Fun Suckers

Organizers of Bats Day, a special celebration at Disneyland for the goth community, have called it quits, citing the loss of available tax deductions under President Trump's new tax law. The annual event began 20 years ago and grew to attract more than 8,000 goths each year, with Disneyland offering discounted tickets and hotel rooms for participants. "We did a lot of research," Bats Day founder Noah Korda told Vice, "and, unfortunately, it just wasn't feasible to actually continue ... with the way that we run the event." On May 6, about 800 goths showed up for a final group photo in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

Awesome!

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo isn't going to spend her summer sitting in a stuffy office. Instead, she announced on July 14 that she is holding summer office hours at state beaches, beginning with Scarborough State Beach in Narragansett. She and members of the Office of Constituent Services, who will help connect residents with state services, started their new schedule on July 16. The governor told the Associated Press she looks forward to hearing directly from residents while visiting some of the state's most popular destinations.

Hey, It's Florida

Florida Highway Patrol officers pulled over a Nissan sedan on May 16 on I-95 after observing erratic driving, reported the Miami Herald. Indeed, Port St. Lucie, Florida, resident Scott Allen Garrett, 56, smelled of alcohol, had an open bottle of 92-proof Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum on the passenger seat, was slurring his words and had "red, very glassy and bloodshot eyes," according to the police report. Garrett then told officers his dog had been driving -- which would have been notable on its own, but was particularly interesting considering there was no dog in the car with him. Garrett was charged with DUI.

Undignified Behavior

City Councilwoman Carol S. Fowler, 48, of Huron, Kansas, made a splash in the news when Atchison County Sheriff's deputies tried to arrest her on June 29 for failure to appear on an outstanding warrant. Fowler put up such a fight deputies had to use their tasers on her, and she was arrested for interference and battery on a law enforcement officer. But Fowler was just getting started, according to the Atchison Globe. On July 2, as jail workers tried to remove her jewelry and personal items, Fowler bit one of them on the thumb hard enough to break the bone. Fowler now faces three felony charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and a charge of interference with a law enforcement officer.

Bright Idea

In Nashville, 20-year-old Antonio Freeman knew he had a problem on June 25 when three police officers approached him as he rolled a marijuana cigarette. He also knew there was a bigger problem in his pocket: a plastic bag full of cocaine. In a bold move, according to the Tennessean, Freeman pulled the bag out of his chest pocket, crushed it in his hand and sprinkled cocaine over Officer Ryan Caulfield's head and into the air in an attempt to destroy evidence. The officers were able to salvage about 2.5 grams of cocaine and charge Freeman with tampering with evidence along with possession of a schedule IV drug and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.

Bold Move

A cheeky seagull embarked on a life of crime on July 14 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, by plucking a man's wallet from the top of a pizza box and carrying it onto a nearby roof. Phil Peterson was on a cherry picker hanging lights nearby and offered to retrieve the wallet, which was being picked apart by two baby seagulls "literally trying to eat (it)," Peterson explained. He tried to distract them by throwing bread at them, but that only turned their attention to him. "It was like the movie, '(The) Birds,'" he said. "I was afraid they were going to pick my brains." Quick-thinking bystander Mike Ramos borrowed a flashlight from a police officer and used the the strobe feature to "discombobulate" the birds long enough for Peterson to sneak in, grab the wallet and bring it back to Earth. "It was just the craziest thing I ever saw in my life," Ramos told New England Cable News.