for the environment because it…

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Brickbat: Tiny Homes, Big Problems

In March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state would spend $30 million to build 1,200 prefabricated tiny houses across the state, including 350 in Sacramento, in an effort to ease the state's housing shortage. He promised the houses would be ready this fall. But local media in Sacramento report…

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Brickbat: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

An employee of Michigan's Walter Reuther Psychiatric Hospital, which is run by the state Department of Health and Human Services, alerted a local TV station that children being treated there had not been allowed outside in three months and that the windows to their classrooms had been covered up. The…

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Brickbat: Be Careful Where You Point That

Jarrod Belcher was stunned when he found out Alabama's Jefferson County School system had suspended his 6-year-old son for pointing his finger like a gun while playing cops and robbers with another student. The school system gave his son a class 3 violation, the most serious and the same one…

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Brickbat: Born Behind Bars

An inmate in the Montgomery County, Tennessee, jail gave birth alone in her cell despite having called for help. The woman, who wasn't named by the media, called for help at 11:31 a.m., and a deputy notified medical staff. A licensed practical nurse examined her and left to consult with…

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Brickbat: On Record

When U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jamie Morris, a Special Forces soldier, applied for a concealed carry permit, his local sheriff's office contacted him about several arrests on his record. Morris was confused: He's never been arrested. But his record showed he'd been arrested on several charges, most seriously aggravated…

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Brickbat: Lockdowns Down Under

The government of Victoria, Australia, has agreed to pay about $5 million (about $3.2 million U.S.) to settle a lawsuit brought by residents of Melbourne public housing who were forced into a hard 14-day COVID-19 lockdown with no warning in July 2020. Some 3,000 people may be eligible for compensation.…

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Brickbat: Sorry, I Was Aiming at Your Dog

Tina Hight has sued the Columbia County, Arkansas, sheriff's office, Sheriff Mike Loe and Deputy Brian Williams after Williams shot her while trying to hit her Pomeranian dog. Hight called 911 for help in August 2022 for what she described as a domestic violence situation. But bodycam video shows when…

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Brickbat: You Pay for Our Mistake

First, the city of Atlanta demolished a house owned by Everett Tripodis without properly informing him. Now, city officials are suing him to recoup the $68,000 they claim to have spent tearing down the house. The city wants to force the sale of the lot to pay for the demolition.…

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Brickbat: Adding Insult to Injury

Andy Malkinson spent 17 years in a British prison for rape before DNA evidence connected another man to the crime and a court freed Malkinson. But under British law, Malkinson would have to pay the government for housing and feeding him for 17 years. Under the Criminal Appeal Act of…

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Brickbat: It's Not Easy Being Green

Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said that since 2000, 15.7 million trees have been felled on land managed by Forestry and Land Scotland to make way for wind farms. She said that represents about 7,858 hectares (19,417 acres) of trees. The government is looking to more than double the…

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Brickbat: Baby, You Can Drive My Car

Prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates have ordered the arrest of a man for filming an "arrogant" TikTok video in a luxury car showroom. The video showed an Asian man in Emirati dress accompanied by assistants carrying large sums of cash. The man tosses money at employees and mocks a…

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