parking ticket tossed on appeal, for the technicality of a missing comma in the law as written

An appeals court has agreed with an Ohio woman who said her parking citation should be tossed because the village law was missing a comma.

Andrea Cammelleri says she shouldn't have been issued a citation in 2014 based on the wording of the law enacted by the village of West Jefferson.

The law lists several types of vehicles that can't be parked longer than 24 hours, including a "motor vehicle camper," with the comma missing between "vehicle" and "camper."

Cammelleri says her pickup truck did not fit that definition.

The village says the law's meaning was clear in context, but Judge Robert Hendrickson of the 12th Ohio District Court of Appeals says in last week's ruling that West Jefferson should amend the law if it wants it read differently.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/weird/Womans-Parking-Ticket-Tossed-Because-Missing-Comma-311642131.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_LABrand

Why most people are fired by surprise, so they can't retaliate with incredible panache

Found on https://www.facebook.com/MANDATORY

Robin Hood of Keene gets a focused report on the Today show with mixed results

 here's the link to the video spot. http://www.today.com/video/keene-n-h-sues-robin-hoods-who-feed-expired-parking-meters-474144323982

The Today show covered both sides of the problem pretty well, and highlighted the two problems, but skipped over the Mayor lying baldfaced when busted on camera.

The lawsuit he filed states "money damages" and then he says to the reporter the lawsuit is about protecting the meter maids. If you had filed about protecting the meter maids from harrassment, I'd believe you, but you didn't, dumbass. You filed about the lost revenue you don't get from parking tickets now that the Robin Hoods are preventing the meters from going into the red

a car so new it doesn't even have license plates yet, choose it's parking spot poorly, in a parking garage on the corner where poor judgement caused a minivan to cut the corner to close and trade paint

I was driving up the ramp when I saw the blue mini van rub on the white Kia, but didn't have my camera ready to get photos of the license plate, etc.

It's like I posted before, don't park too close to where people turn, they aren't good at driving, and are likely to damage your car http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/05/learn-from-other-peoples-mistakes-dont.html

how a nimrod was treated in Brazil for parking in a handicapped spot, cleverly

Another view with a better camera from in front of the car instead of the side

The New Hampshire Supreme Court agrees with the parking meter feeders, cities haven't got a leg to stand on when harrassing "Robin Hood" types preventing the town from issuing parking tickets

In a nearly complete victory for Robin Hood of Keene, the NH supreme court has affirmed nearly all of the superior court’s decisions against the people calling themselves the “City of Keene” in the city’s libelous assault on the heroic activists who have rescued thousands of motorists from parking tickets in downtown Keene in the last couple of years.

the city’s original suit in 2013 asked for a in injunction of a 50ft radius “buffer zone” around each parking enforcer that would preclude the named Robin Hooders from being in that zone. Eventually, they reduced their request to 30ft, then 10-15ft.

The claims of “tortious interference” with the city’s “business” of screwing over people shopping downtown and the claim of “conspiracy” were shut down on a free-speech basis:

The court’s judges know that telling government bureaucrats how you feel their job is wrong is fully within free speech protections, even if the bureaucrats don’t want to hear it. Further, the court opinion backed up the Robin Hooders’ non-verbal actions as protected free speech:

The City nonetheless asserts that specific aspects of the respondents’ conduct — “following closely, chasing, running after, approaching quickly from behind, lurking outside bathrooms, yelling loudly, and filming from close proximity” — is not protected by the First Amendment… The respondents counter that “[e]ven those activities that did not involve speech [are] expressive conduct entitled to First Amendment protection,” and, therefore, are insulated from tort liability. They assert that, “absent acts of significant violence,” the First Amendment protects their non-verbal acts from tort liability. We agree with the respondents.

http://freekeene.com/2015/06/09/supreme-court-vindicates-robin-hooders/

notes on windshields

http://twentytwowords.com/funny-notes-left-on-windshields/

Why I dread my rubbish parking being exposed on Facebook

“MATE!” one of my fellow petrolheads sometimes shouts when I’ve parallel parked. “Did you get your licence in a LUCKY BAG?”

You’d think for someone who’s driven everything from the Smart ForTwo to a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow that I’d be able to park anything perfectly, perhaps with my eyes shut. Not so. I might as well ‘fess up there are occasions when, dear reader, I can still fluff up a bit of parking in finest Maureen-from-Driving-School style.

There were, for instance, the handful of occasions when my Renault 5 would make me come over all French and adopt a distinctly laissez faire – and not entirely parallel – approach to slotting a small hatchback alongside a kerb. Then there was the time I spent ten minutes circling Tesco’s car park looking for one of those elusive double spaces, largely because I didn’t want the shame of pranging a very pricey Lotus Evora that wasn’t mine in a bodged bit of easing backwards into a tight space.

My worst – and simultaneously best - spot of parking, however, was making the most of owning a Mini by successfully squeezing it into the smallest space possible. It was a brilliant endorsement of everything Alec Issigonis stood for, but it might have made life a bit difficult for the chap parked in front. 

Handful of confessions aside, however, I normally pride myself on not parking like a berk. This is a mighty good thing, because now there’s a Facebook group whose sole purpose is to expose when you do in Southport.

Ever since it’s entered my Likes list it’s amused and alarmed me in equal measure. On the one hand, there’s a childish delight at seeing all the dented hatchbacks dumped diagonally across a set of double yellow lines and wondering how anyone – especially anyone who’s mastered the theory test – can park THAT badly. There’s also the tense thrill of knowing my mate - who regularly parks his pride and joy across three spaces to prevent anyone else accidentally scratching it with a clumsily-opened door – is going to end up appearing on it.

Yet there is something unnerving about knowing there’s a band of cameraphone vigilantes deciding, using the powers vested in them by the internet, what does and doesn’t construe a decent parking job. Yes, there are plenty of bits of parking which can’t be anything other than just plain rude, but there are always shades of grey in what is, after all, a skill which we all have to some degree or other.

If you’re arrogant enough to dump an Audi Q7 in Asda’s only disabled parking space then you deserve everything you get, but I’ve seen plenty of pictures of what are just normal parking manouveres that – for whatever reason – aren’t quite bob on. Given I’m sure it’s happened to all of us, I’m not entirely sure I’d want smartphone addicts laughing at them between stints on Candy Crush.

Still, at least the Facebook group’s achieved its intended effect – I’ll be triple-checking all my parking jobs this Christmas.