Strange Bedfellows

There are two types of people in Baltimore when it comes to saving parking spaces after snowstorms: Those who do it and those who lie about it.

We’ve all claimed that freshly cleared patch of asphalt with a lawn chair or traffic cone or other piece of furniture. Sure, it’s against the law, but this is as American as the Sooners staking claims in Oklahoma.

Let’s face it, we’re a little goofy when it comes to snow.

The 12-inches plus in the forecast will have us descending on stores like swarms of locusts and stripping the shelves bare of milk, bread and toilet paper as if being locked in the house without these essentials for a few days would have us re-creating The Donner Party.

But apparently we’re also a little violent. Crocodiles aren’t this territorial.

At a Friday news conference, Police Chief Jim Johnson urged county residents to be courteous and not steal someone else’s space.

After the conference, Johnson told me that police receive “dozens of phone calls after any major snowfall related to citizens not showing courtesy to other citizens” who have just cleared out a parking space.

“It’s a major issue,” Johnson said.

“There are physical confrontations,” Johnson said. “It’s neighbor against neighbor and the bad blood often lasts after the snow is gone.”

Remember, it’s just a parking space.

And I’ll be watching mine.

A police officer was set up with a radar gun outside Cromwell Valley Elementary School last week to enforce the 25 mph speed limit.

That spot was almost directly across Providence Road from where Police Chief Jim Johnson held a June 1 news conference to announce the county’s intentions to add the cameras to its speed enforcement arsenal. During that conference, almost on cue, a car sped by at a rate of speed clearly too fast for the road. (more…)

The County Council is poised to vote tonight on legislation that would enable the county to use speed cameras in up to 12 school zones around the county.

Police and traffic safety officials are still working on a list of potential locations. Some officials, including Police Chief Jim Johnson and Don Mohler, a spokesman for County Executive Jim Smith, are now giving indications that statistics won’t be the only factor that determines where the cameras are placed. (more…)