Morning Roundup: (Really) small town edition

Good morning, Houston. We don't know about you, but we were plenty excited when we heard about Kidtropolis, a feature that's being planned for the new wing of the Children's Museum of Houston. The $250,000 mini-city will let kids work in 15-minute shifts at a variety of jobs, for which they'll be paid 20 (fake) dollars on a debit card that they can then spend on things like (imaginary) food. Kids can even serve as the mayor or city council members, elected hourly. "The conceit is that it's run by kid citizens," Christina McKee, project manager for the exhibit, said. "It's about giving them a voice and the opportunity to make decisions that typically only grown-ups get to make." Sometimes we feel like we need that opportunity, too — now all we need to do is figure out how to get around the maximum height requirement.

>> Don't mess with Plastic Joe: Meet Joe Henning, a.k.a. "Plastic Joe," a former restaurant employee arrested for swiping credit card numbers from customers. Henning has been out on bond since his arrest, so you'd think he would be watching what he does, right? Uh, maybe not: According to police, Henning and a buddy, Gary Knight, were caught on camera buying a container of fuel at a Tomball Wal-Mart store and using it to make a Molotov cocktail in the back of a car parked in the store's parking lot. Moments later, an SUV belonging to Knight's ex-girlfriend was torched, police say, and the Coleman fuel can bought at the Wal-Mart was found on top of the vehicle. Oops! It's not clear what charges Henning might face in connection with the torching, but Henning might consider giving thanks that stupidity isn't a crime.

>> Police: Baytown assaults linked to chat line: Within the past month, Baytown police say they've gotten reports from four men who drove to the Big B to meet a woman with whom they'd talked on a phone chat line — but when the men showed up for the meetings, they ended up getting more than they bargained for (and no, we don't mean in a good way). Two recent incidents, one Sunday and one Monday, were strikingly similar: In both, Houston men arranged to meet women at different Baytown apartment complexes. When they arrived, they were greeted by two black women who asked the men to follow them to their apartment, but along the way, both were assaulted by three black men. One of the men ended up in the hospital, stabbed in the head, and the other one had his brand-new Volvo stolen. A couple of weeks ago, two Houston teens ran into a similar situation at yet another apartment complex, leading police to think all the assaults are linked. The problem, they say, is that other men may have been victims but could be reluctant to admit it: Two of the men who were attacked "didn't want to tell officers why they were in Baytown," detective Edgar Elizondo told the Chronicle.

>> Today's weather: Par for the course this week, today will be sort of sunny and quite humid with a high in the low 80s and an overnight low around 71. In case you wondered, that's roughly eight degrees above the average high and 14 above the average low for this time of year. Not that we're complaining or anything ...

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