NU’UANU — Police officers were out in force yesterday morning at Pali Highway and Dowsett Avenue, primarily ticketing drivers who failed to exercise due care in the presence of pedestrians.
The "pedestrians" in this case were police officers assigned to HPD’s Traffic Division. They wore civilian plainclothes and took turns venturing across the six-lane highway in a marked crosswalk at an intersection where there is no stoplight.
It is the same intersection where Hideno Matsumoto, 81, of Nu’uanu, was fatally injured Jan. 12 while trying to cross the busy thoroughfare .
"We try to do this once or twice a month," said Capt. Keith Lima of HPD’s Traffic Division . "We had four pedestrian fatalities (on O’ahu) last month alone. That’s four too many." [Note: Maryland averages over 9 pedestrian fatalities a month and maybe an enforcement once a year.]
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Continue reading “Plainclothes Police Enforcing Safety”
How clueless can the state be?
FISCAL AND POLICY NOTE House Bill 140 Bicycles, Mopeds, and Motor Scooters – Minors – Protective Headgear
"State Effect: Potential significant general and federal fund savings beginning in FY 2011 for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) to the extent the bill reduces debilitating injuries from bicycle and motor scooter accidents.
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There is insufficient data at this time to estimate the number of traumatic head injuries that could be avoided and the resulting potential savings to the Medicaid program.
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Ya, right. We all know fat lazy people make less demands on general and federal funds then healthy active people. And it is far more cost effective to harass cyclists off the road then to actually make the roads safer for them to ride. [/sarcasm]
See "Robert Hurst on Maryland’s Proposed Mandatory Helmet Law " https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20100205083216676 for more info.
Crab mentality
I have a theory that people tend to take on a significant aspect of their environment and for Maryland crabs do seem to be a significant cultural icon. So I wounder does the following description fit?
Crab mentality, sometimes referred to as crabs in the bucket, describes a way of thinking best described by the phrase "if I can’t have it, neither can you." The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs. Singly, the crabs could easily escape from the pot, but instead, they grab at each other in a useless "king of the hill" competition which prevents any from escaping and ensures their collective demise. The analogy in human behavior is that of a group that will attempt to "pull down" (negate or diminish the importance of) any member who achieves success beyond the others, out of jealousy or competitive feelings.
This term is broadly associated with short-sighted, non-constructive thinking rather than a unified, long-term, constructive mentality. It is also often used colloquially in reference to individuals or communities attempting to "escape" a so-called "underprivileged life", but kept from doing so by others attempting to ride upon their coat-tails or those who simply resent their success.
It describes a desperate lust to pull other people down, denigrating them rather than letting them get ahead or pursue their dreams. It is an unwillingness to allow someone to get out of dire or bad life situations, often being foiled by friends and family members who keep sucking them back in. This trait can strike at several levels of life, like in office environments, particularly on promotion. It is a reflection of the famous saying “we all like to see our friends get ahead, but not too far ahead.”
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No sooner had Yale University posted a news release saying it had earned platinum-level LEED certification
No sooner had Yale University posted a news release saying it had earned platinum-level LEED certification for its new forestry building, Kroon Hall, than the Yale Daily News uncovered a dirty little secret about two other LEED-certified buildings at Yale: They were built with showers and changing rooms for bike commuters, which helped them earn their LEED certification, but bike commuters had never been given access to them. Nor had anyone else.
Continue reading “No sooner had Yale University posted a news release saying it had earned platinum-level LEED certification”
Will City Hall keep pushing for a “cleaner, greener” and more sustainable Baltimore now that Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
Those had been priorities for the departed Sheila Dixon, who among other things pushed through one-and-one recycling, expanded bicycle lanes and shepherded the development of a sustainability plan for the city.
Rawlings-Blake already has signaled that she’s got different watchwords for the city under her mayoralty – "better, safer, stronger." And she’s indicated she plans to focus on public safety, education and economic development.
In a recent wide-ranging interview with the editorial board of The Baltimore Sun before becoming mayor, Rawlings-Blake didn’t seem inclined to make a wholesale departure from the policies and initiatives of her disgraced predecessor, but indicated she might put her own emphasis and stamp on them.
When asked if she might be planning to change any of Dixon’s policies, particularly the "cleaner and greener" initiative, Rawlings-Blake replied; "These are values that you know most Baltimoreans share. You can package it differently … but we care about crime, we care about grime, we care about jobs, we care about educating our kids. And that’s my focus."
