Brickbats: May 2026

In 2025, the United Kingdom paid a record £1.5 billion ($2 billion) in "constraint payments" to keep wind farms from producing energy. When high winds cause turbines to produce more energy than the nation's outdated power grid can handle, the government must pay wind farms to shut down to prevent an overload; it must then pay other sources, such as gas plants, to turn on in order to meet demand. The government spent nearly £380 million ($512.5 million) paying wind farms to shut off, and it paid power plants £1.08 billion ($1.46 billion) to make up the difference.

Leticia Mariscal of Madera County, California, pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft for using her position in social services to steal food assistance funds. Prosecutors say Mariscal accessed county databases to steal the identities of more than 15 people and secretly approved them for benefits through the state's food stamp program. She then printed debit cards and spent the funds herself, stealing over $40,000 in three years.

Illustration: Peter Bagge

Florida Highway Patrol officers arrested William White Jr., a U.S. Postal Service carrier, for trying to hit a 10-year-old boy he suspected of stealing a package. In fact, White had delivered the package to the wrong house, and the boy—who lived there—was taking it to the right address. Police say White drove toward the boy in his postal truck when he saw him on his scooter with the package, running over the scooter and only narrowly missing the boy.

Illustration: Peter Bagge

Oak Park, Illinois, banned gas hookups in new buildings. A lawsuit from natural gas and construction industry groups argues the ban violates federal laws limiting how state and local governments can limit federally regulated energy sources. City officials say the policy is necessary as part of its plan to become carbon neutral by 2050, and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Sierra Club are siding with the city in the lawsuit.

A police oversight panel in Leicestershire, England, found an officer committed gross misconduct in a case involving a woman accused of illegally foraging mushrooms in a protected park. Instead of speaking with the woman directly, as he was required to do, Police Constable Christopher Vickers spoke with her husband, then falsely claimed in his report that she had admitted guilt. That report could have caused her to lose her job, and it would have come up every time she underwent a background check.

Auditors in Austin, Texas, found that Mark Ybarra stole $980,000 while working for the city's energy utility. According to their report, Ybarra made payments to 22 "fictitious vendors" he had created, with addresses linked to himself or his relatives, and submitted fake invoices to cover it up.

Illustration: Peter Bagge

Public school officials in England reported a politics teacher to authorities after he showed videos of U.S. President Donald Trump to his 17- and 18-year-old students during a lesson on the 2024 election. Officials said the videos could have caused "emotional harm" and might be seen as a "hate crime." The school refused to discuss the matter, but the teacher claimed he was essentially forced from his job as a result of the complaint.

Federal prosecutors in Georgia charged Attallah Williams with conspiracy to defraud the government. Officials say Williams stole more than $3.5 million in fraudulent COVID-19 relief funds while working first at the Small Business Administration and later at the IRS. According to prosecutors, she approved fake loan and tax credit applications, even recruiting people on Instagram to take part in the scheme in exchange for a portion of the proceeds.

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