Fakes

Two city water meter readers turned in phony numbers in at least two neighborhoods in recent months, the Department of Public Works acknowledged Tuesday, leading to more inaccurate billing by an agency that has been troubled by aging infrastructure and high error rates. As the Bureau of Water and Wastewater tries to correct the mistakes, residents who were undercharged are seeing a spike in their water charges - and officials say they must pay. The latest twist in the city's water billing problems, which have affected at least one in 10 local homeowners, did not go over well in the North Baltimore neighborhood of Homeland, where residents were already angry about the unusually high charges.

News Roundup •••• According to Kotaku, the next PlayStation is codenamed "Orbis," it will be out next year and will not be friendly to used games or PlayStation 3 games. No word on if it blocks the door to your house and collects a toll every time you try and leave. [ Kotaku ] •••• "SimCity" will require a live internet connection to start playing, and will be an "internet-dependent" gaming experience. The emphasis on multiplayer seems like a convenient excuse to employ serious digital rights management, no?

A Mexican man living illegally in Brooklyn was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Wednesday for making and selling fake identification documents worth more than $140,000, federal prosecutors said. In 2009 and 2010, Victor Lopez-Escamilla, 39, stole the identities of more than 250 people to use on fraudulent green cards, driver's licenses and Social security cards, according to a statement from Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office. At first, Lopez-Escamilla sold counterfeit documents made by a group headquartered in the 200 block of South Broadway in Baltimore, the statement said.

Viewers of WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh were stunned this morning when anchor Todd McDermott reported that long-time Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward had signed with the Ravens. A few problems with the "signing": No free-agent signings can take place until next Tuesday at 3 p.m., and the Steelers haven't officially released Ward. The joke was a spoof by BroCouncil.com that WPXI fell for. The fake post even has Ward in a Ravens uniform. Not sure who would be stunned more if it turns out to be true next week: Steelers fans or Ravens fans.

Anne Arundel County police have charged a 28-year-old Annapolis man with three counts of indecent exposure in connection with several incidents at Anne Arundel Community College last month. Jacob Lee Bovia, of the 900 block Vanburen St., also faces two counts of disorderly conduct. Between Feb.16 and Feb. 22, the police and the college's public safety officers received several complaints of a man who had exposed himself, while in his car, to several women on the college's main campus in Arnold.

Regarding your recent article about fake NFL merchandise, while I sympathize with anyone who got ripped off, the bigger issue is the cost of the so-called "official" NFL merchandise ("Ravens and NFL call blitz on online sellers of fakes," Jan. 12). These products are way overpriced and not necessarily the best quality. For example, last season we ordered my son a Terrence Cody jersey for his seventh birthday. We mainly did it because my son's first name is Cody, and we paid $75 for it at the NFL Shop.

Two items have recently burst onto the media scene: a movie called "The Iron Lady" about one of the greatest women in history - former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - and a growing European recall of breast implants in danger of exploding. I wonder what the former would say about the latter. Did it ever cross Ms. Thatcher's mind that women's lives could be meaningfully enhanced by surgically strapping gel packs to their chests? How did women get from Margaret Thatcher to this?

He won't be able to fake a seizure to get out of this one. Andrew Timothy Palmer, a 45-year-old who police and prosecutors say has made a hobby out of dining at restaurants and faking seizures to get out of paying the tab, was sentenced to the maximum of 18 months in jail on Friday, according to court records and a blog report. It's the second time in less than two years that Palmer has received an 18-month sentence for such crimes. Prosecutors hoped the first, in August of 2010, would teach him a lesson.

The state health department is asking for public comments on the use of synthetic marijuana-like substances that may cause severe reactions in some people and are regulated at the federal level and in at least 40 states. The products are sold under the names Spice, K2, Yucatan Fire, Skunk and Moon Rocks, among others, according to a statement Wednesday by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Over the next month, the health department wants to gather public insights about these products, including their potential for abuse and any risk they might pose to public health.