And another thing …
Just put them in time out. You’ve seen them. The parents at the mall, or the supermarket, or the playground, warning unruly kids that if they misbehave one more time they’ll be in trouble.
Some officials at Spokane City Hall apparently have seen them, too — and are emulating them. Under a recommendation to the City Council, the holders of 66,000 delinquent parking tickets will be offered a chance to avoid the bulk of the consequences for defying the law.
Under an amnesty proposal, someone whose fines and late fees on a $10 ticket add up to about $85, will be able to get away for $25 to $30 instead.
If every offender took advantage of the offer — and a collections agency official is highly skeptical that many will — it would bring in some $720,000 (on $2.4 million worth of unpaid tickets).
Maybe it will work. Or maybe it will just send a powerful message to other overtime parkers that they really don’t have to worry about the consequences if they ignore a ticket.
Of course, the city can always tell them what exasperated parents tell bullheaded kids: “No, this time we really mean it.”
Alert reaction. A lesson learned from the brutal Groene family murders and kidnappings was put to a successful test Monday.
Less than an hour after a 4-month-old Idaho boy was allegedly kidnapped by his father, an Amber Alert was issued by the state of Idaho, leading to the man’s apprehension three hours later near Missoula. Idaho officials have streamlined the Amber Alert system since the May kidnappings of Dylan and Shasta Groene. In that instance, the Idaho State Communications Bureau dragged its heels for 3 ½ crucial hours, debating whether Kootenai County’s request for an Amber Alert met its bureaucratic criteria. Meanwhile, any chance for a quick apprehension of the children’s kidnapper slipped away.
Since then, the state has taken a posture of trusting county sheriffs more in the decision to issue an alert.
The quick reaction to Monday’s Amber Alert is one of the few silver linings in the awful Groene case.