tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33661888873580475262024-03-06T02:36:19.665-06:00Living in the Rockwall ZooCity councilman for Rockwall City Council Place 1. Former angry blogger. Didn't like the way things were going, so I got up and am now doing something about it. (Updated May 2011)David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-64359415966216845522012-08-07T07:53:00.002-05:002012-08-07T07:56:37.672-05:00Chalk it up to stupid government officials.<a href="http://www.nbc12.com/story/19157617/woman-convicted-for-childs-chalk-drawings-at-belle-isle">http://www.nbc12.com/story/19157617/woman-convicted-for-childs-chalk-drawings-at-belle-isle</a><br /><br />Mom scheduled to serve community service hours for chalk vandalism charge <em class="wnDate">Posted: Jul 31, 2012 11:37 AM CDT </em> <em class="wnDate">Updated: Aug 05, 2012 11:37 AM CDT </em> <div id="WNStoryByline"><div class="byline">By Shawn Maclauchlan<br /></div><div class="byline">Updated by Tayleigh Davis<br /></div></div><br />A judge found enough evidence to convict a Richmond mom who is charged with vandalism, but he's delaying a final disposition until she performs community service hours. <p>29-year-old Susan Mortensen allowed her daughter to draw on rocks on Belle Isle with chalk. </p> <p>Mortensen will now serve 50 hours of community service in order for the judge to dismiss her charge. </p> <p>In court, NBC12 learned a little more about the confrontation between Mortensen and Officer Stacy Rogers, who saw her daughter writing on the rocks. </p> <p>Outside the courthouse, people support Susan Mortensen with their own chalk on the sidewalk. However, in court, the officer who reprimanded her back in March says she responded with an attitude and curse words. </p> <p>"I don't think I should comment on that," said Mortensen after the trial. I agree that the outcome is something I would agree with and I thought it would help as far as doing community service."</p> <p>Mortensen has since then apologized. She's agreed to complete 50 hours of community service through the James River Park System. </p> <p>Mortensen will have to paint about 200 boundary posts west and east of the Boulevard Bridge. Before she even starts, she'll have to scrape off the old paint and remove surrounding weeds. It's vital to finish the project before the weather gets too cold for the paint to stick.</p> <p>The parks manager says he'd like to set a date before Thanksgiving. Mortensen's supporters say they're still upset she was charged for letting her daughter draw on the rocks. Police and park leaders say chalk is the same as graffiti. </p> <p>"There's no way to compare two," Meg McLain with Virginia Cop Block. "When you spray paint something, it's pretty much there. But when you chalk something, it rains, it's gone. You'll never know."</p> <p>"It is all the same thing," said James River Park Systems Park Manager, Ralph White. "A couple of weeks ago, I was covering over pornographic drawings done in chalk. It doesn't matter what the medium is. It's offensive."</p> <p>Even though both sides share their point-of-views, they agreed on a common ground to help beautify the James River Park System. </p> <p>Back in 2010, court documents show the same officer issued Mortensen a summons for destruction of property on Belle Isle.</p> <p>Mortensen is scheduled to start her community service this week. </p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-22334024275475499682012-07-27T07:48:00.002-05:002012-07-27T07:52:25.522-05:00No Dog For You!<a href="http://reason.com/blog/2012/07/26/city-shuts-down-kids-hot-dog-stand-befor">http://reason.com/blog/2012/07/26/city-shuts-down-kids-hot-dog-stand-befor<span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class=" down" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span></a><br /><h2><a href="http://reason.com/blog/2012/07/26/city-shuts-down-kids-hot-dog-stand-befor">Kid's Hot Dog Stand Shut Down by City Officials Before It Even Opens</a></h2> <p class="byline"><span><a href="http://reason.com/people/katherine-mangu-ward/all" rel="author">Katherine Mangu-Ward</a> | July 26, 2012</span></p> <p><img class="pic right" alt="hot dog stand" src="http://media.reason.com/mc/kmw/2012_07/dog.png?h=152&w=200" title="Look, now Nathan's Famous!" height="152" width="200" />This summer, 13-year-old Nathan Duszynski wanted to make some money to help out his disabled parents—his mom has epilepsy and his dad has multiple sclerosis. So he decided to open a hot dog stand. He saved $1,200, mostly money made by mowing lawns and shoveling snow. He checked with the city to make sure he didn't need any licenses or permits, even going to city hall in person with his mom. And then he bought a cart. (Yep, that's hot dog's from <a href="http://nathansfamous.com/PageFetch/" shape="rect">Nathan's</a>, for those who are keeping score at home.) </p> <p>He arrived to set up shop on his first day and 10 minutes later, a zoning official arrived to shut him down. The problem: The cart, which is in the parking lot of a sporting goods store, is on the edge of official downtown commercial district of Holland, Michigan. The city bans food carts in that area in order to minimize competition for the eight tax-paying restaurants a couple of blocks away.</p> <p>As it happens, I've been to Holland. It's a lovely town, but not exactly a booming metropolis. And frankly (ha!), after an evening of Blue Motorcycles <a href="http://butchs.net/" shape="rect">Butch's Dry Dock</a>, a hot dog would really have hit the spot. The city says it is willing to work with Nathan, but keeping food carts out of the small, walkable downtown area is pretty much the same thing as banning food carts altogether. Nathan and his family obviously know that: The hot dog cart is now for sale.</p> <p>The Mackinac Center has made a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MK9Hwtzu8U&feature=player_embedded" shape="rect"> nice little video</a> about the ridiculous story:</p><br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5MK9Hwtzu8U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-77716485830232573472012-07-27T07:47:00.000-05:002012-07-27T07:47:23.987-05:00Rockwall Fire Department able to respond despite lack of paid fighters<a href="http://rockwallheraldbanner.com/local/x453799205/Rockwall-Fire-Department-able-to-respond-despite-lack-of-paid-fighters">http://rockwallheraldbanner.com/local/x453799205/Rockwall-Fire-Department-able-to-respond-despite-lack-of-paid-fighters</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<h1>
Rockwall Herald-Banner (Texas)</h1>
<em>July 26, 2012</em>
<h2>
Rockwall Fire Department able to respond despite lack of paid fighters</h2>
<em>By JAMES BRIGHT</em>
<br />
<strong>Herald-Banner Staff</strong>
<br />
ROCKWALL —
An investigation by the Herald-Banner into the city of Rockwall’s Fire
Department found that although it in not fully paid department it is
completely functional.<br /><br />
Former Austin Fire Department Captain Mike Allbritant prompted the
investigation when he found out the four stations within the city of
Rockwall had only one paid firefighter on duty at any given time.<br /><br />
“It’s dangerous in itself having one firefighter for an entire station,” he said.<br /><br />
The on-duty firefighter also works as an engine operator according to Rockwall Fire Chief Mark Poindexter.<br /><br />
He said in fully paid departments there are typically three to four
firefighters for per engine and if the station has a ladder engine,
three to four for its operation as well.<br /><br />
Poindexter said nine shift drivers split the operation of the four stations 24 hours a day.<br /><br />
“We utilize volunteers to supplement the paid staff,” he said. “They do
go work and with that we have 24 firefighters on duty at one time.”<br /><br />
Poindexter said the goal of the fire department is to respond to a
structure fire with one engine and 24 firefighters within seven minutes
of receiving a call. Given the current makeup of the department he said
they achieve this goal 90 percent of the time in districts that have a
station and 60 percent of the time in those that do not.<br /><br />
He said the average number of firefighters on the scene dipped to 18.5
last year according to Poindexter, which is a little lower than the 24
per incident he is looking for.<br /><br />
“If we need to we will ask the council for more money,” he said. “Three
years ago when volunteer rates dropped low we were given money to hire
nine people.”<br /><br />
Despite the recent drop, Poindexter said he still thinks a mostly
volunteer department is the best choice for the city. He said the
current makeup saves the city $7,398,988 a year and creating a fully
paid fire department would require a special election to approve a 22
cent tax increase within the city.<br /><br />
“If we are achieving our goals, why not save the tax payers money,” Poindexter said.<br /><br />
Allbritant disagrees with Poindexter. He said Rockwall will not be able to maintain this methodology regarding fire fighting.<br /><br />
“Rockwall being a progressive, cannot stay with this forever,” he said.<br /><br />
