Crazy Stories I found in my research…
Steve Lynn got the thrill of his life on Friday when, flying
high above in a plane, he spotted burglars stealing items from his
Jonesboro,
Arkansas home.
With a bit of quick thinking, he and his pilot friend were
able to help officers with the Craighead County Sheriff's Office
apprehend
suspects Roosevelt Smith III and Joseph Peel, both of whom have been
charged with burglary and theft.
Talk about a plane ride.
Apparently, Steve Lynn had gone up in the air with two
friends, and had requested that they fly over his home so he could capture a
few aerial photos.
From the plane, he spotted burglars moving items into a
truck hooked to a trailer, reports the Associated Press. He then called his
uncle, who managed to scare off the burglars before police arrived.
The plane followed the suspects, with KAIT-TV reporting that
Lynn gave play-by-play directions to officers on the ground.
While this is definitely an intriguing and amusing story, it
probably wasn't the best idea for Steve Lynn and his friends to follow the
suspects, who the AP reports had also stolen a rifle.
Besides the fact that you can never be sure that a suspect
is unarmed, it's very easy to harm bystanders during a chase, especially if
driving a vehicle. You could be held liable for any damage.
So just because a man in a plane spotted burglars at his
home, it doesn't mean you should attempt to stop burglars at your own home.
Steve Lynn was simply lucky the suspects didn't feel the need to shoot.
By Stephanie
Rabiner on September 2, 2011 5:50 AM | No
TrackBacks
He wasn't drunk or riding a mower down the street, but
Phil Ray Gage
of Oklahoma City was still arrested for mowing his neighbor's lawn last Friday
morning.
Acting on a complaint from a different neighbor, police
approached Gage outside his home at 4:30 a.m., informing him that early morning
mowing is against the law.
He was subsequently arrested and cited for disturbing the
police.
Technically, in many jurisdictions it is illegal to
mow one's lawn at such an hour.
Most cities have enacted noise ordinances that limit the
hours during which residents can freely use mowers, leaf blowers, and complete
construction projects.
Though in some places it may be earlier, such activities are
generally prohibited before 7 a.m., with allowances for the weekend.
It's interesting to note that these restrictions, along with
the heat, are why Phil Ray Gage was mowing his lawn at such an early hour,
reports The Oklahoman. He's a contractor, and spends most of his
waking hours on the job.
Despite the fact that Gage was indeed disturbing the peace,
he's right to point out that he shouldn't have been arrested for mowing.
An officer at the scene placed him in handcuffs, stating in
the police report that he had become argumentative. Gage denies these allegations,
telling The Oklahoman that he would have been hauled in had they been
true.
If he had argued with officers, Phil Ray Gage would have
been cited for resisting arrest--not merely arrested for mowing his lawn at
such a ridiculous hour.
'Tis the season to earn yourself a protest arrest.
But such incidents are actually nothing new--even if there
is a constitutionally guaranteed right to assembly.
What gives?
Protest arrests exist because your constitutional right
to free speech is not absolute.
Even in the most traditional of public forums, your right to
assemble may be limited by reasonable time, place and manner restrictions so
long as they are viewpoint neutral and narrowly drawn.
These restrictions, generally propagated to ensure safety,
often take the form of permits; protest-free zones; designated protest zones;
hour restrictions; noise limitations; and signpost bans.
When protesters fail to remain in the designated protest
area, they can be cited for
trespassing and/or impeding the flow of
traffic.
When protesters violate noise ordinances, time restrictions,
or assemble without a permit, they may be cited for
disturbing the peace.
When protestors act in an unruly manner or impede sidewalks,
they may be cited for
disorderly conduct.
But when protesters fail to follow orders given by law
enforcement, they almost always earn themselves a protest arrest.
Regardless of whether you like the outcome, for decades
these sorts of laws and limitations have been approved by the courts. As such,
they are enforceable statutes, meaning that a protest arrest based on their
violation is wholly within the law.
When police ordered a New Mexico woman's cavity search, no
heroin was found. But the woman did get
a
steep, $1,122 bill for the search. The woman, who remains unnamed, has
filed suit against the county asking them to cover the cost of the cavity
search.
On July 1st, a search warrant was issued. The woman was
taken to Memorial Medical Center, where she was searched for drugs, reports
MSNBC.
The search revealed no illegal substances. The woman wasn't
arrested or charged with any crimes and was released, according to MSNBC.
And, to add insult to injury, the woman was sent a bill for
$1,122 by Memorial Medical Center to cover the cost of the cavity search.
In most cases, for police to search a person or a person's
property they need to obtain a search warrant. Search warrants are typically
only issued after police make a showing to a judge that there is probable cause
that a crime has occurred. And, that there is a likelihood that evidence of a
crime or contraband will be found through the search.
When making this showing, police can rely on their own
observations and evidence or on information given by informants or other
sources. If police solely rely on sources or informants, they need to prove
that their sources are reliable.
The New Mexico woman's cavity search was most likely
legal if the source really was reliable. But, does that really mean she needs
to be slapped with a $1,122 bill?
Work till June to pay your taxes:
We did some searching at it is now that we work till June to pay our taxes! Then if you consider all the other taxes we pay: buying food, gas, etc, it makes us over 53% of our income going to taxes! How much is enough? Like that one kid asked at the republican debate : "How much money do you think we can keep from our salaries?"... no one had the answer... Fire the government, or downsize it and let us keep the money we earn! Hm... there is a thought.
