{"id":321,"date":"2008-01-11T01:01:20","date_gmt":"2008-01-11T01:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2008\/01\/you-know-youre-in-a-small-town-when.html"},"modified":"2008-01-11T01:01:20","modified_gmt":"2008-01-11T01:01:20","slug":"you-know-youre-in-a-small-town-when","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/01\/you-know-youre-in-a-small-town-when.html","title":{"rendered":"You Know You\u2019re in a Small Town When . . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

As most of my reader know, I recently moved from Irvine, California (population about 200,000) to Boerne, Texas, (population about 9,000). Irvine is part of Orange County (population about 3,000,000). Boerne is in Kendall County (population about 30,000). As you can imagine, there have been some changes in my lifestyle since moving to a small town.
\nOne change has to do with crime. We do have crime in Boerne. In the first six years of this decade there were one murder and twelve robberies in the town. Not much crime, mind you. Irvine, California prides itself on being one of the safest cities in the country<\/a>. But the police blotter in the Irvine paper was not nearly as interesting to read as the police blotter in the Boerne Star<\/a><\/em>, our local newspaper. Mostly we have problems with intoxication around here. But some of our crime is more unusual. I’d like to share some recent excerpts from the Boerne Star<\/em>. Note: I have not changed a word.
\nPublic Records as found in the Boerne Star<\/em>, December 2007<\/strong>
\nDec. 7
\n200 block of E. Hosack, 12:55 p.m., A resident reported a woman in her back yard burning leaves and wanted the woman removed. Police found a woman cooking a hot dog in a barbeque pit. The woman left without incident. [MDR: Don’t you hate it when somebody is cooking a hot dog in your back hard without asking. No mention of whether she got to eat the hot dog or not.] (Photo: people walking on Main Street in Boerne. No crime, though, because the street was blocked for the annual Christmas parade.)
\n600 block of S. Plant Street, 5:05 p.m., A woman called police about a black sports car in the area and strangers coming out a of neighbor\u2019s house and waving at her. [MDR: I hate it when strangers are friendly.]
\nDec. 9
\n100 block of Aransas Pass, 2:52 a.m., A resident called police after hearing someone jiggling the knob on the front door very hard. Police contacted a neighbor who said a friend was staying with him because she was drunk and that she had gone to the wrong door by mistake. [MDR: Oops.]
\nDec. 10
\n100 block of Stone Creek Circle, 11:23 a.m., A man came to the police department to report the theft of mail a year ago. [MDR: Talk about procrastination!]
\nDec. 14
\n526 mile marker Interstate 10, Comfort, 3:57 a.m., A man was arrested for driving while intoxicated after being pulled over for driving in the middle of the highway at 5 mph. [Note: If you don’t want to be found out, don’t drive in the middle of the Interstate going 5 mph. It’s a dead giveaway.]
\nDec. 15
\n1300 block of S. Main. St., 11:08 a.m., Police were called to Wal-Mart after one of the store\u2019s assistant managers reported that someone had driven a car around to the loading dock, jumped out of the vehicle leaving it running and got into another car and left. About 5 minutes later, a customer called to report her car was missing. The woman identified the car parked at the loading dock as the rental car she had parked in the lot and left the keys in the ignition. The assistant manager described the second car the man had gotten into and officers located it in the parking lot. While police waited for someone to return to that car, officers observed a man, who was wanted for an outstanding municipal warrant, walking through the parking lot. He was arrested on that warrant for speeding, which was not related to the first car. Another man later returned to the second car and admitted taking the first car to \u201cteach the woman a lesson.\u201d The woman did not want to press charges, and the man was released with a warning. [MDR: Note to self – Don’t steal car to teach someone a lesson.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As most of my reader know, I recently moved from Irvine, California (population about 200,000) to Boerne, Texas, (population about 9,000). Irvine is part of Orange County (population about 3,000,000). Boerne is in Kendall County (population about 30,000). As you can imagine, there have been some changes in my lifestyle since moving to a small…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-police-blotter","category-small-town"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Know You\u2019re in a Small Town When . . . . - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/01\/you-know-youre-in-a-small-town-when.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Know You\u2019re in a Small Town When . . . . - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As most of my reader know, I recently moved from Irvine, California (population about 200,000) to Boerne, Texas, (population about 9,000). Irvine is part of Orange County (population about 3,000,000). Boerne is in Kendall County (population about 30,000). As you can imagine, there have been some changes in my lifestyle since moving to a small…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2008\/01\/you-know-youre-in-a-small-town-when.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-11T01:01:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.markdroberts.com\/images\/boerne-xmas-main-st-5.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You Know You\u2019re in a Small Town When . . . . - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}