US woman arrested over dry lawn
Wilson
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm
US woman arrested over dry lawn
A 70-year-old US woman has been left bruised and bloody after an unexpected
clash with police who came to caution her for not watering her lawn.
Trouble flared when Utah pensioner Betty Perry, 70, refused to give her name
after being upbraided because her garden breached local regulations.
She says the officer hit her with handcuffs, cutting her nose, although
police insist she slipped and fell.
Ms Perry said she was "distraught" after the incident.
She denied accusations she was resisting arrest, maintaining that she only
turned to go inside to call her son to fix the confusing dispute.
"I tried to sit down and get away from him [the police officer]," she told
Utah newspaper the Daily Herald.
"I don't know what he's doing. I said: 'What are you doing?' And he hit me
with those handcuffs in my face," she said.
"He's just trying to cover his tracks, as far as I'm concerned."
The officer had judged that Ms Perry's "sadly neglected and dying landscape"
breached an Orem city guideline and was attempting to issue a formal caution
when the 70-year-old was injured.
She was treated in a local hospital for the cut to her nose and for other
bruises before being taken to jail.
But she was let go when police realised there were "other ways" of finding
out her identity without jailing her, a police spokesman said
The arresting officer has not been named but has been placed on
administrative leave, he added.
Ms Perry, who says she has never had a run-in with police in the past, has
been offered help by local church leaders to clean up her garden.
"I'm very distraught over all this," she said.
"I can't believe this happened. Do you ever just wish you could start your
day over and it would all be different?"
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm
--
" Never give a sucker an even break"
- W.C. Fields
Bill
"Wilson" <wil...@universal.com> wrote in message
Uncle Vic
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm
>
>
>
>
>
>
> US woman arrested over dry lawn
>
>
>
>
>
> A 70-year-old US woman has been left bruised and bloody after an unexpected
> clash with police who came to caution her for not watering her lawn.
> Trouble flared when Utah pensioner Betty Perry, 70, refused to give her name
> after being upbraided because her garden breached local regulations.
And I keep getting cowardly threatening notes from my asshole neighbor
across the street when I accidentally leave the water on all night. Go
figure...
--
Uncle Vic
2011
A Veteran
"Bill" <bill19...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> It's about time they rounded up criminals such as this :-)
I;m glad you added the :-)
or as they say on the Cover of the Nolo Press book "Neighbor Law"
" They wouldn't be so bad if they didn't live next door."
--
when you believe the only tool you have is a hammer.
All problems look like nails.
Thandarr
Good story, but it should be captioned properly for this NG.
Thandarr
Al Bundy
Wilson wrote:
> "I can't believe this happened. Do you ever just wish you could start your
> day over and it would all be different?"
The woman got into a physical altercation with an officer who was
about to give her a piece of paper at most. No wonder she'd like to
start the day over. Given a fresh start, the officer might rather have
just left the citation on the door and avoided the provocation. This
rates right up there with the $54 Million pants lawsuit.
Bob F
"Al Bundy" <MSfo...@mcpmail.com> wrote in message
news:1184100249.8...@p39g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
Please do give us ALL the relevant details, since you know them so
well.
Bob
John Baker
wrote:
For me, the question is why, in this supposedly "free" country, do we
even tolerate ordinances that make it a criminal offense to have a few
weeds or a couple of brown spots on your lawn?
pba...@worldonline.nl
This is really silly
In some countries in some summers watering you lawn would be against
the law!:)
parsi...@gmail.com
> On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:10:42 -0400, John Baker <n...@bizniz.net>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> >On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:44:09 -0700, Al Bundy <MSfort...@mcpmail.com>
>
> Get real a 70 year resting arrest. Most people that old can not
> hardly move. A lot of people when they reach that age are senile.
"A lot"?
> Some cops need to be more patients with older people. Some older
> people just don't understand things.
It's not a question of age and you know it very well...
Robibnikoff
<pba...@worldonline.nl> wrote in message
news:1184155503....@22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com...
I remember several years where we had to let our lawn go dormant (i.e., turn
brown and die) because of drought conditions and watering was banned.
--
Robyn
Resident Witchypoo
BAAWA Knight!
#1557
Rod Speed
> What happens if the city has a drought and they is a water ban?
> Get real a 70 year resting arrest. Most people that old can not hardly move.
Mindless pig ignorant silly stuff.
> A lot of people when they reach that age are senile.
Not that many actually.
> Some cops need to be more patients with older people.
Why should they when some stupid cow behaves like that one did ?
> Some older people just don't understand things.
Bet she understands she was flouting the law.
