Another semester of crime

Welcome back for another semester of crime. I am Jessica your new crime reporter. In the interest of journalism transparency, I felt it was important to disclose my own criminal past before I spend the semester reporting on the rest of the student body’s.

Like many of the criminals out there, I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I thought it was the perfect day to hike. We drove up Hwy. 441 to our favorite hiking spot, Panther Creek. When we arrived, there were tons of cars parked on the side of the road near the entrance. But when we walked up to the trail entrance there was a sign that said, “Trail closed.”

Being the rule-follower type that I am, I turned to my boyfriend and said, “Well, I guess we can’t go hiking today.”

            “You can’t close the woods,” he replied. I hesitated, but after looking around at how many others were hiking I figured it would be harmless. So we ignored the signs and started out on the trail. For the first part of the hike, I kept looking around, expecting a Park Ranger to leap out of the bushes and arrest us. But by the end of the four-hour hike, I had all but forgotten about the signs. That is, until I saw a gentleman in a green uniform sitting near the end of the trail.

            Apparently, they can close the woods. The Ranger happily explained why the trail was closed, while he wrote us each a $125 trespassing ticket. (In case you were wondering, he said the trail was closed for construction. When we told him that we didn’t see anyone working on the trail, he changed the subject.)

            Now that you know about my criminal activity, I feel much better about reporting all of yours. I will be updating this blog several times a week so be sure to check for new developments.  

            And as always, if you would like to report a crime you committed or witnessed, feel free! Or if you just want to comment about the mistakes of others, post away!

 

 – Jessica

 

    jlevine@randb.com