Police: Conn. man stole flag, put up hippo toy

Police: Conn. man stole flag, put up hippo toy

WATERBURY, Conn. – Call it the case of the flying hippo. Connecticut police said a man stole an American flag from Waterbury's Town Plot Park and hoisted a stuffed hippopotamus toy in its place. Twenty-three-year-old Jeffrey Kovic, of Waterbury, was arrested and was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail on misdemeanor larceny, criminal mischief and conspiracy charges.

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Good thing he didn't fly the hippo from a pole in Privatopia or he would have faced both public and private prosecution.

Ozone layer 'is no longer disappearing and will return to full strength by 2048' | Mail Online

Ozone layer 'is no longer disappearing and will return to full strength by 2048' | Mail Online

"The ozone layer is no longer disappearing and could be back to full strength by the middle of this century, UN scientists have confirmed.

The phasing out of nearly 100 substances once used in products like refrigerators and aerosols has stopped the ozone layer being depleted further, although it is not yet increasing, according to a new United Nations report released last week.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1313599/Ozone-layer-longer-disappearing-return-strength-2048.html#ixzz108BleiJP

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About time we had some good news, isn't it?

Banks win delay in demolition of abandoned Fort Lauderdale condo complex

Debris is strewn across the 58-unit complex along the north fork of the New River. The doors and windows have been stripped away. Vandals have destroyed walls and ripped out copper wiring and plumbing. The city has been paying for metal shutters to keep away squatters.
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Ever wonder what happens when an association goes defunct? It is not pretty.
And what happens to all those property values that were being protected?

When a municipal election resembles Privatopia

Here's a story of a city council election out of Isleton, California, population 820, that might just as easily been about an HOA election. The incumbents are running unchallenged because the few candidates who considered running were apparently not sufficiently motivated to serve to even make sure their candidacy papers were in good order.

Yellow mailboxes latest symbol of anti-HOA protest

Mailbox battle in Chesterfield's Brandermill brings protest

Day by day, more of the yellow boxes are popping up. In fact, one more for our camera early this morning. They are standing out in a community making a big visual statement about a decision that hits their wallet. But it's a decision that the community association board says has been publicized for months, like in the community newspaper.

They are hard to miss -- one yellow box after another. When-Dee Morrison spearheaded this protest. "They definitely stand out. It doesn't go with our park-like setting," Morrison said. This, just days after the Brandermill Community Association decided each home in this community must get this new mailbox. Those boxes would cost $155.
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As political scientists are wont to do, Evan McKenzie, the owner of this plot of cyberspace real estate, has labeled the yet unorganized political movement that rejects the authority of private HOA governance (but oddly doesn't lobby states to repeal HOA enabling statutes) as the Pink Flamingos.

That token of expressing discontent and defiance arose out of HOAs going after inmates who dared to plant the tacky pink plastic avian decorations on their front lawns, potentially driving down property values faster than a trailer park full of deteriorating double wide FEMA trailers.

Now another symbol of protest against dictatorial, unresponsive Privatopian government has emerged: the yellow mailbox. Perhaps not coincidentally the same color of the Gadsen "Don't Tread on Me" flag that has become the symbol of a somewhat more organized political movement called the Tea Party.

Rule breakers, beware: New law gives homeowners' associations more muscle - Home & Garden - MiamiHerald.com

Rule breakers, beware: New law gives homeowners' associations more muscle - Home & Garden - MiamiHerald.com

Fred Pilot sent this link-seems that Florida is giving HOAs fining and even foreclosure power for rule violations.

Homeowner's Association Uses Chopper To Find Violations - Local 2 Investigates News Story - KPRC Houston

Homeowner's Association Uses Chopper To Find Violations - Local 2 Investigates News Story - KPRC Houston

I'm posting this because an anonymous poster copied and pasted a huge part of the story into a comment. I'm deleting the comment and posting the link to the story.

Folks, we need to be a lot more careful about using big blocks of text from copyrighted on line news stories. There is a "fair use" doctrine that allows posting a little bit of these stories and then commenting, but just putting in all or most of a news story is copyright infringement. There are lawsuits going on against bloggers right now, for doing exactly that--even if the source was cited.

So please avoid this, OK? Keep the story snippets short and always include the source and hyperlink.

Big Brother is searching you - Computerworld

Big Brother is searching you - Computerworld

"The town of Riverhead on Long Island usedGoogle Earth to search all back yards in the town for illegal swimming pools.

They found about 250 pools built without permits and collected about $75,000 in fines."

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This came from Mystery Reader. I remember prosecuting drug cases where the search warrant was based on aerial surveillance, and the Supreme Court ruled on issues such as how high the plane had to be, etc. But now government can use Google Earth and zoom right in.

FT.com / US / Economy & Fed - US state steps in to meet city’s debt cost

FT.com / US / Economy & Fed - US state steps in to meet city’s debt cost

The state of Pennsylvania has stepped in to help its capital city Harrisburg avoid a default by advancing next year’s state aid so that the money can be used to make a $3.3m bond interest payment due this week.

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It seems to me that the policy makers of this country and the educated population ought to be figuring out how to restructure the financing of state and local governments, before we have a housing-industry-style, sector-wide, meltdown. Doesn't seem to be a major concern, though.

SIDE STREETS: HOA acting squirrelly at Lexington Park and everyone appears to be nuts

SIDE STREETS: HOA acting squirrelly at Lexington Park and everyone appears to be nuts

It sounded too wild to be true: A woman claimed her efforts to rescue a squirrel had incited the wrath of her homeowners association board and led to harassment, hundreds of dollars in fines, and even allegations of felony theft lodged against her with police.

So I contacted the president of the Lexington Park Townhomes HOA figuring I’d clear it up and move on.

But Chad Farris, the HOA president, declined to talk to me. Ordered me not to use his name. Wanted me to meet him “in a public place with my attorney present.”

Hmm. Maybe the squirrel lady isn’t nuts, after all.

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Indeed. And kudos to the writer of the headline for this tale of HOA insanity.

FOXNews.com - Cities Increasingly Turn to 'Trash Police' to Enforce Recycling Laws

FOXNews.com - Cities Increasingly Turn to 'Trash Police' to Enforce Recycling Laws

In a growing number of cities across the U.S., local governments are placing computer chips in recycling bins to collect data on refuse disposal, and then fining residents who don't participate in recycling efforts and forcing others into educational programs meant to instill respect for the environment.

From Charlotte, N.C., to Cleveland, Ohio, from Boise, Idaho, to Flint, Mich., the green police are spreading out. And that alarms some privacy advocates who are asking: Should local governments have the right to monitor how you divide your paper cups from your plastic forks? Is that really the role of government?

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I'd say, "no."

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/sep/08/pa-homeowners-stand-may-be-shortsighted/

Cars on blocks. Knee-deep grass. Going to seed. Around a neglected above-ground pool. In the front yard. Chartreuse-and-fuchsia repainting jobs. Beds of silk plants. Bordered by pinwheels acquired at a dollar store end-of-the-season closeout sale.

The horror. The horror.

Apocalyptic prospects

The remote chance that one or some combination of these apocalyptic prospects could come to pass on your block is why deed restrictions and their enforcement arm - the homeowners association - evolved. It turns out, apparently, after Woodstock and Vietnam, we no longer trust one another to tend to our corner of the American dream as fastidiously and tastefully as June and Ward Cleaver (the 1980s Clair and Cliff Huxtable notwithstanding).

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To that, the HOA abolitionists cry "HOA apocalypse now!"

HOA residents told garbage pick up their problem

Subdivision residents appeal for service they didn't get

Meredith Baker was happy and excited on the day in June when she and her family moved into their new house in the Country Meadows subdivision in the Village of Hamburg — until she found that there was no one to pick up the garbage.

“I called the village the next day and said, ‘What day is our garbage pickup?’ ” she said. “They said, ‘What are you talking about? We don’t pick up your garbage.’ ”

Then she called Ryan Homes, the builder of her house, and asked whether the homeowners association picked up the garbage, and she was told she would have to buy the service herself.