> If you want to your landscape die, so be it.
skyeyes
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm
>
> US woman arrested over dry lawn
>
> A 70-year-old US woman has been left bruised and bloody after an unexpected
> clash with police who came to caution her for not watering her lawn.
> Trouble flared when Utah pensioner Betty Perry, 70, refused to give her name
> after being upbraided because her garden breached local regulations.
Given the severity of the drought we're experiencing here in the
American West, I'd say the ones who need to be arrested are the idiots
who insist of enforcing local regulations that require lawns to be
watered.
Down here in Tucson, the city is encouraging people to either not
water their lawns, or to have their grass removed and
"xeriscaping" (landscaping for arid climates) put in.
Brenda Nelson, A.A.#34
EAC Professor of Feline Thermometrics and Cat-Herding
skyeyes at dakotacom dot net
Christopher A.Lee
wrote:
>On Jul 9, 9:23 pm, "Wilson" <wil...@universal.com> wrote:
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm
>>
>> US woman arrested over dry lawn
>>
>> A 70-year-old US woman has been left bruised and bloody after an unexpected
>> clash with police who came to caution her for not watering her lawn.
>> Trouble flared when Utah pensioner Betty Perry, 70, refused to give her name
>> after being upbraided because her garden breached local regulations.
>
>Given the severity of the drought we're experiencing here in the
>American West, I'd say the ones who need to be arrested are the idiots
>who insist of enforcing local regulations that require lawns to be
>watered.
>
>Down here in Tucson, the city is encouraging people to either not
>water their lawns, or to have their grass removed and
>"xeriscaping" (landscaping for arid climates) put in.
When I lived in a town house development in California, in the East
Bay, we used some kind of ground ivy. Also low growing succulents.
There were lawns but I didn't have one. The complex had one around the
swimming pool.
Some of the nearby cities had ordinances about keeping the lawns green
- to the extent of spraying a green dye during droughts.
All of which was a bit silly because the nearby hills were a golden
brown most of the year.
Greg
wrote:
>For me, the question is why, in this supposedly "free" country, do we
>even tolerate ordinances that make it a criminal offense to have a few
>weeds or a couple of brown spots on your lawn?
Freedom comes with responsibility, and it isn't a criminal offense.
Greg
Logan Shaw
> On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:59:00 -0700, skyeyes <sky...@dakotacom.net>
> wrote:
>> Given the severity of the drought we're experiencing here in the
>> American West, I'd say the ones who need to be arrested are the idiots
>> who insist of enforcing local regulations that require lawns to be
>> watered.
> When I lived in a town house development in California, in the East
> Bay, we used some kind of ground ivy. Also low growing succulents.
The succulents were maybe Ice Plant?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Plant
> Some of the nearby cities had ordinances about keeping the lawns green
> - to the extent of spraying a green dye during droughts.
>
> All of which was a bit silly because the nearby hills were a golden
> brown most of the year.
Yeah, the brown grass is more natural, but it's also just plain
depressing, at least to someone like me who grew up seeing green
all around. That's not to say that my sense of aesthetics should
be codified into a city ordinance, though.
- Logan
Christopher A.Lee
<lshaw-...@austin.rr.com> wrote:
>Christopher A.Lee wrote:
>> On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:59:00 -0700, skyeyes <sky...@dakotacom.net>
>> wrote:
>
>>> Given the severity of the drought we're experiencing here in the
>>> American West, I'd say the ones who need to be arrested are the idiots
>>> who insist of enforcing local regulations that require lawns to be
>>> watered.
>
>> When I lived in a town house development in California, in the East
>> Bay, we used some kind of ground ivy. Also low growing succulents.
>
>The succulents were maybe Ice Plant?
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Plant
That looks like it.
It grew alongside the freeways and railroad tracks.
>> Some of the nearby cities had ordinances about keeping the lawns green
>> - to the extent of spraying a green dye during droughts.
>>
>> All of which was a bit silly because the nearby hills were a golden
>> brown most of the year.
>
>Yeah, the brown grass is more natural, but it's also just plain
>depressing, at least to someone like me who grew up seeing green
>all around. That's not to say that my sense of aesthetics should
>be codified into a city ordinance, though.
The hills looked great for a couple of weeks a year. First green and
then covered with orange poppies.
I never liked walking in them because it was too hot and exposed to
the sun. There was better walking in the woods on the other side of
the bay, and in the Santa Cruz mountains.
> - Logan
stu
"skyeyes" <sky...@dakotacom.net> wrote in message
news:1184180340....@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> On Jul 9, 9:23 pm, "Wilson" <wil...@universal.com> wrote:
> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm
> >
> > US woman arrested over dry lawn
> >
> > A 70-year-old US woman has been left bruised and bloody after an
unexpected
> > clash with police who came to caution her for not watering her lawn.
