I debated writing my entire article this week on the vehicle/pedestrian accident that occurred on the intersection of Sixth Avenue North and Smith Street last week, but I'll refrain from doing that and, instead, offer a few thoughts. First of all, you people who make it a habit to be nosey and bother investigators for no reason other than to be 'in the know' are really ignorant. I got treated (in my opinion) poorly by an officer who was having a bad day because (I am assuming) she figured I was one of those people. In fact, I was concerned the accident involved a family member and I wasn't able to find out until my family arrived home. If we all use some courtesy then maybe the next time something happens and a citizen is concerned that someone close to him/her is involved, they will be taken a little more seriously when inquiring. Secondly, I suppose hitting the panic button is never a good thing and I apologize for doing that, but to think my family could be involved a hundred feet away while I eat supper and am oblivious to the whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Thirdly, I think it's now imperative for the City of Yorkton to do something about the crosswalk on Smith Street and Sixth Avenue North. For vehicles heading west, the crosswalk is hard to recognize as it doesn't have any clear markings and it, sort of, sneaks up on you. The reality is that on a four lane street with a median, like what Smith Street has, the majority of vehicles are going to drive faster than 50 km/h. Let's get some better signage, maybe even walk lights, up on this very dangerous cross walk. I know my kids use this crosswalk every day when coming home from school and we've made a phone call about it, but to our knowledge nothing has been considered. Hopefully last Thursday's victim is okay and it will spark action. The school bus driver deserves praise for coming up with an idea over the weekend that should make it a bit better for the children. Instead of letting them off half a block north on Sixth, he's going to stop on Smith at the cross walk and leave his lights on while the kids walk in front of the bus to get across the street. This is a better option than what exists now, but it doesn't help adults crossing the street or anyone else crossing when it's night time (as was the case on Thursday).
Cross a new one off the list for people who feel pity for criminals. A Texas young person has been given 10-years probation instead of a prison term after he killed four people in a DUI incident. The reason was that this poor drunk driver suffered from affluenza. Affluenza is a fancy term reserved for spoiled brats who get into legal trouble. The 'condition' is used to describe a person who comes from a rich family and has a sense of entitlement, are irresponsible, makes excuses for poor behaviour, and sometimes dabbles in drugs and alcohol. I'm not making this up. Pretty soon, it will impossible to convict someone of a crime. Judges give consideration to people who come from families that lived in poverty and now it looks like coming from a rich family causes illness that could result in criminal behaviour as well. There is no such thing as a bad person anymore. Just bad circumstances that make good people do bad things. Here's a question for all you socialists out there: I grew up in poverty and was the product of a single parent family, but now make a pretty good living and raise three children. Should I get an extra reward for NOT becoming a criminal? Or, do I get a free pass if I snap next week and hold up a bank? Technically, I could use both defenses. I grew up in a poor family, but now I'm gainfully employed with disposable income and, therefore, have a sense of entitlement. See how ridiculous society is now?
Police in Toronto are being criticized because four of them opened fire on an 18-year-old suspect at a subway station over the weekend. I'm wondering what people would have preferred: wait for this 18-year-old to hurt someone and then have one member shoot the guy, or err on the side of safety for everyone else and just make sure this individual is taken down?
The NHL has suspended Shawn Thornton 15 games for punching Brooks Orpik when he was already knocked out cold. Meanwhile, David Clarkson got 2 games for a flagrant high hit on an opposing player in what was termed, "exactly the type of hit the NHL wants to eliminate from the game". I'm thinking the 15 given to Thornton will be an effective measure to deter future attacks on defenceless players. The 2 games given to Clarkson accomplishes nothing as far as 'eliminating those type of hits from the game'.
Nice person mentions this week to Mike Reagan, Kevin Mundt, Derek Kohut, Louise Martin, Doug Jonassen, and Rhianna Morin.