Rockwall Mayor David Sweet said the council is looking into multiple options regarding the fire department.<br /><br />
“We have several different proposals in front of us not just for year, but for next as well,” he said.<br /><br />
For the moment Rockwall is still a mostly volunteer fire department
according to Sweet, but he said the city and the department are always
recruiting possible firefighters.<br /><br />
<br />David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-48987063880063266072012-06-24T10:54:00.002-05:002012-06-24T10:54:59.830-05:00What about Tomacco? Mmmm...Tomacco....<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2012/06/23/i-say-tomato-you-say-no">http://reason.com/archives/2012/06/23/i-say-tomato-you-say-no</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
<a href="http://reason.com/archives/2012/06/23/i-say-tomato-you-say-no">I Say Tomato, You Say No</a></h2>
<h3>
Why does it seem like local government officials are competing with
each other to see who can implement the most obnoxious rules against
people in their respective communities growing food?</h3>
<div class="byline">
<a href="http://reason.com/people/baylen-linnekin/all" rel="author">Baylen Linnekin</a> | June 23, 2012</div>
<div class="byline">
<br /></div>
<div class="entry p402_premium">
With summer now upon us, gardening season is in
full swing. And that can only mean it’s time for local government
officials around the country to try to outdo one another when it
comes to preventing everyday people from growing fruit and
vegetables in their own yards.<br />
<br />
If the proposition that squads of busybody, anti-gardening
bureaucrats are waiting in your thicket, ready to pounce on the
pecks of peppers you might have tended in your yard sounds like
hyperbole, then you clearly have not been paying attention to the
news. In years.<br />
<br />
Last summer an Oak Park, Michigan, woman faced more than three
months in jail for keeping a well-manicured edible garden in her
front yard. Oak Park officials charged Julie Bass with a
misdemeanor because in their opinion Ms. Bass’s tomatoes and
vegetables did not <a href="http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/oakland_county/oak-park-battles-city-over-vegetable-garden-in-their-front-yard">
meet</a> the city’s definition of “suitable live plant
material.” The city eventually <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/julie-bass-front-yard-gar_n_899723.html">
dropped</a> the charges.<br />
<br />
Last month, Newton, Massachusetts officials brought the <a href="http://articles.boston.com/2012-05-22/metro/31802703_1_tomato-plants-garden-structure-newton">
hammer</a> down on a town resident whose handsome hanging tomato
garden ran afoul of a city building ordinance prohibiting the
construction of “swing sets, swimming pools, or sheds” in a front
yard.<br />
<br />
“It’s a straight-out violation of the ordinance,’’ <a href="http://articles.boston.com/2012-05-22/metro/31802703_1_tomato-plants-garden-structure-newton">
said</a> John Lojek, the city’s commissioner of inspectional
services, at the time. (If "inspectional" is a typo, then it is one
that appears to be <a href="https://www.google.com/search?sugexp=chrome,mod=12&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=commissioner+of+inspectional+services#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22inspectional+services%22&oq=%22inspectional+services%22&aq=f&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_l=serp.3..0l4.16783.18734.1.18946.2.2.0.0.0.0.75.136.2.2.0.ekh..0.0.k0cximRHi6I&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=8fc59b0846d98760&biw=1600&bih=783">
repeated</a> all over officialdom in Massachusetts.)<br />
<br />
Faced with the prospect of dismantling the structure, the
resident, Eli Katzoff, sought a path to legitimacy.<br />
<br />
But Lojek <a href="http://articles.boston.com/2012-05-22/metro/31802703_1_tomato-plants-garden-structure-newton/2">
stood firm</a>. “There’s no path for them.’’<br />
<br />
Lojek was right--in practice though not in
principle. Katzoff was <a href="http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/newton/2012/06/newton_hanging_tomato_garden_f.html">
forced</a> to move his plants to the grounds of a nearby
theological seminary.<br />
<br />
The <i>Boston Globe</i> characterized the move as a sign of
“[d]ivine intervention.”<br />
<br />
The seminary’s president took a slightly more secular (and less
sanguine) view, calling this a case of “the down side of zoning.”
And, he wondered, “Who can be against tomatoes?”<br />
<br />
Bureaucrats, that’s who.<br />
<br />
While Oak Park and Newton are wealthy suburban enclaves, urban
and even rural home gardeners are not immune to the flowering
cruelty of local bureaucrats.<br />
<br />
Take Denise Morrison of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Last summer Tulsa code
enforcement officers went onto her land and literally <a href="http://www.newson6.com/story/18802728/woman-sues-city-of-tulsa-for-cutting-down-her-edible-garden">
ripped out</a> Morrison’s edible garden.<br />
<br />
According to reports, the ordinance at issue stated that “plants
can't be over 12-inches tall unless they're used for human
consumption.”<br />
<br />
Morrison, who was unemployed at the time, consumed the wide
variety of plants she grew—including “lemon, stevia, garlic chives,
grapes, strawberries, apple mint, spearmint, peppermint, an apple
tree, walnut tree, pecan trees and much more.”<br />
<br />
<div class="entry p402_premium">
Last week Morrison fought back, <a href="http://www.newson6.com/story/18802728/woman-sues-city-of-tulsa-for-cutting-down-her-edible-garden">
filing</a> a civil rights lawsuit against the city.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, an Illinois woman is currently <a href="http://centralillinoisproud.com/fulltext?nxd_id=253322">fighting</a>
county officials who won't <a href="http://www.pekintimes.com/news/x69090106/Residents-crying-fowl?photo=0">
permit</a> her or her neighbors keep farm animals on their…
farmland.<br />
<br />
Kelli Otting’s garden on her one-acre property hasn’t run afoul
of the county, but her wish to raise chickens and goats on her
farm—located in a rural, unincorporated part of downstate
Illinois—has met opposition from the county land commission.<br />
<br />
While Otting’s struggles raise the sometimes controversial issue
of <a href="http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_20099836">backyard
chickens</a> clucking in urban areas, the general hurdles faced by
Otting, Morrison, Katzoff, and Bass—and by thousands of others
around the country who simply want to grow their own food—can be
blamed on local zoning boards run amok.<br />
<br />
Zoning is intended—say its proponents—to prevent nuisances from
arising. But when zoning itself <i>becomes</i> the nuisance, and
when it gets in the way of people using their own property how
they’d like--and exactly no one is made better off, save for the
bureaucrats who make and enforce the ordinances--then that piece of
zoning must fall.<br />
<br />
Decades before First Lady Michelle Obama planted a highly
visible garden on the White House back lawn, then-First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt’s efforts to plant a similar garden met with
resistance from her own husband’s Department of Agriculture, which
<i>Time</i> magazine <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790318,00.html">reported</a> (subscription)
at the time was “skeptical of amateur farmers.”<br />
<br />
That attitude—having spread like a weed through zoning and
code-enforcement rules that stretch across America—is one worth
combating.<br />
<br />
<i>Baylen J. Linnekin, a lawyer, is executive director of
<a href="http://keepfoodlegal.org/">Keep Food Legal</a>, a
Washington, D.C. nonprofit that advocates in favor of food
freedom—the right to grow, raise, produce, buy, sell, cook, eat,
and drink the foods of our own choosing.</i>
</div>
