greengina, that's a good idea. Can you tell us more?

just plant native wildflowers and never worry about mowing again!

For real, that girl driving looks super confused, and what's with a 5'0 blonde girl driving a huge lawn mower...

No joker, it looks like YOU need to learn how to spell.

What's up with the girl driving the mower... She looks really confused.

I heard on the radio somebody complained about the gazette building (printer place) needing to be mowed . Funny- they said it was prairie grass. I believe them and STUPID complainer.

Oh no it have been way over a week since we mowed. hopefully nobody will complain cause I dont want my grass to burn up caused I mowed it.

If long grass is all we have to worry about, oh! What a wonderful world we live in!

I know that I live in fear of long lawns ... it's certainly the most pressing safety and quality of life concern that this city faces (next to unemployment, gangs, drugs and Corvina's)!

Hey! Let's maximize our pointless pollution by cutting our lawns three times a week and pouring tons of chemical fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides on them so they look like someone's vision of a Pleasantville golf course. We'll certainly all be fulfilled then, and we'll never grow old, and we'll never die.

If you want to look at a manicured lawn, move next to a golf course. If God wanted short lawns hew would have spoken to Moses in the form of a flaming Lawn Boy, not an UNTRIMMED BURNING BUSH!

Well, noone...we're all on pins & needles waiting for you to reveal the actual identity of the illustrious Joker..or at least give us a hint...I know I have MY suspicions!

Bellagio, first of all, learn to spell. Second of all, Noone has not responded back to me. I am the one who called Noone's bluff. Like I said, Noone knows nothing and nobody.

HA, Jokers bluff got called. Nice little fantacy world joker. Isn't anonimity great? You can be a millionaire, model, president of many busiinesses on line.

Noone, you do not know me and I do not know you. I own several businesses and properties. If you don't believe me, then you are just jealous.

I fought the lawn and the lawn won. I fought the lawn and the lawn won!

wow, arguing about mowing lawns? whats wrong with this picture?

I ussually do not put myself in the middle of these, just read and laugh at some of them. Just to set the record straight I do know you joker and know that you do not own several businesses, and "owning" several properties does not count. I please stop fooling yourself none of us are beliveing it.

After reading the entertainment section in tonight's comments, I want to take the time to thank all of the people who helped clean up after last years floods. I'm young and was amazed at all the people volunteering their time to help others. It's sad to see so many people upset about lawns not being kept up after my memories of the brotherly love. Keep your heads up Janesville.

Cough, cough. (Insert sarcasm here) Keep on, keeping on, fellow Americans. As long as your yard looks good, it's ALL GOOD- there's plenty more gas to be had from our friends in the middle east!

...and by the way...STAY OFF MY LAWN, YOU YOUNG WIPPER SNAPPER!

Your lawn becomes weaker if you cut more that 1/3 of the grass at a time. A weak lawn encourages weed growth, which requires even more mowing.

If you don't mow your lawn often enough because it's "too expensive", you're just being lazy. A standard walk-behind mower uses about a 1/4 gallon of gas per hour. That's less than $1 to mow the standard 1/4 acre lawn in the city of Janesville. If you can't afford to do that once or twice a week, you should be living in an apartment.

Genrene, you might of thought you were doing the right thing, but you were trespassing. What if your actions result in damage the bank's property, such as a rock thrown by your mower through the picture window?

Whitcomb is doing is job, which is enforcing City Ordinances. That legal enforcement should be applied consistently to all who are in violation. Enforcement actions should not be viewed as the full employment act for the underemployed.
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Why wouldn't the City "hire" a bunch of yahoos as agents of the City to go onto private property with power equipment to enforce a legal action? Whatever little savings the City accrued from hiring yahoos, it would lose them in the first lawsuit when a yahoo damages property or injures someone, including him or herself.
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And the final comment, there is nothing magic about the $124 dollar "charge" for City enforced lawn service. It has nothing to do with the cost of the City mowing the yard. Think of it as a penalty or fine associated with the enforcement action. If you think $124 is too much, ask the City Council to reduce the fine.

People dont mow their lawns because our society has become all about me me me. Its only going to get worse because we are starting to believe and teach our kids that its all about you and not the greater good so if you dont wont to then everyone else should mind their own business.

