Where’s the Justice?

Last Friday, Sept 19, my son, a 15-year-old sophomore at South High, was attacked and beaten within sight of the school, while returning from lunch. His attacker, a 19-year-old, was immediately captured by police and arrested. He told them he wanted to “fuck someone up” to impress his friends. Aside from the usual questions about what kind of society produces people who think like this, there is more to the story.

On Saturday, while hanging out with my son, we got an automated message that the punk was going to be released. Enraged, I immediately made a bunch of calls, and found out that the judge had an empty file, and so was letting him go. Some good person at the jail, found the police report and forwarded it. Thus, he was not released and his bail was increased to $1200.

I went to his court appearance on Monday the 22nd. The prosecuting attorney recommended the same bail, but the judge let him go for nothing—apparently because he has no prior adult record(yet). This angered me again. As bad as this viscious, unprovoked attack was, what message are we sending to others? Go ahead and attack school kids on the street by their school, and we'll let you out the next day or as soon as we can, and we'll see ya later, in a month or so, when your next court date comes up, where you can plead guilty and get probation for fifth degree assualt.

I was escourted out of the courtroom by the bailiffs, because I silently made my presence and disapproval of all this apparant (and because I wanted a closer look at this guy before he's back in the hood) The judge had me called back to the court to offer me his sympathy and a warning not to go out and make matters worse ( don't do something you'll regret). And how much worse can it get. The judge has let a guy out to roam the streets who likes to attack and beat children. How much worse does it have to get? I am still angry. My son turned the other cheek. He was kicked in the head on one side and hit with a ringed fist on the other.

As I left the courtroom, one of the offiicers said good luck. I thank him for his sympathy. It will take more than luck.

Scott Cramer, Mpls

LRT Far from hassle-free

Do you know what it's like to be sleep-deprived? Do you know what decibel level is considered to be so loud that the Metropolitan Airport Commission is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to soundproof the homes of the folks they have forced to experience this repeatedly? It is 65-75 decibels. The kind of sound they curtail between the hours of 11 p.m.and 7 a.m. at the airport. Yet this is far quieter than the kind of sound we will be hearing—thousands of us in South Minneapolis—from the horns of the new light rail trains. LRT horns operate at 90-95 decibels. That they even consider making so much noise in a residential area is unbelievable, and something needs to be done.

LRT trains will blast two long notes, then one short, then another long blast, starting a good one quarter mile or more before each of the seven residential street crossings along Hiawatha. Starting at 50th Street, moving so fast that they will hardly be done honking for one intersection before they'll have to start blasting for the next. At night, trains will run every half hour from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., going to and from downtown and the airport. So we'll be hearing 16 rounds of four blasts each as we're trying to barbecue, play outside with the kids, and go to sleep—every night, for four hours, for blocks in every direction.

Make no mistake; we will be hearing them at great distances, and we shouldn't have to put up with this. Each intersection will be equipped with security gates, bells and lights. (I don't even want to start asking just how loud the bells will be ...)
I fully agree that a horn will be useful, for those who are hearing impaired or otherwise unaware; but isn't this taking fearful caution to an extreme? 90-95 decibels, four times every four blocks? The trains move so fast, the horn will sound for nearly half the time it's traveling. What about the sound inside the train, for passengers?

Let's be realistic here. We have to teach our children awareness of dangers crossing streets. We teach them the dangers of climbing trees and walking on frozen lakes. But this doesn't mean we expect anyone to install motion-detectors on the lakes, or warning buzzers around the base of every tree that looks like a good climb.

More to the point; who are we really protecting here, with this sacrifice of the quality of our lives and the value of our homes? It's not pedestrians, who have already been warned by blanket mailings, and will be taught safety in the schools, and who will hear the warning bells and see the lights. No; it is assumed that we will allow these decibels in order to protect the government from the possibility of a lawsuit, and the trouble of asking for more funds. Now that we know exactly how loud it will be, and how constant, is anyone actively soliciting our opinion? No, and we can't wait around for that. We ARE the government, and maybe we think differently than those we put in charge. We need to ask ourselves NOW—Which would we prefer? Immediately having four hours of sleep disturbed every night, with conversations and relaxation outdoors made so frustrating as to be impossible; OR the future possibility of a few extra tax dollars going to pay for a possible lawsuit, and the knowledge that someone, sometime, might make a mistake and get hurt on the tracks? I for one am willing to pay more to maintain my quiet neighborhood.

I am no stranger to death in my family, and it is excruciating. But I wouldn't ask everyone for miles around to make this kind of sacrifice, even if I believed it would protect me or my loved ones from a rare, random train accident. On the other hand, we work hard and long hours in this neighborhood, and we have as much a right to our hours of rest as every other neighborhood. Our backyards are our own, and we need to fight for quality of air. This is constant noise pollution being inflicted on us, and we need to speak up about it in terms the LRT can understand. They want solutions and possible scenarios. They need to hear that we will demand sound-proofing; and with the legal precedent established by the airport lawsuits, we stand a very good chance of getting it, and it will cost them huge amounts of money they don't currently have.

The technicians say this is the "industry standard" for horns on trains. Well, so what? Our situation is unique, and we Minnesotans have always prided ourselves on finding progressive solutions to new problems. Let's have some leadership, here. There are blocks and blocks of houses within 75 feet of the tracks. (I personally have been awakened every night they've tested, and I'm two blocks away and a sound sleeper.) Why not at least TRY to think of other solutions?

I am still asking, what are the real issues here? It can't be that hard to simply lower the decibels. Do we get a slap on the hand from some commission, or does LRT lose a lot of funding if they don't conform to someone else's standards? This is more likely the real reason they keep decibels so loud; no one dares to appeal to whatever commission holds the strings of the pocketbook. It is fear, apathy and laziness about seeing real problems and researching options. And if this is the case, then LRT and our Legislature need to know they may have to weigh the possible loss of funds against the cost of soundproofing hundreds of homes. They won't understand this if we don't speak up. They won't move unless you and I give them a reason to.

Better yet, instead of threatening them, let's lobby the government to make up the difference of funds lost with the kind of creativity we always find if the issue is, say, a new stadium, or high-speed lanes on highways! How about a referendum? People driving through Illinois pay to use the tollways there; business people and tourists can pay extra for the privelage of speedy travel downtown and back. Maybe even outstate folks could kick in a buck or two. Surely some fair formula can be worked out. The point is, people in charge need to know they are creating a chronic problem, and ruining several neighborhoods.

If lowering decibels proves non-negotiable (i.e.loss of that funding seems insurmountable), we need to make them consider alternatives. Wouldn't it be much cheaper to, say, raise the sound walls to the point where they actually function to cut the noise? How about lowering the horns, so the noise is directed forwards within the walls, and doesn't spill out sideways for blocks in all directions?

Why hasn't anyone thought this through before now? If they did, they were counting on the folks of South Minneapolis to be too passive to ask to be treated with the respect we deserve. They are currently hoping we will stand by, pretending to be victims, pretending we have no voice and no opinion.

Now is the time to say something; now, while they are testing and reassessing the actual functioning of the trains. Don't forget: in America, you have to toot your OWN horn or you'll get run over….by the very loud trains of Big Business as Usual.

Laura Frykman, Corcoran