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Irregular News for 02.15.06
Lincoln, NE -- A Lincoln man said he was ticketed for creating something as simple as a hopscotch game, but Lincoln police said his creation broke the law.
Joey Lynch wanted a creative way to guide people in downtown Lincoln to his Tugboat Art Gallery. The gallery shows avant-garde exhibits. Lynch has been chalking directions onto Lincoln streets every month for a year.
"It's just a fun thing for directional purposes only," he said.
But the chalk runs afoul of Lincoln's laws.
"(There is) a vandalism ordinance that says that without permission, you can't mar, deface, or damage any public or private property," said Sgt. Don Scheinost , of the Lincoln Police Department.
Lynch's directions get a lot of attention from pedestrians, he said. But last month, someone complained. Police on the beat followed the chalk to Tugboat, where they ticketed co-director Peggy Gomez for advertising without a license.
Gomez and Lynch said it wasn't advertising and it wasn't vandalism they put on the sidewalk. They're planning to fight the ticket.
"My first thought was that it was ridiculous, especially because the initial charges were vandalism," Lynch said.
Lynch and Gomez said no one had ever complained before about the patterns, and they even used a chalk-and-water mix that was easy to remove. With that in mind, they said, they wished police had taken a different approach.
"The reaction was a citation. Not like, ' Hey, what is this about?' There was no dialogue. It was just strictly a ticket," Lynch said.
Police said the ticket was warranted.
"We're not picking on anyone, we just want everyone to be aware of the ordinance we do have that prohibits this," Scheinost said.
"Are they going to (ticket) children for hopscotch next?" Lynch asked.
The ticket could cost Gomez between $100 and $500, but she plans to fight it. The pair will go before a judge on Tuesday to plead not guilty.
source
Lincoln, NE -- A Lincoln man said he was ticketed for creating something as simple as a hopscotch game, but Lincoln police said his creation broke the law.
Joey Lynch wanted a creative way to guide people in downtown Lincoln to his Tugboat Art Gallery. The gallery shows avant-garde exhibits. Lynch has been chalking directions onto Lincoln streets every month for a year.
"It's just a fun thing for directional purposes only," he said.
But the chalk runs afoul of Lincoln's laws.
"(There is) a vandalism ordinance that says that without permission, you can't mar, deface, or damage any public or private property," said Sgt. Don Scheinost , of the Lincoln Police Department.
Lynch's directions get a lot of attention from pedestrians, he said. But last month, someone complained. Police on the beat followed the chalk to Tugboat, where they ticketed co-director Peggy Gomez for advertising without a license.
Gomez and Lynch said it wasn't advertising and it wasn't vandalism they put on the sidewalk. They're planning to fight the ticket.
"My first thought was that it was ridiculous, especially because the initial charges were vandalism," Lynch said.
Lynch and Gomez said no one had ever complained before about the patterns, and they even used a chalk-and-water mix that was easy to remove. With that in mind, they said, they wished police had taken a different approach.
"The reaction was a citation. Not like, ' Hey, what is this about?' There was no dialogue. It was just strictly a ticket," Lynch said.
Police said the ticket was warranted.
"We're not picking on anyone, we just want everyone to be aware of the ordinance we do have that prohibits this," Scheinost said.
"Are they going to (ticket) children for hopscotch next?" Lynch asked.
The ticket could cost Gomez between $100 and $500, but she plans to fight it. The pair will go before a judge on Tuesday to plead not guilty.
source