A few people have mentioned kids mowing, etc. What about the people who have to do community service? I don't know what insurance, transportation, etc. would cost, but the labor would be free. We had neighbors that lost their house and we mowed just the front lawn. We actually got scolded from the bank (local bank where we bank at, opened our big mouths and mentioned something to them) and told we were "tresspassing on their property." NO KIDDING! How lame! So we complained to the city and the city had to do it. Can't win.

I sympathize with those who lack the money for gas. However, I think in most cases it just boils down to lazy. People can do the old "boo hoo mind your business" routine all day long, but at the end of the day they're just lazy and looking for excuses. They also don't have pride of ownership or care about how the neighborhood looks. Maybe they're looking for the Obama government lawn mowing plan to move through congress. That way the government will mow your lawn for you if you're lazy.

The city should hire TheJoker to mow some of these lawns.

Lawns get mowed. TheJoker finds something constructive other than complaining on gazetteextra.com ALL day long.

This way, everyone wins. Especially those who have to endure his ignorant comments.

..of all the things people could discuss that are going on right now in the world.

We choose to argue about grass for 10 pages.

Yards don't need to be perfect but a little maintenance goes a long way.

Those of you who worry about what your house & lawn look like to other people should maybe look inside and see what you are trying to cover up on the inside! Just because your lawn & house are perfect on the outside does not mean everything is peaches with what goes on in your home. I know I came from a perfect lawn and exterior and inside was alot less than perfect! mind your own business!!

redder, I requested that your putrid hateful post be deleted. Learn some manners for chrirstsake! Maybe your cohort billnewbie can teach you some, if he ever learns any.

Mowing about every two weeks is good. Mowing too often only encourages it.

This reminds me, I need a haircut.

I dont see a problem with once every two weeks SORRY!!!
When it gets dry it may be once a MONTH!!
I would say we do every 9 days. that is close to every 1 1/2 weeks and not far from every two weeks. AND ours takes about 30 minutes trimmed ,and bagged. I love gardens!!!!

Wow....some angry, mean spirited folks in Janesburg. I haven't read this much trash talk over grass since "thekid" stopped writing about it.

Motl? Who is Motl?

ms_sassy_wi- once every two weeks? you have to be kidding me. My grandma can barely walk and gets hers done at least once a week. Lawns/home property say alot about your family. Shame on you.

joker: hope your fooling yourself ... your not fooling anyone else.

redder. your post does not deserve a comment. ignorance is bliss, isn't it?

Justaguy, and your point is? My comment on the GM workers and working on the lawns was on topic. I am sorry you cannot understand this.

before anyone says something about my type o let me fix it :-) "lawns" .... not going to say any names joker

joker: your the first on this blog who went off track on the subject at hand, remember you said to hire the GM workers to mow the lanws? how fast we forget when you have that earned penny in your hand.

I would suggest to those who are trying to be funny on this board, seek employment elsewhere. You look like petty, jealous fools. I don't apologize for being successful and well off. I worked hard all my life and earned every penny of it. I employ many people and put quite a bit of money back into this community. If you think this is so wrong, then the joke is on you. Quit attacking me and deal with the subject at hand. Or maybe the topic of this article is above your head?!

I agree with EVERYBODY on this site; TheJoker is a clown. For someone that "has multiple sucessfull businesses",(paper route, jotter route, hot dog sales)he sure has a lot of time on his hands to be blogging all day.

whoanellie, THANK YOU! While I DO care what the lawn looks like, I DO want to keep up with making a living and paying bills, and I DO want to keep up with housework, and I DO want to keep up with laundry, and I DO want to keep up with a simple social life, there are only so many hours in a day. Factor in daylight and rain...geez! Once every 2 weeks is good enough for me. The neighbors (a particular family) don't like it and call to complain about the entire neighborhood not meeting their "expectations". I say "go straight to hell and do not collect $200." Just because you only have a life of picking up things that the wind blows into your yard, don't complain to the city that you don't like MY yard. It's MY yard!!

exfib: look how stupid your comment looks, your jumping on others for the comments they type and YOUR acting like the tough guy as you call others idiots .... real smart cookie you are.

joker: please stop with your fairy tales, I told you once before selling on e-bay doesn't count as multiple businesses and paying for someone to mow your lawn doesn't impress me either ... how much do you pay your mom anyways? So lets stop with the jokes joker you only look like the fool.

