SIMON O'CONNOR/Stuff

Dawn Hickling has built a fence on the same spot as her old picket fence that had been there since 1983, but the council is not happy.

A New Plymouth woman has taken offence at the treatment she's received from the district council over her fence.

Baring Tce resident Dawn Hickling replaced a picket fence that had been front of the home she owns since 1983 with a taller version in May last year.

However, the move resulted in two complaints being laid with the New Plymouth District Council and Hickling was told she needed to move the fence back about one metre as it intruded on to public land.

But she has refused to give in, pointing out that other fences and hedges on the street jut out just as far.

Im not going to be told that Ive done something illegal and Im not going to be held responsible for the 1983 fence that they now say is illegal," Hickling said.

READ MORE:* Fence must move after two complaints to New Plymouth District Council* Building tiny houses to create jobs for Taumarunui youth

The council maintains it is about access to public land and its mapping website shows the fence is indeed beyond the propertys boundary.

Hickling received a letter on Saturday, February 6, telling her she had until March 1 to at least have a removal date set.

As far as Im concerned it's still not the final.

On January 26, she spoke to the council's strategy and operations committee but said it was like it never happened. She also offered to pay an encroachment fee.

It's like theyve made this decision and they havent taken anything on board from that meeting, and that really pisses me off.

SIMON O'CONNOR/Stuff

Hickling has been told she has to move the fence about a metre back.

Hickling said she had been told she would face a $1000 fine, plus $50 for every additional day the fence was not moved.

Ive been a law-abiding citizen for 59 years and Im not going to be told Ive done something wrong.

NPDC said it was working through the issue with the property owners and going through due process.

Last month, the day after the meeting, NPDC transport manager Rui Leitao said in a statement that they had been talking with the owner for months to try and find an amicable solution.

At the heart of the matter is retaining public access to public land. When the owner replaced a low picket fence with a high solid fence (encroachment) which made it difficult for pedestrians, pushchairs and mobility scooters to move along the narrow footpath, resulting in us receiving two complaints last year.

Its important to note many encroachments, or intrusions into another space over time, have long and complicated histories and we work hard to find amicable solutions.

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New Plymouth woman goes on the fence offensive - Stuff.co.nz

by: EverythingLubbock.com Digital Media Staff | newsweb@everythinglubbock.com

(Nexstar Media Group/EverythingLubbock.com Staff)

LUBBOCK, Texas Firefighters were dispatched to a reported structure fire in East Lubbock Sunday afternoon.

The fire was reported around 3:05 p.m. in the 3400 block of East 16th Street.

Lubbock Fire Rescue told EverythingLubbock.com the fire originated in backyard shed, ignited a fence and was beginning to ignite the house.

Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire and no injuries were reported.

LFR said the home received some smoke but no fire damage.

There was also some light damage to the exterior of an adjacent home and damage to some power lines.

One adult was receiving assistance from the Red Cross, LFR said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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LFR battles shed fire that spread to fence, threatened 2 homes in East Lubbock Sunday - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

An officer at the scene talks to the suspect, according to a neighbor. [Photo by Macy Brown]

The Sergeant said that at 3:37 a.m. we received a 911 caller that said he heard something break out front. When officers arrived at the scene, Ellebrecht said, We located the suspects vehiclea 2004 Mustang[It] had collided with 2016 Kia and a 2017 Chevy, a 1989 Oldsmobile and a fence.

Macy Brown, a neighbor told us,

We didnt see it but it woke us up. I live right next door to where he landed and our other neighbor was awake and saw it. He hit the Chevy and the Oldsmobile across the street then was trying to leave, floored it and drove across the lawn into the Kia on the opposite side of the street, inches from his house. It pushed the Kia into the fence. He then was still trying to leave and had the car in reverse but must have messed up the transmission as the car wasnt wanting to go and was making an awful grinding noise right before the police showed up.

Sgt Ellebrecht said that Nazario Guzman-Becerra was booked for a misdemeanor DUI.

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[UPDATED] Driver Hits Multiple Cars and a Fence in Early Morning Crash, Says Fortuna PD Redheaded Blackbelt - Redheaded Blackbelt

The differences between Missouris general and optional fence laws will be discussed at a program to be held in person and online via Zoom on February 23rd and March 8th.

Sessions will be held at the Harrison County Extension Center of Bethany, Adair County Extension Center of Kirksville, and North Central Missouri College Barton Farm Campus of Trenton the night of February 23rd from 6:30 to 9 oclock. Other sessions will be held at the Macon County Extension Center of Macon and Jonis Shed of Hamilton on the night of March 8th from 6:30 to 9 oclock.

Extension Agricultural Business Specialist Joe Koenen of Putnam County will present the fence law programs. He has given presentations on fence law for more than 25 years.

University of Missouri Extension County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment Jackie Spainhower explains that, in 1963, the Missouri legislature authorized counties to adopt a local option to the general fence law, which could be created by a majority vote of any countys registered voters. She notes there are 19 counties that have the optional law, and the majority are in North Central Missouri.

Space for in-person programs will be limited at some locations due to COVID-19 precautions.

The registration fee is $15. Visit extension.missouri.edu/events and search for fence law to register for the February 23rd or March 8th sessions. Spainhower can be contacted for more information or for help with registering for the session at Bethany by calling the Harrison County Extension Center at 660-425-6434 or Worth County Extension Center at 660-564-3363.

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Audio: Missouri fence laws topic of in-person program on February 23 and March 8, 2021 - kttn

National Review

During his Super Bowl interview on CBS Evening News, President Joe Biden declared that all the economics of a $15 minimum-wage hike were good. What he meant to say was, all the politics of a $15 minimum wage are good. The economics are highly debatable. A minimum-wage hike quenches the populist appetite of many voters. After all, it seemingly costs them nothing to compel greedy big business CEOs to pay the proletariat fairer wages. The problem is that a minimum wage is a tax on goods and services, and its not the big businesses that suffer, but small ones who cant afford it. Nor are minimum-wage workers a static group of poor Americans. In fact, 58 percent of them are young workers. Minimum-wage policy marginally improves the lives of Americans working their way up the ladder, and in the meantime destroys millions of entry-level jobs. Even the CBO says that while a $15 minimum wage would lift 900,000 out of poverty, it would eliminate 1.4 million jobs. Or, as Thomas Sowell likes to remind us, the real minimum wage is zero. It should also be remembered that minimum-wage policy is not a federal concern. Treating the wages of those who live in NYC as you would those in Alabama is simply bad policy. Though Democrats, of course, want a national minimum wage to create a hard floor so they can keep spiking it locally. Theres very little real debate on the topic in major media. Bidens all the economics comment is reminiscent of Barack Obamas absurd claim that every economist believed in his stimulus plan. Such declarations are meant to create the veneer of scientific consensus and certitude, a myth that the media is almost always happy to advance. When the Cato Institute found 200 economists to counter Obamas claim, three of them Nobel laureates James Buchanan, Edward Prescott, and Vernon Smith they had to take out a full-page ad in the New York Times to be heard. It was not true then, and is not true now, that all the economics of the minimum wage, or much else, is settled. As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman once noted, any Econ 101 student can tell you that higher wage reduces the quantity of labor demanded, and hence leads to unemployment. Indeed, for a long time, there was a strong consensus on the matter. Today, Krugman, who has seen the light, uses unconvincing argumentum ad populum to bolster his case for raising the minimum wage, as it is immensely popular; its supported by around 70 percent of voters, including a substantial majority of self-identified Republicans. Even those extremists, strewn across the wastelands of middle America, get it, I guess. And though Krugman doesnt mention his own expedient partisan conversion on the issue, he notes: Its true that once upon a time there was a near-consensus among economists that minimum wages substantially reduced employment. But that was long ago. These days only a minority of economists think raising the minimum to $15 would have large employment costs, and a strong plurality believe that a significant rise although maybe not all the way to $15 would be a good idea. Anyone who bothers clicking on the hyperlinks offered by Krugman will quickly find out they are being misled. The Initiative on Global Markets (IGM) at the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business link, for instance, does not show resounding majority support for a federal Biden-style minimum wage. Claims of a strong plurality also appear to be a stretch, while discounting the large cross-section of economists who are undecided. Krugman fails to mention that in the 2015 survey he hyperlinks, 26 percent of economists believe a flat $15 federal minimum wage would lower employment for low-wage workers, while 24 percent said otherwise, and 38 percent werent sure. As for whether doing so would substantially increase aggregate output in the economy, just 2 percent agreed. Krugman fails to mention that the 2013 survey he links to, for even a $9 federal minimum wage, shows 34 percent agreed that it would cost jobs, 24 percent were uncertain, and 32 percent disagreed. A plurality indicated that there could be net benefits to a $9 wage indexed to inflation, which, of course, isnt the Biden plan. In the 2021 survey, conducted just this month, a panel of over 80 economic experts were queried on the subject of the $15 minimum wage, and the results do not suggest any consensus. When IGM posed this statement, A federal minimum wage of $15 per hour would lower employment for low-wage workers in many states, 45 percent agreed, and 33 percent were unsure. Only 14 percent disagreed. When presented with the statement, A federal minimum wage that is pegged to state and/or local conditions such as the cost of living would be preferable to the current arrangements that give states a role in setting the policy, 42 percent either strongly agreed or agreed, another 42 percent were uncertain, and only 9 percent disagreed. Bidens plan is to federalize minimum-wage laws. Many economists like the idea in theory, but many are still unsure, and just as many see the downside for employment. But Krugman and Biden are merely trying to shut down debate. And they have plenty of help.

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There Are Ways To Protect The Capitol Without A Fence - Yahoo News

Theyre wise, Dinkel said. They said, You always have to start a conversation like that with empathy.

The class explored the idea of an empirical truth in science, and how to use that truth to educate other people. As the students designed their videos, Dinkel circulated around the lab space, reminding students of how empathy is crucial when trying to encourage people to see a different perspective.

Our goal is not to alienate or belittle, Dinkel said. Our goal is to recognize that people's concerns are really valid and they're rational. And so thats your mission as scientists, is to offer them in an accessible way, entertaining way, evidence that helps them consider a different point of view.

To start, the students researched some myths and misconceptions about COVID vaccines.

Then they studied, as this video shows, what the coronavirus is, how its spread, how it interacts with the lungs and the immune system response, how precisely the vaccine works, how messenger RNA gets into your cells to make antibodies to fight the virus later on.

The students say they can understand why there are so many myths and misconceptions about the vaccine. Its new science. Its the first time a vaccine has used messenger RNA as the molecular agent used to teach the body how to recognize and fight the virus. Hayden Wright said his group is tackling the spooky myth that mRNA will alter peoples DNA.

We have to explain that the mRNA doesn't actually affect the area of the DNA, it's the layer outside of it, he said.

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On The Fence About COVID Vaccines? These Teens Want To Talk To You - Colorado Public Radio

As a kid, I heard of oversalted soil on which nothing would grow anymore. In ancient times, sometimes, the winners of a battle would salt the earth of their defeated enemy in order to prevent future harvests; Roman general Scipio Aemilianus Africanus did this to Carthage after the third Punic War. You wouldnt believe, therefore, how that Bible verse, Matthew 5:13, bewildered me back then that being the salt of the earth was something desirable. Nor did it occur to myself how much influence on our western cultures salt has had. These days, having not many better things to do than pondering and writing, the topic of salt popped up in my mind. And its only partly as a culinary matter.

Of course, we all know that salt is a mineral. The chemistry fans amongst us know that the edible ones formula is NaCl as in Latin natrium chloride; English chemist Sir Humphry Davy used caustic soda when isolating the element, therefore, the English language uses the term sodium, not natrium. Quite interesting already, isnt it? We all know that all forms of life need a certain amount of salt as an electrolyte, but that in human nourishment an overly amount of salt can cause hypertension and heart diseases. We also know that there is rock salt and sea salt, and that kosher salt is coarse rock salt and has no additives like iodine. But did you know that the salt in itself is not produced under any kosher rules but used for dry-brining aka koshering meat?

As I walk the grocery aisles and grab another pack of salt, just as I would pluck a flower or an herb in my garden, it occurs to me that I will pay for it with money that comes from another salty term, a salary. Indeed, salt was so precious in former times that Roman soldiers got paid extra-money to buy salt, the salarium. Another word that dates back to the Romans is salad; they used to salt lettuce leaves. Food items like salsa, sauce, saucisson (the French term for sausage, which also seems to be of a salty linguistic heritage), and salami all derive from the Romanic word salis, salt.

Because salt was so rare and hard to extract out of rock or sea, it had to be imported sometimes from places as far as China. Salt routes developed, and to this day, you can still recognize through which places they went. Has it ever occurred to you that Salzburg, Austria, means salt fortress? And that the Salzach, which streams through it, was used for the transport of salt on floats, and its meaning is salt river? That the ancient German currency of Heller was coined off the term halhus, which was a building in which the rock salt was extracted from the rock, and that a Heller signified the value of a certain amount of salt? That a Hellweg in Germany simply means salt route? That Christopher Columbus travels were at least partly financed by Spanish salt taxes, and that one of the causes for the French Revolution was an excessive salt tax? Why? Consider that salt was used to preserve food preserving food was always also a thing of frugality; and now think of all the people who couldnt even afford as much salt as they needed. It would be as if our freezers and refrigerators were constantly without power! Salt taxes were one of the causes for the American Revolution (not just taxes on tea) as well as the cause for Ghandis Independence Movement in India.

Bread and salt are welcoming and housewarming gifts in numerous cultures to this day. Salt is supposed to bring good luck if you toss three pinches over your left shoulder; I prefer not to, as I am not superstitious and Id have to clean the mess But it means bad luck if you accidentally spill some. I have my doubts that the adage take it with a pinch of salt comes from the fact that salt makes something more palatable to swallow, as it means to interpret something more skeptically. I think it means that salt brings out some underlying flavors that otherwise you might not perceive. But that is just MY humble pondering.

So, after all these salty facts (and this concerns just the edible portion of it), the Bible verse is so much more logical. Salt of the earth is something incredibly precious, hard to be gained. Come to think of it, there is also a fairy tale that has a king ask his three daughters how much they love him. He rages and bans his youngest from the court when she answers that she loves him like salt; thereafter she secretly works in the kings kitchen and cooks all his meals without salt you may guess what this leads to. And, of course this tale comes from Southern Germany, a salt producing region. Of some Northern Germans legend has it that you need to eat a pound of salt with them before they befriend you figure how long it takes to eat a pound There are a lot more saucy tales and adages about the topic of salt. Dig around they are out there

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Across the Fence: Salt On Our Tongues - The Suburban Times

WILLMAR A New London woman was transported to the hospital after she drove through several yards Wednesday morning in Willmar, according to a news release from the Willmar Police Department.

According to the news release, Kathy Peterson, 65, of New London, exited Walts Car Wash on the 1200 block of First Street South and proceeded to travel northbound across Roise Avenue, driving through several yards on the 1100 block of Third Street Southwest.

Peterson drove through two fences, hit a shed and eventually came to a stop after her vehicle struck an unoccupied garage.

Peterson was transported to the Carris Health Rice Memorial Hospital emergency room by ambulance as a precaution. No other injuries were reported.

CentraCare Emergency Medical Services, the Kandiyohi County Rescue Squad and the Willmar Fire Department responded to the incident reported at 8:24 a.m. Wednesday.

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New London woman drives through yards and fences, crashes into garage after leaving car wash in Willmar - West Central Tribune

"Good fences make good neighbors," says the neighbor in Robert Frost's famous poem "The Mending Wall."

Having heard Frost's words used to defend building fences and walls, I'm not sure that's what he writes in the poem, and it's certainly not what I believe makes good neighbors. I prefer bridges rather than walls. They connect rather than divide people.

In the poem, Frost questions his neighbor's adage that good fences make good neighbors.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offense,

Something there is that doesn't love a wall.

That wants it down.

Before a wall is built, I'd like to know who is walled out and also who is being walled in. After all, walls not only keep people out of somewhere but keep them in as well. And walls, of course, are not only physical structures but also mental. You can wall people in by promoting only one point of view and denying opposing points of view. Free, responsible speech is not only necessary for dialogue but democracies.

