TV News LIES

A bill abolishing Maryland's death penalty was signed by Governor Martin O'Malley on Thursday, making the U.S. state the 18th to abolish state-sanctioned executions, a spokeswoman said.

O'Malley, a Democrat, had pledged to sign the bill, which was passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature in March. The law replaces capital punishment with a sentence of life without parole.

Thousands of protesters converged on Lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon in the culmination of May Day demonstrations organized by the Occupy Wall Street movement, resulting in occasionally bloody clashes and the arrests of more than 30 demonstrators.

All the arrests were on disorderly conduct charges, and most were of people who were blocking traffic or resisting arrest, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department. Protesters were arrested near Bryant Park in Midtown, on the Williamsburg Bridge, at a park on the Lower East Side and near Washington Square Park.

By all accounts, Kiera Wilmot's science experiment gone wrong triggered just a tiny pop and a small amount of smoke at Bartow High School last week -- but her tale is certifiably blowing up the Internet today. Thanks to Reddit and Reason, thousands of people have commented on Wilmot's story, many asking the same question: How could an otherwise model student be expelled and charged with a felony over an experiment that didn't hurt anyone?

Riptide decided to call the Polk County School District to find out. The answer: The letter of the law demanded the punishment, and school administrators believe kids should learn "there are consequences to their actions."

PepsiCo is once again learning the risks of celebrity partnerships after an ad for Mountain Dew was criticized for portraying racial stereotypes and making light of violence toward women.

The soda and snack food company said it immediately pulled the 60-second spot after learning that people found it was offensive. The ad was part of a series developed by African-American rapper Tyler, The Creator, and depicted a battered white woman on crutches being urged to identify a suspect out of a lineup of black men.

Federal prosecutors just lost a quarter of a million dollars trying to take away the Mongols Motorcycle Club trademark. Now they’re trying again.

Revving up an unusual free-speech case, prosecutors in Southern California filed racketeering charges against the related Mongol Nation in February. No one will go to jail if prosecutors prevail in what appears to be a long-shot case. In theory, though, the federal government could end up owning the trademark that it’s been chasing for years.

Three additional suspects have been taken into custody in the investigation of last month's bombings at the Boston Marathon, the Boston Police Department said in its official Twitter feed on Wednesday.

A police spokeswoman, Katherine Shea, said by telephone that she had no further details to provide. "It's happening right now," Shea said.