Free Republic

Mayor Annise Parker lashed out at an controversial annual study released Monday that placed Houston among the most dangerous cities in the United States with a population of 500,000 or higher. "Crime Rankings 2010-2011," published by CQ Press, ranks Houston's crime as ninth-highest for big cities nationwide, placing it on a list with the likes of Detroit and Columbus, Ohio., although the city has less than half the crimes per capita of those atop the rankings. Violent crime in Houston fell 8 percent during the first half of this year and was on a pace to reach the lowest rate...

Although voters abolished Houston's red light camera system Tuesday, the 70 cameras have the green light to keep recording traffic violations for months as the city weighs a legal strategy for exiting its contract with the firm operating the cameras, city officials say. Anti-camera activists slammed the delay Wednesday, insisting on immediately terminating the five-year contract — whatever the cost - with ATS, the Arizona firm that manages Houston's system. The May 2009 contract has a termination clause that requires the city to provide the company with a 120-day notice of cancellation, a period when the cameras will still be...

A campaign to create a new category of driving while intoxicated is being promoted at the Capitol as one way to curb growing problems in Texas' system of punishing drunken drivers. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, among the supporters of the change, said the idea behind a new offense of "driving while ability impaired" — DWAI — would cover drivers whose blood-alcohol content is between 0.05 and 0.07

A man in Colorado claims he was given the boot -- and a trespassing notice that bans him from the property for one year -- from his local Safeway. But it wasn't over shoplifting or anything like that; he says it was all because of a misunderstanding about his poultry order. According to the 61-year-old shopper, he recently stopped into the Safeway to purchase some chicken breasts from the deli counter. And when the woman behind the counter asked which ones he preferred, he says he pointed out his selection and said, "I like the large ones." It's unclear whether...

SAUKVILLE, Wis., Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Police in a Wisconsin town said they issued a $429 ticket to a man who allegedly told a fellow grocery store customer she was "ugly and fat." Saukville police said the woman was shopping at the Piggly Wiggly and obtained permission from a clerk to use the express checkout lane, despite having more than 10 items, Milwaukee's WTMJ-AM reported Thursday. However, another customer expressed displeasure at the woman being allowed to skirt the item limit. "The female subject, the complainant, then turned back toward the man (and said) 'I got permission here. Is there...

It sure can be aggravating when someone in the express check out line has more than 10 items. But calling a woman fat and ugly is taking things too far. Police report a man who berated a woman in a Washington state grocery store is now charged with disorderly conduct. The Port Washington woman said she asked the express lane clerk if she could check out. There was no one else in line. But while the cashier was ringing up her items, a male customer started making ugly comments. The woman called 911. The responding officer gave the angry male...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Family and friends have suddenly found themselves blocked from shipping cigarettes and other tobacco products to American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq because of a new law meant to hamper smuggling and underage sales through the mail. The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009 quietly took effect June 29.....

Under a Dallas law enacted in 2008, businesses are prohibited from putting signs in the upper two-thirds of any window or glass door, and no more than 15 percent of any window or glass door may be covered by signs. The only way to comply with the new ordinance is by putting tiny signs at peoples feet, which is not an effective way to advertise. The law also bans signs that cover more than 25 percent of a buildings facade. Failure to take down the signs means you are at risk to be hit with a fine up to $2,000....

The town is using Google Earth to check on backyard pools. ( Some pools don't have proper permits) And of course that means hefty fines for the owners of the 'illegal pools.'

Several dozen Arizona speed enforcement cameras have officially stopped clicking earlier this morning as the state of Arizona officially killed a traffic enforcement program that failed to generate promised revenue. The state ended its two-year contract with Australia-based Redflex Traffic Systems, the company responsible for installing the cameras and processing imagery. A total of 76 fixed and mobile cameras will be removed from state streets and highways by Labor Day. The state said that drivers that have been snapped along Arizona highways before Friday morning are still responsible for paying the tickets. Drivers, however, are taking a different tune. “I...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (July 13) -- The sheriff will be walking the streets again in San Luis -- the oldest community in Colorado. But it's not a return to the Wild West; the town fired its entire police force to save money. Around the country other towns -- large and small -- are also eliminating their police departments. The Los Angeles suburb of Maywood, Calif., fired its officers, as did rural Bethel, Maine. Near Pittsburgh, Fallowfield, Pa., also voted to disband its police department. The towns have been turning law enforcement over to county sheriffs, a decision that Jim Pasco,...

