There's a Racine noise ordinance that prevents people from cutting grass before 7 a.m. When workers cut the Johnson Park grass at 5 a.m., isn't the city violating its own ordinance?

Not necessarily. The time isn't the only test.

At that hour it'd only be a violation if the noise reaching your place averages more than 60 decibels over the course of an hour, according to city health officials who investigate those complaints. Any self-respecting industrial mower will pump out more noise than that, yet Parks Director Donnie Snow pointed out they typically roll through in much less than an hour.

Still, after hearing a resident's concerns, Snow asked Scott Schuit, general manager of the firm which oversees the three city courses, to try mowing the holes closest to housing last. Neither could remember a previous complaint.

"If you buy a home next to a train track, you have to expect a train to go by once in a while," Schuit said.

And, if you're a sunrise golfer, you expect to putt on greens without a 5 o'clock shadow.

Was anyone ever arrested for the murder of that woman on Superior Street last fall?

Nothing has changed substantially since the last we reported on the stabbing death of Ann Larson in November, said Sgt. Bernie Kupper, a spokesman for the Racine Police Department.

Police initially described her former boyfriend, Robert Shoning, as a suspect and he hasn't been cleared, Kupper said. Shoning is due in court next week, accused of beating Larson in August 2008, but no charges have been reported in connection with her death.

Are there any programs providing property tax relief for low-income residents in Wisconsin?

Besides the credits you can claim on income taxes, the only one Dale Knapp could recall is a loan program for low-income seniors from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority. Knapp is research director for the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

Seniors 65 and over can get a low-interest loan for up to $2,500 to cover their tax bills. But when WHEDA says low-income, it means low income. The maximum income is $20,000 per year including pensions, Social Security and a page of other sources.

That might explain why only three Racine County residents were approved in the first half of 2008, the most recent numbers listed in a paper by the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

For more details, contact WHEDA at (800) 334-6873.

Mike Moore compiles the Glad You Asked column. Call us at (262) 631-1758 or e-mail:

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