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Raleigh going after unpaid parking ticketsUpdated: 6:41 p.m. Wednesday Raleigh, N.C. — Hundreds of area residents are getting mail from Raleigh officials this week, but it's not holiday greetings. The city sent 4,000 letters Monday to people who have unpaid parking citations, and officials said more mailings are planned. The move is part of a new collection method approved last spring by the City Council. Effective Dec. 15, the city can intercept the state income tax refund of anyone with more than $50 in unpaid parking citations that are more than six months delinquent in order to pay off the...

A Queens man is very upset after trying to put his trash out for collection and ending up with a ticket. He, and others, are getting snared in an enforcement of a law that few people even know exists. The scrooge award goes to the New York City Sanitation Department for the $100 tickets. Raymond Janson says he received the $100 fine for putting his garbage cans at the curb 30 minutes early. It is legal to put out the trash cans the day before pick-up but the time of the day matters. City sanitation rules say the cans can...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A family squabble over season tickets to Duke men's basketball games has resulted in a legal fight. A woman filed a lawsuit Friday against her sister, her sister's husband and Duke University regarding the transfer of two tickets that once belonged to her father for games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Katina Dorton is seeking unspecified damages and asking the court to invalidate the "fraudulent transfer" to Gordon and Sophia Caudle that occurred without the knowledge or consent of her father or other family members, according to the complaint.

...Quality Planning’s Top Ten Most Ticketed Cars Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Convertible Toyota Camry-Solara Coupe Scion tC Coupe Hummer H2/H3 SUV Scion XB Hatchback Mercedes-Benz CLS-63 AMG Sedan Acura Integra Coupe Pontiac Grand Prix Sedan Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Sedan Volkswagen GTI Hatchback

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- A Florida judge says red light tickets issued by police officers are unconstitutional because they impose more severe penalties than red light camera citations. Broward County Judge Fred Berman noted last week police write tickets for $260 when they observe a motorist blowing through a red light while $158 citations are issued to motorists caught by the red light cameras, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday. Berman said the police-issued tickets, which also impose points on driver's licenses, violate equal protection provisions in the U.S. and Florida constitutions. The ruling eliminated a ticket issued to a motorist...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has agreed to pay nearly $42,000 in fines to resolve state and city investigations into his practice of accepting tickets to sports events, concerts and pricey entertainment activities without reporting them as gifts, officials said Friday. In a pact drafted by officials with the state Fair Political Practices Commission and the city Ethics Commission, Villaraigosa admitted that he failed to report free tickets to 34 events during his first five years in office, including Los Angeles Lakers games and concerts at such venues as Gibson Amphitheater. Villaraigosa faced a maximum fine of more than $167,000...

Should police be able to issue $150 warning tickets to speeding drivers, protecting them from higher insurance premiums while fattening the wallets of governments? A proposal in the Legislature would change state traffic laws and possibly reignite friction that dates back two decades among towns, counties, law enforcement agencies, courts and drivers. A bill in the House of Representatives would allow police to write a warning ticket to speeders driving less than 10 mph over the speed limit. The kicker is the motorist would not suffer points on his or her driving record, which can raise premiums. In addition, cash-strapped...

The bill would allow people to carry a gun almost anywhere in Indiana. That means licensed gun owners would be able to bring their firearms into libraries, parks, and sports arenas, including Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay held a news conference Thursday to voice his opposition to Senate Bill 292. The bill would allow people to carry a gun almost anywhere in Indiana. That means licensed gun owners would be able to bring their firearms into libraries, parks, and sports arenas, including Lucas Oil Stadium. "It's not taking an issue of bearing firearms or anything. It's about,...

Conyers to go for 24th term in 2012Published: Jan. 31, 2011 at 10:41 AM DETROIT, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Saying he's not ready to retire, U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., who has been in Congress since 1965, announced plans to run for re-election in 2012. The 81-year-old Michigan Democrat has had an easy time retaining his seat, but political analysts say the 2012 contest could be challenging because of his age and a redistricting exercise that could expand his district, The Detroit News reported Monday. "It's understood that I'm going to be running again," Conyers told the News. "I mean,...