PHOENIX -- Dozens of photo-enforcement cameras on freeways throughout the state are coming down this week. A total of 76 cameras will cease operation on Thursday. The photo-enforcement program, which was meant to catch speeders on Arizona's freeways, has been controversial from the beginning. The cameras first went up nearly two years ago. While the cameras have done a good job at snapping speeders, drivers have been ignoring the tickets. According to the Department of Public Safety, the cameras led to more than 700,000 tickets in the first year of operation. Many of those people, however, never paid the fines....

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The LAPD is pushing for an exemption of the city's boycott of Arizona when it comes to a contract with a company that operates L.A.'s red-light cameras. The issue was on the council's agenda for Tuesday, but they decided to postpone discussion until Wednesday. The council has to decide whether to continue doing business with American Traffic Solutions, based in Scottsdale, or honor its pledge to boycott Arizona. The company operates red-light cameras at 32 L.A. intersections, but the city's contract with American Traffic Solutions expires at the end of June. The LAPD urges the city...

A dash-cam video of the DUI arrest of Sheldon Killpack last January shows the then-Senate majority leader weaving slightly, brushing a center line and clipping a curb after the Highway Patrol trooper's lights turned on and he pulled off the road. "Talking with you I can smell the alcohol. How much alcohol have you had tonight?" asks Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Raymond Thomson. Killpack, wearing a black baseball cap and sweater vest, initially tells the trooper that he had not been drinking and the smell was his passenger, who was later identified as lobbyist and former state Rep. Mark Walker....

ATS secures investment from Goldman SachsPhoenix Business Journal - by Patrick O'Grady Phoenix Business Journal Dave D’Amato, design and engineering manager for American Traffic Solutions Inc., works on a device that will take pictures of speeders. View Larger American Traffic Solutions Inc. is getting an investment boost from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to help it meet increasing demand for its red-light and speed cameras. Although neither company would disclose the amount of the investment, ATS President James Tuton said it was a “significant” amount that will net the former investment house, now a bank holding company, two seats on the...

If you’ve ever been issued a traffic ticket by a red light or speeding camera, you will revel in the bittersweet justice one luck recipient bestowed upon his local nanny state police department. Upon receiving a speeding ticket in the mail, Brian McCrary followed the citation’s payment instructions and attempted to pay his $90 fine on the Bluff City Police Department’s (BCPD) website. Much to his surprise, he discovered its domain name was about to expire. Instead of paying his fine, McCrary saw it as a rare opportunity to literally ‘pay back’ the police department for violating his civil liberties...

...On average, that's nearly three accidents or fender benders each day. Two accidents this year involved buses and Metro's light rail — both the result of bus drivers running red lights... The Chronicle's review of accidents, citations and breakdowns involving the Metropolitan Transit Authority's 1,210 buses documented a total of 1,029 wrecks last year. Metro Police classified 338 of them as “preventable,” meaning the bus drivers involved could have taken measures to prevent the accidents; 220 caused at least $1,000 in damages or resulted in people ending up at hospitals. Altogether, at least 334 people were injured in bus or...

<p>With a judge's earlier ruling that Chicago Police Officer John Ardelean had been arrested and detained without probable cause, Cook County prosecutors today dropped all charges against him in a crash that killed two people.</p> <p>The 36-year-old officer was charged with drunken driving and reckless homicide after his SUV broadsided a car on Thanksgiving 2007.</p>

Ohio's highest court has ruled that a person may be convicted of speeding purely if it looked to a police officer that the motorist was going too fast. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an officer's visual estimation of speed is enough to support a conviction if the officer is trained, certified by a training academy, and experienced in watching for speeders. The court's 5-1 decision says independent verification of a driver's speed is not necessary. The court upheld a lower court's ruling against a driver who challenged a speeding conviction that had been based on testimony from police...

Big Mama has big problems. Brenda Franklin says she might shut down Big Mama's House of Southern Cuisine and take her signature fried chicken, ribs, pulled pork and peach cobbler to another city because parking violations have cost her more than $3,000 in fines. "I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to figure out how I'm going to pay my rent," Franklin said. "I've been trying to hold on and maintain. But they've been making it impossible." Franklin appeared on the CBS "Early Show" in 2008 as part of "Small Businesses, Big Rescues," a series...