By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra!
For the second time in a week, the skate boarding park adjacent to the Farmers Market in downtown Paris has been found painted with graffiti.
“Mostly symbols … and some pretty vulgar words,” city manager John Godwin said Friday.
Like they did a week ago, workers from the city parks department painted over the graffiti.
“It’s kind of a nuisance to have to do it … but if they (those responsible for the graffiti) can do it, we can do it,” he said.
One person was arrested last week when a city parks employee drove up to the skate boarding park and caught the person as he was about to write something.
Godwin said it’s important to protect the city’s image by not allowing graffiti, particularly in such a visited area as the Farmers Market.
A surveillance camera will be installed soon on a nearby building and focused on the skate boarding park to deter future acts, Godwin said.
There has been talk of moving the skate-boarding park to Walker Park in west Paris or someplace else to free up space for more parking or for special purpose usage next to the Farmers Market.
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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