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) – They fought to save a life, and now they say they’ll fight the fine. It all revolves around the rescue of a deer trapped in icy water Thursday night. Alex DeMetrick reports that good deed was rewarded with tickets. Strangers banded together to pull a deer out of the freezing water of the Patapsco River on Thursday night. “We seen the deer going under,” said Khalil Abusakran. “It couldn’t maintain. It was starting to freeze, and it was really getting bad.” Abusakran brought a raft, and Jim Hart joined him. “We had oars and shovels...

Former President Clinton in Greensboro for lectureThe Associated Press Tuesday, November 30, 2010 GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton is visiting Greensboro for a lecture hosted by Guilford College. The event Tuesday evening at the Greensboro Coliseum is titled, "Embracing Our Common Humanity." It's part of an annual lecture series offered by the college. Clinton is the first U.S. president to take part in the Bryan Series. Other former heads of state who have participated in the talks include Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union in 2004 and Mary Robinson of Ireland in 2006. Tickets to the event...

Motorist with three unpaid parking tickets at one time should be looking warily over their shoulder at what state politicians are doing with legislation that has cleared the Michigan House but come to a stall in the Senate. The bill would have the Secretary of State deny a driver license renewal to any motorist with as few as three unpaid parking tickets. It cleared the Michigan House last October on a vote of 68-37. But on June 30, when it was brought up for a final passage vote in the Senate, the chamber overwhelmingly rejected it with a vote of...

PHOENIX -- Dozens of photo-enforcement cameras on freeways throughout the state are coming down this week. A total of 76 cameras will cease operation on Thursday. The photo-enforcement program, which was meant to catch speeders on Arizona's freeways, has been controversial from the beginning. The cameras first went up nearly two years ago. While the cameras have done a good job at snapping speeders, drivers have been ignoring the tickets. According to the Department of Public Safety, the cameras led to more than 700,000 tickets in the first year of operation. Many of those people, however, never paid the fines....

Just now, got a ticket when I and all my passengers had seat belts on. I had a gray shirt and a gray seat belt. The Cop insists that he saw it hanging down. Everyone in my car knows I was wearing a seat belt but they are all minors. I will go to court and fight this, but what the heck.

For the first time, a major Hollywood film will hit the $20 threshold at the box office, as movie-theater owners test the public's ability to absorb ever higher ticket prices. Several theaters will charge $20 per adult ticket to IMAX showings of the animated 3-D family film "Shrek Forever After," the fourth "Shrek" installment from DreamWorks Animation. The theaters include the AMC theater in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood, AMC Loews 34, AMC Loews Lincoln Square and AMC Empire 42nd Street. The increases weren't officially announced, but were reflected in prices posted Wednesday on movie-ticketing Web sites such as Fandango.com and...

INDIANAPOLIS (December 30, 2009) - 2009 traffic fatalities in Indiana are on pace to be the lowest recorded since 1925. Preliminary statistics through December 28 show 680 highway fatalities, compared to 814 for the same period in 2008, according to Indiana State Police (ISP). That is a more than 16 percent reduction. Since 2004, when there were 947 fatalities, there has been a 28 percent drop in roadway deaths. 2009 will be the first year in which ISP issued more than one million traffic arrests and written warnings. ..................

Susan Finkelstein sat down with undercover Officer Michael Brady at a Bucks County bar and allegedly gave him a bold confession for a first meeting, according to his testimony yesterday at her preliminary hearing. "I admit it. I'm a prostitute. I love sex. I'm a whore," the Bensalem police officer testified that Finkelstein had told him as he posed as "Bob" at Manny Brown's in Bensalem. [excerpted for graphic content]The Southwest Philadelphia woman believed Brady had three tickets to a Phillies-Yankees World Series game and, Bensalem police say, was willing to exchange sex for at least one. In reality, it...

