That IS illegal up here. Power can not be shut off during November, December, January, February, March and April. Ditto for evictions. We learned that when we had some nightmarish tenants several years ago.
I had thought that they made it illegal after that one summer where people died from the heat. But I guess not since they said the city did nothing wrong.
I saw that story too, and it's a very sad situation.
There was a 60 Minutes story from about thirty years ago that I've never forgotten. There was a family who lived in a small town, and one of the children was desperately ill, and whatever equipment she was hooked up to required water. The family was also very poor. They hadn't been able to pay their water bill, and the company shut off their water. In desperation to get it turned back on, so that the little girl wouldn't die, they'd gone to the press.
So Mike Wallace did an interview with the old biddy who was in charge of the water company's accounts. She was totally unapologetic. Mike Wallace told her that the family was very well liked, and as poor as they were, neighbors said that they would scramble around to collect whatever pennies they could find when people would appear at their door, asking for donations to charities.
The old bat replied, "Oh. So they DID have money..."
Jim and I literally leapt out of our seats in outrage when she said that, and apparently there was a huge outcry of disgust. Several mayors from other small towns had invited the family to go live their, and promised free water.
Some people are just huge idiots, and flat-out nasty. They'll never get it...
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"It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"
(Dumbledore to Harry Potter)