Mexicali and power plants?
We did discuss again this morning
how Mexicali in Tijuana went off the grid last Thursday was Southern
California. I did find out that we have reciprocal agreements that we send them
power during the winter and then they helped send us power during the summer.
There are meters on both sides of the border but will still be interesting to
see if were all paying the same per kilowatt. I also in my research ran across
the following article, which you can see the first paragraph and then I'll
provide a link reading the read the story. Turns out there's a group you're one
EPA shut the Mexican power plants off because they don't meet EPA standards.
The first paragraph:
Sempra Energy Resources has built a $350 million, 600MW
power plant near Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. Sempra is the independent
power generation subsidiary of Sempra Energy, parent company of San Diego Gas
and Electric Company. The new Termoeléctrica de Mexicali is a combined-cycle
gas turbine (CCGT) power station. It has two gas turbines, a steam turbine and
a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). The plant is connected to the US
electric grid via a new, 230kV transmission line. The power plant was completed
in July 2003.
Water meter costs
Again we discussed the permitting process here in our region
for Riverside County. It costs $14,000 to get a permit to put in a water meter
on your property. Now mind you water meters cost about $325 to purchase, and
two guys with a backhoe another couple hundred dollars to put the thing in, and
you're done. Why $14,000 for a permit? I was sure like to have someone from the
city explained that cost? I admit I think I understand why it's to put money in
the coffers for the unsustainable pensions. I also have evidence to say that
not everyone pays $14,000 for their water meters. There seems to be a group of
honored guests backed up by a well-known church that offsets the cost for any
water meters for them. Backdoor agreements is what it sounds like to me. I know
people are not that I like what I have to say, but it's not just me, it's the
entire community wondering these questions.
Off-road laws
I still want to try to contact the sheriff's department to
clarify for the entire community would be off road laws are out in our area. We
get different readings from the sheriff's department, fishing game, and BLM all
having some kind of different reading of where we can off-road and where we
can't. They are giving finds out $370 plus if you use a County Road, paid by
county taxes, which is ultimately paid by us taxpayers and why is it we can't
use our own road? So I'm still trying to find out what we can and cannot do, as
good law abiding citizens we just want to abide by the law.
There also is a new California law
There's also now a new law that if you do not have a valid
California drivers license all you will get is a citation. It used to be that
if you do not have a valid California drivers license they would impound your
car. I'm counting your car was left up to each county, whether they would or
would not, which of course allows for sanctuary cities to allow illegal aliens
to have cars with no insurance and no valid California drivers license. This
clearly puts the population at risk, but one population that law-enforcement is
supposed to protect. So if this new law passes, it is going to the governor's
office now, I wonder why any of us need to get drivers licenses?
Obama's jobs plan
Dick was pointing out that even if we passed Obama's new job
plan there would really be no jobs for 2 to 3 years as plans and right aways
have to be complete before any job starts.
Apples and cold storage
Dick asked if Sen. Joe would brings down some apples from
Washington state as all of our apples down here are put in the cold storage in
a case like it too. I didn't realize that they put apples and cold storage to
last the next year but apparently they do. It is so difficult to get really
good tasting from the states. My grandparents used to have a fruit ranch and we
had fresh peaches and pears all the time as I was growing up. Everything now is
quite a disappointment.
Dog catchers
I got called yesterday by animal control and was a very
pleasant conversation. I talked to a person named Rita and she was extremely
helpful. I explained to her that during the last supervisors meeting out here
and we were kind of told to fend for ourselves as far as dog catcher was
concerned. They could not support us nor can we get traps without paying a fee
for them. She helped me to understand the current policy, which allows them to
bring out a trap to us, and if we catch a dog they will in fact come out and
get that trap in a timely fashion. So we may actually start to run two traps
which will be a great help. She said that they had come out last week and
loaded an entire truck full of dogs up and had actually had to leave dogs
behind. I also mentioned to her, or actually ask her, why they were asking for
volunteers from the retired folk out here, to give them a hand. She said if I
wanted to come to work as a volunteer she give me a truck and I ago. I'm
considering such. One thing I do find encouraging is that they're now talking
with us and trying to work the problem in a constructive fashion. My hats off
to Rita! One thing she also said was we need to call in when we see these dogs
and this helps them to show that there is a need for more dog catchers,
therefore their upper management can also see the need. So the main number to
call in is 951-358-7387, and lodge your dog sighting with the operator.
Storms
Boy did we have storms yesterday! It was wonderful with all
the lightning and thunder and rain, which is a welcome change when you live in
the desert. But flash floods occurred, and we washed out lots of roads. There
was a huge explosion somewhere around 6 AM, and I heard it from the coffee
club, so when I got home I found out what it was. A huge osprey landed on the
transformer for Caesar's house and shorted the whole thing out. Of course it
killed osprey and it killed the transformer. IID came out and fixed it, around
two o'clock, even in the lightning and rain they were out there fixing their
stuff. I was quite impressive actually and I thought wow they must know what
they're doing seems awfully dangerous to me. But they fixed it in record time
and got Caesar's house back online.
Also, lightning struck Tommy Lee's Palm tree and set part of
it on fire plus it struck his DirecTV dish and knocked out his whole
entertainment system. I did see a truck here this morning from DirecTV and I
presume the Tommy Lee is back on the air with all his football and such.