For the past 10 years, Jesus Leonardo has been cleaning up at an OTB parlor in Midtown Manhattan, cashing in, by his own count, nearly half a million dollars’ worth of winning tickets from wagers on thoroughbred races across the country. During his glorious run, Mr. Leonardo, 57, has not placed a single bet. “It is literally found money,” he said on a recent night from his private winner’s circle. He spends more than 10 hours a day there, feeding thousands of discarded betting slips through a ticket scanner in a never-ending search for someone else’s lost treasure. “This has...

HOUSTON -- The Houston Police Department launched a new creative campaign to crack down on dangerous and aggressive drivers, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday. The plan calls for putting plainclothes officers in different locations around the city to spot drivers who are speeding, not wearing seat belts, or changing lanes erratically. In one tactic, senior Houston Police Officer William Dodson will dress in street clothes and stand at a street corner with a sign in his hand. Some people could mistake him for a vagrant, but on closer inspection, they will see that the sign is reminding people to wear...

A self-described “desperate blonde” was arrested after she attempted to trade sex for World Series tickets, police said. Susan Finkelstein, a 43-year-old Philadelphia woman, took out an ad on the website Craigslist declaring her wish for seats at the "Fall Classic." “Desperate Blonde Needs WS Tix,” the title of the ad read, according to police. Police who viewed the ad apparently believed Finkelstein went into foul territory when she described what she’d be willing to do for the tickets. “Diehard Phillies fan – gorgeous tall buxom blonde – in desperate need of two World Series tickets,” the ad went on....

If Chicago hosts the 2016 Summer Olympics, will you buy a ticket to go watch an Olympic event? Yes 23.7% No 76.3% Total votes: 615

There was something different in the air today at the 20th annual Boston Freedom Rally at the Boston Common. And it wasn’t just the clouds of pungent marijuana smoke. It was the first time the rally organized by the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition had been held since voters passed Proposition 2 last November, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. The changed law gave attendees reason to celebrate and a better chance of not getting arrested -- a scenario organizers say is a welcome change for the event, which has caused controversy over the years, including many arrests and...

PHOENIX – Speed camera photos of the man in the monkey and giraffe masks have generated lots of chuckles. But the cops aren't laughing. Dave VonTesmar, 47, started getting the $181.50 tickets last year, but it took Arizona state police several months to realize the same driver was repeatedly triggering speed cameras and refusing to pay the fines. By the time they did, more than 50 of the tickets had become invalid because the deadline for prosecution had passed. VonTesmar, who has now amassed $6,7000 in fines, is fighting each citation by claiming he wasn't behind the wheel.

Ticket sales for Bill Clinton's speech Saturday at the CNE have been much slower than expected, forcing organizers to reconfigure the stadium layout and offer fairgoers $5 tickets at the door. About 7,000 advance tickets are sold for the 4 p.m. event, a far cry from the 25,000 people expected when it was announced two weeks ago.“I'm the eternal optimist. I thought we were just going to sell like crazy at the very beginning and it looks like we're going to sell more towards the end of this sales cycle,” said David Bednar, general manager of the Canadian National Exhibition....

4 weeks, 10,000 traffic tickets Heath officials say they didn't expect such a windfall Saturday, August 1, 2009 3:01 AM By Josh Jarman THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH HEATH, Ohio -- City officials say they were shocked by the number of violations recorded during the first month of traffic-camera enforcement and decided to make it cheaper to protest multiple tickets. More than 10,000 violations had been recorded by Heath traffic cameras through Tuesday. At $100 apiece, that would net the city a little more than $830,000 after paying the vendor, Redflex, its share. In four weeks, the cameras will have generated an...