IT'S ALL THE GARSH DANG GOVERNOR DOYLE'S FAULT, I DONE DO BELIEVE - HE DONE SCREWED US AGAIN - US REPUBLICANS DONE BETTER DO SOMETHING BOUT THIS BEFORE DEM SOCIALISTS TURN US ALL IN TO COMMIE FLAG BURNIN HIPPIE LIBERALS!!!!! GAR!!!!!!!!!!

these could be renters NOT taking care of the lawn "because it isnt theres"

I would also expect if it is your own yould want to make it look nice BUT if you see the comment I made about being LAZY yould would understand. SOME people just dont care about how things look nice, their outside, their inside, them SELVES, their cars inside and out. It amazes me all the time!!!
PICK UP YOUR CRAP AND have some RESPECT for yourself!!

joker- silly man- nobody respects you on here.

Your're all idiots........

Big tough people sitting behind their computers arguing with one another. Makes me embarrassed to live in Janesville.

With this "work force" we have, no wonder nobody wants to move their business here.

Our neighborhood is awful and it has nothing do with money. Its just that the home owners are plan lazy!

Would that be monkey business??????

I guess I just have different views on taking care of my things from some. Owning a home is a responsibility. Your yard is part of your home. It's also the first thing people see from the outside. What you do inside, is your business, but I sure think you'd want to take care of your place. If not, maybe you should rent and have someone do it for you if it's that difficult. If you like your things to look like crap, than don't mow it and get charged by the city for it and pay the price.

Joker - Now it's all starting to make sense. No wonder why you think Janesville is coming to an end. You own property.

Justaguy, mowing lawns is not beneath me. I have done it most of my life but now am too busy running my multiple businesses. I pay someone to mow my grass on the properties I own. I worked hard to get where I am in life. I am successful and well respected because of that. How dare you question my work ethic!

maybe if obama would get off his butt we all could be growing 6 - 8 foot tall "grass" in our yards and be happy as a clam

exresident - Good post and it couldn't be more accurate. There's too much doom and gloom around here and people are out of control with their attitudes. Janesville is no different then thousands of cities in the U.S. right now. We will make it through. I find it ironic that back in the 80's GM employed almost three times what it did before they just closed. That's a lot of employees lost over a couple decades. And yet the city managed to grow at a rate of over 5%. Yes, GM was big for this town, but it wasn't the town. Everyone knows it's going to impact things, but we've managed in the past and we will again.

If we simply let all lawns grow long, there wouldn't be a problem. Besides the more vegetation there is the more water they hold and is prevented from polluting the Rock River more than it is.

Wow...the city had 5 more properties to mow than last year. Nobody knows the true future of Janesville. People always want to look at the worst. Of course the Gazette does nothing but stir the pot. Too bad they wouldn't find better articles to publish. instead of making Janesville look like it's headed down the toilet. We moved out of Janesville and everytime we return to visit it is as busy as ever. If a person/family moves out of the Janesville area and it is not a suburb fueled by a major city you can see a big difference in local economy, what is lacking in the schools, little or no growth, no new housing and no jobs. GM did put a lot into the community with the wages. Janesville was able to grow within the past 15 years. Janesville offers alot for the size city that it is. Yes, it does need employment but most cities need that too. It would be awful if the city just gave up on all that it built within the years to be a city that has nothing going for itself.

Thank you, Kid, for that humorous interlude. And now, back to our regularly scheduled bickering.

to much grass is never a bad thing...;)

Joker maybe your sources can give you information. OH thats right your sources are wrong too. I remember when your sources said Janesville was getting the new GM small car. Joker good name you are a joke!

I sympathize with those who don't have much money and have had to cut back. That I can understand. I've cut back on how often I cut my lawn for that very reason. On the other hand, I get annoyed when people move into a nice neighborhood and then let their yard and house go to pot. I'm not saying people have to fertilize and be completely weed free. However, keeping the lawn cut and weed whacking once in a while isn't asking too much. It's about pride of ownership and pride of community.

Joker - That is happening across the United States, not just Janesville. This isn't news, the Country is hurting and Wisconsin isn't even in the top worst states.
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What proof did your last post give me? It's once again, your opinion with no facts. Whereas my post was stating facts. You simply just tried dodging the question again. As far as your comment about be supposedly telling you your business. I was simply asking you for some proof on your theories which you can't supply. In return, you got defensive as if I was attacking you. I did no such thing. If you're going to post babble on a public site, be prepared to be questioned about it. If you get defensive about people responding, it just proves how much of a child you are.

People should mind there own business and don't worry about a little grass! We do take care of our lawn, but mow it once every 1 & 1/2 weeks. Our neighbor however mows his 2 times a week and looks at us like we are crazy! I have better things to do with my time, such as spending time with my family, than worrying about what my neighbor thinks of my yard. He is out there from the time he gets home till we go to bed, and he has a new baby!! I think we should just mind our own business and get on with our life. I own the property, I should be able to do what I want if I want!!

joker: Too late to try to turn what you said around onto someone else, your the snob and it shows everything you open your mouth, you were the one still bashing GM workers with the comment about having "THEM" mow the citie's lawns, now your trying to say you said different .... small foot in your mouth now. If your trying to push the job onto others lets see you go out and mow it .... or are you too good for that?

Maybe they mean the economy because of all the forclosures form the economy. THERE ARE ALSO JUST LAZY people who dont care what their yard looks like as mentioned here 3' grass behind the rusted cars.
YOu can call to complain about all that you know!! keep calling and it WILL get resolved. Dont give up!!

joker "Hannah, I see that you have reared your ugly hateful head again"


EXCUSE ME YOURE THE ONE who started this crap off topic again and WE ALL ARE TELLNIG YOU TO STOP IT!!!! that isnt hateful to want to to stop your crap.

Spark, I still believe that Janesville's population total will be close to Beloit's population. This will not happen overnight but it will happen in a few years. The amount of families leaving Janesville will continue to grow. Watch for the numbers on September 1st. They will be shocking. Look at all of the homes for sale or in foreclosure. People are not making lateral moves to another neighborhood. They are leaving town or renting apartments. Also, look at the number of apartments for rent. I have never seen so many. Evictions and foreclosures will increase this summer.

Let me know if you need any more proof. And don't tell me my business again.

Joker - You've made these comments before about the schools being half full, but have never been able to back up your opinion with facts. I recall you once saying Janesville would be the population of Beloit and I called you out on it and you never responded because your numbers didn't add up. According to you, everyone in Janesville obviously worked at GM. All 60 some thousand of us. The most recent survey by ex auto employees showed that roughly 27 kids would be moving because of their parents relocating. Another 107 kids it was uncertain before the school year starts. Do the math. Where are you coming up with the schools being half full. Do you have any idea how many kids are actually in each school? If so, your arithmatic is way off.
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As far as the original article about mowing lawns. Using the economy as an excuse not to mow a lawn has to be the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard.

For what the city paid for that equipment, they could buy about 140 push mowers and hire kids to do the work. What's with the dude weedwacking with no leg protection? Yes, if you set your mower at 3.5" and never cut more than 1/3 of the height, you will have a plusher yard, mow less often, water less often, and have less of a weed problem.

"attack giant weeds " in the pic. I owned if that giant weed they speak of is a HOLLYHOCK!!!! FLOWER


you should let your lawn grow a bit longer in the summer so you dont need to water it and it doesnt burn up. I keep trying to tell my hubby this but he likes it shorter. I do understand 12" is a bit long.

I agree maybe before it gets 3 foot mow it yourself or get the neighbors to help. If you all did it just once a month it wouldnt be so bad. 3 neighbors once a month. Maybe yould have to do it twice per season.

My old house that was foreclosed on twice. The city came to cut it down weeds were 6 ft or higher in the back yard. MADE ME ILL to see this home go to crap. Worked so hard on landscape, pond etc. THe city busted their equipment on trying to cut down the weeds. They were thick as a small tree at the stems.

the neighbor WOULD mow the front yard to keep it nice but not the back.

yes Joker GO AWAY with your stupid comments of the mall and gm.

I only mow the lawn every two weeks because I can't afford to put gas in the mower.

joker: attack mode? it's just that the crap you blog is always neg. or bashing on people. Pease tell me what putting the GM workers to work mowing the lawns around town had anything to do with this story? ... and then saying we'd all win ... your just stupid.

Justaguy, ok, fine be negative. I love how you have nothing important to say, so you go on the attack mode.
PJGync, wow, you must really be drinking the Forward Janesville Kool-Aid. Everything is just great, huh? The sun will shine tomorrow, huh?
Riddle me this, PJ. How are we going to pay for all of these renovations and improvements? Where will the money come from? Why are we pouring money into some school buildings that will soon be only half full?