<br /></div>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-26110429531933495402012-06-20T11:04:00.000-05:002012-06-20T11:05:29.726-05:00“Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato”<a href="http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Motorcyclist-says-dallas-crackdown-went-too-far-159671765.html">http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Motorcyclist-says-dallas-crackdown-went-too-far-159671765.html</a><br /><br /><div class="module" id="media-photos"> <span class="vcard author"><p class="fn">by DAVID SCHECHTER</p> <span class="contact-info"><a href="http://www.wfaa.com/on-tv/bios/67730912.html" title="David Schechter's Bio">Bio</a> | <a href="mailto:dschechter@wfaa.com">Email</a> | Follow: @davidschechter </span> </span> <span class="source-org vcard"><p class="org fn">WFAA</p></span> <span id="dateInfo"> <p class="published dtstamp" title="2012-06-19t08:58:32z">Posted on June 19, 2012 at 10:58 PM</p></span></div><strong>NEWS 8 EXCLUSIVE</strong> <p>DALLAS — It was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and Chris Moore — riding southbound on Stemmons Freeway in Dallas in a pack of 50 to 100 sport bikes — was pulled over while traveling below the speed limit.</p> <p>"I didn't expect that at all," Moore said.</p> <p>Officers were out in force that weekend, working to prevent another shutdown of a Dallas freeway like the one on Memorial Day weekend 2011 that ultimately led to three arrests.</p> <p>So why was Moore pulled over?</p> <p>Dallas Deputy Sheriff James Westbrook said he wanted to see what was on Moore's camera.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">MOORE: "Was I doing something wrong? What am I being pulled over for?"</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBROOK: "The whole group of you guys."</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">MOORE: "No. I was not, individually. How can you pull me over?"</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBROOK: "The reason you're being pulled over is because I'm gonna take your camera and we're gonna use it as evidence of the crimes that have been committed by other bikers."</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">MOORE: "I have not committed any crimes, and you cannot take my personal property from me, sir."</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBOOK: "That's fine. Need to see your license and registration."</p> <p>Moore's lawyer, Hunter Biederman, reviewed the recording.</p> <p>"Here this officer decided to just go rouge and pull over the first guy he saw with a helmet camera on," he said.</p> <p>The way Moore sees it, it's not illegal to have a video camera. But when the Deputy returned, he arrested Moore for having a concealed license plate.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBROOK: "You're under arrest for your license plate being obstructed. Place your hands."</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">MOORE: "Are you kidding me, dude?"</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBROOK: "Place your hands behind your back."</p> <p>As Moore continued to protest, the deputy lost his patience.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">MOORE: "Why'd you pull me over in the first place?"</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBROOK: "Have a seat, okay?"</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">MOORE: "Sir. Sir. What you did to me was not right. You know it."</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBROOK: "I'm going to ask you one more time to have a seat."</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">MOORE: "That's f'ed up. Where's my bike going?"</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">WESTBROOK: "Sit down.I'm telling you to chill out."</p> <p>Westbrook is then seen on the video shoving Moore into his squad car and slamming the door forcefully.</p> <p>In a written statement, the Sheriff's Office said Moore was stopped because of a concealed plate. The video was confiscated and turned over to the gang unit as evidence.</p> <p>Moore's bike was impounded; then he spent eight hours in jail — all of it, he says, on a charge that was made up after the fact.</p> <p>"Completely shocked at their behavior," he said.</p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-29132891965018442812012-05-31T13:42:00.001-05:002012-05-31T13:44:44.908-05:00I have met the enemy and he is us.<a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2012/05/31/arrogance-politicians">http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2012/05/31/arrogance-politicians</a><br /><br />The Arrogance of Politicians<br /><br />Posted by John Stossel | May 31, 2012<br /><br /><br />New York City proposes to make it illegal to sell containers of soft drinks, sweetened coffee, and some fruit juices that are larger than 16 oz.<br /><br />Give me a break. This infringes on my right to make my own contract with a merchant. It also doesn’t work. Americans have gotten fatter since the government launched its “war” on obesity.<br /><br />Mayor Bloomberg has already pointlessly and intrusively banned trans fats, required restaurants to post dietary information, and outlawed food donations to homeless people because “the city can’t access their salt, fat or fiber content.”<br /><br />The Food Police say that they just want to help us make good decisions. But no, they want much more than that. Government is force. Politicians want to force us to make good decisions.<br /><br />Where does it stop? Why not replace hotdogs with Tofu Dogs and red meat with turkey? Once government pays for our health care, won’t they soon require exercise police to come into our homes to make us do pushups?<br /><br />In a free society, I should be able to determine my own diet.<br /><br />Mayor Bloomberg indulges the fatal conceit that politicians can and should force us to become thin. I say, No They Can’t! And they shouldn’t try.David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-10634573407176903942012-05-30T15:02:00.001-05:002012-05-30T15:02:54.680-05:00In the Zone! Too bad.<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MwjqJPr84Zc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-4315843585890826402012-05-17T08:06:00.002-05:002012-05-17T08:07:17.955-05:00They should have just raised Taxes!<a href="http://www.athensreview.com/local/x1856221519/Kemp-Police-Department-disbands">http://www.athensreview.com/local/x1856221519/Kemp-Police-Department-disbands</a><br /><br /><h3> <a class="url entry-title" rel="bookmark" href="http://www.athensreview.com/local/x1856221519/Kemp-Police-Department-disbands">Kemp Police Department disbands</a> </h3> <h4 class="subhead">City’s financial deterioration also led to crippling water service problems</h4> <p class="story_meta"> <span class="author vcard"> <span class="story_credit fn">Art Lawler</span> </span> <span class="source-org vcard story_source"> <a style="color:#000" href="http://www.athensreview.com">The Athens Review</a> </span> </p> <p>Athens — KEMP — The City of Kemp, plagued by huge infrastructure expenses, mainly crumbling water pipes, disbanded it's police department, as of 7 a.m., Tuesday, and is set to begin negotiations with a nearby municipal utility company to take over its water services.<br /><br /> Police Department equipment, including the town's patrol cars, bullet-proof vests, ammunitions, and other items will be auctioned off soon, according to Mayor Donald Kile.<br /><br /> The city council voted 4-0 Tuesday night for Kile to enter into negotiations with West Cedar Creek Municipal Utilities District, located in Tool, to take over day-to-day operations of the Kemp Municipal Water System.<br /><br /> An official with WCCMUD, however, told the Review Wednesday afternoon, that nothing has been established between the city and the MUD.<br /><br /> Office Manager Wanda Sanders said negotiations between engineers, the legal departments and the board of directors still need to be worked out.<br /><br /> Kile said that if such an agreement can be worked out, West Cedar Creek MUD would take over Kemp's water-deteriorating water lines.<br /><br /> “It's not done yet,” Sanders said. “There's lots to be done before that happens.”<br /><br /> Kile spent Wednesday communicating with the media, as well as local officials and others during yet another hectic day for the City of Kemp.<br /><br /> Kile took over as mayor not quite a year ago, just months before the decaying pipes began altering the city's lifestyle in sometimes-dramatic fashion.<br /><br /> Last summer, the city was without water for several days, when record-hot temperatures, combined with the drought, caused cracks in the earth, and shift in the land. This reportedly caused a huge number of water lines to crack.<br /><br /> Citizens had to boil water, and emergency supplies and drinking water from surrounding cities had to be brought in for the citizens’ safety.<br /><br /> More recently, the city lost much of its water power, and citizens again had to boil and ration water for a couple of days. The school district had to be shut down for two days when restroom facilities could not take care of the students’ needs.<br /><br /> But it wasn’t until Tuesday night's action that jobs were affected.<br /><br /> “It's heartbreaking, that we have to do this,” said Kile. “We affected people's livelihood. But it's what we had to do.”<br /><br /> Kile said the following in a prepared statement Wednesday: “We know this is a very tough situation for several of our city employees, and we terribly regret that these actions had to be taken. But the City's financial situation has deteriorated to such an extent that immediate measures were necessary.”<br /><br /> By early afternoon, Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes had issued a news release intended to reassure apprehensive Kemp citizens about the law protection of their community:<br /><br /> “Sheriff David Byrnes would like the citizens of Kemp, Texas to know that the Sheriff's Office will continue to answer calls in the City of Kemp. As of 7 a.m. on May 9, the City of Kemp disbanded the police department due to budget issues,” Byrnes said. “We will continue to serve the citizens of Kemp, just like we always have.”<br /><br /> Citizens who have emergencies in Kemp are being told to dial 911, and their calls will be handled “in a timely manner.”