NEW YORK — New York City is buying one-way plane tickets for homeless families to leave the city. It's part of a program by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to keep the homeless out of the expensive shelter system, which costs $36,000 a year per family. More than 550 families have left the city since 2007. All it takes is for a relative to agree to take them in. The city employs a travel agency for domestic travel and the Department of Homeless Services handles international travel.

One reason Barack Obama may think the Cambridge Police Department is "stupid" is that he has a grudge against the law enforcement agency. Obama, who attended Harvard Law School from 1988 to 1991, lived in Cambridge, and apparently didn't like the fact he was frequently hit with parking tickets. In all Obama received 17 tickets for parking violations -- and never paid 15 of them until he was exposed by a local Massachusetts newspaper as a scofflaw.

More Monthlies Needed!! If we had enough monthlies to cover our costs we wouldn't even need to hold FReepathons or, in the very least, they'd run a lot faster. If you are a regular donor to Free Republic, please consider starting a monthly. Your donations will be processed automatically by our program or through PayPal. If you are not a regular donor to Free Republic but find our website fun, useful and informative, please consider becoming a regular donor. Start a monthly if you can. And if you start your monthly this month (or increase your current monthly) please let...

<p>Woo hoo!! We'll be taking the Tea Party Express to DC where we'll join with hundreds of thousands of outraged Americans raising holy hell against the wannabe fascist tinpot dictator, B. Hussein Obama!!</p> <p>It's our intention to step up the intensity level of the Tea Party movement a few decibels! Obama is now attempting to RULE over America without even seeking oversight or approval of the U.S. Congress or the consent of We the People! This cannot be allowed to stand! America is a constitutional republic NOT a dictatorship!</p>

A NewsChannel 5 investigation uncovers what could become a major ticket-fixing scandal in the city of Nashville.And it raises new questions about whether there's one set of laws for those with connections -- and another for the rest of us.But unlike a ticket-fixing problem exposed by NewsChannel 5 Investigates three years ago, it's not the city's elected judges who are dismissing the tickets.So who is it?Our chief investigative reporter Phil Williams has an investigation more than six months in the making.***When you're out on the highway, the radar detector doesn't know who you are.But when deputy juvenile court clerk Matt Drury got ticketed for...

DEARBORN, Mich -- A Dearborn police officer is facing charges in a bribery scheme for allegedly fixing traffic tickets. Alex Brian Ramirez, 42, was charged along with 20-year-old Hassan H. Hojaije. Both men are from Dearborn. Ramirez is charged with embezzlement, misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and larceny, all felonies. Hojaije is charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice, both felonies, and a misdemeanor charge of bribery.

Less than a minute after tickets for last August's Neil Diamond concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden went on sale, more than 100 seats were available for hundreds of dollars more than their normal face value on premium-ticket site TicketExchange.com. The seller? Neil Diamond. Ticket reselling -- also known as scalping -- is an estimated $3 billion-a-year business in which professional brokers buy seats with the hope of flipping them to the public at a hefty markup. ...the source of the higher-priced tickets was the singer, working with Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc., which owns TicketExchange, and concert promoter AEG Live....

I received this e-mail, which has instructions on how George Strait fan club members can purchase tickets for the Cowboy Stadium June 6 concert ahead of the public. Problem is, the e-mail is undecipherable. Why do we apparently have two different user names and two different passwords? How does the George Strait web site sign on relate to any Ticketmaster sign on we might need to create? Or do we need to create a Ticketmaster account? thanks. See below: To purchase tickets for the shows listed below you will be required to enter your George Strait Fan Club username and...

It's believed that he earned upwards of £24,000 through his scam.Abdul Musa, a garage owner from Blackburn, Lancashire, today begins a 16 month stretch in jail after police discovered he was getting paid to take the blame for other people’s speeding offences. According to reports he charged customers £200 a time for his ‘services’, admitting to authorities that he had been driving a car when it got caught on camera. With his service proving particularly popular with local taxi drivers it is believed that he made upwards of £24,000. It is though that he falsely accepted responsibility for at least...

