Free Talk Live

A snow woman described as “nude” is getting the cold shoulder from Rahway, New Jersey residents. The family who carved Venus de Milo in last week's snow outside their home on Colonia Boulevard has been asked to cover up her “nude” form.

A city program launched in April has code enforcement officers writing thousands of citations — ranging from $25 to $1,000 — for infractions, including illegal dumping and improper storage of trash in open containers or paper shopping bags.

The residents of Carmel, Indiana could be forced to no longer have their private refuse company remove their waste. And if history has a way of repeating itself, it will more than likely pass with the baffoons they have sitting at the helm. The 'illustrious' city council wants to impose an Ordinance that allows the City to select a trash removal company and tack on the fee on the sewer/water bill of the residents. Of course, the fee has yet to be determined. This is being heard at the June 6 and June 20 City Council meetings.

City officials this week spotlighted a surprising revelation involving red-light camera tickets: Authorities cannot force violators who simply don't respond to pay them. For a variety of reasons, including the way the law was written, Los Angeles officials say the fines for ticketed motorists are essentially "voluntary" and there are virtually no tangible consequences for those who refuse to pay.

Despite protests from dozens of residents, Santa Clarita is poised to join a growing movement of budget-strapped communities that are turning over their libraries to private management.

The move, approved by the City Council in a 4-1 vote last week, was designed to save the city hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars by withdrawing its three libraries from the county system. But it left some residents fretting about a loss of service without access to the county's vast resources.

MCLOUD, OK -- Several residents in McLoud are upset after the city announced a $17 water bill for residents who use a well. According to City Manager Larry Dillon, the small fee will help pay for emergency services such as police officers and fire fighters. Because of an old city ordinance, rural residents with in 100-yards of a water line didn't have to pay for those services; but because of a struggling economy, every dollar counts.

A bill that could send women to prison for going topless in public appears headed for approval by the North Carolina legislature.
Depending if such exposure is judged to be "for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire," the woman could be charged with a felony, punishable by up to six months in prison for first-time offenders. More mundane exposure would be a misdemeanor meriting up to 30 days in jail.

Glendale (CA) city officials are forcing residents to take down mirrors they’ve attached to trees in the public right-of-way so they can better see oncoming traffic while exiting their driveways. Residents say in the absence of any speed-reduction enhancements, such as speed humps, the round convex mirrors are one of the few safety measures they have. City officials, though, say it’s about more than tree damage. City codes don’t allow anything to be attached to city-owned trees or street-light poles. Also, nothing can be placed in the public right-of-way because of liability concerns.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Smokers have just one message for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council members: butt out of our business.

“We’re outside. We should have freedom to smoke,” City Hall Park smoker Harvey Forbes told CBS 2’s Magee Hickey.

By a vote of 36 to 11 on Wednesday the City Council approved a bill to ban smoking in all city parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas.