The Dude wrote:what did he want

SK790 wrote:Fucking landord woke me up at 930 on my day off ringing the doorbell. Thanks for the heads up you're stopping by, guy.

SK790 wrote:

The Dude wrote:what did he want

just wanted to have a look around. we're moving out at the end of the month, so it's understandable, but shoot us an e-mail or give us a call to let us know you're coming by rather than ringing the doorbell for 2 solid minutes at 9:30 am.

Werthless wrote:

SK790 wrote:Fucking landord woke me up at 930 on my day off ringing the doorbell. Thanks for the heads up you're stopping by, guy.

You should be up making breakfast or something.

Bucky wrote:just got pegged for a franklin institute focus group. i donate a good chunk a change to them annually. I should probably just decline the hundred bucks, right??

Bucky wrote:just got pegged for a franklin institute focus group. i donate a good chunk a change to them annually. I should probably just decline the hundred bucks, right??

Bill McNeal wrote:

Bucky wrote:just got pegged for a franklin institute focus group. i donate a good chunk a change to them annually. I should probably just decline the hundred bucks, right??

Calvin will be your stand in

CalvinBall wrote:

Bill McNeal wrote:

Bucky wrote:just got pegged for a franklin institute focus group. i donate a good chunk a change to them annually. I should probably just decline the hundred bucks, right??

Calvin will be your stand in

id do it for 100 buck no problem for sure let me know

Barry Jive wrote:the whistles go WOOO

ReadingPhilly wrote:Flying Us air out of Philly tomorrow. Us air
plane just crashed in Philly. Think statistically that might work in my favor.

Werthless wrote:

SK790 wrote:Fucking landord woke me up at 930 on my day off ringing the doorbell. Thanks for the heads up you're stopping by, guy.

You should be up making breakfast or something.

State officials say that for years, Hampton -- population 477 -- was overzealous in handing out traffic tickets to fill its coffers. It started in the '90s, when the city annexed a sliver of land along U.S. Highway 301 to increase its revenue by catching speeders.

The speed trap is only about 1,200 feet, and the limit dropped from 65 to 55. In just one year, the city made about a quarter of a million dollars off the short stretch of road -- so short that in just a matter of seconds, drivers are already through it.

Hampton's 17 police officers were often seen on lawn chairs camped on the side of the highway. There were even reports of officers issuing tickets while heavily armed.

Sheriff Gordon Smith, of Bradford County, which includes the City of Hampton, became suspicious of the operation. He said signs were moving around or altered. He said, "We had some of the signs that were actually painted over, and the speed limit was painted on the sign, a foot or two off the ground."

State auditors were called in. They found the town had racked up a $132,350 tab at a local convenience store, $10,152 in questionable credit card purchases, and $8,258 in over-payments to the former city clerk whose son ran the water authority and husband was a city councilman.

Republican Florida State Sen. Rob Bradley, says that was just the beginning.


"They had records destroyed," he said. "They said it was due to an automobile crash in a swamp. You can't make this stuff up. It was like something out a Southern Gothic novel."

"It became 'serve and collect' instead of 'serve and protect.' Cash register justice," said Sheriff Gordon Smith. "Do y'all remember the old 'Dukes of Hazzard'? Boss Hogg? They make Boss Hogg look like a Sunday school teacher."

Whom did the pipeline of easy money corrupt in this postage stamp-size town with fewer than 500 people? And if money is missing, how much are we talking about, anyway: $200,000, $600,000? One lawmaker has suggested it's as much as $1 million.

And where did it all go? There aren't any McMansions rising up out of the swamp, no country clubs, no casinos, no swimming pools, no stadium, not even a new City Hall, although the old one got a fresh coat of paint when the auditors came to town.

There are some nicer homes with fishing boats tied to docks along Lake Hampton, but they sit outside the city limits. Hampton proper -- several blocks on either side of City Hall -- consists of ramshackle homes with sagging tin roofs. Yards are filled with junk, high grass and overgrown trees and bushes. The proliferation of No Trespassing signs is disconcerting. People here seem to have so little and yet fear losing it so much.

Hampton's bigger problems grew out of the city's duty to "keep the peace." It led to what everyone calls "the annexation" in the early 1990s.

Somebody got the idea to snap up an easement along both sides of County Road 18 and a 1,260-foot stretch of U.S. 301. Because of the annexation, the bird's eye view of Hampton resembles a lollipop on a stick. Or, depending on your point of view, a fist with a raised middle finger. Most outsiders take the second view.

Hampton set up its speed trap, just like its neighbors, Waldo and Lawtey. Since Hampton has no schools, homes or businesses along 301, traffic safety really wasn't the issue. The focus always was on revenue -- and state and county officials say that's where the city went wrong. It's the crack that allowed corruption to creep in and take hold.