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Washington County Motorist Fined $140 for Negligent Driving Accident that Seriously Injured Young Bicycle Rider
The story begins here:
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A motorist from Fairplay, MD, was ordered to pay $140 as a fine stemming from a 2009 accident that seriously injured an 8-year-old boy riding his bicycle. The fine, which was for negligent driving, was levied against Meghann Marie Weaver, 21, by the Washington County District Court. The accident occurred on August 27 along a stretch of Jordan Road. As a Maryland personal injury attorney, I have seen numerous reports of car-bicycle accident during my career — those that involve children can be the most tragic.
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Continuing…
Injured cyclist takes joy ride home from hospitalFAIRPLAY — Friday’s snow storm fell like confetti on Scott and Tahnee Greeley, who finally brought their 9-year-old son home from the hospital more than five months after he was struck by a car last summer near their Fairplay home.
As a result of the Aug. 27 accident, David Greeley suffered severe brain trauma and had to have his left leg amputated. He also suffered facial fractures and a broken jaw.
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Lt. Brian Chaney, of the Fairplay Volunteer Fire Department, said the firefighters offered to give David a ride home.“Seeing the situation he was in, we wanted to do something on his behalf,” Chaney said. “We wanted to boost his spirits.”
David will spend weekends at home, but he will stay at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore during the week to receive physical therapy, said Karen Greeley, David’s grandmother. She said David, who is a third-grader at Fountain Rock Elementary School, will attend classes in Baltimore while he continues his rehabilitation.
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Commercial Real Estate: Plan’s OK boosts value for General Growth
Howard County’s approval of a massive growth plan for downtown Columbia removes some doubts about the commercial and residential renewal of the planned community.
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"This plan incorporates green development, environmental restoration, arts and culture, workforce housing, pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, new amenity areas, transit, and a renovated Merriweather Post Pavilion, all in a carefully phased development plan with legislated benchmarks to ensure that what has been promised will be delivered," Ulman said.
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MICA Bike Share Launch, Wednesday, Feb. 10
Next Wednesday the Maryland Institute college of art will launch it’s bike share program with 4 bikes in cooperation with Baltimore Bicycle Works. Students will be able to register and learn about bike safety in MICA’s brown center next Wednesday in MICA’s Brown Center. Students will need to provide their own helmets in order to take out a bike. More information here : https://www.mica.edu/News/MICA_Bike_Share_Launch_Wednesday_Feb_10.html
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Baltimore: Central Avenue Reconstruction 1%-for-Public Art Project Request for Qualifications
The City of Baltimore, the Department of Transportation, and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts is seeking an artist or artist collaborators to create artwork for permanent display as part of the Central Avenue reconstruction. The Central Avenue reconstruction will address public right away needs by restructuring the median, reorganizing traffic flow, upgrading traffic and pedestrian signals, making streets more bicycle friendly, and meeting the Mayor’s initiative on creating a “Greener Baltimore” and establishing bicycle paths throughout the City.
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Add ticket to injury
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According to Medlock, who writes under the name Jim Treacher, he was struck at about 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, while crossing M Street in downtown Washington. Medlock says he was walking within the bounds of the crosswalk, toward a blinking white signal, when a government SUV suddenly turned left and plowed into him, knocking him to the ground.
Bystanders tended to Medlock, collected his crushed glasses and called an ambulance. McGuinn, meanwhile, called The Daily Caller’s offices from the scene to tell Medlock’s colleagues about the incident. But he did not identify himself to them or to Medlock.
Medlock was taken to Georgetown University Hospital with a broken left knee, lacerations and bruises. He will undergo surgery later this week.
At the hospital, DC police officer John Muniz arrived to issue Medlock a $20 jaywalking ticket. Medlock was lying sedated on a gurney, so Muniz delivered the ticket to a Daily Caller colleague, who was at the hospital with Medlock. He looked embarrassed as he did so. Behind him stood a man dressed in a dark suit who identified himself as a “special agent.” He said nothing but wrote in a notebook.
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The question is: Did the federal agent driving the SUV, faced with potential liabilities from the accident, encourage local police to issue some sort – any sort – of citation to Medlock, to establish his culpability?
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