<br /><br /> Kemp citizens who have a non-emergency call to the Sheriff's office will need to call 972-932-4337.<br /><br /> To help beef-up patrols in the city, Kile said he was told that constables would also be helping in the coverage.<br /><br /> Any problems, the release says, will be routed to the appropriate departments.<br /><br /> City officials said they realize many questions still need to be answered.<br /><br /> As for the current water situation, there is no immediate loss of services, but negotiations with West Cedar Creek MUD have yet to begin.<br /><br /> “While we understand that the lawyers and financial specialists will have to get together to hammer out the details that mutually protect and benefit the parties, I am confident that an agreement will be ready in the very near future — an agreement that is acceptable both to the City of Kemp and the board of directors of WCCMUD,” Kile said.<br /><br /> The decision was made at Tuesday night's council meeting following a motion by Councilman Tommy McSpadden, and seconded by Councilman Leotis Buckley.<br /><br /> Kile said he wouldn't have financial numbers for citizens for a few more days, with the mayor spending his time putting out fires.<br /><br /> “I got people who love me and people who hate me,” he said.<br /><br /> He admitted the reaction has been mixed. The city had already raised water rates back in December to deal with a crisis that current members say should have been handled years ago.<br /><br /> Some people believe some past councils just punted the problem down the road.<br /><br /> The kids, said one person, are having to deal with it now.</p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-50047309848261526692012-05-10T07:32:00.001-05:002012-05-10T07:33:44.233-05:00On Second Thought,, Offices Will Be Open<a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/New-Rochelle-Fireworks-Canceled-Budget-Memorial-Day-Thanksgiving-150768045.html">http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/New-Rochelle-Fireworks-Canceled-Budget-Memorial-Day-Thanksgiving-150768045.html</a><br /><br /><div id="headline"> <h1 class="title">Cash-Strapped NY Town Cancels July 4 Fireworks</h1> <h2 class="subtitle">New Rochelle, N.Y. is appealing for donations to save holiday events amid budget problems</h2> </div> <div class="user-interaction"> <h6 class="timestamp">Wednesday, May 9, 2012 | Updated 1:51 PM EDT</h6> </div> <div id="leadImage" class="leadImageLarge"> <div class="imageCaptureLarge"> <a id="lb_leadimage" href="http://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/654*368/fireworks.jpg"><img src="http://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/654*368/fireworks.jpg" alt="Cash-Strapped Town Cancels Fireworks" height="368" width="654" /></a> </div> </div><span class="goToArrow"></span> <div id="article-module-1" class="article-content-module leftAlign embeddedMedia"> </div> <p id="paragraph1">A cash-strapped New York town has had to cancel Fourth of July fireworks and is appealing for donations to save its celebration of America's birthday.</p> <p id="paragraph2">New Rochelle town officials say the Independence Day display costs $75,000, and was eliminated from the city's 2012 budget, along with the Memorial Day parade and Thanksgiving parade, which both cost $30,000 to put on.</p> <p id="paragraph3">The costs for those parades include $10,000 for the event and $20,000 for police, fire and emergency service support, the town said.</p> <p id="paragraph4">New Rochelle has asked for donations to help save the holiday celebrations, and so far, enough money has been collected to hold the Memorial Day parade.</p> <p id="paragraph5">Funding for the Thanksgiving parade is also coming in, officials said, but the news for July 4 is bleak.</p> <p id="paragraph6">"Should funds not be raised, this event unfortunately will remain canceled," the town said.</p> <p id="paragraph7">Mayor Noam Bramson said the town is in a "time of fiscal challenge" and depends on the support of donations to help out.</p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-6757369251671068662012-05-03T14:12:00.002-05:002012-05-03T14:12:27.689-05:00Free water with every meal.<a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120503_You_got_hosed__Taxpayers_foot_bill_for_Water_Works_Restaurant.html?cmpid=124488459">http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120503_You_got_hosed__Taxpayers_foot_bill_for_Water_Works_Restaurant.html?cmpid=124488459</a>
You got hosed: Taxpayers foot bill for Water Works Restaurant
By HOLLY OTTERBEIN
Philadelphia Daily News
It's Our Money Writer
Michael Karloutsos, owner of the Water Works Restaurant and Lounge, notes that he didn´t pay the restaurant´s utility bill because the city didn´t send him one. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)
Michael Karloutsos, owner of the Water Works Restaurant and Lounge, notes that he didn't pay the restaurant's utility bill because the city didn't send him one. (Ed Hille / Staff Photographer)
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When “It’s Our Money” started asking questions in March, officials insisted that the city doesn’t pay utility bills for Water Works Restaurant & Lounge, a private business owned by the politically-connected Michael Karloutsos.
The high-end eatery leases space in a historic city-owned building near the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It has crystal chandeliers, $39 dinner entrées, and an outdoor deck with a stunning view of the Schuylkill River.
Why would the fancy place need taxpayers to cover its bills? Robert Allen, Parks & Recreation’s property and concessions management director, initially said the city wasn’t and first deputy commissioner Mark Focht said he didn’t “know of any facilities in Parks & Recreation’s system where the city is paying utilities for for-profits.”
But, after probing by “It’s Our Money,” the city has acknowledged that taxpayers have footed the hefty bill for Water Works Restaurant for the majority of its six-year existence and the Nutter administration has launched an investigation.
The city revealed that it has been covering the restaurant’s utilities only after “It’s Our Money” requested documents showing that Water Works paid its own bills. Allen said he discovered that the city had been mistakenly paying utilities for the past year following our inquiry.
“The problem is not that the restaurant is not paying,” Allen wrote in an email. “We dropped the ball administratively and failed to issue the bills.”
Allen said that the city paid for electricity, gas and water for Water Works from its opening in 2006 until 2010, and then again for about the past year. Electricity for that year alone cost taxpayers $70,000, according to mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald, and he estimates taxpayers have paid $225,000 on electricity since its opening.
The total paid on all utilities is likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Allen said he couldn’t provide an accurate number because Water Works shares its city-owned building with a Water Department museum, and the equipment needed to measure each entity’s utilities wasn’t installed until 2010.
Allen said the restaurant paid for its own utilities for some time between 2010 and 2011, although the city did not produce any documents to back up the claim, and Karloutsos doesn’t remember being billed.
The Water Department and other utilities don’t bill the business directly because the city has to sort out the amount used by each entity, Allen said. He added that the city would recoup the money from the past year.
The restaurant’s concession agreement with the city, signed in 2005, states that the restaurant is responsible for the costs. Allen said the city paid the restaurant’s utilities from its opening to sometime in 2010 because a submetering system, which measures utilities used by the separate entities in the building, wasn’t installed.
The city won’t recoup the money from those years because “there was no way to measure utility usages at the time,” Allen said.
Citing the investigation, McDonald couldn’t say why the equipment wasn’t installed for several years. The restaurant opened before Nutter took office.
“In the wake of the inquiry from ‘It’s Our Money’ regarding the Water Works Restaurant and its utility bills, the administration is investigating the issues that have been raised,” he said. “Because we’re investigating this … I’m not able to discuss any of the details.”
Water Works Restaurant has been the site of political fund-raisers for Nutter and Sen. Bob Casey, as well as a primary party for then-candidate Barack Obama. Karloutsos also ran the 2002 Illinois gubernatorial campaign for Paul Vallas, former Philadelphia schools CEO, and was later a consultant for the district.
Karloutsos said Water Works would pay for its utilities as soon as it received a bill. He vehemently denied that his connections had anything to do with the city picking up the tab.
“There is no inside job. There is no preferential treatment,” he said. “I don’t think any taxpayer in Philadelphia would pay an invoice that they haven’t seen.”