I think I prefer building bridges rather than walls between people. After all, you can't really keep ideas walled in. A great and good idea goes around, under, and through walls as President Ronald Reagan knew when he challenged then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall, which separated a country.

Of course, nations need boundaries to describe their territories. So, too, do individuals need boundaries to tell others what they consider fair and just limits to relationships. Without boundaries, people can lose all sense of their limits and sometimes sacrifice their integrities.

I've often thought Frost was arguing that "good fences make good neighbors," but reading the poem again I think he felt the opposite: "Something there is that doesn't like a wall."

Most poems begin from some experience in a poet's life. I can imagine Frost talking with a neighbor about the wall between their homes. My column and a poem arose as I await a fence being constructed around a portion of my backyard. But it's not being built to keep my neighbor off my property but my new dog in my yard, Being a beagle who follows the scents of the wild to lure her anywhere, she needs the fence to be safe.

I'd still rather build bridges than walls, especially when it comes to new ideas and people. I'd rather take the time to learn something new than simply repeat the old, time-worn saying that "good fences make good neighbors." Good bridges make good neighbors, or as 17th century English poet John Donne wrote: "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main"

John C. Morgan is a writer and teacher. His columns appear here each Wednesday in this newspaper. A collection of his poetry, "Thin Places," is available on Amazon.

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Everyday Ethics: Fences and neighbors [Opinion] - Reading Eagle

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The city has approved changes to its policies on fences, hedges and walls for both residents and businesses after a proposal from the building official.

The existing ordinance regarding fence type, fence height and placement of shrubbery had led to several questions and issues regarding property lines, neighbors and distances according to a letter from Building Official Michael Gero to Mayor Greg Kurtz.

The proposed changes were suggested to provide clarity and specification for residents and business owners.

The (modified) ordinance requires the property owner who is seeking a permit to verify property lines, notify adjacent property owners and resolve any potential conflicts before requesting the variance, Gero said.

The original ordinance -- Chapter 1363, according to codelibrary.amlegal.com -- outlined the rules for fence construction, gave height limitations for fences and said the Board of Zoning Appeals may permit exceptions to the restrictions on fences and walls when necessary.

The proposed changes add more information to the ordinance.

Gero outlined the additions: It specifies permit application requirements, eliminates the survey requirement specifies location requirements, (and) clarifies language which requires that any fence be installed in a location that allows the property owner, or their agent, to perform maintenance without entering any adjoining property.

These changes clarify that it is the property owners responsibility to identify property lines and communicate about their planned fence, wall or hedge construction with the owners of adjacent properties.

Gero said during the January City Council meeting, We are adding statements where the city is not approving, we are not responsible; but our goal now is if someone applies for a fence permit, my vision would be to have somebody from the city meet with the property owner and the neighbor to make sure that they both agree, or at least understand what the intent is.

He said that if a neighbor challenges the fence construction or location, it is the responsibility of the property owner who is requesting the variance to resolve the issue.

During the City Council meeting, Councilperson Tom Narduzzi said: Its a very uncomfortable situation for Mike, the Building Department, the person putting the fence up and the neighbor when things dont work out the way they are supposed to. It gets a lot of people involved that really shouldnt be involved. So, I think the mayor is doing the right thing by changing this legislation.

A resident must now provide a scale drawing with the location, height and type of fence, as well as the distance from structures, easements and swales. The city will inspect the property to ensure that the fence is constructed the way it is laid out in the plan submitted as part of the process for obtaining a permit.

Temporary fences that protect vegetation are exempt from needing a permit and must not be higher than 6 feet nor closer than 10 feet from a property line.

The changes to the ordinance also dictate the actual construction of a fence, including not being located within 3 feet of an adjoining propertys driveway or parallel structure, and having a gate to provide access for safety forces.

Gero said this is not a retroactive ordinance, meaning that any existing fencing can remain installed as it is.

Kurtz signed the legislation for these changes to take effect on Jan. 12, following the City Council meeting.

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Independence amends ordinance on fences, hedges and walls - cleveland.com