Well, the beer was flowing and the drunks were, well, drunk. My sister is a bartender downtown and her bar called the cops twice tonight. But, KU won and celebration was on the menu. And of course, some people celebrate too much. One guy passed out while waiting for the turn signal on 9th and Iowa...yes, he was drving. Until the cops showed up. I've said it before, and I'm going to keep saying it......if you drink, please don't drive. Please? Pretty please? Have a good Sunday, I'll be back tonight. And yes, it's true, the forecast calls for snow.

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Hello! As some of you may know, I am returning from a 2 week break. Seems like I had a lot of stuff going down in my own life and needed to deal with all that. So, that said, now I may return to focus on other people's drama since my own is at a reasonable level.

So far tonight we have a drunk gal who fell down at Set 'em Up Jacks, some drama on Redbud Lane, and a domestic on North Michigan.

Feel like I never left; you can check it out too at http://www.lawrencepolicescanner.blogspot.com

There was a call tonight at 26th and Iowa regarding "arcing power lines". We have all heard of these, but I wondered about them. What are they? What causes these? What do you do if you see one? Well, I'm going to tell you:

The weather often wreaks havoc on our nation's power grid. From tornadoes to hurricanes to winter storms, the elevated power system is particularly vulnerable to damage from any number of weather-related forces. When damage to power lines occurs, intense arcing and power outages usually result. The highly visible, bright arcing from a damaged power line is often referred to as a 'power flash'. Power flashes can light up the nighttime sky, and as a result sometimes look like lightning.

These arcs can easily ignite trees, blow transformers and cause serious bodily injury and/or death. The best thing you can do if you even suspect an arcing power line is to stay away and call 911. Do NOT try to remove debris, vehicles or anything else from the area, as this will be putting yourself in imminent danger.

When the winds are high, I hear a lot of these calls over the scanner. Fire and EMS quickly respond, gain control of any fires caused by the arc and secure the scene. Westar is then called out to service the equipment. These calls often result in power outages, and some may last several hours. If this event is occurring in your area, stay away, and keep your dogs indoors. Not only are your pets as vulnerable as humans, but they may put EMS or Westar workers at risk as well.

Listen to the action in your neighborhood at www.lawrencepolicescanner.blogspot.com

As you know by now, I listen to my police scanner a lot. Pretty much all the time, really. There is something I have been noticing that has been bothering me. It seems like, instead of being neighborly and helpful, that people just call the police. It seems that we are actually outsourcing common courtesy. Is it laziness, fear, lack of time? Is it a disconnect from other people? A result of an increasing isolation brought about by technology and autonomy?

But somehow, I feel we trick ourselves by feeling that we actually have "helped a friend out" by picking up our phone and dialing 911, instead of getting our hands dirty and helping out ourselves. Let me give you some examples.

A caller reported a dog loose in the neighborhood. The caller knew the address of the owner. Why not just go and tell the owner yourself? Or, better yet, take the dog there?

A caller reported their neighbor was banging loudly on the door late at night. Ok, this was NOT in the Redbud area, just in case you were wondering. I know, in my neighborhood, that if one my neighbors was pounding on my door I would instantly become concerned that they needed immediate help, and help them.

This I just heard tonight; a caller reported seeing a bike wreck, and watched the victim go and sit on the curb. They then called the police to report it. What happened to stopping and seeing if he was OK?

Let me tell you a true story- this is where my fear prevented me from helping out;

I was driving home from work one morning- about 5:30 a.m. It was very close to Halloween. I saw a figure walking, and they appeared to be stumbling, somewhat. I couldn't tell if they had a mask on or not, and I really thought to myself "should I stop to make sure they are OK?" I did not. I did have my police scanner on, and proceeded to continue to drive home. I soon heard a police call for a missing adult with Alzhiemers. The descrition given matched the description of the person I saw. I called the police and gave the location he was last seen, and the police were able to locate him and return him home to safety.

I wish I would have stopped. While this story ended well, it could have very easily ended tragically. It was very cold that early morning, and it was in a bad neighborhood.

I guess what I'm trying to say is; we need to put aside our fears, stop being so busy, and take time to get to know our neighbors. It could be you that needs the help someday.

read the blog- tell me what you think;

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All in all it was a quiet night in Lawrence last night. There was a guy who was convinced his computer was trying to strangle him....which was obviously not true. A rather "large disturbance" at Abe and Jake's tied officers up for quite awhile, and resulted in a call for medics. There were your DUI's and noise complaints, and a few trips to the jail.

Last weekend was crazy-busy, and I don't see this weekend being much different. Stay on top of the drama. Stay safe and informed. Better yet, stay home.