Charles Rangel paid parking tickets with campaign moneyRICHARD SISK DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU Tuesday, December 30th 2008, 10:45 PM WASHINGTON - Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) racked up $1,540 in parking tickets on his Chrysler PT Cruiser and paid for them - legally - with campaign money, his office confirmed Tuesday. Rangel, who is fighting off a House ethics committee investigation of his taxes, campaign contributions and four rent-stabilized apartments in New York, was hit for multiple parking violations around the District of Columbia since March 2007, Congressional Quarterly reported. Payments were made from Rangel's campaign committee and his "leadership" political...

TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 8, 2008 – Nearly a thousand servicemembers got a big “thank you” gift here Dec. 6 with free tickets to the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship football game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Boston College Eagles. The Hokies beat the Eagles 30-12, becoming the ACC’s first two-time winner of the championship game. But no matter who they were cheering for, the troops seemed grateful for the tickets to a long-awaited game. “It’s the most amazing thing ever,” said an Army wife. “I’m a football lover, and I’m glad they took the time to recognize the...

In 2002, police in the city of Detroit gave out a total of 126,007 traffic tickets. Last year, the number of tickets grew to over 245,000 - a 94% jump. The increase was even larger in small towns like Plymouth which saw the number of tickets go up from 440 to 2,500 — up 480 percent — over the same amount of time. According to Detroit area police the reason for the increase is dwindling property tax revenue. That lack of property tax revenue has forced local governments in Michigan to use average citizen drivers to fill the coffers. You...

Has anyone RSVP'd tickets to a McCain/Palin rally online via McCain's official campaign website? I did so today for a rally that I will be driving 5 hours to attend tomorrow morning. I haven't received any confirmation or anything and am starting to get worried. I think tickets are required to attend the event, but the website clearly offers the choice of RSVPing online. I submitted my reservation on the website and a message screen appeared which stated something like "Thanks for signing up for the rally." It was a generic automatic response message. So, has anyone previously done this...

Some of those hoping to wrangle a seat for Barack Obama's speech were told this week they have to put in six hours of volunteer work for his campaign by Friday to have a shot at a ticket. And that ruffled at least a few feathers. "My whole reason why I'm so mad about it is because Democrats need to act like Democrats," said Heather Kreider, a working mother from Centennial. "Democrats work for a living, and they have to work and take care of their families. And they say these are open to those in the community, so they...

The Obama campaign has started notifying people of their ticket status for the big acceptance speech at Invesco Field the final night of the convention.Many of those who received calls told 7NEWS their tickets have come with a caveat.Those viewers said the campaign told them they must volunteer six hours for the campaign by Friday, Aug. 15, in order to get a ticket. "I got a call that if I want the tickets I have to volunteer two shifts of three hours apiece -- for one ticket. If I want two tickets, then it's four shifts of two hours apiece,"...

There is a very good reason why most Yankee fans don't care how much their team spends on baseball players. One of the best reasons is that their team keeps asking them - at least the most well-heeled of them - to spend more and more to help pay the freight. There is a guy I know who has tickets behind the Yankee dugout, has had them for awhile. Last season each seat cost $150 per game. This season, because it is the last season at the old Yankee Stadium, the cost went up to $250. Next season, if he...

TALLAHASSEE -- Responding to what he calls ''obscenely high prices'' for concert tickets, a state lawmaker from Miami Beach wants to crack down on people who scoop up tickets and resell them at hundreds of dollars more than face value. Rep. Dan Gelber, who has two daughters, ages 7 and 9, will unveil his proposed legislation Tuesday at North Beach Elementary School, just hours before Disney Channel pop sensation Hannah Montana performs at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. His bill -- which would have to navigate through a GOP-controlled Legislature before becoming law -- takes aim primarily at those who...

