Does Iowa still have a $100 fine for littering?

If you take a drive north of Marion on Iowa Highway 13 to the Linn County landfill or drive east on County Home Road from Interstate 380 to the landfill or farther east on County Home Road, you will discover a lot of trash in the ditches, fields, highways and roadways.

Rural roads also are becoming a dumping ground for some uncaring people. You can find mattresses, appliances, a toilet, bags of garbage, once even finding a bag of deceased puppies. Many times we have seen trash actually blowing out of garbage trucks and people with uncovered trailers and trucks taking their trash to the landfill, letting stuff blow out along the way, then stopping to cover it with a tarp just before they get to the landfill because they know there's a fine for having it uncovered.

Does anyone ever get fined the $100? Maybe the state and local law enforcement agencies need to watch those areas once in awhile. They should not, however, have to do that. Everyone needs to take better care of our county, state and city landscapes.

Kathy Clemens

Marion