Karloutsos also stressed that his restaurant helped to restore a national historic landmark, which was once in such disrepair that people wouldn’t walk by because “they would be afraid of what would be going on there.”David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-58594267361191539982012-03-21T18:31:00.001-05:002012-03-21T18:32:29.917-05:00Long-haired hippie people need not apply (for a sign permit)<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFm0jWM2-zg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFm0jWM2-zg</a><br /><br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eFm0jWM2-zg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-82296732002839514552012-02-21T15:23:00.001-06:002012-02-21T15:25:31.641-06:00The Grammar is wrong, but the Message is Right!<a href="http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/02/21/us-supreme-court-lets-st-louis-protest-sign-stay-put/">http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/02/21/us-supreme-court-lets-st-louis-protest-sign-stay-put/</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>U.S. Supreme Court Let’s St. Louis Protest Sign Stay Put<br /></strong></span><span style="font-size:78%;">Kevin Killeen<br />February 21, 2012 1:16 PM</span><br /><br />ST. LOUIS–(KMOX)–How does it feel to fight city hall and win?<br />“I’m delighted, giddy, maybe a little bit, certainly pleased,” said Jim Roos, “It’s five years since the city sent us that notice and we put the mural up protesting, and there’s been litigation in one form or another the whole time.”<br />The city had asked the U-S Supreme Court to hear its appeal, calling the sign an eyesore and an ordinance violation, but the high court lets stand a lower court ruling that found the sign is a form of free speech protected by the Constitution.<br /><a href="http://cbsstlouis.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/img_3406.jpg" jquery1329859346234="229"></a><br />Jim Roos' sign that sparked court fight<br />Roos says the type of city-hall backed land grabbing that sparked the sign protest has slowed down, but that he says is probably due to the economy.<br />“I think it would be wise for the state of Missouri to have a constitutional change, an amendment proposed and the people vote on it, so that eminent domain for private development simply becomes illegal,” Roos said.David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-73929874521955436442012-02-14T07:48:00.003-06:002012-02-14T07:59:10.393-06:005W47 pwns n00b. ZOMG no corse-humping! BANNED.<a href="http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/02/13/call-of-duty-game-leads-to-prank-lewisville-911-call/">http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/02/13/call-of-duty-game-leads-to-prank-lewisville-911-call/</a><br /><br /><h1 class="entry-title">Call Of Duty Game Leads To Prank Lewisville 911 Call</h1> <h6 class="entry-date">February 13, 2012 10:52 PM</h6>Reporting <a href="http://dfw.cbslocal.com/personality/jason-allen/">Jason Allen</a> <p><strong>LEWISVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) – </strong>A gun battle on a video game turned into guns drawn in a Lewisville neighborhood Monday.</p> <p>A family had to face down a police swat team for what police say was a hoax, delivered through a video game system.</p> <p>The incident happened just after 5 p.m. Monday.</p> <p>The teenage boy, whose parents asked he not be named, was playing Call of Duty: Black Ops. He had joined friends playing online on the Xbox 360.</p> <p>In the game, players can talk to each other using headsets. In between games, in a chatroom, the boy said a voice suddenly chimed in that he says he didn’t recognize. “Some dude just popped out of nowhere, and basically said he’s going to hack me, he’s going to get my information, call the swat team over to my front yard.”</p> <p>The teen ignored it, and kept playing.</p> <p>About 20 minutes later, Lewisville received a call from an operator with the AT&T Instant Message Relay Service. The system is designed to allow hearing impaired users to reach someone with a standard telephone. The operator said they had received a message that a person was shot and that someone was still inside the house shooting.</p><div class="entry-injected-ad narrow"> </div> <p>The first responding officers saw no signs of shooting at the home. The video game was still on when police surrounded the house, with the entire family inside.</p> <p>The teen said it was his parents who first noticed men real men outside with real guns, and someone with a bull horn, calling his name.</p> <p>“We were all scared, out of our minds,” he said. “Didn’t understand why they were here. We thought there was some stranger some dude running around our house, hiding behind the boat. We didn’t know. We didn’t expect nothing.”</p> <p>Captain Kevin Deaver with Lewisville Police said they started calling the family out because there were no signs of shooting. “At one point they did come out of the residence but then went back in the residence, which did cause us some alarm,” he said.</p> <p>What officers had seen was the boys father, pulling his wife back inside to keep her safe. The family hid in a bedroom, and the boy’s mother called 9-1-1 herself. The operator connected her to police who convinced the mother, father, three children and grandparents to come out.</p> <p>The teen said he has no idea who would want to pull the dangerous prank.</p> <p>Police are investigating the crime as a false report or false alarm. They are working on a subpoena to try to get the information for the gamer who made the story up.</p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-54565417904121772632012-01-30T11:22:00.002-06:002012-01-30T11:24:37.235-06:00Blessed is the peacemaker? Criminals look out! (And the innocent as well...)<a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-neighborhood-crime-surveillance-20120126,0,5814428.story">http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-neighborhood-crime-surveillance-20120126,0,5814428.story</a><br /><br /><h1>Police roll out video surveillance truck called The Peacemaker</h1><div class="googleAd"> </div> <div id="story-body" class="articlebody ">By Ihosvani Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel<span class="toolSet" style="width: 345px;"><div class="byline"><span class="byline"></span> <p class="date"><span class="timeString">8:13 p.m. EST</span><span class="dateTimeSeparator">, </span><span class="dateString">January 27, 2012</span></p> </div> </span> <div id="story-body-text"> <div class="storyDateline">FORT LAUDERDALE— </div> Tania Ouaknine is convinced the police are watching her.<br /><br />She's not paranoid — it says as much on the red sign painted along the side on the hulking armored truck that's been parked in front of her eight-room Parisian Motel for several days.<br /><br /> "Warning: You are under video surveillance," reads the bold message on the side of the truck.<br /><br />From the front bumper of the menacing vehicle, another sign taunts: "Whatcha gonna do when we come for you?"<br /><br />The truck is a new weapon for the <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="ORGOV000089" title="Fort Lauderdale Police Department" href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/police/fort-lauderdale-police-department-ORGOV000089.topic">Fort Lauderdale Police Department</a> in the fight against drugs and neighborhood nuisances, and it looks like a Winnebago on <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="HETHT00007" title="Steroids" href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/health/drugs-medicines/steroids-HETHT00007.topic">steroids</a>. They call it "The Peacemaker," and it may be a first in South Florida.<br /><br />Mixing high tech with simplicity, the in-your-face strategy is straightforward: load an out-of-service armored truck with some of the latest surveillance equipment available and decorate it with police emblems. Then, simply leave it parked in front of trouble spots.<br /><br />"Make no mistakes about it," said Detective Travis Mandell. "We want people to know that we are watching the bad guys."<br /><br />In August, police got the first of their two Peacemakers after paying the Brinks company $10 for a discontinued armored bank truck. They retrofitted the vehicle with cameras that can stream live video back to headquarters. With its cameras hoisted on each bullet-proof window, the truck can gather panoramic footage for up to 700 hours.<br /><br />Last month the department added a second truck to its arsenal, converting a former SWAT vehicle into the second Peacemaker. Police park the unmanned trucks in front of the homes of suspected drug dealers and at crime-plagued street corners.<br /><br />On a recent afternoon, a Peacemaker had at least one of its eight cameras trained on Ouaknine's one-story establishment.<br /><br /> "They say I am running a whorehouse," said the 60-year-old innkeeper. "I run a motel. The only thing that I don't have is the five stars."<br /><br />Police wouldn't say why they parked the Peacemaker last week in an abandoned lot directly across Ouaknine's Parisian Motel in the 500 block of Northwest 23rd Avenue.<br /><br />Police and city records show Ouaknine and her motel had been the subject of an undercover operation targeting prostitution starting in September. Ouaknine was arrested on Oct. 28 on three counts of renting rooms to prostitutes for $20 an hour. Her case is pending.<br /><br />The city's nuisance abatement board sent her a warning letter and summoned her to appear for a hearing in February based on the investigation. It's the second time since 2008 that the board has targeted the motel, city records show.<br /><br />She says she's doing nothing illegal.<br /><br />"They've tried everything to shut me down and have failed," she said. "Now they bring this truck to intimidate me and my customers."<br /><br />Some neighbors surrounding the Parisian Motel say the truck is another form of constant police harassment.<br /><br />On a recent afternoon, Leo Cooper watched as two undercover street-crime officers jumped out of an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria just yards from the Peacemaker. They began questioning a group of men gathered at the corner. Within minutes, one of the men ran away. A second man was charged with loitering.<br /><br />"This is what happens here every day. We can't sit outside without being harassed," said Cooper, 27. "Now we have that truck. Most of us are not doing anything wrong. We can't be outside?"