Things going on where you live that would make no sense on the Straight dope.

Yup. In that areal.

A friend in London reports a new coffee shop ‘Fuckoffee’ has opened. :smiley:

Not where I live, but in the well-to-do Midwestern suburb where I grew up and my parents still live.

There’s a large, mainly undeveloped property in the middle of town that was home to an orphanage for decades. It hasn’t been used as such for many years now, and the church who owned it is selling it. It’s been a huge issue now for several years as various developers have tried to get the land rezoned for dense commercial development and neighbors (like my parents, whose house faces the property) and others who are worried about traffic and other concerns have argued for something facilitating much more modest development.

This issue on its own has been a big deal, but it has recently spawned a citizen initiative that would change the city’s rules to allow for a maximum of 60 days (up from the current 20) to allow citizens to protest zoning changes. They got enough signatures to force the issue to the ballot. Most of the current City Council is opposed, claiming it will make businesses look elsewhere instead of coming to their town if they have to worry about zoning problems. The citizens arguing for it say so the hell what, the City is doing fine economically and doesn’t need the traffic and other concerns related to big commercial development.

Apparently things got hugely heated at a public forum a couple nights ago. A City Councilman jumped and basically said “I’m on City Council and I demand to speak right now!,” the moderator told him he was out of order, later the Council guy yelled at the citizen guy “You’re a liar!” etc.

Big doings in a small community.

Yeah, but we can do it without meth.