Takes care of the obscenity and that pesky mowing problem.
Posted on 09/16/2005 6:37:00 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
Neighbors Find Obscenity Mowed Into Lawn
Parents Worry For Children Who See Message
POSTED: 3:09 pm EDT September 15, 2005
UPDATED: 5:14 pm EDT September 15, 2005
OMAHA, Neb. -- An Omaha man mowed an obscenity into his lawn, and now his neighbors are upset because they don't want their children to see the nasty language.
The homeowner, who neighbors told Omaha TV station KETV has the last name Miller, cut a two-word expletive into his front lawn after being warned by the city about excessive grass and weeds around his house. The phrase is about 30 feet long across his yard.
"I saw the neighbor's yard with some derogatory statements mowed into the yard," said neighbor Traci Tunzer.
Tunzer said she's been hoping her neighbor would mow the long grass in his yard, but she's upset by the way he decided to mow it. Tunzer said there's a school nearby.
"I have three children, and two of them will definitely know what that says. It worries me," she said. "We don't want our children to be around that kind of stuff."
Down the hill, neighbor Bernie Horstmeyer said he is in disbelief.
"When I first saw it, I saw the big 'U,' and I had to back up just to see if that's what it really said," he said.
Horstmeyer and other residents said the homeowner was warned by the city about excessive weeds and tall grass in his yard. They said the expletive could be his response, or just a prank.
"I don't know if he got turned in (or) why he did it. Or he's just bored and decided to mow it," one neighbor said.
City officials couldn't verify the homeowner's name. No one answered at his front door, and further attempts by KETV to contact him were unsuccessful.
City prosecutor Marty Conboy said little can be done legally about the yard.
"There really is no criminal law that covers these kinds of vulgarities," Conboy said.
Conboy said it would be different if the homeowner threatened city employees by saying the expletive, but on the lawn, it's a passive statement protected by the 1st Amendment.
"As much as you might shake your head at what kind of reasoning is involved, it's not prohibited," Conboy said. "A person who wants to make a statement in public, that doesn't invoke a violent response, is protected by the constitution."
Conboy said he is "disappointed" that someone would use his 1st Amendment rights in such a manner.
City codes dictate that lawns taller than 10 inches can be ticketed, but Parks and Planning officials said that unless the grass that formed the expletive met that criterion, there was nothing they could do to force its removal.
I'm with you on this. How long was his grass? In some places a few inches is too long.
Takes care of the obscenity and that pesky mowing problem.
Bad idea. Advising someone to use roundup on someone else's lawn is just a bad idea. Freaking lawn nazis!
Live and let live.
Just think if someone mowed. "Jesus loves you"
The outrage!!!
If I didn't have 10 inch weeds on my property I wouldn't have anything green, let alone "lawn." I live at the end of a deadend road next to thousands of acres boasting various "weeds" 10 inches or longer. So I guess I blend in well.
I enjoy my uncivilized "lawn."
Well I sure wouldn't want to live next door or across the street from the kook.
IMHO, he likely has deeper emotional problems than just being an "immature grump".
Time to start keeping a closer eye on the idiot, just in case he needs to be carted off to a padded cell.
> Just have the neighbors go over with their own lawn mowers and modify his lawn literature read "Book You"
> Loading a super soaker with brine can allow a user to write his own message on this guys lawn.
> [etc.]
Folks, there's a world of difference between the owner of the lawn doing something to his lawn, and somebody else doing something to his lawn. Hello? Personal property? (I thought this was a conservative forum...)
We may think the guy's a little weird, but that's not illegal.
My next door neighbor has dandelions that are, and I kid you not, taller than my first grader. I've never called on her, she's a kook. Besides that, no matter how crummy my lawn might look, hers just makes mine look that much better.
Meanwhile your idiot nosy neighbor knows you do mow once a week.
I really cant stand nosy people like this.
We have a neighbor who won't let their ajoining neighbor onto their property to install a fence. I kid you not, the cops were here the day the old fence came down. These people are freaks. No one talks to them. Without fail the house gets egged every Halloween.
Currently there is a tiny metal fence up with no privacy and the new fence can only be installed if the do not step on idiots property line.
These people are simply NUTS.
These people are so anal they rake leaves daily during the fall. There can never be a leaf on the lawn.
Roundup works for me.
Wanting to keep a neat lawn is anal?
"I would suggest some grass killer be liberally applied at about zero dark thirty...but that's just me."
Yep. And the lawn mower could make a fortune with the NEA.
The neighborhood council should get off his back.
Dont' be worried that they will know what it means. Be worried if they DIDN'T know what it means. If they see it explain to them that it is not nice, should not be there and then move on. For heaven's sakes you'd think kids were made of porcelain. Should the guy have done that? NO. Absolutely not. However, if my kids saww it I wwould tell them that is NOT how you make your feelings known. I wouldn't think it was gonna damage their pschye for heaven's sakes. Don't make a big deal out of it.
Anal is outside raking every friggen day all FALL AND WINTER
I am not joking EVERY DAY
My lawn is neat, I rake a few times in Spring and Fall.
People think we have a landscaper but we dont.
Okay, Omaha. They don't use that kind of language there, either.....
These people who advocate destruction of personal property need a healthy dose of HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION to regulate them back into reality..........
Perhaps, but for many retired people daily attending to their lawn and flower beds is a source of great pleasure. I trust you when you say that your lawn is neat. But from the comments of some on this thread, I bet their lawns and property look horrible.
" had a nasty neighbor contact me the day before "
You could have a little fun with her.
Put up a sign in your yard with numbered pages, a countdown until mowing day.
Something like "Number of Days Until Bob Mows His Yard, 7". Start at 7 and lower the number everyday.
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