Brickbats: December 2024

In California, the Carlsbad City Council has banned smoking and vaping in apartments, condos, and other multiunit residential buildings. Starting in January, residents cannot light up, even on their own balconies and decks. Officials say that police don’t have the resources to enforce the law, but landlords and neighbors will be able to take legal action against those who violate the ban.

In Norwood, Massachusetts, 12-year-old Danny Doherty set up a homemade ice cream stand to raise money for the Boston Bear Cubs, a hockey team for children with disabilities on which his brother plays. But after just a few days and only 20 customers, Doherty got a letter from the city ordering him to shut down. State health rules allow the sale of lemonade and homemade baked goods but not homemade ice cream. City officials say they shut down the stand only after receiving complaints and insisted they had legitimate health concerns because homemade ice cream might be contaminated by bacteria.

A law allowing the city of Buffalo, New York, to collect amusement license fees from local music venues has been on the books since 1927, but the city didn’t begin attempting to collect the money until this year. The fees are charged per event, based on the price of tickets; some venue owners said fees could cost between $10,000 and $25,000 per year, while larger venues said the fees could cost them as much as $100,000 annually. City council members said they were caught off guard by the move and paused the effort.

Officials banned snakes and other reptiles from the iconic Atlantic City boardwalk from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For several summers, Jason Wilson has allowed visitors on the boardwalk to pet and hold his Burmese pythons, which he says has been educational and helped ease people’s fears of snakes. Councilmembers expressed concern about how safe it is to let snakes interact with the public.

In Wales, Michael O’Brien spent 11 years and 43 days in prison for murder. A U.K. appellate court eventually tossed out his conviction after all the witnesses recanted their testimony and an investigation found that investigating officers committed more than 100 breaches of law or department policy. O’Brien received more than 600,000 pounds ($784,896) in compensation from the government for his wrongful conviction. But the government first deducted 37,000 pounds ($48,402) for food and lodging, for the time he spent in prison.

The U.S. Secret Service apologized after agents assigned to protect Vice President Kamala Harris broke into a Massachusetts hair salon, taped over the security camera, used its restroom, invited people from other agencies to use the restroom, and left two hours later without locking the door. The agency initially denied the break-in, saying its agents would never do anything like that, before officials later admitted that agents were indeed responsible.

After protesters sprayed red paint and set off smoke devices at the Los Angeles home of a prominent Jewish civic leader, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto told the police chief to assert that Ricci Sergienko was involved in the protest. Officers said Sergienko, a member of a left-wing activist group that has long been critical of Feldstein Soto, could not be identified in footage from the scene, and members of her staff admitted that she may have implicated him without probable cause.

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