Town won't let unmarried parents live together
 

BLACK JACK, Missouri (AP) -- The City Council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.

Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.

The town's Planning and Zoning Commission proposed a change in the law, but the measure was rejected Tuesday by the City Council in a 5-3 vote.

"I'm just shocked," Shelltrack said. "I really thought this would all be over, and we could go on with our lives."

The current ordinance prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related by "blood, marriage or adoption." The defeated measure would have changed the definition of a family to include unmarried couples with two or more children.

Mayor Norman McCourt declined to be interviewed but said in a statement that those who do not meet the town's definition of family could soon face eviction.

Black Jack's special counsel, Sheldon Stock, declined to say whether the city will seek to remove Loving and Shelltrack from their home.

oh shit.





damn dominionists.

that's unbelievable!
what's going on over there?

Just lie. Claim the kids are complete strangers, but are willing to work for food and shelter. :p

Ridiculous! And this town is just outside of St. Louis. I would have expected this out in the boonies, like closer to where I am......but not so close to the "big city". I love this......they'll split a family up, just to push their version of "Family Values". *shakes head, wandering out of the thread*

So either they move or get married?

I've been in places like that. In fact, where I went to college, the town had an ordinance against more than "3 unrelated females living in the same house". Guys could have as many as they could pack in. Apparently, they considered more than 3 women in the same house to be a "Brothel". So in this college town, the sorority houses were meeting places for the sororities, but none of the girls could live there. On the contrary, the fraternity houses actually housed the guys who were members and wanted to live there.

Some double standard, huh?

those kinds of ordinances are not uncommon anywhere in the US, left overs from the days of puritans, quakers, and calvinists, i suspect - some of whom had a big hand in forming this country, but they are rarely enforced in modern times. if they are it's usually against a party house, known drug house, or something equally disruptive to the safety of the community, not against a family.

it is truly disturbing that they would do this but it sounds like maybe the mayor is alone on this issue, i hope so anyway. i don't think the special council will follow through. but it's a mighty scary allegory that reflects much of what is going on in the fight between the "neo-cons" at one extreme, and the "radical left" at the other. the rest of us - the majority of us - are caught in the middle.

please excuse the diatribe, but i fear a lot of people don't realize how close this country is to being turned into a "democratic theocracy". the backlash against the attempt is just as bad. and like i said, the majority of us - the sane, the tolerant, the hardworking, the accepting, the progressive, the ones who don't have some agenda or vendetta against the other - we're being railroaded into a government, on both sides, that doesn't even represent its people's values anymore. it's like watching two kids fight over a stuffed animal and at the end all they're left with is clumps of stuffing.

Wow...

It's like what I've been thinking for a long time, but couldn't put into words...

oh wow...

What.the.fuck?

Wow.


I'm absolutely stunned. Honest to god, the US is going backwards and quickly.

I'm sorry, but that's honestly how it looks from up here in Canuckistan.

Wyndhy has it partly right. We are not turning into a Democratic Theocracy,just a Theoracy.There is no DEMOCRACY found anywhere.Those of us found in the middle between two radical idealogies realize what we all need is DEMOCRACY.... We have a collective voice and we should be shouing this from the roof tops of America. There are on line petitions to be signed for just about every occasion.Remember that 2006 and 2008 are very important election years giving us the opportunity to vote these right wing ASS WIPES out of every office from city council to the criminal "president" who has opened the door wide for these religious NUTS to change the landscape to THEIR way of thinking. Those of us stuck in the middle are PRO DEMOCRACY and it is high time we are HEARD. GWB's popularity is at an all time low of 29% and the neo-cons are beginning to be questioned. Let the people who love DEMOCRACY turn this into our favour.

btw I should have added it to my original post but IAK provided this news item.

hence the quotes.

The wonderful thing about Democracy is that Everyone has a voice. The bad thing about Democracy is that Everyone has a voice. There are opinions on both sides of this issue. Lakritze has one, I have another.

I believe that since we began systematically removing God from our society -- from the schools, the courts, the public places -- we have seen a tremendous growth in the amount of violence and disregard for human life. Kids have always brought weapons to school -- I can remember as a young middle-school student comparing pocket knives with the other kids and carving little figures during recess. Sure, there were occasions where one child would cut or even stab another, but by and large, there was respect for others. Now there are police and armed guards patrolling our schools and there are kids bring handguns, riffles and shotguns to school with the sole purpose of hurting and killing as many others as possible.

What changed? We changed. We said we didn't need God and didn't need to "influence" our children with "all that religious nonsense". You know, things like "Do to others as you would have them do to you", or "love one another", or "honor your father and mother". Where did those come from? From the Bible. From God's Word.

Does that mean I think the "religious right" has all the right answers? Well, no. Is the "liberal left" all a bunch of crazy lunatics? Well, maybe ;) . But the answer is somewhere in the middle. Lakritze mentioned "tolerance". Well, tolerance works both ways. Answers to most complex questions are almost never at the extremes, but usually somewhere in the middle.

That's my $0.02 worth.
-Soundman