Woman, 70, arrested & fined for failing to water lawn

[BuelahWitch]

Apparently the city of Orem, Utah didn't like the fact that Betty Perry hadn't been watering her lawn. When the police arrived last July to issue a warning, she became defiant and refused to give him her name. That's when the police decided to arrest her for disorderly conduct...

BBC story from last July:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6282348.stm

More recent story about her "plea deal":

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0209buzz-lawn...

Orem, UT PD: Keeping the world safe from grass-killing Grandmas everywhere!
:patriot:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. $100 bucks to "set an example"

In other words, if a cop invades your home, don't ask for id, cheerfully tell him everything he wants to know, allow him to handcuff you and knock you about, and do whatever he wants.

Remind me not to visit Utah.

[lonestarnot]

No one ever need remind me!

:puke:

[Bobbieo]

6. Before too long in S Az it may be a $100 fine if YOU DO WATER

your lawn.

[sam sarrha]

10. it was a $200 fine if you had the water coming out the hose without a device to shut it off in WA,

during their drought, $400 fine to have a pet not neutered in Seattle

[Greyhound]

8. The list of police states to avoid is longer than the list of places it's good to visit anymore.

Try driving through the hills above LA if you're brown. We've got people shooting other people over petty theft and cops executing citizens in the streets, all without any penalty, and the sheep just keep chewing their cuds and watching whatever show is hot this season.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. You can come hang out in the Ozarks

not many people, and those who are here leave other folks alone. In my Republican county they defeated a man running as the Republican candidate, backed up with lots of money from the Party, because he told everyone that he or his deputies would come by and visit everyone every six months. The man who is our sheriff ran as an independent and put up maybe four home-made signs.

[niyad]

2. yet another reason not to visit that benighted stated.

[meegbear]

3. Reminds me of this Onion story ...

Neighbors Confront Alcoholic Child-Abuser About His Lawn

Following a brief meeting Saturday, members of the Ridgeway Circle Homeowners Association confronted alcoholic child-abuser Gene Oberst about his continued failure to uphold basic standards of lawn care.

"It's never easy to stick your nose in someone else's business, but in this case, we felt we had no choice but to step in and do something," association president Trudy Hinsdale said of the 33-year-old unemployed electrician and abusive parent. "That lawn is a major eyesore, and it reflects badly on the whole rest of the block. Mr. Oberst has no idea what kind of terrible damage he's doing to property values."

Fellow Homeowners Association member Nina Desoto agreed.

"I believe people have a responsibility to intervene when there is a problem in their community," Desoto said. "If we were to sit idly by while that grass continued to grow out of control and weeds sprung up everywhere, silently pretending that everything was fine over at the Oberst household, we would be no better than him."

<snip>

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29514

[L0oniX]

4. I am surprised that they didn't tazer her. WTF is wrong with those cops?

:sarcasm:

[rfranklin]

5. What's this water shortage out west I heard about?

If we stopped watering lawns and golf courses and swimming pools in the desert, there wouldn't be any shortage.

[BuelahWitch]

11. That's what I thought too

:wtf:

[Kitty Herder]

12. Don't ask Utah county(Orem) folks to make sense.

To them, keeping up appearances is the most important thing. Yes, I used to live in Orem. This story didn't surprise me much when it came out.

At lease there was a huge uproar over it. It tarnished the already ugly image of the city of Orem.

[Kitty Herder]

13. Green lawns and golf courses in the desert are one of my pet peeves.

Don't even get me started.

[Rex]

7. She was doing great until she refused to give her name.

Besides that, they story is one of lawn fascism at it's best. :sarcasm:

[Kitty Herder]

14. There was a big uproar over this at the time.

It really hurt Orem City's image.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer city. :sarcasm:

I used to live in Orem. It's name ought to be Stepford. The whole Orem/Provo/Utah County area is like that. We call it Happy Valley here in Utah. (There are two Happy Valleys in Utah, btw. The other is Cache Valley. I've lived in both and I'm not sure which I hate worse.) They place an extremely high value on conformity and on keeping up appearances.

[BuelahWitch]

15. I lived in Salt Lake county for 20 years

Some areas there are just as bad, but not all. :hi: