June, 2016: Fresno police destroy a man's house in order to apprehend a homeless guy who was armed with an ice-cream bar. You'd better believe that's a lawsuit; the operation -
a. Utilized over 50 vehicles;
b. A K-9 unit,
c. Two helicopters;
d. Two Ambulances;
e. One Fire Truck;
f. A Crisis Negotiation Team arriving in a large motor home, that Plaintiffs are informed and believe included communications equipment and other support equipment;
g. A Robot;
h. SWAT Team; and
I. Back Up SWAT Team — Clovis City Police.
The homeless guy had been sleeping in a closet in a nearby vacant home when a contractor arrived to do renovations. The contractor asked the homeless guy to leave, which he did. But the contractor noticed the guy breaking into the farmhouse, so he called the police, who arrived and, rather than asking the homeless guy to leave, used a bullhorn to order him out. Homeless guy refused. So they brought out all their toys. Militarizing the police seems to increase the probability that they'll deploy the new gear.
March 28, 2017: A Portland woman went to pick up her Iranian sister at PDX yesterday afternoon. Although the sister had a tourist visa, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol nonetheless denied her entry; transporting her instead to a jail in The Dalles, about 90 miles up the Columbia River Gorge from PDX.
Ahranjani says her sister, Alia Ghandi, had been approved for a tourist visa a few weeks ago. The plan was for Ghandi to visit family in the Portland-area for four to five weeks, then return to Iran where she was set to finish a project for her work as an architect.
Hours later Ahranjani says officials called back to tell her that her sister had been denied access to the United States. Ahranjani says she's been told her sister is now scheduled for a flight to Amsterdam Wednesday afternoon.
Well, I hear that Amsterdam's rather pretty at this time of year.
Last, but not least - Tucson, Arizona: a would-be burglar catches himself.
A locksmith was working inside the Miles-Exploratory Learning Center in Tucson when he spotted a man trying to get into some rooms, the school district said in a statement. After spotting the locksmith, the suspect reportedly ran and tried to hop the school’s spiked fence.
Hope he didn't wet himself....
