News and notes from around the interweb:
- Grand Rapids airport is testing machines that replace people pushing wheelchairs
- The ‘D’ in D0 stands for dirty
Hey @AmericanAir, is this what first class seat back pocket should look like when boarding in SNA? Wonder how engine maintenance is being kept up? pic.twitter.com/LutFrzPOMA
— J. Barry Watts (@jbarrywatts) March 23, 2022
- Oscar-nominated actor accused of throwing back 10 vodkas on a London – LA flight and striking a passenger with a fork.
- Man has been eating in restaurants – and refusing to pay – for six years.
His “modus operandi” is always the same: he orders different, tasty dishes, eats as much as he wants of them, orders the bill, and when it comes, refuses to pay. If the waiter threatens to report him, Antonio Miguel Grimal waits calmly and patiently for an officer to arrive, completely indifferent. “He’s got a lot of nerve. He knows that they can’t do anything,” said Juanjo Gracia, owner of the bar Espumosos 5M’ de Zaragoza. “The bastard told the waiter to get him a beer while he was waiting for the police. If he’s been locked up, it’s because he refused to identify himself or didn’t attend his hearings,” Gracia continued.
- Orlando, natch.
- Also Florida, a Hampton Inn whose front desk is staffed by the police. Now I know whom to complain to when my points don’t post. (HT: @SharperTravel)
This is the Hilton Suites, Boynton Beach Florida. The entire staff walked out so here is tax dollars at work probing up a private business.
At least it's keeping them off the streets where they could cause trouble. pic.twitter.com/xMtIQOjow9— 🥀_Imposter_🕸️ (@Imposter_Edits) March 24, 2022
At least he only scammed restaurants. In certain American cities, you can attack people, get arrested, released, and go attack more people, like there’s no rule against it. And it’s not a loophole, that’s policy.
Why did the cops in that Florida town find it necessary to staff the hotel? I’m curious about that…..
I would guess that with no staff at the front desk of an occupied building like a hotel, it’s a safety and fire hazard, so the police covered until management could get someone to come in. With cash, access to rooms, CC info, etc., it was the wise thing to do and a lot easier than shutting down the hotel and evacuating everyone. It’s a matter of maintaining public order, so therefore a police issue.
OK C M thanks!
It’s True
The hotel has to hire and pay the police as a private security. All those cops working the front desk are getting paid what equals their over time pay
Why the Oktoberfest picture?
the Spanish story of the non-paying customer has an easy solution — just put his photo up everywhere so restaurants know not to accomodate him. I’m sure there is also more to that story and to that Spanish law. It’s not like crime is rampant in Spain.
Responding to the other commenter: no, in the US repeat offenders generally get much stronger (sometimes draconian) sentences. If people are released with low bail, or not charged, they are either low-level offenders, or first-time offenders if they are deemed low risk. Or, there isn’t enough proof to convict them, in which case they aren’t charged.
Occasionally you will read a story of somebody going out and doing more damage, but that is the exception, not the rule.
Obviously, once somebody is a repeat offender, the sentences escalate. That is the case in all jurisdictions, even those cities whose bail policies you disapprove of.
Cash bail doesn’t exist in most other developed countries. Cash bail means that the rich don’t have to go to jail (they just pay the jail), while the poor have to wait in jail until their trial (losing their jobs, often their apartments, custody of their kids etc). Even if they are later acquitted at trial, their lives are forever destroyed. Bail causes huge economic damage to the families of the accused (not yet convicted, mind you). There is no reason for cash bail to exist.
If somebody is actually a risk to the community, they should just be denied bail outright. If they are deemed a flight risk, they could be given an ankle monitor, or denied bail. If they are not a flight risk, they can just be released until trial. No need to take their money. (I know it’s paid back, but obviously most people who are charged with crimes can’t make bail. The majority of Americans have less than $1000 in savings). All judges have the option to deny bail if somebody appears to be dangerous or a flight risk.
The bail system is barbaric, and does not contribute to public safety in the least.
When the hotel staff left, they apparently deactivated all of the key cards. So nobody could enter their rooms, which had their belongings inside. So now there’s a property dispute issue. It also becomes a public safety issue now that numerous people are stranded without a place to sleep. Switching hotels is an option, but that still doesn’t address the issue of retrieving their belongings, short of breaking the door down. The police were called to help mitigate the problem and they were doing what they could to get ahold of anyone at Hilton to help resolve this.
Thanks for the update Aaron! Is it known why they walked off the job?