> > Trouble flared when Utah pensioner Betty Perry, 70, refused to give her
name
> > after being upbraided because her garden breached local regulations.
>
> Given the severity of the drought we're experiencing here in the
> American West, I'd say the ones who need to be arrested are the idiots
> who insist of enforcing local regulations that require lawns to be
> watered.
are enforcing your laws for not looking the other way.
Cary Kittrell
>
>
> "skyeyes" <sky...@dakotacom.net> wrote in message
> news:1184180340....@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> > On Jul 9, 9:23 pm, "Wilson" <wil...@universal.com> wrote:
> > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6282348.stm
> > >
> > > US woman arrested over dry lawn
> > >
> > > A 70-year-old US woman has been left bruised and bloody after an
> unexpected
> > > clash with police who came to caution her for not watering her lawn.
> > > Trouble flared when Utah pensioner Betty Perry, 70, refused to give her
> name
> > > after being upbraided because her garden breached local regulations.
> >
> > Given the severity of the drought we're experiencing here in the
> > American West, I'd say the ones who need to be arrested are the idiots
> > who insist of enforcing local regulations that require lawns to be
> > watered.
> If you dont like the law then get it changed, dont blame the "idiots" who
> are enforcing your laws for not looking the other way.
You think that Brenda is talking about laws... why, exactly?
-- cary
E Z Peaces
> If you dont like the law then get it changed, dont blame the "idiots" who
> are enforcing your laws for not looking the other way.
>
Seems like the police department blames the cop.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/228029/4/
She has lived there 11 years. She had been planning to move because she
had trouble maintaining her yard. Several years ago her neighbor, who
is her bishop, got church members to help her clean up her yard.
Her first trouble with the law happened last summer when city officials
asked her to remove large weeds. That was resolved smoothly.
The police department has a Neighborhood Preservation Unit. An officer
from unit spotted her brown lawn and stopped to cite her for a misdemeanor.
The local paper pointed out that the law is absurd in a drought. Years
ago, a North Carolina commission said lawn watering is not necessary and
should be strongly discouraged through progressive water rates. A
household that waters can easily use more water than a hundred other
households, and ultimately it may be impossible for a water department
to find enough water.
Our county works the opposite way. Everybody has to pay for 2,000
gallons a month, which means a widow on social security with
water-saving appliances must pay for water she doesn't use in order to
subsidize those who water lawns. Water rates have risen steeply as the
county has gone farther and farther to find enough water. At times when
lawn watering is banned, I could be in trouble to using a pint to clean
my windshield. To get a clean windshield I'd have pay a car wash to
spray my car with fifty gallons. That's okay because a car wash is a
business.
It's also "funny" that she was being charged with a criminal offense.
Traditionally, criminal law concerns intentional harm to a person or
somebody else's property. If the law obliged her to water her lawn,
that sounds like a civil matter.
She cop came to her house and said he was charging her with a crime.
She asked to phone her son. She said she pulled back when he grabbed
her because she didn't understand what he was doing. There was blood on
the ground where she fell. She had several bruises. When she asked,
"What are you doing?" she got hit in the face with handcuffs.
She sat in jail an hour until the cop's superiors found out about it.
Then she went to the hospital for x-rays.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/228167/
This article says she returned the next day for more x-rays.
The mayor says Orem is covered with brown lawns because people are not
required to water. The widow is apparently collateral damage in the War
On Drugs. The Neighborhood Preservation Unit is four cops who drive
around looking for lawns that are not in their opinion properly
maintained. That's against the law in Orem because somebody at a house
with a messy lawn might be selling drugs.
When the cop unexpectedly grabbed her, she tried to sit down rather than
be yanked around. The police department seems to say that puts her at
fault for being beat up.
Fewer than 10% of households in Orem are headed by women. I guess she's
not the first widow to be run out of town by the Neighborhood
Preservation Unit.
stu
> > > American West, I'd say the ones who need to be arrested are the idiots
> > > who insist of enforcing local regulations that require lawns to be
> > > watered.
>
> > If you dont like the law then get it changed, dont blame the "idiots"
who
> > are enforcing your laws for not looking the other way.
>
> You think that Brenda is talking about laws... why, exactly?
>
If there is a "local regulation" in place. You really cant blame an officer
for enforcing it.You may have a complaint about how he went about it, but I
wasn't there so I don't know what went on. If its a stupid "local
regulation" get it changed.
Patricia Martin Steward
wrote:
>
>Get real a 70 year resting arrest. Most people that old can not
>Some cops need to be more patients with older people. Some older
>people just don't understand things.
Some younger people are clueless.
--
Face your fears.
Live your dreams.