Voters in three cities sent a clear message to local lawmakers yesterday by adopting charter amendments that ban photo enforcement. In addition to kicking two camera supporters from the city council, 72 percent of those voting in Chillicothe, Ohio approved a total prohibition on the use of red light cameras and speed cameras. In College Station, Texas the vote was much closer, but at the end of the night 52 percent wanted the red light cameras to come down. In Heath, Ohio 51 percent voted against the cameras. A total of nine cities nationwide have used the initiative process to ban camera enforcement since 1991, with camera proponents never having won a public vote.

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Maryland cities will create brand new “school zones” in an attempt to issue speed camera tickets on roads that previously had no need of the designation. When the state legislature authorized speed cameras six months ago in response to a $690,506 lobbying campaign from photo ticketing and insurance companies, lawmakers mandated that the cameras could only be used within a half mile of a school zone. Baltimore is among the first to admit that it will bypass that restriction. “You asked if the locations for speed cameras were all pre-existing school zones,” Baltimore engineer Rainna P. Strauss wrote in an email exchange obtained by the StopBigBrotherMD.org website. “No they were not.”

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According to a speed camera citation that landed in his mailbox on October 10, motorcyclist Paolo Turina blasted past a speed camera at 616km/h (383 MPH). Last month, Turina had been riding his Moto Guzzi motorcycle in the municipality of Cernusco Lombardone in Lombardy when a Telelaser Ultralyte device recorded him passing by. The letter from the municipal police suggested that Turina had exceeded the fastest recorded MotoGP race speed of 217 MPH, set in June by Dani Pedrosa at the Mugello, Italy, by 166 MPH. Municipal police admitted the speed may have been printed on the ticket in error, but that the citation itself was valid.

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Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D) on Thursday outlined his plan to reduce the state’s $600 million deficit and help struggling municipalities by, among several other revenue raising measures, installing red light cameras. The governor’s proposed fiscal year 2010 budget amendments would eliminate an existing state law forcing police officers to issue traffic citations personally. Under the new legislation, any jurisdiction in the commonwealth could give private, for-profit companies the right to issue $100 traffic tickets.

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Some of America’s most recognized corporations are growing increasingly involved in providing equipment and services to the automated ticketing industry. In many cases, these Fortune 500 firms play a behind-the-scenes role, without actively seeking publicity for their connections to controversial programs. Imaging giant Kodak did announce that it would be demonstrating a new CCD image sensor at a trade show in Germany on Tuesday. This sensor was specifically designed to work in red light camera and speed camera applications. The company claims the unit doubles light sensitivity, allowing a substantial increase in the number of tickets that can be issued in bad weather conditions.

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The AP reports that Johnson City, TN police have arrested Christopher Walls on two counts of theft under $500. The Volunteer State po-po said the 41-year-old mechanic was tampering with parked cars at restaurants, then charging helpless, hapless owners to help start their sabotaged whips. “Police said Walls charged between $40 and $200 to get the vehicles running again. “Police suspect there are other victims. They’re urging anyone else who thinks they were scammed to call them.” They also said that anyone who receives an offer of on-the-spot mechanical assistance should be wary, and that a call from the Fraternal Order of Police asking for a contribution is in no way a similar sort of deal. Just kidding. They didn’t say that. At all. Wouldn’t even think to make the connection. Obviously.

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska meets with Fritz Henderson, German Gref of Russia’s Sberbank and Siegfried Wolf of Magna. The state department had previously denied Deripaska a US visa for undisclosed reasons, but according to the WSJ, the FBI arranged for Deripaska to visit the US because “they were getting interesting information from him.” Deripaska denies any cooperation with US authorities.

As Redflex Traffic Systems fights a shareholder revolt at home in Australia, the speed camera vendor is simultaneously battling a public revolt against photo ticketing in two Ohio cities. Next Tuesday residents of Chillicothe and Heath will have the opportunity to vote on citizen-led initiatives that would ban the use of red light cameras and speed cameras. Redflex has poured substantial cash into an advertising blitz covering both towns. “Vote NO on Issue 5 and keep Heath safe,” read a Redflex brochure sent to Heath voters this week. “In the last four months alone, at enforced intersections in Heath… red light running has reduced by almost half… 90 percent of speeders are not Heath residents.”

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Sometimes, I come across a quote that is, in or itself, perfect. Like this one from 11alive.com, re: the theft of seven Shriners parade cars.

What these burglars have done is really set the organization back in terms of our parades. Our next parade would have been the College Park Parade, in College Park. And without our cars, it’s just real difficult. So me and the other members of the Temple, we’re going to have to come up with a plan and see what we can do to try to put ourselves back in the parades…. The Temple has clowns. But if you didn’t have the mini-cars, I mean, to me, it’s not a parade.

Anyone with coulrophobia, a kind heart or both can send your donations to Nabbar Temple Motor Unit, 330 Auburn Ave., Atlanta, GA 30312. Meanwhile and in any case, click here for my favorite Shriners’ Mini car site.

In the state of Texas, the right to a meaningful appeal in a red light camera case does not exist. While several states have allowed photo enforcement tickets to be appealed to the highest level — Minnesota’s highest court ruled on a photo ticket in 2007 and a red light camera case is currently pending before the California Supreme Court — several Texas municipalities are using an ambiguity in state law to deny challenges beyond the lowest level of the court system. “Under the current red light ordinance there is no right to appeal beyond municipal court,” College Station Municipal Court assistant Wanda Lapham wrote in a letter to Jim Ash (view letter).

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