Sending Out an S.O.S.

Remember that lady who was painting signs all over house because of supposed messages from God? Well, San Mateo's Community Improvement Commission weighed in on the matter yesterday and determined that they've had enough. So the issued a ruling which said that the woman, Estrella Benevides has until February 14th to clean everything up. If she refuses, she'll be fined $50 for every day she leaves the message up. She also has to pay a fee of $1,829 for administrative reasons.

Estrella, however, refuses to take anything down, claiming first amendment rights and all that stuff. In a letter to the commission, she wrote that all of this is happening because she "discovered that they are using witchcraft and technology against the people who are not aware of and who are not part of this mafia group." We're also thinking that her constant refrain about rapes and lies and how the government abused her sons did not help her cause. Neither did the floodlights she installed to make it easier to see everything at night.

The commission, however, said that it had nothing to do with constitution rights but more with the rights of everyone around her to not have to deal with her craziness. Well, that's not what they said but that was the implied message. The real reason they gave was all sorts of zoning codes.