Financial crisis hits condo associations Amy Hoak's Home Economics - MarketWatch

Financial crisis hits condo associations Amy Hoak's Home Economics - MarketWatch: "The current problems only exacerbate what's been an issue for years, some say. Many condo associations aren't prepared for major maintenance jobs due to ill-funded reserves and insufficient planning, said Evan McKenzie, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has written about homeowner associations."

CONSUMER FINANCE: Condo Owners Trade Lawn Mowers For Spread Sheets - WSJ.com

CONSUMER FINANCE: Condo Owners Trade Lawn Mowers For Spread Sheets - WSJ.com

This McKenzie guy is spouting off again.

Paying the tax man when Privatopia craters

Paying the tax man when Privatopia craters

The crippled Las Vegas housing market has triggered a legal battle pitting investors buying foreclosed homes against homeowners associations, with millions of dollars at stake.

The key issue — and what will probably be dragged out all the way to the state Supreme Court — is collection companies tacking on their fees to the delinquent HOA dues they have been trying to collect, in many cases for longer than a year. If associations lose and can’t get past-due fees, assessments on paying homeowners will probably increase.

That additional charge for collections has run several thousand dollars in some cases and exceeded what the investors sometimes had to pay in delinquent HOA dues. With collection costs averaging about $2,000 per foreclosed home, investors said the amount owed could easily surpass $50 million.
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When local government privatizes, so does the task of collecting property assessments. Private local government collection costs are just too doggone high, claim investors who are being hit up for past due HOA assessments on thousands of Las Vegas REO properties. The community association collection industry counters with dark warnings that HOAs will go into receivership and assessments will increase if the assessment collectors don't get their due.

This is one of the drawbacks of privatizing local government. The tax collectors aren't paid by the taxpayers but rather via private contracts to act as the HOA's proxy. As this Las Vegas Sun story illustrates, that can lead to some nasty litigation.

Questions raised about tombstone removal from small historic cemetery in Holmdel | APP.com | Asbury Park Press

Questions raised about tombstone removal from small historic cemetery in Holmdel | APP.com | Asbury Park Press: "'The tombstones of children who passed away in the 1800s and those of their family members were unceremoniously destroyed. This was essentially sanctioned vandalism at the behest of a board.'

But Beau Ridge Association president Edward Esler said everything was done by the letter of the association's laws.

'There's no story here,' Esler said. 'By the bylaws of our organization, we are required to maintain that area, which was done when the place was built 25 years ago and is being done now. Everything we've done has been done to the letter of the law.'"

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The HOA charm campaign contines.

FloriDUH: HOA charging $600 for a mailbox

FloriDUH: HOA charging $600 for a mailbox

Now the association is trying to turn the neglected neighborhood around by charging fees to new buyers lured by low home prices. They think homeowners who didn't pay mortgages or dues for years should not be allowed to just walk away and leave behind an eyesore, reports TBO.com.

The community started charging buyers a $400 transfer fee, then a $225 fee to release liens against the property. There is also a $250 charge to prepare a letter detailing the fees owed. If buyers or sellers opt to do the work themselves, there is a $75 fee for the association to review the work, reports TBO.com.

And $600 for a mailbox.

Do homeowner regulations go too far? | StarNewsOnline.com

Do homeowner regulations go too far? | StarNewsOnline.com: "New Hanover County Fire Marshal Matt Davis said investigators don't know whether Darius intended to die in the fire or just wanted to blow up the house because of the ongoing problems with his homeowners association."

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That's quite a sentence, isn't it?

Bladder Lane, Bent Street and Butt Hole Road – the street names that reached the end of the road - Telegraph

Bladder Lane, Bent Street and Butt Hole Road – the street names that reached the end of the road - Telegraph: "Dozens of councils across Britain have reported cases of residents changing the names of their street because they dislike the one on the map.
In some cases, the name change has followed years of ridicule.
The inhabitants of Butt Hole Road even had to put up with coach loads of US tourists visiting to have their pictures taken near the road sign, after the street appeared in an American book and on the internet."
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This is the opposite of what developers do, where they name streets in a desert something like "Ocean Wave Lane."