<br /><br />The police department has met the allegations of harassment with skepticism.<br /><br />"People who are abiding by the law should have no problems with this," said Mandell. "People may feel that their privacy is being infringed on, but when you think about it, every day you walk down the street you are being watched by 20 to 30 cameras from private businesses and homes."<br /><br />The feedback is much different in a neighborhood less than a mile east of the motel, close to where Sistrunk Boulevard is undergoing a major refurbishing project. In December, residents rallied at city meetings to get more police presence after a rash of daytime home burglaries, including one on New Year's Day, said Anthony Lucicero, a neighborhood leader.<br /><br />"We had all sorts of people walking up and down this street at all hours," he said. "Prostitutes, junkies, everyone."<br /><br />In early January, police parked the Peacemaker at an empty lot on Northwest Fifth Court between 10th and 11th avenues. Neighbors say it's already making a difference.<br /><br />"Before the truck, we were afraid to go to work knowing your house might be robbed in the middle of the afternoon," said Lucicero's neighbor, Tangerine Davis. "Now we go to work in peace."<br /><br />Their biggest worry now, they say, is what happens when the Peacemaker drives away and the police are no longer watching.<br /><br />"I wish they had another one out here," Lucicero said. "I have an empty lot right there they can use."<br /><br />A check with the region's major law enforcement agencies indicate <a class="taxInTextAdLink taxInlineTagLink" id="PLGEO100100403070000" title="Fort Lauderdale" href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/us/florida/broward-county/fort-lauderdale-PLGEO100100403070000.topic">Fort Lauderdale</a>'s Peacemakers may be the first in South Florida, but not the first in the nation. News reports show that agencies in Green Bay, Wis., Lafayette, La. and St. Louis, Mo., have been using them for at least a year.<br /><br /> "We are definitely not doing something like that right now," said Deputy <a class="taxInlineTagLink" id="PESPT001692" title="Eric Davis" href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/sports/eric-davis-PESPT001692.topic">Eric Davis</a>, a spokesman for the <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/">Palm Beach County</a> Sheriff's Office. "I would love to see this for myself. Sounds pretty novel."<br /><br /><a href="mailto:irodriguez@tribune.com">irodriguez@tribune.com</a> or 954-356-4605 </div> </div> <p class="copyright">Copyright © 2012, <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/" target="_blank">South Florida Sun-Sentinel</a></p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-6173906386247004312012-01-24T12:31:00.001-06:002012-01-24T12:34:14.286-06:00Norwegian Preachers! Or something.<a href="http://www.wistv.com/story/16574309/sc-mayor-pulled-over-then-pulls-trooper-over">http://www.wistv.com/story/16574309/sc-mayor-pulled-over-then-pulls-trooper-over</a><br /><br /><div id="WNStoryHeader"> <h3 class="">SC mayor pulled over, then pulls trooper over</h3> <em class="wnDate"></em><noscript></noscript> </div> <div id="WNStoryRelatedBox" class="wnRight"><div class="wnStoryBodyGraphic wnImageWidth-180"><img src="http://wistv.images.worldnow.com/images/16574309_BG1.jpg" alt="Jim Preacher" title="Jim Preacher" width="180" border="0" /> <span>Jim Preacher</span></div> </div> <p>NORWAY, SC (AP) - The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the mayor of Norway's claim that he was legally empowered to pull over a state trooper after the trooper had pulled him over for speeding.</p> <p>The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reports that Norway Mayor Jim Preacher was stopped for speeding on Wednesday. After the traffic stop, Norway turned on the blue lights and siren in his vehicle and pulled the trooper over.</p> <p>Norway acknowledges he was speeding, but says he was acting in his capacity as the town's chief constable. <br /></p> <p>The state Department of Public Safety has asked SLED to look into whether Norway's mayor does have powers of law enforcement.</p> <p>The town council disbanded the Norway Police Department last year.</p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-60946724522921710292011-12-20T07:50:00.001-06:002011-12-20T07:51:31.763-06:00With all other problems solved...<a href="http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/trash-can-tickets-in-queens-20111219-lgf">http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/trash-can-tickets-in-queens-20111219-lgf</a><br /><br /><h1 class="fontStyle51">Trash Can Tickets In Queens</h1> <div class="fontStyle4"> <div class="story last"><p>MYFOXNY.COM - A Queens man is very upset after trying to put his trash out for collection and ending up with a ticket.</p> <p>He, and others, are getting snared in an enforcement of a law that few people even know exists.</p> <p>The scrooge award goes to the New York City Sanitation Department for the $100 tickets.</p> <p>Raymond Janson says he received the $100 fine for putting his garbage cans at the curb 30 minutes early.</p> <p>"I can't say how incensed I am over this," Janson says. "Not only at the excessive amount, but the nature of the summons."</p> <p>The Failure to Store Receptacle summons from the agent stated: "I did observe three 30 gallon plastic can(s) placed out on the public sidewalk on a non-collection day."</p> <p>Janson says, "We've lived here 30 years and always put the garbage out Monday and Thursday for Tuesday and Friday pickup."</p> <p>It is legal to put out the trash cans the day before pick-up but the time of the day matters. City sanitation rules say the cans can be put out no earlier than 4:00 p.m. from October 1st to April 1st.</p> <p>Janson's ticket was written at 3:27 p.m.</p> <p>"What, do they sit down the block waiting so they can go catch all of those criminals?" Janson asked.</p> <p>He wasn't aware of the city ordinance and was upset that he didn't get a warning. He plans to fight his ticket.</p> <p>"I know the city is looking for money but this is ridiculous," Jansen says. "With all of the things wrong with this city, this is what we crack down on! Hard working, law abiding, tax paying citizens putting out their garbage 39 minutes early!"</p> <p>Fox 5 News has learned that a number of other Queens residents have also received $100 tickets for putting out the trash too early. A state senator is investigating the actions of the Sanitation Department.</p> <p>A department spokesman told Fox 5 News that the law is intended to keep trash cans from blocking the sidewalks.</p> <p>Last week, an <a href="http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/elderly-woman-fighting-trash-can-ticket-20111213-LGF" target="_blank">elderly Brooklyn woman was ticketed</a> for not having a lid on her trash cans. The woman says she doesn't even own trash cans and her son takes her trash from her home. She is fighting the $300 ticket.</p></div></div><br />Read more: <a style="color: #003399;" href="http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/trash-can-tickets-in-queens-20111219-lgf#ixzz1h5C32kj8">http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/trash-can-tickets-in-queens-20111219-lgf#ixzz1h5C32kj8</a>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-5624498009768353402011-12-16T13:32:00.000-06:002011-12-16T13:33:58.007-06:00This is good, right?<a href="http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=244362">http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=244362</a><br /><br /><h1>90-year-old jailed over unsightly property</h1><br /><br />GAINESVILLE - A 90-year-old Hall County woman is serving a 30-day jail sentence after what county officials say has been a 20-year battle to get her to clean up her property.<br /><br />Charlene Coburn lives on Price Road near H. Thomas Road.<br /><br />Fox 5 reports there are three buildings on her property, all of them showing signs of substantial damage. In addition, there was debris on the property, and authorities report that a number of animals were living there. Hall County officials also say Coburn is a hoarder.<br /><br />Finally, after the two-decade effort to get her to clean up the property, Hall County Code Enforcement took her to court, and after she didn't follow orders to clean up the property, Coburn was jailed.David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-83789838654485922682011-11-30T10:04:00.001-06:002011-11-30T10:04:39.113-06:00Blocking the Paths Out of Poverty<a href="http://www.creators.com/opinion/john-stossel/blocking-the-paths-out-of-poverty.html">http://www.creators.com/opinion/john-stossel/blocking-the-paths-out-of-poverty.html</a>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-56880814334735405452011-11-17T09:37:00.000-06:002011-11-17T09:41:24.023-06:00What about the football stadiums??<a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/11/17/turf-war-glendale-bans-fake-grass/">http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/11/17/turf-war-glendale-bans-fake-grass/</a>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-5338714421928795832011-11-09T07:49:00.000-06:002011-11-09T07:50:55.583-06:00It's always worse in Dallas...<a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/11/on_day_one_of_tyrone_mcgills_a.php">http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/11/on_day_one_of_tyrone_mcgills_a.php</a><br /><br /><h1 class="entryHeadline">On Day One of Animal Cruelty Trial, A Simple Question: How Hard Is It to Free a Trapped Cat?