Overton, TX: cops shut down lemonade stand

[vaskidmark]

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Brothers-Mow-Lawn-To-Keep-Woman-From-Going-To-Jail--306874101.html
Here is a similar issue that has a happier ended (so far).

How long does it take for the grass to grow to more than the code-defined maximum height?  And then for the warning notices to be posted?  And for the notices that if you don't attend to the cutting of the grass by X date the county/city will come out to do it and charge you what they spent?

But

Once the brothers got started, others in the community joined. Together, they were able to mow the entire lot in about two hours.

Inquiring minds want to know where the [expletive deleted] they were before then.  Once upon a time  mothers and fathers would be informing their children of lawnmowing age that they would be out there, and to remember to say "Please" and "Thank you" when the senior citizen offered you a drink from the garden hose because they did not have any lemonade or cookies.  I'm told that in some localities troops of Boy Scouts held reconnaissance hikes to find lawns/lots that needed mowing since doing a good deed a day was difficult when most of what we now call good deeds was just what you were expected to do.

stay safe.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Private school


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[KD5NRH]

How long does it take for the grass to grow to more than the code-defined maximum height?  And then for the warning notices to be posted?  And for the notices that if you don't attend to the cutting of the grass by X date the county/city will come out to do it and charge you what they spent?

Especially with most of Texas giving everybody a pass lately because so many yards were swampy for about a month, and grew like crazy as they firmed up.

[MechAg94]

That was some of my misgiving with the grass story.  It didn't really give you a history of how it came to that.  And since they had photos of the old lady with the kids, she wasn't a complete shut in. 

[Angel Eyes]

Because shutting down dangerous lemonade stands is a great use of the police state.

The important thing is everyone got home safely.

[MechAg94]

Speaking of local politics, at a meeting for my gun range, they had the local mayor come speak.  Apparently there was an issue with a local home FFL.  The BATFE started asking FFL's if they had permission from the local govt to conduct business.  So this guy went to the city council to ask and found out that they had a list of "allowed" home businesses and selling guns wasn't one.  I don't know what the final outcome was but there was a spirited discussion at the meeting about it.  I do notice all the local car washes and such done to raise money, they always show a "donation" amount on the sign rather than just a price.  I hadn't thought about why until see this story.  Maybe the FFL could do transfers for a "donation".   

[HankB]

. . . Once upon a time  mothers and fathers would be informing their children of lawnmowing age that they would be out there, and to remember to say "Please" and "Thank you" when the senior citizen offered you a drink from the garden hose because they did not have any lemonade or cookies . . .

I remember when I was a child of lawnmowing age getting paid to mow other folks' lawns; same with shoveling snow in winter. Parents back then encouraged their kids to develop a work ethic by teaching them that pocket money had to be earned. (Dad told me he got the same from HIS parents when he was a youngster.)

[MechAg94]

http://madworldnews.com/woman-arrest-warrant-growing/
This link has a picture.  The unmowed lot was across the street. 

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Elderly-Woman-Summoned-To-Court-Again-Over-Lawn-307082401.html

I tried to search for the lady's name.  It looks like this all came up recently.  We may have covered this before, but what are the rules for issuing court summons?  Can they just be done by letter or does someone have to physically hand over the summons?  Would some verification be done on that or do judges typically put out an arrest warrant immediately? 

[vaskidmark]

Agreed, Terry -

But for senior citizens in "obvious" distress you got voluntold to go over there and do whatever it was that needed to be done.

For those that were just seniors you got paid.  And some kids fought over which senior citizen was "theirs" - not only $$ but the quantity and quality of cookies and hot cocoa/lemonade (seasonal dependent).  Of course when the pay and fringes were not up to snuff it was (almost) legitimate to not solicit business with them.  Folks who paid $1 for a "standard" city lot + store-bought cookies and sour lemonade vs those that pair $1 for 2 1/2 acres even with home-made triple chocolate chip cookies and they let you keep the Coke bottle for the refund.

Of course the fact that this is not still going on (prices adjusted) is that we let those do-gooders convince us it was more important for the kiddies to do whatever.

stay safe.

[vaskidmark]

http://madworldnews.com/woman-arrest-warrant-growing/
This link has a picture.  The unmowed lot was across the street. 

