From the Express-Times in Hellertown, New Jersey: Top cop wants fines reduced Maximum of $600 too high for skateboarding in restricted areas, Hellertown chief tells council. The police chief on Monday night told council the $600 maximum fine for skateboarding or biking in areas where it’s not allowed is too steep. Chief Robert Balum said he wants his officers to use more discretion when ticketing for such offenses. The remarks came in response to an ongoing debate targeting skateboarders. Proving once again that you don’t have to be a dick to enforce the law, Joey Williams.

I got an email alert about the grand opening of Sarasota’s Payne Park next Saturday. I got excited because my mother in-law lives in Sarasota and so I visit it on a regular basis. The existing skate park is fun, but nothing to write home about, so a little variety would be nice. It turns out that Sarasota isn’t getting another skatepark, it’s just phase two of the surrounding park facilities, which includes amphitheater, more tennis courts, a walking path (Whee!) and a “skateboard clubhouse,” whatever that means. Then I read that the skatepark fees would be waived for the day of the opening festivities and I really got mad. Sarasota has one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the southeastern US, but you have to pay to skate at that park. The land for the park? Donated outright. The construction costs? Paid for by a one percent sales tax. Public tennis courts? I think they are free, but for some reason, a facility that can be used kids from all demographics is pay-to-play. Absurd! It’s already annoying that the damn thing isn’t open on holidays or during school hours! I don’t know what the hell this “skateboard clubhouse”…

The city of Corpus Christi Texas banned the practice of “grinding” along their precious sea wall eight months ago, but so far have only handed out a few citations and the grinding continues. They’ve got themselves worked up in a lather to spend $50,000 on Skate Stoppers and consider an investment well spent to rid the sea walk of the evidence of grinding that is an “eyesore.” I’m sure the Skate Stoppers will eliminate all grinding. That’s money well spent, guys. Now imagine if instead they could spend half that much money on building skateable ledges nearby for kids. Problem solved. [Source: KRISTV.com]

OK, I’m going to cop to not putting a lot of effort into SnA since the baby was born. The obvious lameness of this post title ought to give you a hint about how sleep deprivation is affecting me. Hopefully it’ll settle down with time. Here’s the first in a long line of quick and dirty posts. At one point in time I was thinking about having a gallery of “No skateboarding” signs from around the world until I realized how boring it would likely be. Now it could contain at least two interesting signs. All those skateboarding bulldogs on YouTube are going to pissed off about this “No Skateboarding Dogs” sign spotted on Chuck Woodbury’s Roadside Journal. Yes, I know, the sign is meant to say “No Skateboarding, No Dogs,” but it’s amusing none the less. Second, we have this “Thou Shalt Not Skateboard” sign in front of the Claremont Presbyterian Church in the city of Ontario California, as reported by the Daily Bulletin. At least they have a sense of humor. Also attached, “No Skating or Grinding,” but Kickflipping is apparently allowed. And what is that middle symbol? No Moonwalking? And now for something completely unrelated, a spider…

Source: Asscciated Press (07-03) 08:48 PDT LITTLE ROCK, (AP) — A police officer who appeared to choke a skateboarder and put two others in a headlock in a video posted online used appropriate force when making his arrests, an internal police investigation found. The Hot Springs Police Department Internal Affairs Board found the use of force was within the police department’s policy on non-deadly force and recommended “no changes to this policy.” The decision was released Monday. Officer Joey Williams confronted a situation that “would have overwhelmed any single officer” when he stopped those breaking a Hot Springs city ordinance by skateboarding on a downtown sidewalk June 21, the report said. However, Williams was faulted for leaving a handcuffed suspect unattended while chasing another youth in the resort town’s historic Bathhouse Row. Williams has been on administrative leave since the video hit YouTube on June 25. Police said he would return to active duty Thursday in the city’s downtown. “I think it was fair,” City Manager Kent Myers said. Witnesses “consistently supported the actions of the officer and his efforts to control the situation.” Video from a business’ security cameras shows 10 skateboarders rolling down the city sidewalk at a…

Skate Daily has posted some disturbing news, on 6/21 6 skaters crossed the path of Officer Joey Williams, a mistake. Joey took it upon himself to choke out a 16 year old skateboarder and in doing so, was filmed. Thanks to Youtube, the entire world can now see what happened on the streets of Hot Springs, Arkansas. After you watch this disturbing video – please email a civil statement to the Cheif of Police Bobby Southard (bsouthard@cityhs.net) demanding the firing of officer Joey Williams. MORE UPDATES: EMAILS FOR CITY COUNCIL NOW POSTED ‘pege1947@aol.com’; ‘direlainejon1@sbcglobal.net’; ‘srsmith12003@yahoo.com’; ‘sable@hsnp.com’; ‘td7965@aol.com’ UPDATE: emails no longer work, please use this contact information to get your message accross: Phone: (501) 321-6789 Fax: (501) 321-6708 This is unacceptable behavior by anyone wearing a badge. UPDATE: Officer on leave after tussle with Hot Springs skateboarders! [Photo: Skylar Nalls]

From WLTX News in South Carolina: Officer Who Shoved Skateboarder Gets Suspension CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP, WLTX) — The Charleston police officer seen on Internet video pushing a skateboarder over a bush at a city park has been suspended for ten days. Police Chief Greg Mullen says 49-year-old officer Willie Simmons used an unnecessary level of force. The 19-year-old skateboarder declined to file assault charges against Simmons. The officer was taped pushing a skateboarder off his board at the Waterpark in downtown. The officer defended herself by saying that that skateboarding is illegal in Charleston. As a result, the 19-year-old injured his lower back and ankle. Fascinating. Now watch it again.

Portland Police are upset that a skateboard shop also sells (expensive) spray paint, as they see skateboarding and graffiti culture intertwined. The cops say The Office is tacitly encouraging graffiti by selling the spray paint. The Office says their paint is expensive and therefore typically used by commissioned artists rather than your garden variety high school delinquent. I hate taggers and I hate graffiti, but I like stencil art. Normally I wouldn’t bother to report on this but I thought The Office’s manager, Kevin Nimick, made a good point: “I don’t want to go head to head with the police,” says Nimick. “But they’re just trying to have a place to direct blame for Portland’s graffiti. Why not ban the sale of handguns, if they’re worried about people getting shot?” More skateboards and spray paint after the jump. [Source: Portland Mercury]

While we were out… Seattle’s City Center skate park or SeaSk8 as it sometimes gets called, was demolished to make way for a new Bill Gates foundation complex. January 3 of 2007 marked the second time in recent years that the city of Seattle tore down a perfectly good skatepark to appease developers. Of course some might argue that the Seattle Center park was not exactly perfectly good. As with Ballard, more money was allocated to replacing the skatepark. Talk about inefficiency, why not just build two new parks and leave the old ones accessible? It’s clear that I don’t understand or appreciate eminent domain and the wheels of commerce. Pre/post demolition pics, links and more after the jump. [Credits: Demo Picture – Auggiedawg, Fascist Bill Gates – The Software War

Watching the interviews with this kid will make you understand why he got tasered. It doesn’t make it right, but I would have been tempted to taser this annoying whiner myself. Campus authorities say the tasering was not because he was skateboarding, it was because he was not complying with police. A girl caught it on her cell phone and posted it on Youtube. Ironically, the original has disappeared and as of now only exists on Youtube as it has been shown on a couple different TV news shows, by pointing the news camera at a computer monitor. After the jump you can find some links to the story as well as a YouTube videos of the the news showing a YouTube video on TV. Can you deal with that? Am I blowing your tiny minds?