Civil-rights groups are accusing Bradenton, Fla., police of racism for stopping pedestrians who walk in the street against traffic rules. Police admit they use the minor infractions as a tool for searching people for drugs and guns in a crime-ridden neighborhood, but critics are complaining that more than half of recent pedestrian stops were of blacks or Latinos. Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey says most residents are sick of crime and therefore support the stops. “There’s not a lot of compassion out there for people who do not play by the rules,” she says.
Pennsylvania officials have ordered a small Amish community to stop pouring poop onto farm fields. The Amish have been dumping buckets of waste from their school’s outhouses onto the fields, to conform to their aversion to modern plumbing. But that practice is a breach of state sewage-disposal law, say officials, and Amish farmer Andy Swartzentruber has been fined $500. He refuses to pay, saying he will not violate his religious principles. No one wants to see Swartzentruber jailed, says a lawyer for the state, “but I still have to find a way to solve the problem.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The pressure of South Korea's celebrity cultureIn The Spotlight South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron was laid to rest on Wednesday after an apparent suicide
-
Should lying in politics be a criminal offence?Today's Big Question Welsh government considers new crime of deliberate deception by an elected official
-
Store closings could accelerate throughout 2025Under the Radar Major brands like Macy's and Walgreens are continuing to shutter stores