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Elderly-Woman-Summoned-To-Court-Again-Over-Lawn-307082401.html

I tried to search for the lady's name.  It looks like this all came up recently.  We may have covered this before, but what are the rules for issuing court summons?  Can they just be done by letter or does someone have to physically hand over the summons?  Would some verification be done on that or do judges typically put out an arrest warrant immediately? 

I'm beginning to rethink my position on all of this.  The first link mentions a son who said he would come cut the grass.  I want to know why he wasn't out there cutting grass when it reached 12 inches or so.  The second link has some quotes from Gerry Suttle which sound a lot like "I'm an old lady, I don't like your laws, I don't like being told what I have to do (show up in court, sign a paper saying she did not get the first summons and the matter would be dropped), and "Leave me alone, boy.  You bother me."

stay safe.

[MechAg94]

I was wondering if there was some confusion on which lot needed to be mowed.  It was apparently the lot across the street.  Maybe the son was mowing the house.  A lot of information missing from this story.

However, most of the articles claim they tried to contact city or court officials and could not.  Don't know if that means much yet. 

[Hawkmoon]

Speaking of local politics, at a meeting for my gun range, they had the local mayor come speak.  Apparently there was an issue with a local home FFL.  The BATFE started asking FFL's if they had permission from the local govt to conduct business.  So this guy went to the city council to ask and found out that they had a list of "allowed" home businesses and selling guns wasn't one.  I don't know what the final outcome was but there was a spirited discussion at the meeting about it.  I do notice all the local car washes and such done to raise money, they always show a "donation" amount on the sign rather than just a price.  I hadn't thought about why until see this story.  Maybe the FFL could do transfers for a "donation".   

Problematic. An FFL is a license to engage in the business of buying and selling firearms. Processing transfers is a sideline to the actual purpose of the license. The issuance of the license is predicated on the applicant being legally allowed to conduct a business at the premises decalred in the application as the place of business. For a home FFL to not be allowed by the local zoning regulations to engage in retail sales at his home (which is, remember, supposed to be his place of business) is a significant problem.

[KD5NRH]

I'm beginning to rethink my position on all of this.  The first link mentions a son who said he would come cut the grass.  I want to know why he wasn't out there cutting grass when it reached 12 inches or so.

For all we know, he could be travelling several hours to her place, so would only be able to when it's a dire need or when he has otherwise planned to go see her.  She's also 75,  so her son is probably in his mid 50s, and may not be all that physically able himself.

[vaskidmark]

For all we know, he could be travelling several hours to her place, so would only be able to when it's a dire need or when he has otherwise planned to go see her.  She's also 75,  so her son is probably in his mid 50s, and may not be all that physically able himself.

Wouldn't a "good son" do something to overcome those obstacles?  Maybe go down to Home Depot and get some guys willing to do what a 75-year old American lady won't do?  (OK, that's a cheap shot.  Maybe they only have a Lowes or Ace Hardware in town.)

Or maybe we get back to the discussion about how kids born after a certain date were never instilled with the notion that respect for their parents goes farther than not letting somebody else cuss them out.

I don't have enough information to begin to know what questions will reveal the big picture, let alone what the answers to the situation are in this case.  Probably more than anything what I'm doing is using it as an excuse to bemoan the decline and demise of the family and the notion of neighbors as opposed to people who live next door/down the block.

stay safe.

[KD5NRH]

Wouldn't a "good son" do something to overcome those obstacles?  Maybe go down to Home Depot and get some guys willing to do what a 75-year old American lady won't do?  (OK, that's a cheap shot.  Maybe they only have a Lowes or Ace Hardware in town.)

Well, I suppose if he's also a master of telepathy and teleportation, since last I checked the day labor line doesn't exactly have a website to order up a few illegals in another city.  Assuming he's moved out of her house at some point, he also wouldn't know how tall her grass is unless she decides to tell him.

Or maybe we get back to the discussion about how kids born after a certain date were never instilled with the notion that respect for their parents goes farther than not letting somebody else cuss them out.

Or maybe we could have a discussion about how merely squirting someone out of your vagina doesn't entitle you to their eternal worship.  She's been around long enough to figure out how to look up "lawn service" in the phone book for herself, or even talk to her neighbors and ask if some of them would be interested in making a few bucks.