You can read all about it at http://www.lawrencepolicescanner.blogspot.com

I would just like to take a second and say what an awesome job our police force does. I, as you know, listen to the scanner constantly. I hear all the ridiculous calls they have to answer, all the false burglary alarms they respond to, all the foolishly drunk people they contend with, and all the drama on Redbud Lane.

I have noticed a huge increase in news reports of police officers being shot. Every call they respond to is a potentially fatal one. They do this every single day, most with wife (or husband) and children at home.

So this is just a quick note of thanks, for all that the police do.

you can follow them too at;

http://www.lawrencepolicescanner.blogspot.com

Holy bar fight! I can't believe how many fights I heard over the scanner last night. The cops were crazy-busy, but pulled it off like champs. Mad props to Dispatch as well. everyone stayed calm, cool and collected.

I blogged what I could- it was coming rapidly and I just couldn't catch it all. During the middle of it all, at about 2:00 a.m., there was a "request to speak to an officer" call. Caller wanted to complain at the traffic at 14th and Ohio. Really? What in the heck to you expect the police to do at 2:00a.m.? Install traffic lights? Put up barricades? Rezone? I just thought it was ridiculous.

The students are here, and they are rowdy! along with a ton of fights, lots of DUI's. Come on guys- i don't know how much simplier it can be- if you drink, don't drive!

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As expected there were many, many calls for non-injury accidents and motorist assists. When I was driving to work I saw more cars on the side of the road than actually driving on the road. The police had a couple of calls i feel were somewhat inappropriate; one caller needed help turning off her water (a plumber maybe?) and another caller was locked out of her house ( uhhh...locksmith?). I have heard in the past a call to police because someone had a racoon in their roof ( exterminator or landlord?).

The students are definately back- a fight at Naismith, a couple of drunks walking home. One call was for a drunk kid on 13th and Tennesse. One of my readers informed me that the police caught up to him at 17th and Tennessee and a good samaratin neighbor gave the kid a ride home. Love that! It is way too cold to walk while intoxicated, and I hate it when people are arrested when walking home. Just glad they aren't driving.

Definately the most interesting call was a car accident on K-10. A police officer was transporting a subject to the county jail and got in an accident. This occurred at 2:45 a.m. Medics were called to the scene and triaged a code green (minor injuries). Westbound traffic on K-10 was closed until after 4am. Just glad no one was seriously injured.

Lots of other stuff you might like to read- like the call that just came over right now that a semi just took out a stop sign at 6th and Mass and took off. And ran a red light. Check it out; http://www.lawrencepolicescanner.blogspot.com

It wasn't particulary busy on the Police Scanner last night, it was just kind of ...weird. The moon appeared full when I gazed upon last night, and you know what they say...

Someone called in around 9pm and reported a low-flying aircraft off Clinton Parkway- they said it was "very close to the ground". Nothing ever came of it, though. I wonder if anyone else saw it? There were quite a few "suspicious activity" calls, and some seemed a bit ridiculous. There was an "attempt to locate" put out on a truck that was seen stealing several air conditioning units from a church in McClouth- uh, dirtbag move. Some joker threw his food at the poor workers at a downtown sandwich shop, an arcing power line and a few noise complaints.

Then a call came in from Immigration at 3am. They were requesting assistance in taking an employee of a fast-food restuarant into custody. Yes, at 3a.m. And someone was warming their car up outside Rick's Place on Illinois and came out and discovered thier car was gone. I know, the Journal World warned us about that!

Oh- and there was an "attempt to locate" at 1600 Haskell. "things in the air..."

Check out the play-by-play action at http://www.lawrencepolicescanner.blogspot.com

It's been an interesting couple of days- as usual. A major public nusiance was taken off the streets. See the article at http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2011/jan/15/lawrence-man-arrested-theft-forgery-charges-follow/#c1484362 Score one for the good guys!

A couple of interesting calls; a man called 911 from Lawrence Suitel because a car was parked near his room with an offensive bumper sticker, and "he works hard to pay for this room." And before you even ask, I did drive over there the next morning and looked- because, like you, I was DYING to know what this sticker said- but couldn't find a green Cutlass. I wasn't willing to get out of my car too look much further. I guess we will always wonder...

Another call today- someone reported a woman was on Clinton Parkway without a coat. Curious. It seemed to me to be really nice today. I was walking around without a coat. I guess i should be glad noone turned me in!

It seems to me that the police spend a lot of time on silly calls. While this does offer entertainment that is way better than cable TV, I feel a lot of resources are being wasted. How do you weed them out though? I understand the police have to respond to them all-because you just never know what the heck might REALLY be going on.

You can read the play-by-play action, as I hear it, at http://www.lawrencepolicescanner.blogspot.com