Posted on 11/08/2004 5:41:35 AM PST by stainlessbanner
OMAHA, Neb. -- After ignoring six years of prodding from the city, a woman is going to jail for having a filthy house.
A Douglas County judge Thursday sentenced Rosie Fellman to 45 days behind bars for littering, with breaks every 10 days to clean up her central Omaha home.
Trash and debris has been piled up to 5 feet deep in the house and garage, which are a health and fire hazard, the city's chief housing inspector Kevin Denker said.
Last month, inspectors found more than 100 garbage cans in the driveway.
City Prosecutor Marty Conboy said the city has spent six years trying to get Fellman to clean up. There was not much else the judge could do, Conboy said.
At the end of Fellman's sentence, the judge will decide if she has improved the home's condition. If not, she could be sentenced to another 45 days in jail.
The city has ordered the home demolished, but Fellman, who lives alone, is appealing the order.
"If she doesn't clean it out we'll just tear down everything," Denker said
yea...2 feet isn't nearly as bad as 5 feet!
;)
No wonder she lives alone.
I have no problem with someone living like this if they have a forty acre spread out in the country, where such an accumulation of trash really won't affect neighbors.""
Even forty acres won't give this a pass.
Rodents, West Nile Virus, Hanta Virus, all are a problem with accumulation of trash. Not a good thing for anyone within miles of this person.
We have a similar problem less than 8 miles from me. County actually sued them, and LOST. Says alot about the ability of the county DA. Anyway, the refuse and surrounding problems are grotesque. A real eyesore, and county AG agent has had to take deputies there to "discuss" with the owner the problems. Does wonders for the surrounding property values.
I don't see how cost could possibly have been a factor in the situation with my neighbor. To have garbage privately hauled in Lansing (as most families choose to do) is $42/quarter--about $13 a month. My neighbor was spending God only knows how much money on crack but she couldn't be bothered to spend $13 a month to have her trash taken care of. The cost of haulage may be exhorbitant in some communities; ours is not one of them.
Excellent points--you're right about the spread of rodent-borne diseases especially.
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