</h1> <div class="byLine"> <span class="bylineAuthor">By <a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/author.php?author_id=2875">Anna Merlan</a></span> <span class="bylineDate">Tue., Nov. 8 2011 at 5:33 PM</span> </div><br /><p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"></span></p><table class="image right" width="250" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="Tyrone McGill at Shelter.jpg" src="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/Tyrone%20McGill%20at%20Shelter.jpg" height="287" width="250" /></td></tr><tr><td class="caption">Tyrone McGill</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/11/former_dallas_animal_services.php" target="_blank">After completing jury selection yesterday</a>, the prosecution began laying out its case this morning in the felony animal cruelty trial of former animal shelter manager <a href="http://www.dallasobserver.com/related/to/Tyrone+McGill/" target="_blank">Tyrone McGill</a>, who is currently on administrative leave and continues to draw a paycheck from the city of Dallas. "This is not a difficult case," Assistant District Attorney David Alex promised the jury. "It's as simple as a picture." <p>Displayed on several screens throughout the courtroom was <a href="http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/hole%20cut%20in%20wall%20to%20remove%20dead%20cat.jpg" target="_blank">the picture in question</a>: that tiny hole in the flimsy sheet rock wall that was ultimately all it took to free a cat from where it had been trapped for at least 15 days. "It didn't take the jaws of life or fire and rescue to cut this hole," Alex said. </p> <p>Instead, it took a knife from the euthanasia room and about 10 minutes to remove the corpse from behind the break-room wall, where it had gotten stuck after escaping from its cage some 15 days earlier. At that point, it was badly decomposed, its fur coming away in clumps. According to the testimony of animal cruelty investigator <a href="http://www.dallasobserver.com/related/to/Domanick+Munoz/" target="_blank">Domanick Munoz</a> this afternoon, when found, the cat's nails were also worn down from jumping up and clawing against the wall in a desperate bid to free itself. Throughout this first day of testimony, from both the prosecution and the defense, a basic question arose: How could it be so hard to free a cat from a wall?<br /></p> <a name="more"></a> <p>According to the prosecution, the answer lies with McGill, who, according to shelter employees, promised repeatedly to "take care of" the issue and then failed to act. According to former shelter worker Kimberly Killebrew and Munoz, McGill also discouraged shelter workers from taking direct action to free the animal. He implied that they would face termination for destroying city property if they did so.</p> <p>"He was actually giving them a threat," Alex told the jury. "This wasn't a priority to him. He had the authority to stop the suffering, and on that Tuesday he flat-out told [Killebrew], 'We're not going to do it.'"</p> <p>But throughout the day, defense attorney Anthony Lyons pointed out repeatedly that the same rules that forbid destruction of city property also prevented McGill and other supervisors from taking actions that could potentially endanger the safety of city employees. He also asked Killebrew, Munoz and another shelter worker who testified today, Adam Cooper, why they hadn't considered it their responsibility to free the cat. </p> <p>"You testified to the jury about how concerned you were about that cat," he said to Killebrew. "So why didn't you cut a hole in the wall?... You just testified, blaming him for not doing it, why didn't you do it?" Furthermore, he said, McGill had made efforts to free the cat, including lifting ceiling tiles and calling Equipment and Building Services. </p> <p>In his testimony, Munoz painted a picture of a dysfunctional climate where animal shelter employees were frightened to step outside the chain of command for fear of losing their jobs. The prosecution read portions of a scathing email he wrote to McGill and Munoz's own supervisor, Adrian Vela, on May 18, the day the rotting cat was ultimately removed from the wall. At that point, the smell of decomposing flesh was so strong it carried all the way down a long hall from the break room where the cat was walled up. </p> <p>"Why is it so hard to have a cat removed from the wall, dead or alive?" Munoz asked. "... This is unsanitary, unhealthy, and socially unacceptable. ... Why are we turning a blind eye to this situation?" </p> <p>The prosecution will continue to present its case tomorrow. </p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-46242322904764384712011-11-04T09:22:00.002-05:002011-11-04T09:24:57.327-05:00Liberation weekend!<a href="http://rockwallpets.com/pick.html">http://rockwallpets.com/pick.html</a><br /><br />This weekend (November 4-6), any cat or dog over 1 year old is available for adoption at your price, even if your price is $0.00!<br /><br />Rockwall PETS is paying the difference in adoption fees.David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-49054021677280537852011-11-04T07:46:00.002-05:002011-11-04T07:49:28.422-05:00Marco! Polo! Marco! Polo!<a href="http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/03/unable-to-pay-bill-mich-city-turns-off-lights/">http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/03/unable-to-pay-bill-mich-city-turns-off-lights/</a><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:donotpromoteqf/> <w:lidthemeother>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:lidthemeasian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark/> <w:dontvertaligncellwithsp/> <w:dontbreakconstrainedforcedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> <w:word11kerningpairs/> <w:cachedcolbalance/> 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mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:1"><b><span style="font-size:24.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning:18.0pt"><a href="http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/03/unable-to-pay-bill-mich-city-turns-off-lights/"><span style="color:blue">Unable to pay bill, Mich. city turns off lights</span></a></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">By Corey Williams - The Associated Press Published: 8:52 PM 11/03/2011 </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) — As the sun dips below the rooftops each evening, parts of this Detroit enclave turn to pitch black, the only illumination coming from a few streetlights at the end of the block or from glowing yellow yard globes.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">It wasn’t always this way. But when the debt-ridden community could no longer afford its monthly electric bill, elected officials not only turned off 1,000 streetlights. They had them ripped out — bulbs, poles and all. Now nightfall cloaks most neighborhoods in inky darkness.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“How can you darken any city?” asked Victoria Dowdell, standing in the halo of a light in her front yard. “I think that was a disgrace. She said the decision endangers everyone, especially people who have to walk around at night or catch the bus.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Highland Park’s decision is one of the nation’s most extreme austerity measures, even among the scores of communities that can no longer afford to provide basic services.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Other towns have postponed roadwork, cut back on trash collection and closed libraries, for example. But to people left in the dark night after night, removing streetlights seems more drastic. And unlike many other cutbacks that can easily be reversed, this one appears to be permanent.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The city is $58 million in debt and has many more people than jobs, plus dozens of burned-out or vacant houses and buildings. With fewer than 12,000 residents, its population has dwindled to half the level from 20 years ago.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Faced with a $4 million electric bill that required $60,000 monthly payments, Mayor Hubert Yopp asked the City Council to consider reducing lighting. Council members reluctantly approved it, even in an election year.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We knew it was going to hurt,” Councilman Christopher Woodard said. “We’re all hurting.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">In late August, contractors from DTE Energy Co. began rolling through the streets, taking out two-thirds of the light poles.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“It is a winning proposition, but that doesn’t make it a winner with the citizens who find themselves in the dark,” Woodard added. “We had to watch our backs when we got out of our cars before. Now we have to watch them even more closely.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Unless the government gets an unexpected infusion of cash or sees an uptick in its dying tax base, many parts of Highland Park will remain beneath a shroud every night.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The city’s monthly electric bill has been cut by 80 percent. The amount owed DTE Energy goes back about a decade, but utility executives hesitated to turn off the juice.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We are extremely concerned with public safety,” said Trevor Lauer, vice president of marketing and renewables for the Detroit-based utility. “We recognize that street lighting is something that contributes to public safety.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Now, he said, the company has “a municipal lighting customer I’m confident can pay its monthly bill.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Most of the 500 streetlights still shining in Highland Park are along major streets and on corners in residential areas. DTE Energy has listed the city’s overdue bill as an uncollectable expense.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The leader of a nonprofit group that works to reduce energy costs for low-income families said he’s not heard of any other communities becoming so desperate to save money that they turned off streetlights. It might be a sign of things to come.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“If it works in Highland Park, I could not imagine other cities not looking at that as one option,” said David Fox, executive director of the National Low Income Energy Consortium in Alexandria, Va.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">In its heyday, Highland Park was one of Michigan’s urban jewels, with large yards, spacious homes and tree-lined streets.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Henry Ford put his first moving assembly line here, and his factory eventually churned out a car every minute. By 1930, the city had grown to 50,000 people.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Ford later moved his primary manufacturing operations to River Rouge, southwest of Detroit, in search of room to expand. Highland Park survived that loss. But it never recovered from Chrysler’s decision in the 1990s to move its world headquarters 50 miles north to Oakland County.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“That took away $6 million” in taxes, Woodard said. “That was a lot of money to not have anymore. It was a major industrial operation moving out of here. When Chrysler moved out, things started to happen.