Not long ago I was looking through old microfilm copies of the Tribune and found the following news item in the March 22, 1930, issue:&t;!—-&t;.

Friday, March 22, 2002

Not long ago I was looking through old microfilm copies of the Tribune and found the following news item in the March 22, 1930, issue:

&uot;The following ordinance was unanimously passed by the city council of Albert Lea in the year 1907. It looks like a good ordinance to rigidly enforce. It is still on the books of the city:

&uot;Ordinance No. 170, introduced by Alderman H. E. Skinner.

&uot;An ordinance Prohibiting the Dumping or Depositing of Any Brush, Hay, Manure, Broken Crockery, Bottles or Glassware, the Carcasses of Dead Animals, Tin Cans, or Slops, Kitchen Waste or Other Refuse Upon the Shores or Into the Waters of Fountain Lake, in the City of Albert Lea.

&uot;The City Council of the City of Albert Lea, do Ordain:

&uot;Sec. 1. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to place, dump or deposit, or suffer to remain, any brush, hay, manure, the carcasses of dead animals, broken crockery, bottles or glassware, tin cans, slops, kitchen waste, or other refuse, immediately upon the shores of Fountain Lake or into the waters thereof, or in winter time upon the ice of said Fountain Lake, which tends to make its shores unsightly and its waters to become obstructed and contaminated.

&uot;Sec. 2. Any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this ordinance. shall, upon conviction thereof, before a city justice of the City of Albert Lea, or other court having jurisdiction, be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) and the costs of prosecution, and in default of the payment of such fine and costs, may be imprisoned in the city prison or county jail until such fine and costs are paid, not however, exceeding ninety days.

&uot;Sec. 3. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication.&uot;

This ordinance was passed on Aug. 26, 1907, and signed by M. M. Jones, president of the city council, and attested by City Clerk C. J. Dudley. It was approved on Aug. 30, 1907, with the signature of Mayor C. L. Swenson.

One sentence in this old news item still deserves attention. After 23 years, the Tribune was saying, &uot;It is still on the books of the city.&uot;

Other than the list of obnoxious materials which could be dumped into the city’s centerpiece lake, this ordinance still sounds rather reasonable. Unlike other ordinances in other localities, it doesn’t perpetuate obsolete or illogical laws. Yet, there’s still a very legitimate question regarding the present status of Ordinance No. 170. After 93 years, is it still on the books of the city?

To get an answer I contacted City Clerk Sandi Behrends. She said this particular ordinance no longer exists. It was replaced years ago as part of the updating and revising of city ordinances. Sandi said the particular of the city’s legal code regarding the contamination of the lakes is now part of the newer Shoreland Management Ordinance. This newer ordinance now also includes a good portion of Albert Lea Lake which was outside the city limits in 1907.

In our conversation, Sandi commented about the fines and jail time in the 1907 ordinance being rather severe for that era. This indicates the city’s citizens were very concerned about the problem of lake pollution 93 years ago.

Right about here let’s make room for a comment about those confusing creepy crawlers on three of the cable television news channels. I’m referring to the single line of alleged news information at the bottom of the screen. There’s no relationship at all to what’s on the rest of the screen. This crawler foolishness is just plain distracting.

Prior to Sept. 11, about the only use of this gimmick was for important weather information and/or tornado warnings.

Someone has suggested that radio stations use Morse Code (dots and dashes) to constantly relay updated news during their regular programming.

However, there’s one detail which really bothers me about the creepy crawler news information. If it’s so darned important, then how come it doesn’t continue on during the commercials?

Feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune.