State apologizes for profiling

By William R. Toler

Missouri officials apologized Monday for linking Ron Paul supporters to militia members and domestic terrorists, according to a release from the state’s Libertarian Party.

Last week, a report from the Missouri Information Analysis Center drummed up a bit of opposition for its political profiling.

The release states that Department of Public Safety Director John Britt sent a letter to the candidates Ron Paul, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin saying the references to the specific organizations shouldn’t have been included.

Up in smoke

By William R. Toler

A famous phrase frequented by President Barack H. Obama has already proved him a liar…or at least a misleader.

The president’s oft said statement of no tax increases for families making less than $200,000 has a loophole…for smokers.

The federal cigarette tax was raised from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack and will go into full effect on April 1. The nearly triple-sized tax comes as a result of the passing of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorazation Act and funds an expansion of  health care for children of low-income families, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.

Missouri mislabels terrorists

By William R. Toler

A report given to Missouri law enforcement officials, has drawn quite a bit of controversy.

First reported by radio host Alex Jones’ team, the report titled “The Modern Militia Movement” lists supporters of former presidential candidates Ron Paul and Bob Barr along with “conspiracy theorists” and those who posess “subversive” literature as possible domestic terrorists.

According to the Associated Press, Missouri officials say the report is being “misinterperted.”

“All this is an educational thing,”Lt. John Hotz of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said of the report. “Troopers have been shot by members of groups, so it’s our job to let law enforcement officers know what the trends are in the modern militia movement.”

Coach arrested for peeing in public

By William R. Toler

A baseball coach was arrested for relieving himself in a patch of woods during a baseball game Wednesday according to NewsChannel 12.

Richard Duff was cuffed after Havelock police after somenoe with kids at a nearby park reported the incident. The Havelock Middle School coach was originally charged with indecent exposure, but that was later reduced to public urination which is not a crime….but a city ordinance.

I think the parent who got pissy should just get over it. Welcome to the south…we do that around here. When nature calls, it must be answered.

Film fest seeks submissions

Tar Heel State moviemakers are invited to submit feature-length and short films for the second annual Sister City Film Festival in May.

Submissions will be accepted from March 1 to May 1.The free-admission festival is scheduled for May 23 at the Athens Theatre, 414 Pollock St. in downtown New Bern.

Films of any style and addressing any subject matter may be submitted. All entries must be no longer than two hours and should be the exclusive intellectual property of their creators. The entry fee is $7 per submission.

The Sister City Film Festival evolved from the New Bern Independent Filmmakers Conference, a project of the Forensic Society communications club at Craven Community College.

Now organized by community college alumni and New Bern-area filmmakers, the annual movie showcase has been renamed but still keeps an emphasis on featuring local talent.

Shopper cleared in receipt showdown

By Corey Friedman

An Illinois village has dropped a disorderly conduct charge against a man who was attacked and handcuffed by a Wal-Mart security guard when he refused to give the guard his receipt at the door.

Michael J. Phelan told IndieRegister.com that the village prosecutor in Forest Park, Ill.dismissed the charge Wednesday evening.

Phelan, an alderman in the nearby town of Berwyn, Ill., was accused of scuffling with security guard Louis Jones, a uniformed, off-duty Chicago police officer. Surveillance video, however, paints a different picture.

“[The prosecutor] claimed that Wal-Mart wouldn’t cooperate in turning over the other half of the videos the judge subpeonaed,” Phelan said in an e-mail.  “The tape they did provide from the front door entrance showed me being attacked and handcuffed.  I did nothing to warrant what they did to me.  I was merely standing there with my hands on my shopping cart.”

Indie wrestler needs surgery

By William R. Toler

A Virginia-based independent wrestler is now fighting for health care.

Chris Escobar, who has wrestled up and down the coast in Virginia and North Carolina broke his leg Feb. 28 at a show. He has a complete break of his tibia and fibula with spiral fractures within the bone structure.

“In the middle of wrestling Lance Lube I picked him up for a fall away slam and my leg snapped in mid motion,” he wrote in a bulletin to fellow wrestlers. “Freak Accident.”

This is the second time Escobar has broken that leg. This time, however, he will have to have surgery. His surgery is scheduled for Mar. 12.