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Small businesses catering to Chrysler workers began to fail, and the city struggled to pay its bills. And like Detroit, which lost 250,000 residents from 2000 to 2010, people moved out, leaving hundreds of abandoned houses.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">In 1980, the census counted 27,000 people living in Highland Park. By 2010, that number had fallen to 11,776.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The median household income is $18,700, compared with $48,700 statewide. And 42 percent of the city’s residents live in poverty.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“It’s pretty ghetto,” Cassandra Cabil said from her front yard. Voices drift in the darkness from down the street, but the speakers can’t be seen.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The 31-year-old short-order cook works odd hours and sometimes makes it home late at night. She watched recently as crews removed the streetlight and pole from in front of her rented home.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">“It’s really dark unless people have their lights on,” she said. “There’s a lot of vandalism going on, people breaking into these houses.”</span></p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-92218373783482776652011-11-03T09:24:00.000-05:002011-11-03T09:26:11.733-05:00No Clapping!<a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/27/peekskill-residents-livid-about-no-clapping-rule-at-city-council-meetings/">http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/27/peekskill-residents-livid-about-no-clapping-rule-at-city-council-meetings/</a><br /><br /><h1 class="entry-title">Peekskill Residents Livid About No Clapping Rule At City Council Meetings</h1> <h4 class="entry-subtitle">Critics Say They Feel Like They're Being Treated Like Kindergarteners</h4> <h6 class="entry-date">September 27, 2011 10:49 PM<br /></h6><br /><div class="entry-other-bar"><div class="entry-personality entry-left-column">Reporting <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/personality/al-jones/">Al Jones</a> </div><br /></div> <p><strong>PEEKSKILL, N.Y. (1010 WINS)</strong> — Want to get yourself thrown out of a Peekskill City Council meeting? Start clapping.</p> <p>After a series of boisterous<a title="Judge Voids NJ Town’s Policy On Council Prayers" href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/12/17/judge-voids-new-jersey-towns-policy-on-council-prayers/"> meetings</a>, Mayor Mary Foster is trying to bring decorum back to the chamber by banning clapping.</p> <p>“We’ve had to end meetings because the disruptions just became too unruly,” Foster said.</p> <p>However, critics of the measure spoke with 1010 WINS’ Al Jones and said they felt like they were being treated like kindergarteners.<em><strong></strong></em><span style="text-align:left;display:block;"></span></p> <p>“If that was the only incident, it would be very different. But we’ve been receiving that kind of treatment consistently and this is just one little piece of that puzzle,” Jim Adler said.</p><div class="entry-injected-ad narrow"> </div> <p>Adler said the mayor and council are <a title="ACLU Files Suit Against N.J. Town’s Council Prayer Policy" href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/11/30/aclu-files-suit-against-nj-town-councils-prayer-policy/">trying to silence anyone </a>who doesn’t agree and he’s not happy about it.</p> <p>“The bullying and the lack of decorum when she and her leadership in Peekskill treat people with such disrespect,” he said, adding he would continue to attend the bi-monthly meetings and clap.</p> <p>Tracy Breneman admitted that the meetings have become a bit loud, but doesn’t agree with the rule.</p> <p>“They institutionalized this no clapping among other things, which is absolutely absurd,” she said.</p> <p>Mayor Foster argued that the rule is just another attempt to get through meetings with less interruption, but critics in Peekskill were reading the <a title="Around The Tri-State, Patriotism On Parade For July 4th" href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/07/04/around-the-tri-state-patriotism-on-parade-for-july-4th/">Declaration of Independence</a> in protest.</p> <p>“You think that a no clapping rule is really going to make these issues go away?” asked community activist Darrel Davis.</p> <p>The City Council voted unanimously to ban clapping on Sept. 12. In January, the council also eliminated a public comment session at the beginning of meetings.</p>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-89701372799621260872011-11-02T07:29:00.001-05:002011-11-02T07:32:15.696-05:00Comprehensive Plan Info<a href="http://rockwallconservative.me/2011/11/01/rockwall-comprehensive-plan-where-do-you-fit-in/">http://rockwallconservative.me/2011/11/01/rockwall-comprehensive-plan-where-do-you-fit-in/</a>David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3366188887358047526.post-82079160341916280092011-08-17T07:26:00.011-05:002011-08-17T08:35:21.399-05:00The euthanizing will continue until morale improves.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKZfUpkQDtvRGF1zJPxdr5y7uBU156ZDycfUfL_dX94jnu_wdkOcrrbwOE_XKspr1r0laSqQuKV7pp5R2fTcK9qIiRnJFuUAT-3-mvZ0rES7BR1FL8Jk9NDjfEvawv6O2sv8LPnkS-Nk/s1600/frodo.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKZfUpkQDtvRGF1zJPxdr5y7uBU156ZDycfUfL_dX94jnu_wdkOcrrbwOE_XKspr1r0laSqQuKV7pp5R2fTcK9qIiRnJFuUAT-3-mvZ0rES7BR1FL8Jk9NDjfEvawv6O2sv8LPnkS-Nk/s320/frodo.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641801719259818914" border="0" /></a>
<br />Edited since first posted. I guess we are "No Kill" without calling ourselves "No Kill"? 10% killing ain't killing.
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<br />No increase in budget <span style="font-style: italic;">is </span><span style="font-style: italic;">expected</span>.
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<br />Dogs and cats will never be more important to me than real city issues.
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<br />However, if this does interfere with funding essential services....
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<br /><a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2011/aug/16/rockwall-city-council-mandates-no-kill-status/">http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2011/aug/16/rockwall-city-council-mandates-no-kill-status/#c93042</a>
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<br />The Rockwall City Council voted unanimously Monday night to make Rockwall a No Kill community. It’s the culmination of a volunteer-driven campaign by Rockwall Pets, an independent nonprofit, to stop the killing of healthy and adoptable animals at the city shelter. Following meetings between Rockwall Pets board members and city management, the issue was sent to the city council. <p>The council directed city staff to maintain a minimum 90% live outcome rate at the city’s open-admission municipal shelter. The city must now adopt, return to owner, or save the lives of at least 90% of the animals it takes in. The No Kill Advocacy Center established what has become the industry standard, allowing a maximum euthanasia rate of 10% for animals who are gravely ill or irredeemably aggressive.</p> <p>Using marketing, community relations, and off-site adoption strategies, the volunteers of Rockwall Pets came close to achieving the No Kill goal singlehandedly this year. The live outcome rate for the Rockwall Animal Adoption Center was 86% during April and May, when the nonprofit scrambled to adopt out pets from the suddenly full facility. The city council noted this effort during a discussion period preceding its historic vote.</p> <p>“I see the 90 percent, but I’m wondering why not 100 percent?” asked councilman David White, getting into the spirit of the discussion. “I wish that extra 10 percent could be cute little Yorkies.” <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">(Actually, I said I'd hate for that extra 10% to be cute little Yorkies, my sister would kill me. Her Yorkie, Frodo pictured above. )</span>
<br /></p> <p>It may take as long as two or three months to retool Rockwall Animal Services to meet the council directive. In the meantime, councilwoman Margo Nielsen asked city staff to present a revised euthanasia selection protocol at the next council meeting. Rockwall Pets hopes this overhauled procedure, coupled with ongoing efforts from volunteers, will begin saving more lives immediately.</p> <p>“Everyone at Rockwall Pets appreciates the Rockwall City Council for their dedication in making our town the best place to live for people and their pets,” said Rockwall Pets board member Pam Kitkoski. “We're so proud that we have the second city council in Texas to create a No Kill community.”</p> <p>The Austin City Council was the first in Texas to mandate a No Kill initiative with its vote in March 2010. After launching its 34-point No Kill Implementation Plan, Austin has a year-to-date live outcome rate of 90%, and 93% of its animals were saved during July. As a comparison, Rockwall has year-to-date live outcomes of 77%, with 83% of its animals saved during July.</p> <p>Volunteers organized by Rockwall Pets have made a huge difference. Just three years ago, prior to volunteer involvement, the city was killing more than half the animals that entered the shelter. Rockwall Animal Services reported live outcomes of only 46% in 2008.</p> <p>The No Kill initiative kicked into high gear when Rockwall Pets incorporated as a nonprofit in late May. The organization began collecting donations, planning to rehabilitate sick and injured animals. When the shelter suffered a large influx of cats and kittens during June, Rockwall Pets saved the lives of numerous adult cats by sponsoring an impromptu fee-waived adoption program.</p> <p>The group’s current promotion is “Summer of Love: 60s Power!” which encourages the adoption of pets who’ve spent more than 60 days at the Rockwall shelter.</p> <p>“We’re so happy we decided to begin taking donations, because all those funds go directly to help the animals,” Kitkoski said. “Most donations to the city shelter are used to buy equipment and other things, and that money must be approved by the city council before it’s spent. At Rockwall Pets we use our donated funds to save lives immediately.”</p> <p>Following its vote Monday night, the city council has made saving the lives of animals official business in Rockwall.</p> <p class="quiet"><em>Source: RockwallPets.com</em></p>
<br />David White (aka Caged Monkey #12)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06474095839428437103noreply@blogger.com0