I just love how people always want all kinds of great things for this city yet have no clue as to where the money will come from. Well PJ, the money will come from us, the taxpayers!

My neighbor has a garden nearly the size of their entire backyard, which is cared for on a regular basis. Meanwhile weeds grow four feet up the front and side of the house. It should be interesting when it comes time for me to sell.

joker: I'm staying and your surely not making me go anywhere, to bring the GM worker into the story like you did is stupid as are you. If you feel you still need to bash them go find a GM blog .... mor@n ... oops I wasn't so nice that time.

If I lived next to an abandoned property, I would just mow the lawn so I wouldn't have to look at it.

Joker, you do not speak the truth, you speak your opinions. The renovated schools, and the money spent on infrastructure for this city is EXACTLY what we need to keep Janesville a viable, productive, functioning city/society. Sure, GM is gone, and their lot looks like an abandoned waste land, but, the things you mention/complain about are what will bring another company/industry to this town. Janesville does have a lot going for it, and it is essential that as a community, we all do our part to keep the city moving forward. Oh, and those foreign languages you complain about--they are the ticket for some our students to a better future as well.

I have an idea, be a nice neighbour and help out.

Well, it is a 20% increase in work they've had to do, in a time of trimming expenses. And complaints are up over one third -- that takes city employee time just to send the letters and follow up. And of course, the photos show that by the time a city crew can actually be sent, the work that has to be done is considerable.
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Finally, by publicizing the penalties, that may get a few owners to take care of things before it gets that bad.

misterlippy - what's your dog doing in the neighbors lawn???

rubes: I happened to drive by GM today and thought the same thing ... lots of weeds growing through pavement, along fencing, etc. The place is getting that "abandoned" look.

5 more properties this year than last year wow! This is the worst story by far the gazette has put out as of late. Give me a break. 5 more homes than last year and the city can't keep up? This is another fear tactic put out by the media during a down economy to make things worse than they are. Stop buying the Gazette and we can rid ourselves of this kind of journalism on the local level for good. Really lame gazette!!!

my neighbor hasn't mowed his lawn for 2 weeks - i can't even see the 3 cars on blocks, half filled kiddie pool, rusty lawn chairs and his moldy, plastic flamingos. i also haven't seen my dog for 2 days...

Justaguy, I speak the truth. If you cannot deal with it, then go away.

justsome - Even though some of these homes are abandoned, there are a lot that are not. It seems like the same people every year can't bother to get out and take care of their lawn or shovel in the winter. If it's that big of a problem then maybe these people should move to apartments. There are petty things that people complain about but this is not one of them. Why should I have to live next to someone or have someone in my hood not mow and make the entire neighborhood look bad? And why don't these people care more about their property and their neighbors?

Welcome to Janesville, the city of complainers.

we had this problem last year with my neighbor...finally we took turns with the nieghbor on the other side to start mowing the lawns around here cuz it brought all of our properties down...

joker: i'm sure the ex GM workers get more in the mail box than you and I make doing what we do "and i don't hold that against the GM workers" just saying I think the joker is a mor.... well I'll be nice but he does say some stupid things.

Sannio, the article indicates that the city inspects the property, the owner gets a notice and the city reinspects the property. That's three times the owner occuping their home has an opportunity to explain the circumstances to the city.

The city can't hire just anyone to do the work. There are liability, worker's comp and other issues involved that creates and exposure for them and makes it unfeasible.

I will mow for $124 an hour.

If someone is living in a house, and the grass if over the 12" limit, does someone take the time to find out why that is? Maybe they need help for some reason.

That house has been vacant for about a year. I think the owner just up and left. Sure made the neighborhood look trashy... Glad someone called finally.

Anybody driven past GM lately? Looks like they could put a couple people to work mowing.

The city should hire some of the former GM employees to mow some of these yards. This way, everybody wins.

This story is another example of how bad things are in Janesville and how our once great city is in deep trouble. Look for a story on the Janesville Mall very soon. We are in for some rough years ahead. But let's keep on spending thousands of dollars on a bike tunnel, renovating and expanding our schools and offering more foreign languages for the students. What a waste of money and resources.

my neighbor would do it for $15. he's a kid.
savings to the city? $109.
work experience for the kid?
priceless

Get off your lazy butts and mow your damn lawn. Quit making excuses.

$124 buys a lot of Roundup...