Budget Cuts = Fire

A mentally deranged man set fire to our mall yesterday. He hid himself inside the Game Stop and lit it ablaze. Security managed to get everyone out of the mall, including the arsonist but they wouldn't let the firefighters go inside to work because they were afraid of a bomb. Firemen worked on the fire from above as shown in the picture. Is it really safer to be hovering over the mall atop a ladder if a bomb did go off? So now 1/3 of the mall is burned and the rest water and smoke damaged.

I think this whole situation underscores the sad budget crisis in our state. I recently read an article that said the state closed mental health clinics and cut off benefits for the mentally ill in the name of balancing an out-of-control budget. According to the news, the arsonist (nicknamed "Piggy"), had serious mental health issues including bi-polar disorder. He'd sought help many times in the past month and was turned away. Now the city of Roseville will be out the 3 million dollars in sales tax it would have accumulated over the Christmas season and untold numbers have lost their jobs. Next time I don't think budget balancers should underestimate the cost of the untreated mentally ill. Now "Piggy" gets to suck more money from the state as he sits behind bars.

I need to figure out what we'll do for fun when it starts raining next month. The mall was a winter haven with it's multiple play structures and carousel.