Police: Traffic lights not taking pictures

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By David Heitz | Wednesday, June 18, 2008 8:49 PM CDT | () comments

Q: Are the speed and red light cameras in Davenport still taking photos of speeders? Or are they off until the lawsuits are settled?

— Jerry, Davenport

A: Lt. Mike Venema of the Davenport Police Department said the cameras are not taking photos. He said the devices are turned on remotely from time to time for regular maintenance, but they are not saving violation information. The city is awaiting an Iowa Supreme Court decision on the cameras.

Q: On Washington Street in Davenport between West Lombard Street and West Central Park Avenue, by Genesis Medical Center, on both sides of the street, trees were planted about five years ago under power wires. Recently, when the trees were trimmed, they were trimmed up from the bottom instead of from the top down to get them out of the wires. It’s a shame to see such a poor job done. Why did they trim the trees this way?

— Mardel, Davenport

A: Keith Majors, arborist for the City of Davenport, said the trees were planted about 10 years ago using grant funds. The west side of the street was planted with green ash trees. The trees were spaced where no overhead wires would be in conflict. The east side, which does have overhead electrical wires, was planted with a hedge maple variety that is supposed to stay relatively short. “The hedge maple should not have a major conflict with the overhead wires.”

The trees between the sidewalk and the street need to be pruned periodically to provide adequate clearances over the street and sidewalk. Streets require clearances of 13 feet, while sidewalks require 8 feet of clearance. Young trees are trained by removing the lower branches before they get too large, Majors said.

The city forestry staff lift-pruned the trees last year, he added. About the same time, the utility company had its tree contractor trim the hedge maple for line clearance in anticipation that the trees would continue to grow into the wires. “They were unaware of the tree variety that they were trimming,” Majors said. “City forestry staff has notified the utility company that these trees should not be trimmed in this manner in the future.”

Unfortunately, the trees have now sustained unnecessary trimming that may lead to poor structure and undue stress, Majors said. “We are monitoring the recovery and may have to do some corrective pruning in the future.”

Q: According to Space.com, small craters on Mars are “named for world cities with populations smaller than 100,000. Examples include the Peruvian town of Nazca, known for its mysterious linear markings, and Kalingrad, mission control site for Russian space missions.” Davenport has a population of 98,000. Is there a crater named for Davenport, Rock Island or other cities in the Quad-Cities?

— J.K., Quad-Cities

A: Lee Carkner, astronomy professor for Augustana College in Rock Island, said none of the craters have been named after towns in the Quad-Cities. He said the International Astronomical Union, headquartered in Paris, France, is in charge of naming the craters.

“Maybe if local school children started a petition drive, they would name a crater after one of our cities,” Carkner suggested.