There are people paying $250 this week for Hannah Montana concert tickets with a face value of 25 bucks. For those of you not blessed with 13-year-old daughters who watch the Disney Channel, Hannah Montana is a fictional pop star played by the daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus - also known as the Achy-Breaky Heart guy. Anyone who’d pay 10 times face value for tickets to watch a cable TV actress sing bad pop music for pre-teens is a dope who shouldn’t have access to a checkbook without adult supervision. On the other hand, there are people prepared to pay...

LONDON (AFP) - Tickets for the Spice Girls' comeback concert in London sold out in just 38 seconds, the show's organisers announced on Monday. Demand was so overwhelming -- more than one million people in Britain registered for the sole London show -- that organisers added three more London dates to the tour. The five original Spice Girls -- Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Posh and Baby -- will kick off their worldwide reunion tour on December 2 in Vancouver, their first since Geri Halliwell quit in May 1998, with a December 15 concert scheduled at London's O2 arena. Organisers added London...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - A suburban parking official is threatening to auction off a Marine Corps recruiter's car tied to nearly $5,000 in unpaid tickets, part of what the city claims is the Corps' roughly $94,000 tab. "We've tried to be reasonable, but all we've been getting is the run-around," Parking Commissioner Albert Moroni said. The car will be put up for sale in September unless the fines are paid, he said. The vehicle, bearing U.S. government license plates and a Marine Corps decal, was parked in a city garage without payment, according to Moroni. It has racked up 94...

Anyone driving through Minneapolis should keep their eyes on the speedometer and watch those red lights. Police are cracking down on traffic violations to help fill a gap in the city's budget. The city says the police department is nearly $6 million over budget. And money from traffic tickets is down more than a million dollars as well. So to help get back in the black, the number of traffic tickets handed out in Minneapolis in recent weeks has gone up more than 13 percent. City leaders say raising money isn't the only motive. But news of increased police traffic...

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2007 – Servicemembers can take advantage of the generosity of professional wrestlers by getting free admittance into World Wrestling Entertainment events worldwide. Members of the military can receive a free ticket to WWE events, based on availability and excluding WrestleMania events, when they provide valid identification to the box office on performance day. “As a company, we feel that if it wasn’t for troops laying their lives on the line we couldn’t do what we do every day here in the states,” said Sue Aitchison, senior manager for community relations. WWE became a corporate partner with...

Number 1 Worst : Libra - Sept. 23 to Oct. 22 Libra is the "sign of the scales", it craves balance and consensus. Libra doesn’t like to make snap decisions. But rush hour traffic is not a time for seeking driver approval, or for being indecisive. 2nd Worst Position : Aquarius - Jan. 20 to Feb. 18 They’re impulsive, and ruled by the Planet of speed and rebellion. Aquarians need to get a better grip behind the wheel. 3rd Worst Position : Aries - Mar. 21 to Apr. 19 Its symbol is the ram. Not good a sign to have...

State police brass are pressuring troopers to dole out speeding tickets instead of warnings in a cash-grabbing mandate cops say is the closest the department has ever come to setting quotas. The pilot program, designed to monitor troopers’ daily activities, lays out a new system that rewards troopers if they give out a ticket as opposed to a verbal or written warning. Under the program, troopers get no extra pay but are credited with 1.5 hours on their daily time sheet for writing a ticket, one hour for a written warning and just a half-hour for a verbal warning. All...

THOUSANDS of people are expected to camp out at booking outlets tomorrow night for tickets to Steve Irwin's memorial service. The life of the Crocodile Hunter will be honoured at a special public memorial service next Wednesday at the family's Sunshine Coast animal park, Australia Zoo. The memorial will be held at the park's Crocoseum, which was built by Mr Irwin and holds a capacity of 5500. Three thousand tickets – a maximum of four per person – will be released to the public at no charge from 9am (AEST) on Friday at Australia Zoo's box office and Ticketek outlets...