MURDER A former director of Municipal Technical Services (MTS) shot and killed the deputy mayor of Havířov, north Moravia, and then himself, during a town meeting Sept. 18. Before the meeting, Pavel Sliva, the killer, also shot to death a lawyer representing the MTS. According to the mayor of Havířov, Sliva's motive might have been a dispute over his shares in the MTS.

SACKED Prague 1 District Council sacked Mayor Vladimír Vihan Sept. 18, allegedly because he supported a controversial Louis Vuitton party that would have closed down Charles Bridge Sept. 9, had City Hall not canceled it at the last minute. Twenty-two out of 27 councilors supported Vihan's dismissal. Vihan, who left the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) recently, says he was fired for political reasons.

SLAP The Prague 2 District Authority fined former ODS Deputy Chairman Miroslav Macek 3,000 Kč ($130) Sept. 18 for slapping then-Health Minister David Rath in public May 20 onstage at a medical conference. Macek said that he was defending his wife's honor. After the slap, the two exchanged blows. Macek says he will pay the fine.

JAILED A Plzeň, west Bohemia, court sentenced 31-year-old Michal Ernat to 11 years in jail Sept. 15 for placing an advertisement on the Internet seeking a murderer for his 43-year-old wife. Ernat offered 2,000 euros ($2,540/57,000 Kč) for the murder, but a man in Slovakia reported him to the police after finding the ad.

LIDICE The Lidice Memorial Administration decided to remove its controversial advertisement from the Internet, following harsh criticism from the survivors of the 1942 Lidice tragedy, 18 days after the site went up. The ad intended to shock young people into paying attention by posing as a game in which players burn down the town and kill its inhabitants.