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June 26, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 29, 2004 Prohibited, but enticing City laws prohibit skateboarders to ride around the Plaza and in part of the downtown corridor. Many local shopping centers have signs posted prohibiting skateboards. Still, clashes between riders and business owners, shoppers and even police continue throughout the city. Many skaters, business owners and law enforcement officials agree that the majority of boarders are following the rules, however, problems between skateboarders and the general public are relatively constant, though most say, not epidemic. "I don't feel we're overwhelmed by skaters," said Jan Janssen, youth diversion officer for the Ashland Police Department. "But on occasion, we have these flare-ups and the kids Satsuki Doi | Ashland Daily Tidings A group of middle school students skateboard in front of Giseppi's Pizza and Market of Choice Thursday afternoon. feel unfairly treated or accused." A flare up Last week, Kyle Miller, a 14-year old freshman at Ashland High School, had a run-in with an upset manager at Market of Choice on Siskiyou Boulevard, his mother Maggie Miller said. She said her son and his friends were riding their skateboards on the sidewalk near Market of Choice when a manager told them to stop riding. According to Maggie Miller, her son told the manager they were leaving and started to skate away on the sidewalk when the manager tried to grab Kyle. He slipped off his board and hit his head on the pavement, his mother said. Maggie Miller said that Kyle suffered a minor concussion from the incident. Signs at the complex prohibited skateboarding. But kids on their boards around the Market of Choice shopping center are a relatively common staple. Maggie Miller thinks her son should have followed the rules, but thinks that what the manager did crossed the line. "As an adult you need to keep your hands off a child," she said. "[The kids] should have followed the rules, but he could have just warned them. It was inappropriate what he did." Michael Miller, Kyle's father, said that at times, some skateboarders don't follow the rules and do things like skateboard in downtown or in the path of shoppers, but he feels that in the big picture, they're not doing anything terribly wrong. "I know sometimes skaters do stupid things," he said. "But I'd rather that they're skating instead of getting stoned or getting into trouble." This father has no concern over his son's hobby, and encourages his skateboarding. "It's such a good outlet for them," he said. "It keeps him physically fit and in real good shape. Kyle is straight-out buff. It's a pretty serious sport and it takes a lot of discipline. They're just great kids trying to get a release from this crazy world." The Miller's said they have consulted with a lawyer to see if they should take any legal action. Market of Choice management in Ashland did not return phone calls seeking comment on the issue of skateboarding in front of the store, or the incident involving Kyle Miller and a store manager. A small minority In Ashland, it is against municipal code to ride skateboards from the library at Gresham Street to Helman Street. This includes Lithia Way and East Main Street. If they do, their board can be confiscated and they can be fined. When boards are confiscated from skateboarders under 18, they have to go to Janssen, who decides when a board will be returned. Those over 18 have to see the judge. To get a board back, they have to either pay a fine, which goes to a fund to help run the local skate park on Water Street, or do community service. In most cases, skateboarders do whatever it takes to get their boards back, Janssen said. But there are instances when confiscated boards are not claimed, usually because they are borrowed from a friend. The unclaimed boards are auctioned off in the summer. Currently, the police department has about 20 unclaimed boards in their storage unit. Officer Bon Stewart, who patrols downtown, said he usually hears complaints about skateboarders approximately once a week. The complaints usually occur when skaters decide to ride their boards on crowded sidewalks or dart through traffic. Skateboarders have been known to shout obscenities if people will not get out of their way, Stewart said. "I've have had business owners tell me that customers have complained that they got hit by skateboarders and that they have been cussed out by them," he said. "It's a general problem, but it's no more severe than it's normally been." Stewart said that while officers have always been allowed to confiscate skateboards through the municipal code, it was not strictly enforced until about a year ago when widespread problems led to stiffer enforcement. The enforcement, Stewart said, is getting many boarders' attention. "When we take their boards away they don't like that and want their boards back, so we start to get that compliance," Stewart said. He feels that it's a small minority of about 10 percent of the skateboarders in town who are causing the trouble. "About 90 percent of the ones we cite are repeat offenders and are the ones causing trouble and in people's faces," he said. "There are kids I see every day with skateboards who I never have to talk to." And many of those repeat offenders are not those under 18, but rather adult skaters in their 20s and even in their 30s. "The adults are probably cited just as much as the kids are," Stewart said. "This is a negative, because it's important for the younger skateboarders to have positive adult role models." Monte Fraser, owner of The Jewelry Studio & Art Gallery on East Main Street, said there's a run-in with skaters an average of once a week at his business. Usually, it involves skateboarders nearly hitting customers and shouting obscenities at them. Most of the time the incidents go unreported. This continuously occurs despite the fact that the store is located in an area where skateboarding is prohibited, he said. A few times customers have been struck, although there have been no serious injuries. But there is a dent in the wood in front of the studio caused by a skater who went out of control and nearly ran into a window. "It's a small group we have problems with that have little or no respect for society," Fraser said. "There the ones who nearly hit people and curse or stick out their middle fingers and they're giving everyone else a bad name." Fraser said he can relate to skateboarders having been one himself while growing up in Colorado Springs, Colo. "I was once one of these skateboarding teens," he said. "I can relate ... I feel skateboards shouldn't be banned. I love it. It's amazing what some of these guys can do on their boards. It's incredible." To Fraser, the city should do something similar to when he was a teen in Colorado Springs. When a skateboard was confiscated, it would not be returned if a skater broke a municipal code. "The word got around real fast," he said. "If you want to keep your board, you better watch out and obey the law." Fraser thinks more boarders need to police themselves to avoid problems for all. A place to do tricks Despite the presence of a skate park in the Railroad District, skaters often opt for strip mall steps and handrails to hang out and perform their tricks. Janssen said in her opinion, skateboarders are seen at places like Ashland High School or Market of Choice because the local skate park lacks a street course where kids can perform tricks. "That's why they go to all these places in town," Janssen said. "They love the stairs and the rails. They're intrigued by the challenge." Michael Miller agrees the skate park is lacking a place to do tricks, and crowded conditions contribute to more skateboarders on the streets. "There's almost always a line at the skate park," he said. "There's such a need for better facilities. In order to accommodate skateboarders in the community, we need to do things for them. We need to show them we as a community care ... The problem is that too many people are trying to turn Ashland into a senior community and would prefer they (skateboarders) weren't here." Some Ashland skateboarders believe they are being singled out among many Ashland teens. Giseppi's Pizzeria, located a few doors down from Market of Choice, is a popular skateboarding hangout, say a group of middle school students who on Friday eat pizza as their skateboards are propped against a wall. The group is unified in its belief that they are targeted, simply because they are skaters. "There's businesses here that tell us to leave and they're not nice at all," said Ron Evans, 14. "It's something fun to do. And it helps you stay away from drugs." The boys have their stories to tell. Like the time a man took a photo of them skating on the sidewalk with his cell phone. Or times when business owners yell and swear at them for skating past their businesses. Or the time when a woman waiting with them for a bus told them simply they were doing the devil's work. The skateboarders don't get it. Professional skaters like Tony Hawk are their heroes. They watch the X-games, where skaters are revered. Yet, they are hassled. They just don't understand what all the fuss is about. "They should like what we do," said Chris, 14. "It's a sport and it takes skills. You don't see people go to the baseball field and tell them that it's the sport of the devil." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams